Neils MU4100 Blog

The overall experience

2009-04-07T22:14:00.002-02:30

This past year has been an interesting one for me; from being thrust in atonality back in September, to experimenting with a blues cliche, writing for a new instrument, and finally back to my routes in a saxophone quartet. I've grown so much as a composer and finish my two composition courses with a new found confidence, that I can write music that people (including myself) will actually like. I really appreciate all the feedback I've been given over the last two terms, and the oportunities to work with great musicians to bring my music to life, it's an experience I'll never forget.

Don't want to make this too sappy, but it's been a great year!
-NB-

C'est Fini!

2009-04-07T22:09:00.002-02:30

It's DONE! I finished my sax quartet today. Named "Influence" it show cases a few things I've come across in the past 4 years and explores some ideas I've only recently learned about. I managed to get the piece away from my typical 'fun and fast' style of writing, but in the end it is still very evidently written by me (a comment from a colleague). My approach to include a minimalist section, with a brief attempt at phase shifting seems to have come off quite effectively and overall I am very happy with the piece.

NB

Almost Done

2009-04-02T11:09:00.003-02:30

With the semester drawing to an ever closer end my composition is also almost finished. I've got a few changes to make after it's Monday performance to make some of the exposed sections a little more interesting and add a bit more length to it. That being said it's coming together really nicely and there's an overal sense of coherence that was in it before. I'm going to expand on the 12 tone row I put in and do some work on the final minute and a half of the piece, with any luck it'll be done by the weekend.

NB

More Quarteting?

2009-03-25T11:18:00.002-02:30

My sax quartet isn't coming along quite as well as I had hoped. I had it played in class Monday and due to a lack of time prior to the class I didn't get a chance to do much with it except for throwing in section in 12 bar blues. This didn't exactly work, it wasn't interesting enough for the music and Dr. Ross said it lacked the 'integrity' that was in the rest of my piece. I never had much invested in the blues section and I'm going to take it out completely, so much for that.

The interesting thing was how much conversation came from the part of my piece that people had already heard. There seems to be a genera consensus that the first two bars of my 9/8 section seem a little redundant and the piece could work well without them. Dylan made the comment on how my writing is almost always fast and fun and to try expanding on the slow section in the intro to the piece. This was followed by some more recommendations to try using isorhythms to bring some of the 9/8 stuff into the intro, this would create a longer slow section and set up the 9/8 so that I could take the previously mentioned two measures out.

I got pretty excited after all the good ideas that came out of the discussion from class and already have made significant changes to my work. The blues section is gone, it may come back later but it will be a much more thought out and integrated way and won't be obvious. I've also done a lot of work on the slow section in the beginning and it's way better now (I hope) and the two measures of the 9/8 are gone and the piece seems to flow a lot better.

Good things to come!
NB

Sax Quartet Week 2

2009-03-18T19:38:00.003-02:30

My sax quartet is coming along nicely, I've got about 1 minute of music written so far and up to now I've stuck with the Blue Rondo idea. The piece is currently building towards a larger climatic section that will have to occur before I move on from this theme. I had the piece played today in class and the feedback, like always, was centered around the high level of Fun in my piece, a compliment I appreciate. I stand by the ideal of only composing what I like and adapting guidelines to fit that feeling and it really seems to work well for me. Dr. Ross also commented on the fact that I need to keep going towards a climax in the first theme before moving on. He also suggested taking my constant moving figure and develop it into a melody. He also enjoyed the fact that a bar after I modulate the original key comes back and then alternates with the new one until they play simultainiously in poly tonality.

So much to do, so little time.

NB

Final Project

2009-03-09T17:15:00.002-02:30

For my final project for this compostion course I've decided to write a piece for sax quartet. I've got a few ideas for it so far: I want to give more focus to the bari, letting it be one of the primary interests in the piece. Also, the style for my piece is jazz, I'm going to include references to Dave Brubecks 'Blue Rondo A la Turk', Charlie Parkers 'Moose the Mouche' & "Yardbird Suite". I'm also thinking of experimenting with Poly-tonality and parallel organum, and also 3,6, and 7 bar phrases to help give my piece a more original sound.

-NB-

Almost Done!

2009-02-15T08:01:00.002-03:30

Friday past I presented my, what was at the time, finished copy of "Rise of the Xaphoon." I was pleasantly surprised with how well the piece went over with everyone in class. Since they last heard it I added a completely different "B Section," that goes double time and kinda grooves, everyone loved it (me too). I had a lot of great feedback: Everyone loved the quirky nature of the piece and the Xaphoon and how I had made sections where it sounds like a tone deaf Xaphoon is trying to sing along with the Clarinet, but just can't quite get there. I also recieved comments on my carefull use of texture and contrasting sections. Dr. Ross noted that the first few meausres of the piano part are written very much like a wind instrument line and don't suit the piano very well, after class he played a couple different ideas for me that could work very well and I've since incorperated them into my piece.

Composer Robert Rival was preasent in class for this performance and he gave me a few ideas for the piece to take it from great to superb. He suggested I add a Xaphoon cadenzsa (to which Dr. Ross recomened I place when the Xaphoon first enters which I think is a great idea.) He also commneted on how programatic my piece sounded. I explained that I just write what I like with no program in mind and he said to try and write a program for it anyways. I have since tried to write a program and I couldn't come up with anything that I considered to be good enough for my piece. I don't really have much experience with programatic music, and the deadline for this project is in one day; so I think for now I'm going to forgoe the idea and maybe consider it for my next composition. He also suggested I try having the xaphoon come in in the "wrong place" in the begginning of the B section, again this was something I've since tried and just don't have the time to make it work in a way I'm happy with.

The metamorphisis this piece has gone through suprised me a little. I started off with one idea and then developed into something that sounded o.k. but was missing something. I dogged at it and eventually it paid off as I am extreemly satisfied with the way the piece has turned out. I've also had a huge amount of professional help along the way in the form of Dr. Ross, Larysa Kuzmenko, Dr. Scott Godin, and Mr. Robert Rival. I think in a large way the piece is wouldn't have turned out the way it did without their input and the input from my colleagues in class.

The concerts on the 27th of Febuary, should be a good one!
NB

Not quite stuck, just kinda missing something

2009-02-08T12:25:00.002-03:30

My composition is coming along pretty good so far. I had it played in class Friday past and it went o.k. Dr. Scott Godin was there and he gave me a few ideas for improving the overall look of the work. I incorperate a large crash section in the early middle of the piece where the piano, clarinet, and trombone play really loudly on material that is meant to create a lot of tension. This is followed by a soft melody in the xaphoon as it is first introduced to the piece. Dr. Godin recomended not using standard notation for the last part of the crash, instead giving dynamic markings and letting the pianst play whatever notes they wanted as long as it was in an ascending pattern. I like this idea, it would probably add more tension, which is what I am looking for, and at the same time cover the requirement of having limited alletorism (as set by the class guidelines for this project).
I've also got to go back and fix some of the notation to make it easier to read. The final suggestion was to make use of the two hands of the piano playing at the same time. This is something I've been told before and have yet to incorperate, but I'm going to do that now before the next time I present it.

As far as I'm concerned I like what I have written but theres something missing from it. That one little elusive thing that I just can't put my finger on that seems to be holding this piece back. In trying to figure out what it was I went back and looked at some of my previous compositions and I realised that Rise of the Xaphoon does not make use of any melodic space what soever. I think thats the problem and I'm going to experiment with the material to see if I can remold it into something I'm truely happy with.

Cheers!
NB

A lesson with Larysa Kuzmenko

2009-02-01T10:31:00.002-03:30

Yesterday I got the chance to have a lesson with Composer Larysa Kuzmenko. We spent the time working on my piece "Rise of the Xaphoon" and we re-visited her comment on phrase structure. My piece currently has a lot of ideas, each one comes in breifly and then goes away just as quick. There's no real solid themes to latch on to which is what gives the piece it's manic feel. I think this is what I had been missing, it's the reason why I'm not enjoying the work as much as I could. I have a lot of antecedent phrase's but it never gets responded to. She suggested the idea of picking a couple ideas in the piece that I want to make the focus, and then incorperate the idea of imitation to expand on the ideas and the develope them later in the piece. Also, Larysa told me that if I use fragments of the opening motifs later in the piece it will give the listen a sense of familiarity and make it easier for them to listen to how the piece works as a whole.

The idea of unity in my piece is just what I'm looking for. It was deffinitely a great lesson!

NB

Rise of the Xaphoon

2009-02-01T10:18:00.002-03:30

My latest composition is coming along quite nicely. While it still lacks any realisation I did at least manage to come up with a title for it. The idea for "Rise of the Xaphoon" comes from the way the Xaphoon emerges after a chaotic crash in the beginning of the piece. Friday past myself and a few colleagues played my piece in class and I got a lot of feedback. The way the xaphoon comes out of the clash works quite well. The following recomendations were made: 1) Try expanding the upper and lower range of the piano to the extreems, and use 2 two hands together more often. 2) Explore the idea of using a preapared piano. 3) The trombone can go a lot lower then what I've got written.
We are required to include an alletoric element I wrote a section where the clarinet and xaphoon are improsing, but after I heard it acutally being played in class I deiced that I'm going to remove that part of the piece as it's to much freedom given and not enough control.
Because the NewFound Music Festival happened this week composer in residence Larysa Kuzmenko was also present in class and she recommended I try and outline a clearer phrase structure to get more an antecdent/consequent feel to my music.

I'm still kinda frustrated with the piece and am not really sure why. I'm sure I'll figure it out, it's just gonna take time.

NB

Composing For High School Concert Band

2009-02-01T10:05:00.002-03:30

Continuing along with the NewFound Music Festival on Thursday I also attended Scott Godin's Prestentation "Composing For High School Concert Band." He talked about his experience working with a teacher colleague of his to write a contemporary work for their high school band. His challenge was to create a work that would serve as both a piece of music that he could be proud of and that was a pedagogical tool. To do this he met with the students and discussed different ideas that he could incorperate into the piece. He then wrote a 3 movement work, with each movement based on the works of a different composer. One of the things that Dr. Godin's colleague noticed after the work had been completed was that the students who had been involved in the colabrative process were much more advanced in the musical ability after they had participated and performeed the piece. Part of this is believed to be because the students were much more engaged in the work and so focused a lot more on listening to each other as ensem.

In C

2009-02-01T09:20:00.002-03:30

This Thursday past I got the chance to play Terry Riley's "In C" as part of the NewFound Music Festival that happened at Memorial. The piece is unlike anything I have ever played before, it has 53 cells of music that each performer plays at their own discretion. Throughout the entire time a keyboard instrument (piano/marimba/xylophone, etc.) plays octave C's in eigth notes. The performers play repete a box as much as they want, but may not go back to a box once they move on to the next one. The performers are allowed to stop and take breaks whenever they choose and what makes the piece really cool is that when you do there are two things to be heard. If you just listen to the music as a whole and not focus on anything in particular it sounds like a band warming up, just kinda noisy. But if you listen for the individual lines you can here how the cells of music are interacting and it sounds awesome!

NB

1st Post: What to to? What to do?

2009-01-25T20:28:00.002-03:30

That time of year has rolled around once again, composition course has began and is running full swing. For the first project this term we have to write for 4/5 instruments and again tonality is not allowed, at least this time it's not a total system shock :) I'm writing my composition for Clarinet, Trombone, Piano, Saxophone/Xaphoon. A Xaphoon for the record kinda looks like a recorder only with a sax reed, and has a distinct sound. I've got about a minute and half written so far and I'm not sure where to go next. I had my piece played in class and the feedback was that I was teetering on the edge of tonality but still within the guidelines of the project. Also my piece was described as being quite manic with a very thick texture. Unlike many of my colleauges I do not have an ispiration for this piece, all I know is that I wanted it to include the Xaphoon.

I'm trying to find an inspiration for this piece, and I know I'll come up with something eventually. (You would think the xaphoon alone would be enough, but sadly no.) I do know that I like the manic feel of my piece, and while I don't intend to have the entire thing like that the section will remain a part of my work.

NB

Final Blog (for now)

2008-11-30T22:36:00.003-03:30

I've been thinking for a while now on writing a blog on what goes through my head when I compose. I thought it could be a neat way of helping myself see what I do and what I could improve on, as well as sharing with others an insight into my way of doing things. After we played my final piece at the composition concert I recieved a lot of feedback regarding how 'fun' my piece and it left thinking, why?
Then it hit me, no matter what I write I always strive for something that at the end of the day I can honestly say 'that's my music, and I like it.' In composing based on the 12 bar blues cliche I wanted mess around with some of the typical elements of the idiom and make it my own. Like instead of sharing solos the clarinet and trumpet have a section where they are competing for who's the feature. Also, I used a plunger mute at one point and had Heidi open it slowing creating a "waa' sound. I only did it cause I thought it'd sound cool, and luckily that's the way it was received (it's hard not to smile when in the middle of playing your own piece you hear positive laughter).

For anyone who is ever thinking of taking this course with Dr. Ross I highly reccomend it (and no, this isn't an attempt at earning browny points, though if it works, then i'll roll with it).
But honestly I found this course teaches you to take an idea or set of guidelines that you may not be pleased with (such as writing atonaly) and finding a way to write something that both satisfies them and yourself. That to me was what I got the most out of in this class.

I've already started thinking of some ideas for my next composition, I've kinda got myself hooked on it now, who knows what will develope over the holidays and into the new year when my next course in composition begins.

If this blogging is required for that course then stay tuned for future updates!
Neil

Hell of a show!

2008-11-30T09:19:00.002-03:30

Last night we all performed our musical cliche based compositions at a public concert. The concert went off quite successfully, there was a lot of great music composed and performed. One of cool things about this class was that we got to hear each others compositions as they were developing and it was really cool to hear what everyone had arrived at in their music. With everything from jazz to baroque, and disco to tango on the program the concert was very well relieved and it was a great way to end off this course for the term.

NB

Me thinks it be done . . . almost

2008-11-24T22:53:00.002-03:30

I finished some of the final touches on my blues cliche composition tonight. After a quick fight with sibelius (I won, of course) I was able to fix some editing issues that plagued visual presentation of the work. I also added in the remaining dynamic details to guide the performers a bit more in how I want the piece shaped. I also changed around a couple notes in the pointelistic section just to make it a little more unexpected. There are two things still outstanding for this work. First it was suggested that I have the trumpet play with a mute, and that I should meet with trumpeter Heidi to see which one I want to use. I'm thinking a harmon, or a cup, and there's also a section where I want to use either a plunger, or a harmon with the stem in to get a "wa wa" sound.
The other thing I'm not sure of is the end of the piece. For some reason it's just not sitting with me. It works, and will remain as written for the sake of this concert but its something I can see myself going back to and expanding on maybe over the holidays.

We've got a great concert coming up, I can't wait to here what the current final version of my piece sounds like.

NB

Where, oh where, did my big ol bass go?

2008-11-18T21:13:00.002-03:30

As the semester draws to a close so does B Flat's Blues. I've got it written to the point where I don't feel that I need to add much more to it to make it complete. That being said, I realized after I had it played in class last week one major thing I am missing from my piece. . . the double bass. It's come to my attention that the poor ol' bass is out for almost 30 bars of the work, which so far is only 100 measures long. Needless to say it was recommended by my classmates that I devise a way to fix this, and I whole heatedly agree. The bass just kinda goes along when it is playing doing a walking bass figure which gets really old, so I'm gonna add a section in the middle featuring the double bass as a soloist, and re-wirte some of the other lines to make them a little more interesting, and less predictable. Other then the bass issue my piece is coming along nicely, the balance problems seem to be totally gone, and to make sure of this I've included a more dynamics to guide the performers. Oh, and the section I have at the end left people wanting more, it's figure that repeats three times so I didn't really plan to drag out any more then that, but because it's liked so well by everyone, myself included I'm going to do something with it to give it a litte more air time. Maybe i'll incorperate into the bass solo or something. I'm gona go work on it now and see what I come up with.

Untill next time!
NB

B Flat's Blues (Musical Cliches round 2)

2008-11-12T08:46:00.002-03:30

After the feedback I had received on my first attempt at writing a musical cliche I rewrote a lot of my piece. I made a new introduction that clearly established the twelve bar blues cliche and tried a few different things to both give the piece a slightly more unexpected feel and to fix the balance issues. This resulted in something that worked out quite well, the piece was much better received this time by my colleagues, and I am also much happier with it. The latest suggestion I received was to add in a pointillistic section, I'm not totally sure why? but when I tired writing it into my piece I came up with something that works well and sounds pretty cool, which I must admit is a little on the surprising. I'm still trying to decide where I should take the piece next, right now I'm at about half the required length. I've not yet wrote a tenor or bass solo so I think thats going to come soon.

That'll be it for now.
NB

Musical Cliches

2008-11-04T07:42:00.002-03:30

For our latest project in composition we're supposed to write based a on musical cliche. For my cliche I chose the 12 bar blues form, only I'm having it played straight instead of swung. I've also wrote it in 3/4 time to give it a bit of a different feel then what is expected. I began writing this piece for clarinet, trumpet, and tenor sax, but the piece lacked a bass line that I felt was very much needed, so I got permission to add 4th instrument, being the double bass. After performing it in class it was brought to my attention that there are some balance issues that I need to address, as well the piece gets really busy, really fast. Some people also were not clear on the cliche based on the 4 bar introduction I had wrote. I agree with all of the above criticism and have come up with a couple plans to improve my piece. To begin the introduction is going to expand up to 12 bars (or maybe 8, I'm still not 100% sure) and will be the double bass walking in 4/4 time to outline the chord progression and help people get the style of the music I am writing. To keep it interesting I will be including some different elements rubato. When the busy section of my piece begins I am going rewrite the parts so that they are all distinctive, and have the clarinet and tenor sax play in a different range, as right now all three winds are playing in the middle of the treble clef staff, and this is where the trumpet has the melody. I don't want to move the trumpet part up to much, or at all, as it will end up getting to high for bith what I want, and what is within a good range for the trumpet. I'm going to expand on my piece to include the traditional element of shared soloing as typically found in 12 bar blues, but I have a couple different ideas in mind to mix it up and make it unexpected.

Great Things to Come
NB

Fragments (Character Piece number 3)

2008-10-13T12:53:00.002-02:30

On Friday past myself and Kim played the final of my three character pieces for composition class. This piece used a lot of glissandi that were ment to be smeared. Since this is not technically possible on the piano or sax (sax can bend notes, and smear the sound going between two notes but not in a large run) the glissandi were meant to be messy and not rhythmic or metric. They however have to hit a top or bottom note at specific time as I had them change direction every two beats on specific notes. This creates a messy wave of sound which is exactly what I was going for. On this note, I have the pianist playing the gliss figure in the left hand in the middle of my peice, I had not considered the physical demands that this would place on the pianist, and it was determined after a consultation with Kim, that while they were possible it would require a glove or some other tool, so as not to damage the hand. Dr. Ross then suggested working in some space into the piano part to allow time to either put on the glove or pick up the tool. I agreed with this completely and am experimenting with a couple ideas to see what works best. It was also suggested that I play around with the smearing idea more and I plan to as I think it can really add a lot to my piece.
Another Idea suggested by Dr. Ross was to have the loud peddle of the piano pressed down for the beginging and ending of the piece, as this is where just the saxophone is playing (an idea that went over well with my classmates) and doing the glissandi. We acutally tried that in class and the sound is really cool, so I've already added it in.

That looks like enough for now,
NB

Character Piece #1 & 2: Round 2

2008-10-13T12:18:00.002-02:30

Myself and Kim played the revised versions of my first and second character piece in class. The reactions were much the same as when we had first played them. For the piece the main comment was that I was successful in writing great lines when the sax and piano are playing together. The main recommendation for change was to do something with the last measure to give it a more interesting appeal. Initially I did not want to change the last measure (its a rolled whole note chord in just the piano) however after I thought about it a bit and experimented with some different ideas I think I came up with something that both goes along with the recommendation and appeals to me.

For the second piece I was advised to look at some of my notations. Specifically notes spellings for the piano, and ways to notate rhythms to make them more readable. I've since tackled this and it has been written a lot more clearly. Again the main compliment for the piece was about the great interaction between the piano and sax. Also, my last chord was staged having each note played in a different register on a different beat or part of a beat and then after each note was heard the chord was sounded as a whole. This idea was well liked, by everyone including myself.

NB

Character Piece #2

2008-09-30T10:48:00.002-02:30

Last week myself and Kim played the my second character piece for composition class. The piece went quite well, though we did play it under tempo as it is supposed to go quite fast and this will require more practice on both our behalves . Some of the feedback I received about it included that it was light and playful, with nice interactions between the piano and saxophone. It was also noted that piece had an air of tonality to it but was clearly not tonal. Also the final chord in the piece is actually a tonal chord (Ab7) which I had not picked up on because of the mixture of sharps and flats in the chord. I'm not yet finished writing this piece and feel that it could go almost double the length There are some thematic ideas in the beginning and middle that I plan on reusing and expanding upon, which will hopefully add greatly to the music. I'm also planning on adding more to the piano, I had underestimated Kim's capabilities, and knowing now that she can play music more difficult then I wrote will allow me to add more depth to my music, which is exciting.

That's it for now, Thanks for reading!

NB

For lack of a better name (Character piece #1)

2008-09-18T19:33:00.003-02:30

Yesterday myself and Kim played the first of three character pieces that I have written based on the chord progression I came up with last week. I wrote it for alto sax and piano and I focused on using a lot musical space to help create the requested feeling of rhythmic timelessness. I was successful in doing so, and the effective use of space was noted by classmates and Dr. Ross (class instructor). I was asked what the character I had intended for my piece was and I drew a blank, completely forgetting that the point of the assignment was to write a "character piece." That being said when I was writing the music I focused on the lower range of the alto sax, and this in combination with my use of space gave the piece a character my colleagues described as sneaky and mysterious/mischievous. The use of varying texture between the piano and sax, as well as the balance of the two parts was noted, and it was recommended that in my next variation I try adding more the piano part, so that each hand is playing more then just one or two notes at a time. This would make better use the capabilities of the piano.

I surprisingly am really happy with what I wrote, what comes next should be interesting.
NB

A work in progress - my chord progression

2008-09-14T19:36:00.001-02:30

Hearing the chord progression I wrote with played in class this week I heard something very different then when I had played it for myself at home. As my piano skills are somewhat underwhelming it was interesting to hear the chords played by someone who knew what they were doing (thanks Mike) and was able to play them evenly. It turns out that my progression has multiple high points in tension, however this is accompanied by a notable decrease in tension in the last few chords. It was also brought to my attention by both my own ears and the feedback from fellow classmates that I used many high tension chords and have room to explore chords of a much lower tension level. In revising my progression I'm planning on moving some chords around and maybe adding a few to take my progression from 12 chords to 13 or 14.

Thats it for now.
NB

Exploring Atonality

2008-09-11T11:16:00.000-02:30

First impressions of this class, composition 3100, left me a little unsure. I've never spent much time with atonal music as I honestly never saw much interest in it. However after spending some time making up a chord progression, and while I am starting to come around to it I think it will take some time before I can decide whether or not it is an idiom I will continue with after this course, time will tell. I am looking forward to seeing what I can create with it and to listening to what the others in the class create.

That's all for now,
Neil B.