Greg's Gazebo

Started by greg, August 30, 2007, 11:11:10 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Karl Henning

You're "going Gangnam," aren't you?
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

ibanezmonster

Quote from: karlhenning on December 20, 2012, 12:51:50 PM
You're "going Gangnam," aren't you?
Ughh... no.  :o :-X


Quote from: snyprrr on December 20, 2012, 12:50:16 PM
What will be the features of the guitar piece? Will you detune and play hard core asian music? (lots of whacks, thwaps, and ringing asian chords) Or fantasy?
At the most, the Asian element would be a small element. I'm thinking Mahlerian-style Romanticism coming from the acoustic guitar. Maybe somewhat of a blend of Takemitsu and Mahler or something. No alternate tunings. Maybe some extended techniques and plenty of well-placed sul ponticello.

Well, when I pick up and play acoustic guitar (my mom's, since I don't have my own) improvisations, it sounds incredibly great and well-suited for Mahler-style Romanticism. Not every instrument does. Mahler in a contemplative, slow, soulful mood would have written some of the greatest acoustic guitar works ever.

It would be somewhat of a mixture of Mono no Aware and Weltschmerz, which are close to being the same thing, anyways. I have in mind the village, which is like a paradise, yet one of the characters of the show, Rika, is the only one aware through the time loop of repeated events in which the same summer is repeated, ending in the deaths of her friends. Imagine how you would feel if your existence was the same repeated summer, a thousand times, where all of your friends die horrible deaths at the end. Look at the wonderful scenery while thinking about that: that is what I would like to express.

snyprrr

Quote from: Greg on December 20, 2012, 07:12:49 PM
Ughh... no.  :o :-X

At the most, the Asian element would be a small element. I'm thinking Mahlerian-style Romanticism coming from the acoustic guitar. Maybe somewhat of a blend of Takemitsu and Mahler or something. No alternate tunings. Maybe some extended techniques and plenty of well-placed sul ponticello.

Well, when I pick up and play acoustic guitar (my mom's, since I don't have my own) improvisations, it sounds incredibly great and well-suited for Mahler-style Romanticism. Not every instrument does. Mahler in a contemplative, slow, soulful mood would have written some of the greatest acoustic guitar works ever.

It would be somewhat of a mixture of Mono no Aware and Weltschmerz, which are close to being the same thing, anyways. I have in mind the village, which is like a paradise, yet one of the characters of the show, Rika, is the only one aware through the time loop of repeated events in which the same summer is repeated, ending in the deaths of her friends. Imagine how you would feel if your existence was the same repeated summer, a thousand times, where all of your friends die horrible deaths at the end. Look at the wonderful scenery while thinking about that: that is what I would like to express.

LOL, Mahler-meets-Takemitsu. THAT I'd have to hear, haha!!

oy vey-ah so

ibanezmonster

Quote from: snyprrr on December 22, 2012, 10:37:59 AM
LOL, Mahler-meets-Takemitsu. THAT I'd have to hear, haha!!

oy vey-ah so
The film score Ran is actually Takemitsu himself with a Mahler influence in the music. For acoustic guitar would be pretty interesting...

ibanezmonster

Minor note:
Won't have much time this semester to write Hyouka, since I'm putting in a lot of time (about 60-70) hours a week with work and school, including some 15 hour days; however, I have some great ideas and the piece we be awesome when it is finished. Wrote a few bars of the Chitanda's House movement, and it's exactly what I'm aiming to express; likewise with the other movements.

Probably this piece will be finished between summer and fall, and then on to Hinamizawa.

Again, Hyouka's layout (solo piano):
I Library
II Clubroom
III Chitanda's House
IV Mystery
V School Festival
VI Another Mystery
VII The Future

I'm continuing the usage of some musically odd techniques while retaining a somewhat accessible (but creative, not dumbed-down) idiom...

ibanezmonster

Couldn't help myself. I should be doing homework. Wrote this (mostly) today.

The sketch for the "School Festival" movement:
http://www.mediafire.com/?868pdokcor2o7u2

Crazy stuff, huh?  8)

ibanezmonster


ibanezmonster

I got probably half or close to half of Hyouka completed. The whole piece will end up being over 30 minutes, easily my longest so far.
Right now, though, I'm sensing a break (maybe a month or so) from writing. Maybe.

It was interesting to realize that on some Wednesdays (my day off for the week), I couldn't stop writing- perhaps 5-7 hours straight, unable to stop. Probably a result of only having that one day to write, even though I felt like writing other days.

I really don't see myself writing much at all until after 2015, when I graduate. When Hyouka is finished, I probably won't write anything for a long time, but instead do some more programming, which is much more important right now. I might just save that acoustic guitar piece idea, "Hinamizawa," for next year or whenever I have the urge to write something.

Karl Henning

Good to hear of the productive Wednesdays, and of the approaching completion of Hyouka. And interesting to read your thoughts, generally. Carry on!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

ibanezmonster

Quote from: karlhenning on March 17, 2013, 04:12:50 AM
Good to hear of the productive Wednesdays, and of the approaching completion of Hyouka. And interesting to read your thoughts, generally. Carry on!
:)

ibanezmonster

Working on 21-note per second alternate picking exercises on the guitar, played as clean as possible.

Starting position: G F E A G F E C Bb A D C Bb A G F E A G F E

>:D

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

ibanezmonster

Yeah, well, with alternate picking it's tough.  :D I can just barely get in all those notes in the first sequence, but when it comes to moving up or down the next while continuing it, it gets tough. Something to work on.  ;D

With sweep-picking arpeggios, though, I can do about 24 notes per second.

ibanezmonster

Quote from: Greg on March 26, 2013, 10:57:12 AM
Working on 21-note per second alternate picking exercises on the guitar, played as clean as possible.
Got it!
One day, I'll write an electric guitar concerto that nobody will be able to play but me.  :P

Hyouka should be resumed within the next week or so...

Next week will be when I'm not busy for 70-80 hours a week any more (should drop down to ~50), but I'm thinking of organizing stuff like:
1. for fun: either play a video game, watch an anime, or read a book, but only one at a time
2. for learning/creating: either compose, study japanese, or program whenever I feel like it.

just to keep track of everything...

ibanezmonster

Hyouka should be done within the next few weeks.

Status:
Movement
1: Done
2: Done
3: About a minute written- should be ~6 min. long
4: Done
5: Done, but sections may be subject to rewriting
6: About a minute written- no idea if this will be 2 min. long or 5 min. long
7: Just an idea for the beginning, but it should end up being about 5 min. long

Still on track for a length of 30+ min.
I'm actually going to try to make this the last thing I'll write for a long time (for the next couple years), unless I quickly write some short pieces or something. Not sure I'll even do that "Hinamizawa" piece.  :-\



Quote from: Greg on April 25, 2013, 10:43:36 AM
I'm thinking of organizing stuff like:
1. for fun: either play a video game, watch an anime, or read a book, but only one at a time
2. for learning/creating: either compose, study japanese, or program whenever I feel like it.
Minor adjustment.
After I'm done with Hyouka, it will be more like this:
1. video game/anime/book (one at a time)
2. Japanese
3. Computer Programming

ibanezmonster

I decided to change the title of my op.1 Piano Sonata to "Musical Portraits," with the three movements named:

I Piedmon's Revenge
II Fields of Ice
III Psycho Chickens


(that was actually the original title of the third movement when it was a stand-alone piece).

I just don't feel like it should be a Piano Sonata of mine. It's too much of an early work; decent but not great. Still, for some reason, I feel comfortable with my op.2 being a String Quartet.

Karl Henning

Psycho chickens, qu'est-ce que c'est?
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

ibanezmonster

That is everyone's reaction...  :P
On NPR, they were playing musical samples of young composers writing in either Finale or Sibelius, and one was a work for strings (mainly pizzicato) that was titled something like "Attack of the Headless Chickens." That was in my mind at the time.

I wrote the first two bars in my 10th grade Biology class and named it later...


As for the others, Piedmon was an evil clown Digimon who turned the Digidestined into keychains, and the Fields of Ice title is simply what I picture when listening to that movement.

Piedmon:


Karl Henning

Quote from: Greg on May 14, 2013, 07:30:57 AM
That is everyone's reaction...  :P

Dang. Went right along with the herd . . . .
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

ibanezmonster

Pretty close to finished. I have to write the last movement and finish the third. Everything else is finished.
However, I seem to be stuck. This may be pushed back a bit. Maybe I need to take a break. Perhaps a month off? Probably that'll be the only way this gets finished...  :P