Entry 11

Ouf, the end of the year is creeping up on us like...Well, I'd quote the Beatles and say it's creeping like a nun, but I've never seen a nun creep (maybe they're all closet-Facebook-creepers) so I don't think I'll go with 'creeping like a nun.'

The band piece is coming along alright. For some reason, it seems like such a bigger task this year as opposed to last year, though I'm writing a lot less music this year...It's probably just because I've got more on the go this year, and a lot of it is creative stuff so my creative juices are constantly being asked for more. It'd be nice to just have a day or two where I wouldn't have to do anything creative or analytical. I think this is why I work in a bakery in the summer.

But enough of the rambling- I've decided pretty much for sure that it's not going to be a suite- I think I'd need more time to write a suite, and I don't mean that in the sense that from now until April I won't have the time- I mean, we're given 3-5 minutes to work with, and a suite is generally longer than that so that the pieces in the suite aren't only like a minute long each. There's still the rubato intro, followed by the very slow oom-pah section which speeds up to the main theme which used to come right after the rubato section. It just seems to flow more this way and it'll hopefully make it not quite so...Disjunct, and I won't leave unfinished sections everywhere.

Entry 10.

All cower in fear- the compositional ADD (or is it ADHD?) monster has struck again. Either that or my fear of commitment. Probably both. Yeah, probably both. But whatever the cause, I've decided to put the symphony on hold, because I do not have time for all of these projects, seeing as I was currently working on two big ones, and formulating plans for a thid which would be my end-of-the-year orchestration and arranging class assignment- take a piano piece and orchesrate it.

What were my two big projects? One was the symphony and the other was yet another piece for band. I'm interested in submitting another composition this year, having learnt so much from writing one last year. Both of these are very big and both would have a deadline so rather than putting myself into complete overdrive I've decided to kill two birds with one stone and just do the band piece.

I realize that there are others in the class writing a band piece who want to hear theirs played by the wind ensemble and that there is only enough room for 5 or 6 people to have theirs played. This being said, I don't want mine to be one of them, seeing as I've made the decision to write this piece fairly late in the game and I had the chance to hear one of my pieces last year too. MIDI playback will do just fine for me, and it's fairest this way.

So what am I writing now? I'm letting my compositional ADD have a fairly loose rein and writing a suite- either two or three different little pieces but they're all connected by segue. I had initially planned to do a suite of dances from various countries/cultures, but decided that I might do best just sticking with one style and have chosen Klezmer, so it'll be a suite of Klezmer dances. I don't want them to be too cliche or too abstract- hopefully I'll be able to get in a good blend, y'know, the best of both worlds.

Entry 9. Tips about the Gower composition

Hey,

Having had the experience of writing for the Gower Community Band last year I figured it'd be helpful for all those writing this year to give a bit of insight into techniques which might make it easier for the composer, conductor and the musicians.

1. EDIT EDIT EDIT. Then edit again. Sometimes you'll swear you've put an accidental in and when your program plays it back it sounds right but there's no accidental marked in. Mine did this oodles- there were wrong notes all over the place. Of course I'm working with Finale 2005. Even pro-Finale people, I imagine, would recoil at the mention of using a program which dates back five years.
2. Amount of instruments: I'm not exaggerating when I say that there was a really strange though not surprisingly out-of-balance instrumentation found in the Gower band- for popular instruments like flute and clarinet especially, there were 8-10 people where we'd usually expect 2-3. There was a fair amount of trumpet players, I think 3 trombones maybe 4, Several sax players, but very few bass clarinets (Katie Noseworthy played it) I don't think any bassoons, one maybe two oboes, a few horns, one maybe two tuba players, and I think three or four percussionists. This being said, here are some tips:
- if you want a solo flute line, definitely write it in. Otherwise you'll have 10 flautists playing it and making 10 people play the same thing at the same time isn't very wise when it's an exposed part.
- exposed parts- definitely solo.
- Don't go crazy with percussion- I almost had to step in and play with the band but due to time constriction, I couldn't. So I'd say three to four percussion parts would be enough unless you've got one person playing two parts which needs to be indicated on the score in order for it to be seen easily.
3. Range- keep in mind that the age range goes from I think 11-70 and not all of these people are professional or able to play big ranges. Here's a basic outline that I was told to stick to for instruments where range is often a problem:
-trumpet: Don't go too high above the clef, or stay there for prolonged periods of time.
-french horn: I wouldn't write anything above written G5 (sounds C5) and nothing too noodley.
-trombone/tuba: noodley writing is discouraged- these guys really a simple but groovy bassline, same as the tuba. Nothing too high above the bass clef, and tricky slurs were a bit of a no-no too.
4. Dynamics: Generally, the sound is loud- I was warned by Jill Abbot about this, but didn't find it was a huge problem. However, with a big group like this, a certain range of dynamics is expected, and some dynamics- aka pppp- are out of the question due to the sheer number of people playing. If you want something to be soft but with a full concert band range of sounds, try using 'soli,' where one person from that section plays by themself, though it's not necessarily a solo seeing as in each other section someone else is playing by themself. So cut back on numbers and indicate a dynamic, and when you want a big sound, have a tutti but definitely make sure that you write dynamics appropriate o balance out the sound- a trombone playing FF could quite possibly cover up the sound of a clarinet playing FF unless you've taken register into consideration and put the trombone in a lower register and the clarinet in a higher one.
5. Rehearsal numbers- make sure they're very clear and put them in places which make sense- in other words, at the beginnings of phrases so if the conductor decides to start at H, the poor clarinetist isn't in the middle of a wicked run.
6. Idiomatic stuff is best. Leave runs and whatnot to instruments where dexterity is more expected and long notes to insturments which would normally be given such things.
7. Consider the level of your piece- high schoolish. In other words, certainly don't write stuff you'd be intimidated to play. Something that looks nice on the page can sound absolutely wonderful and intricate without being lip-busting. It looks great when you glance at a score which is black with notes but you have to be realistic and merciful! Some of the people in the band are very capable of playing tricky stuff while others are still on their way to getting there.
8. Appeal. I don't kno how many people in the Gower band came up to me and said that at first they really disliked the piece- which is my fault, seeing as I wrote something with a great amount of dissonance which isn't what they were used to playing. I'm not saying screw dissonance and atonality and write something tonal and predictable, but people will enjoy playing something they like much more than playing something which looks good on the page, and the audience will also like the piece more if it has appeal. The Gower people were very stuck on finding the melody- so make it findable. I didn't- my melodies were hidden and that was something I wish I'd changed before I submitted it. If you want your piece to stick with them, I'd say give them something that attracts people- but with your own personal seal on it. Not the animal, though. Seals bite. What I mean is make the work yours, but when you're writing for an ensemble it is wise to take into consideration what they habitually play, what they're capable of playing, and what they'd probably like to play/hear.

Hope this helps! If you're writing for the band and have any other questions please feel free to ask!

Entry 8. To band, or not to band?

So I seem to like to pile as much work on myself as I can, apparently. As enthralled as I am with the idea of writing a symphony, I really want to write another band piece for the Gower Community Band Terra Nova thing again. It would have been easier if I'd said so in class and killed two birds with one stone by writing something for band for both this next composition project AND the Terra Nova competition, but two big compositions are better than one...Right?

I'm going to keep writing the symphony movement for class- it'll do me good to begin a symphony, I think. I've been working at it steadily in what little time I have outside of orchestra now that we're in full swing for the Magic Flute (which y'all should definitely go see!) and its making slow but steady progress.

But this band thing- I kind of spaced out at one point during class on Tuesday (sorry Clark!) and came up with the idea of writing a set of dances for band. Not that the band members would dance while they played, though that'd be pretty nifty. I really like dance music- I actually have 'Dance Mix '93' in my CD player right now. But I thought that for this I might borrow various dance styles...I got a few CD's from the MRC which have Klezmer, Hungarian, Ugandan and Brazilian dances on them, and am planning on using those styles- and maybe a few others- in my pieces. They'd probably all be pretty short so I'd do maybe three dances in order to make up the full five minute minimum.

Just an idea.

Entry 7. This is NOT an entry.

This is not a blog entry.
It's not even a figment of your imagination.
It doesn't exist at all. Neither do any other 'blogs' which I may or may not have written.
Because I haven't written any- if you think so, you're delusional.
This is not a blog entry.
If, and this is a far stretch of the imagination, it does become a blog entry- which it definitely will not- it won't be funny. It won't be witty, sarcastic, or tickle your funny bone in any way- it'll probably break it, actually: snap that funny bone clear in two. Or sixty. Or eighty two point five. You've probably hit your funny bone on something and discovered 'hey, that ain't funny!' but this will not tickle, hit or even fracture your funny bone. It will break your funny bone. And believe me, when it happens, it'll be hilarious. Just think of what you'd have to tell the people in the hospital.
Juries and recitals are in two months. You really don't need to break your funny bone. And don't think that just because you're a voice major that your musical skillz are untouchable- studies have shown that broken funny bones have a severely negative effect on vibrato and air support.
You do not have to read this.
Hell, I probably won't even read it.
Heh, I'll stop being such an arse now. Go ahead and read if you want...But I will not be held responsible for any broken funny bones.

Anywho, on with the show.

Comments on Egoism:

-'Egoism' or 'Egotism-' solved by a quick search on Google. They're the same. :)
- Bar 7-8, the triplet vs eight note thing was nifty, but doesn't come back again. I have a habit of doing this- making neat ideas and then abandoning them. Yet another reason I should not procreate.
- The use of triplets over dotted-eighth-then-sixteenth-notes. Makes for an agogic accent which I kind of like. Someone said- and I think it was Clark- that when you put them together, where they don't match up rhythmically between the last triplet and the sixteenth note, it sounds like the person playing the piano is an inexperienced person, fumbling as they try to play the notes correct. I like this, probably because it's a familiar concept. This is how I play piano.
- Breaking up the motion was neat- maye do this more in the first half, seeing as I do it a fair amount in the last part. I like this idea...Kind of foreshadowing the start-stoppiness (yes it's a word) which comes later.
- Very organic (I don't believe in pesticides/herbicides, and I've heard that they gum up your keyboard anyway.)
- Try to play it. CRINGE. I have. I think in order for this to be helpful, you'd have to be better versed n the instrument. I can't really tell whether it'd be possible to do, to a certain extent, because:
A. I have muppet hands, aka short fingers and almost no space between them.
B. I have to say "ALL COWS EAT GRASS" still when trying to identify notes in the bass clef
C. On long notes on the piano, I try to do vibrato and I look ridiculous.
But I'll giver a try nonetheless. Or bribe a piano major with cookies. Yeah, probably that.
- It's unusual to have root position chords in the piano's lower register- space notes out more, which makes sense, given that it's lower and harder to hear pitches.


This definitely gives me lots of stuff to tweak with this piece. The other two seem to be alright and have been played in the concert and are thus deemed physically possible.

Are you reading this? How's your funny bone? I can hear it beginning to splinter...You might want to stop now.

Project two...See, if I didn't have compostional ADD- possibly even ADHD, its hyperactive cousin- I might be able to make up my mind as to what I'm going to do. Right now I've got my sights set on two different things and seeing as both are fairly big and ambitious, it'd make a lot of sense to go to Hollywood, grab the shrinker machine from "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" and shrink them to pocket-sized ideas. And while I'm at it, I'll shrink some hippos. Man, I can't believe I was fooled by those house hippo commercials as a kid. Well, we'll see who's laughing after I shrink some hippos and set them loose. Maybe BBC will do a documentary on them and add it to the Planet Earth collection. I'll be famous: Jess the hippo-shrinker. Definitely has a ring to it. I might just get a shirt embroidered with that on the sleeve now.

See what I mean about the AD(H)D?

And if you're reading this, you should stop.

Idea 1: Symphony No. 1. LAME name, I know, but I know some people who have lamer names than that...Like seriously, what were their parents thinking? But yes, I'd like to write a symphony. For this assignment I'd probably only be able to do one movement, and I think writing more than one movement would not only exceed the time limit of 5-6 minutes, but it'd bust my liver. I only have two livers to spare now and I'm rather fond of them. I've named them Heckle and Stewart. This is a lie. Though I do actually name physical anomalies- I have a tumour in my left eye called Earl. I think it would be a four movement symphony- how's that for an appropriate shift back onto the topic? And it would probably be tonal/atonalish. I don't know, I like playing around with sonoroties which sound tonal, but they might not follow a proper harmonic progression and there'd be random chords up the wazoo too. What's the symphony based on? Haven't decided yet. I have to find something...

Idea 2: Band piece. This time I'd make something which is only one movement. I've already got some music spinning around in my head and it sounds kind of nifty. I don't know how to describe it but it's a musical idea I'm fairly sure I could make grow and develop, like one of those dinosaurs you had when you were a kid, and when you put it in a bowl of water it'd grow to be ten times the original size. Except the piece wouldn't get all slimy and gross, like the dinosaurs do when thy've been left in water for however long it takes for them to grow, and they always got really wrinkly when they shrunk back down. It might be neat to write a piece based on this...I like dinosaurs. The part in "Fantasia" with the dinosaurs was always one of my favourite parts. Or the part with the Crocodile and the Hippo. And I now have to go find the latter and shrink it. To the size of a house cat. And feed it crumbs and chips and peanut butter from toast, and give it a mitten to make a nest out of.

Told you that you shouldn't have read this. Y'regret it now?

Entry 6. Trip to South America

First of all, I think the composition prelude concert went really well! It was really great to hear how the pieces we've written have grown and matured even over just a few weeks. I think the entire program, all put together, sounded really nice. And ending it off with a snappy ragtime was definitely the way to go.

I adored every piece on the Saturday night program. I really like that style of music, and hearing an entire program of it was really gratifying.

The first three pieces were really nifty, and set a great theme for the rest of the evening. I've never really listened to any great amount of this music, but we all know vaguely what it sound like, and it's the type of music you can listen to both intuitively and mindlessly- putting it on a completely elevated level of listening. The percussion pieces were remarkable simply because they looked as though they were difficult (heck, it's like playing a huge piano with sticks- and with two sticks in one hand!!) they sounded completely relaxed and groovy. The changing rhythms were great fun too, and every time one happened I found myself enjoyinh it all the more.

Carousel was really nifty- at times I could see where it got its name as it seemed to kind of wind down, but then it would go forward again and continue on. There is a great amount of flow in all of these pieces, I find- not like most music which has a beginning, a middle section and an end seperated by definite sections. It almost seems more organic to play music in this South American style, more fluid. I did like the return to this kind of style with the Ortega piece, which began with the chant, moved on to a somewhat improvisatory section before it returned to the chant. That was pretty darn nifty and toe-tappin'.

I think my favourite part of the entire evening was when Dawn Avery played -and sang!- her pieces from the North American Indian Cello Project. The last thing I had expected was for her to sing whil she played cello and her voice was so captivating and the words very profound. I wish I had a copy of the poem she based the second movement- about the medicine man- on, and, of course, a recording of it as well. Involving the audience was pretty nifty too!

The Kalimba and Brazilian set were enjoyable as well, especially when Jeff Dyer and Paul Bendza played/sang together. That was a really neat effect, to sing along with the clarinet, which made me realize just how much like a human voice the clarinet can sound. OH- and I decided that I really like the soprano saxomophone. Such a pretty tone!

Anyway, it was yet another night of great music, and another great Newfound Music Festival.

Entry 5. Newfound Music I

I really enjoyed the Newfound Music Festival this year, though I didn't get to attend nearly as much as I wanted to. I had planned on attending more of the sessions, but between being sick, working for one of the student recitals, going to the 1:00 one and having chamber music rehearsal, I did not get to see a lot. You can only hear so much from backstage, so I did not get to hear some of the really groovin' music played in the 11:00 concert, and immediately after my piece was played in the 1:00 concert I had to leave the auditorium to say goodbye to my friend who moved to BC on Friday, who had stopped in at the last minute to hear my piece.

I did get to two of the concerts, and I'm really glad that I did. I did not get to the one on Thursday night because the weather was really bad and I was sick (the combination of the two would've been REALLY pretty...Not.) but I got to go to the one on Friday and Saturday night.

So this blog will be about the one on Friday night!

I was very impressed with the variety of different pieces which were played. Of course, it was really great to hear music by two of our own- Clark Ross and Andrew Staniland- and by the guest composer, Derek Charke. There were a lot of surprising things in this concert, and my ear felt very satisfied with what it had heard. You know that feeling? It's marvellous when your ear has that nice sigh, as though it's just had a full, three-course meal and has unlatched its belt a notch. Now it's time for some hardcore napping and digestion!

Well, save the nap for later, maybe.

I really think "Shooting the Moon" is a good title for Clark's piece. There were several ponts during the piece when I heard a rhythm which caught my attention, and the octave-notes in the left hand really reminded me of the disco piece that Megan Warren had composed last year. I could easily hear both the disco and the jazz influence, and it's very satisfying even when all you get is a tiny snippet of music from a style you're listening for.

This was the first time I'd heard something by Andrew Staniland all the way through (we listened to the first movement of one of his pieces in orchestration and arranging) and want to hear more, so I can see where this fits into context and know what his style is like. That's how I like listening to music- I like to listen to several pieces by the same composer and get a better feel for not only the individual pieces as I listen to them in context, but by the overall style with which they've been written. There was a moment in the beginning of the second movement which was absolutely beautiful, and I found the majority of his music to be intelligent, edgy and captivating. I also think he represented the text really well with the music.

I also found the title of Derek Charke's pice very fitting. I've always liked the sound of hearing a performer play something with music playing in the background, and the melee of sounds and textures in his piece were both very mesmerizing. I kind of found myself wondering how one would notate that- do you write in the score what to listen for in the recording? Of course, as the composer, he would obviously know what to listen for, but all the same, for someone reading through the part the first time, how would they know when to play? One more note- he is a great flautist! Kudos for being able to both write and play beautiful music!

The piece by Onishi was really a treat to listen to, though as a string player who values both their bow and violin strings, by the end my mind was screaming "Oh noo!! Please don't break your strings!" and "You're definitely going to need your bow rehaired!" Bartok pizzicato always makes me cringe. I don't think I could do it if someone paid me to, not even if I borrowed a cheap violin. And I take great pride when I break one bow hair, and find it absolutely amazing- enviable, even- when people break four or five, but as a student who is clutching every penny dearly, I still kind of shudder when I think about getting a bow rehaired after playing just one piece.

All that rubbish aside, it was a lot of fun to listen to! I found there was always something going on, and I didn't know where to look or listen next- especially since they were seated so far apart, but that was what I liked about it. I liked hearing the music coming from remote parts of the auditorium. I'm an easy giggler, though, and had to really try not to giggle when either Aaron or Michelle made funny noises into their instruments. I loved the advanced techniques very much!

The Wuorinin piece is one I think I'd have to warm up to. I love the sound of classical guitar (any type of guitar, really) and was setting myself up to hear something tonal and classically pretty. I have to admit, whenever someone is introducing their piece and says '12 tone' my ear kind of pouts. I would love to see the music, go through it and analyze it, but that's because 12 tone music is beautiful on the page and somewhat...Strange to the ear. Like what Milton Babbit said in "Who cares if you listen." This isn't music to listen to, though that's what we do with it.

Good concert, though! Great variety of styles and instrumentations. :)