Yesterday I presented a couple of my ideas for assignment #1. They were well received and the feedback was great!
Some comments included:
- it sounded almost like blues
-it had an almost dance-like quality
- I basically have written a vamp
-Try and take the vamp and change it up instead of it staying the same for a long period of time
I personally really like the line between the trombone and tuba and I feel I can do a lot with it, but I am not really liking anything else I have right now. I'm going to take this next week and really get down to work. Hopefully I can figure out something that I actually like and can take to a whole new level! I still frustrate myself when I start to compose because I always feel like I have this road block in my mind preventing myself from writing something great. Oh the life of a composer...
Anyways I love the instrumentation that I have chosen as I feel quite at home with brass quintets, of course from personal experience. Its also a plus that I have a great group with plenty of experience playing with one another, which will hopefully add to the performance in the end.
I guess I have a busy week ahead of me!
-Jill
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Another fine journal entry!
ReplyDeleteAnother way of approaching your vamp idea is to recontextualize it, a concept we explored last term. This would be a perfect idea for that type of treatment because when listeners hear a vamp opening, we tend to expect certain things to follow; think of the opening to Dave Brubeck's "Take 5," for instance. A very cool vamp sets up a mood, and shortly thereafter, the sax comes in with the melody.
That is what typically happens in music with a vamp opening, and there ain't nuttin' wrong wit dat, as my Uncle Remus used to say. So, now that you have a context, you can play with it a bit... You could NOT come in with a melody on top of the vamp right away, but just play with the vamp for a while, as I suggested yesterday. Or you could come in with a melody, but have it not go very far and have the vamp take over the main interest, or they could go back and forth, or there could be sudden stops and starts, or...
You get the idea. Lots of fun and unexpected things could grow out of the vamp opening. Good luck with it!