Now on to something new...

First of all I'd like to wish everyone luck on the concert tomorrow night, i'm sure it will be great!!!

It's really nice to have the first assignment finished with a resulting work that I am very happy about, but this means I now have to start assignment number 2. After thinking it over I definitely want to attept a piece for concert band. I know that there is a lot of work to it but I think i'm up for the challenge. Plus the GCB TerraNova program competition is a very good incentive! I have many years of concert band experience and I hope that this will transfer itself into my composition. I'm still thinking over some ideas for this project but I hope that over the weekend I can get something started.

-Jill

Finished!!!

So last friday I presented my "completed" piece for the class completely from beginning to end. I think it turned out pretty good, and I did receive a lot of helpful feedback from the theory interviewee Robert Rival. Some suggestions were:
-the blowing throught the instrument section is rhythmic, which was great but after a while it could be changed up to become less rhythmic. (this was a good idea so i did change it up a bit)
-consider what other materials/items could be used along with the crumpled paper, such as a maraca, a rain stick etc. (I also thought this was a good suggestion but because of time i opted to only go with the paper)
-The held C and C# in the tuba line can become redundant, so i changed it up to be more interesting
- I added another rip in the horn near the end so the one measure of it wouldn't seem so out of place
- The aleatoric section should be thinned out a bit so that the horn solo could be heard and the notation needed to be fixed (i fixed this section and am hoping that is now clearer)

I'm very pleased with how this piece turned out! Now onto project #2!

-Jill

The Whirlpool

So over this past week my piece has come a long way, which is very exciting! I'm so glad that I finally have a direction and a plan to follow, leaving little chance for me to experience composer's block.
I presented in class again this past friday and it went very well! It was the first time with actual performers and the unusually large audience was rather intimidating but my composition was very well recieved. The comments I received were great, and everything Scott had to say was very insightful.
Some comments were:
-work on the transitions between sections so the piece is more unified
-introduce some motivic material earlier in the piece to foreshadow what is to come (I will definitely try to do this)
- letting the first trumpet play out over the texture was used well and in good contrast, maybe extend this section, or take a little longer to start this
- bring back the "wind" effect later in the middle of the piece instead of just beginning and ending with it
-in the aleatoric section work on the notation, put a full score in each part at this time so all of the players are aware of what is happening and are able to stay in time ( i think this is a great idea, i was trying to figure out the best method to this all week!)
-work at dynamic contrasts!

Although I still have a bit of work to do, I think this piece is really coming together and will hopefully be finished for next friday!

-Jill

New Found Music Festival!

"In C" was definitely the best workshop I have attended thus far and it attracted a large audience which made it that much more exciting. This minimalist piece is such a great example of twentieth century ingenuity in the realm of composition. It was written for any number of musicians, and those that were present ranged from trombones and horns, to flutes, clarinets, oboes, singers, guitarists and percussionists, even a recorder and a xaphoon. The piece consists of 53 short phrases that can be repeated over and over for an infinite amount of time. They are to be played in order but the performers can decide for how long and whether to skip any of the phrases. We varied when everyone started playing by starting on one side of the room and continuing until everyone was playing, everyone would also take turns sitting out. The whole time there are octave C’s being played as continuous eighth notes acting as a metronome for the ensemble. It is so interesting that the development of the piece depends entirely on the musicians who are performing it! We played for about 50 minutes but it could have gone on for a lot longer. Myself and Heidi made it even more interesting by switching instruments half way through. The atmosphere that was created was unlike anything I have ever experienced, and definitely think that participating in this work is so much more effective then listening or learning about the piece.

Overall the Festival seemed to be a wonderful success and I am looking forward to the next one!

-Jill