This week I only managed to add a small amount to my composition, which I was happy with, however it made me realise how much time it takes just to compose a little bit of music, especially in a piece that moves quickly.
Peoples' comments were:
-Sixteenth note runs (or any run, really) should usually finish on a strong beat, even if it's just a run in one voice and a finalizing note in another voice.
-My eighth note off beats in the flute could be accented and brought out more by having other instruments play the same rhythm.
-In my a section that is at present a flute solo, perhaps it could become one measure of flute solo, followed by the other instruments coming in for dramatic effect.
Thursday 22 March 2012
Sunday 11 March 2012
Week of March 5
This week I was a lot happier with what I came up with. My piece is more interesting and I am more excited about the possible directions it could go in.
-The flute part needs articulations, and could use irregular slurring patterns to bring out accents.
-Piano could accent the accented notes with chords, or with a unison note (to save large chord gesture for later).
-In the cello part, the open A string against lower notes (on double stops) might be too resonant compared to the lower note. If it is, the piano could double the lower note to bring it out more.
-The piano could have runs lading up to the flute's high accented notes.
-I could mess around with the ADSR envelope, ie. one instrument can do the attack on a note, while another sustains the note.
-An interesting texture/extended technique to try would be to have the flute playing into the piano with the pedal down (flute's mid range works best for this).
-The flute part needs articulations, and could use irregular slurring patterns to bring out accents.
-Piano could accent the accented notes with chords, or with a unison note (to save large chord gesture for later).
-In the cello part, the open A string against lower notes (on double stops) might be too resonant compared to the lower note. If it is, the piano could double the lower note to bring it out more.
-The piano could have runs lading up to the flute's high accented notes.
-I could mess around with the ADSR envelope, ie. one instrument can do the attack on a note, while another sustains the note.
-An interesting texture/extended technique to try would be to have the flute playing into the piano with the pedal down (flute's mid range works best for this).
Thursday 1 March 2012
Week of February 27 - March 2
This week I presented my first ideas for my piece for the Ora Ensemble. Overall I'm pretty disappointed/uninspired by what I put together. I was not in a good mindset when I was trying to write, I think, so I've decided to start again with something totally different, as my first ideas weren't met with a lot of enthusiasm (which didn't surprise me). Maybe it's helpful to get started with a total failure, because then you know exactly which direction not to go in.
The comments were:
-The overall tempo could be faster
-Having such a long solo (on flute, or really on any one instrument) isn't such a great idea, and it's usually best to present the ensemble as an ensemble pretty close to the beginning. All of the ensemble should be included within the first few bars in some way. A way to do this, while maintaining the flute solo idea, would be to have the other instruments hold pedal tones. Even just having the strings play very tiny parts (ie. pizzicato, which is about as sparse and minimal as it gets for a string instrument) would be another way to do this.
-The piano part should be written as if it's meant for piano (ie. pianistically). I'm not very good at doing this, even though I play piano, and it's definitely something I need to work on. Even just doubling the existing piano line in octaves is one way to add more depth and 'piano-ness' to a piano part.
-Flute parts should include breath marks.
-Extended techniques in the flute would be a good way to make this more interesting. Flutter tonguing, breathy tones and breath attacks (all demonstrated by Bekah) all sounded really interesting.
-Glissandi should be notated more specifically in terms of their rhythm.
The comments were:
-The overall tempo could be faster
-Having such a long solo (on flute, or really on any one instrument) isn't such a great idea, and it's usually best to present the ensemble as an ensemble pretty close to the beginning. All of the ensemble should be included within the first few bars in some way. A way to do this, while maintaining the flute solo idea, would be to have the other instruments hold pedal tones. Even just having the strings play very tiny parts (ie. pizzicato, which is about as sparse and minimal as it gets for a string instrument) would be another way to do this.
-The piano part should be written as if it's meant for piano (ie. pianistically). I'm not very good at doing this, even though I play piano, and it's definitely something I need to work on. Even just doubling the existing piano line in octaves is one way to add more depth and 'piano-ness' to a piano part.
-Flute parts should include breath marks.
-Extended techniques in the flute would be a good way to make this more interesting. Flutter tonguing, breathy tones and breath attacks (all demonstrated by Bekah) all sounded really interesting.
-Glissandi should be notated more specifically in terms of their rhythm.
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