Saturday, January 31, 2009

Attempt #2...

So after last week I decided that I really didn't like what I had originally presented. I liked the bass line but that was pretty well it, so I trashed it! I picked an excerpt from "The Whirlpool" by Jane Urquart and then based my new composition on it. It opens with the horn & trumpets blowing through their instruments while the Tuba & Trombone crumple paper, this is supposed to represent wind and rustling trees. The tuba and trombone then come in with a bass line, followed by the upper voices. Then there is a 16th note passage that repeats over and over like water, and a "random note" section follows.

Even though I only had bits and pieces actually written out, I'm very happy that I planned out the piece so I know where I am going with my composition. I think my idea was well received. People thought that the piece was definitely going well, and really fit the paragraph that I read in class. It was also suggested that I develop some of the figures further, expanding and adding to what I already have.

Overall I am extremely happy about where this piece is going and I hope that I get even more accomplished this week so that I can get it played by the brass quintet.

-Jill

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Project #1

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

Thursday, January 15, 2009

and so it begins...

So here we are back for another, sure to be great semester. Of course it wouldn't be complete without composition class, woot! After last semester I am so excited to continue learning and expanding my abilities/knowledge of composition. The set assignments for this term sound extremely interesting, and I enjoy the fact that we get to further explore composing in a "non-tonal" manner.
I'm looking forward to the final assignment in particular, hopefully my 12 years of concert band experience will help! Even so, the instrumentation is so much larger then what we have used before that it is still going to be a daunting endeavour.

To start the first assignment we had to create 3 atonal chords, and then put all of the notes together to create a unique scale. I used fairly dense chords (which i highly enjoy) but for the longest while i kept getting a chromatic scale. I finally worked out thick chords that created a not so chromatic scale: D, E-flat, F-sharp, G, G-sharp, B-flat, B, C & D. My scale is still very chromatic in sections but there are larger intervals that break it up. Overall I think it sounds great and I believe I can accomplish a lot with it!

-Jill