GMG Classical Music Forum

The Music Room => Composing and Performing => Topic started by: greg on August 30, 2007, 11:11:10 AM

Title: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on August 30, 2007, 11:11:10 AM
11/24/2012:

op.1 Piano Sonata 1                               mp3 (http://www.mediafire.com/?oasia4yw4yxaatl) pdf (http://www.mediafire.com/view/?96w9edgm3jxe3m3)
op.2 String Quartet                                mp3 (http://www.mediafire.com/?q7ol56h3os32smb) pdf (http://www.mediafire.com/view/?xk7w52cabimkm3b)
op.3 Ubloobideega                                 mp3 (http://www.mediafire.com/?425e6bp6pjfb3i8) pdf (http://www.mediafire.com/view/?jsynbyli7yxntbb)
op.4 Blather Lather                                mp3 (http://www.mediafire.com/?l3l7vkdbd783p80) pdf (http://www.mediafire.com/view/?1c27d6d42i1x611)
op.5 The Bend of Time                            mp3 (http://www.mediafire.com/?ye8l20kunk5xvjp) pdf (http://www.mediafire.com/view/?vu96b8r11oy3n7l)
op.6 We'll C                                            mp3 (http://www.mediafire.com/?6xyaz7ok2v9g18m) pdf (http://www.mediafire.com/view/?9r48225cw4gj39u)
op.7 Under Lucid Skies                           mp3 (http://www.mediafire.com/?qtl4zy7t2cf7tyk) pdf (http://www.mediafire.com/view/?wmle8kmzk8lk8w4)
op.8 Prokofiev's op.88                            mp3 (http://www.mediafire.com/?3s9ftd491k17ytd) pdf (http://www.mediafire.com/view/?039w86jw9bm7vbx)
op.9 Phantom Travels                             mp3 (http://www.mediafire.com/?wotwv5v4jghbv9b) pdf (http://www.mediafire.com/view/?lq1g4lu1rc602b3)
op.10 Piano Sonata 2 (in progress)


Entire collection (http://www.mediafire.com/?q1dgr5a4y233cup) (zip package)


-PDFs now uploaded, mp3s now using Sibelius Sound Essentials. Added complete zip folder.
-For now, these are download links. Eventually, I'll have my own site hosted (my entire site is already done, but not hosted yet) with direct links that will open up the mp3 files as a page (listenable online) and pdfs in Adobe Reader within the web browser.
-Scores and mp3s aren't perfect (too large of a master volume difference between op.5 and 7, for example), but good enough, I think.
-Year written added to first music page of scores.
-Changed title of op.3. In honor of our mighty emperor.
-Changed minor details of op.1 second movement
-op.9 is the most glitch-free yet- just one glitch: bassoon has a note cut off at 3'43". These glitches are ridiculous, and I have to listen to the whole thing (14 minutes) to find them. Maybe one day the piece will be glitch-free.
-Eventually will make the scores a bit more consistent in design.
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: BachQ on August 30, 2007, 11:12:40 AM
Quote from: greg on August 30, 2007, 11:11:10 AM
it's for string orchestra,

Why not add a little oboe and french horn?
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: Larry Rinkel on August 30, 2007, 11:28:49 AM
Quote from: D Minor on August 30, 2007, 11:12:40 AM
Why not add a little oboe and french horn?

Because it's for string orchestra, D.
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: greg on August 30, 2007, 11:29:23 AM
Quote from: D Minor on August 30, 2007, 11:12:40 AM
Why not add a little oboe and french horn?
that would be a strange combination over a string orchestra  :o
we'll see, if i do add anything, it'll probably just be something percussion-related

ok, off to "work"  8)
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: karlhenning on August 30, 2007, 11:32:42 AM
Work well, Greg!
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: BachQ on August 30, 2007, 11:44:50 AM
Quote from: greg on August 30, 2007, 11:29:23 AM
that would be a strange combination over a string orchestra  :o

precisely
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: Mark G. Simon on August 30, 2007, 12:24:45 PM
Somehow, the title of this thread led me to believe it would be a discussion of a certain Schoenberg piano piece.
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: Larry Rinkel on August 30, 2007, 01:02:40 PM
Quote from: Mark G. Simon on August 30, 2007, 12:24:45 PM
Somehow, the title of this thread led me to believe it would be a discussion of a certain Schoenberg piano piece.

Had it been Op. 4, the pun would have been even wittier, though perhaps missing in transfiguration.
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: Cato on September 03, 2007, 05:12:50 AM
Quote from: Mark G. Simon on August 30, 2007, 12:24:45 PM
Somehow, the title of this thread led me to believe it would be a discussion of a certain Schoenberg piano piece.

Dude!!!  That was precisely why I clicked on it!!!   

Were we both instinctively thinking of the Three Piano Pieces because of the "Opus 11" title?

In any case, perhaps Schoenberg's spirit hovers over Mr. Greg as he conjures forth another effort!

And an oboe or French horn with a string orchestra would be an excellent way to create a Kammerkonzert a la Hindemith.

I would go with an English horn actually!  Or a an alto or even a bass flute!
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: Mark G. Simon on September 03, 2007, 05:53:52 AM
Quote from: Cato on September 03, 2007, 05:12:50 AM
Dude!!!  That was precisely why I clicked on it!!!   

Were we both instinctively thinking of the Three Piano Pieces because of the "Opus 11" title?

Somehow one doesn't expect Beethoven's Trio for clarinet, cello and piano or Schumann's 1st piano sonata in F# minor to be thread-starters.

Hindemith's op. 11 has that cool solo viola sonata with quarter = 600 tempo marking. Always fun to talk about.

Anyway, Greg, here's your thread back. Enjoy your string orchestra. Maybe you can write a "Threnody for the vicitims of Abu Graib" or something.
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: greg on September 03, 2007, 08:37:25 AM
Quote from: Mark G. Simon on September 03, 2007, 05:53:52 AM

Hindemith's op. 11 has that cool solo viola sonata with quarter = 600 tempo marking. Always fun to talk about.

wow, i've never heard of that, that's insane!  :o
so.... i was about to update this thread anyways with a few thoughts
the first is, i would estimate it to be done by December. Just a wild guess

the second is, i've decided it might be best to write the whole thing on 2 staves, as if it were a piano piece. I think one of the reasons why i wrote a couple of "attempts" with 4 stave orchestral/string whatever stuff and then abandoned it is because it's just too hard to look at 4 staves and play 2 with two hands! So i guess i'll just keep it to 2 staves as much as humanly possibly and then, if i need a third i'll use it.

the third is, i'm going to make sure this one is really good. I've had to go back and erase and change a lot, so i haven't made much progress. It might take awhile, while after lots of erasing and working with an idea and then realizing it's not really that great and i can do better, it turns out that my next one is usually better  ;D
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: greg on September 03, 2007, 08:39:26 AM
i think Saul wrote an orchestral work once called Night.......
to be honest, i kinda liked it, even though usually his piano Etudes sound like exercises copied from an exercise book he manages to sound better with an orchestra, which is more complex lol
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: Mark G. Simon on September 03, 2007, 09:32:03 AM
Quote from: greg on September 03, 2007, 08:37:25 AM
the third is, i'm going to make sure this one is really good. I've had to go back and erase and change a lot, so i haven't made much progress. It might take awhile, while after lots of erasing and working with an idea and then realizing it's not really that great and i can do better, it turns out that my next one is usually better  ;D

Cage reported that Schoenberg once pointed to the eraser end of a pencil and said "this end is more important than the other".
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: greg on September 04, 2007, 05:51:02 AM
Quote from: Mark G. Simon on September 03, 2007, 09:32:03 AM
Cage reported that Schoenberg once pointed to the eraser end of a pencil and said "this end is more important than the other".
lol! i'll remember that quote, Schoenberg was a smart man.

yesterday, i just used it to erase every single bar except the first. Sure, you can come up with something that sounds good at one moment, but when you play it again, it just doesn't make sense.
I wrote 9 bars where the violins start it out and here's how it goes when i play through:
bar 1- fine
bar 2- doesn't make sense to write this at this moment, although it sounded good at first
bar 3- (a single note) totally banal-sounding
bar 4 to 7- the octave leap is actually nice, but then it goes into notes that are just questionable
bar 8 to 9- i would like it if it were in a completely different context, it resolves in E major and the resolution itself doesn't feel like it makes any sense

i know for sure that it's because while writing this opening line i've come to stops and then tried to figure out what to do next- that's the whole problem, the best stuff, or at least the majority of what you write just comes to you, and you try to transcribe what you hear. Probably the best time of all to compose would be in the middle of the night, waking up at maybe 3, when you can't think straight and your consciousness is really impaired. The best, clearest dreams are usually at 4, i really wonder if there is some sort of relation?...... (in fact, when i was reading about lucid dreaming, you had to wake up at around 4, stay up a little bit and go back to sleep).
i could go on, i just remember a few things, but nah, i'll be rambling like an old man...
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: Cato on September 04, 2007, 09:46:55 AM
Quote from: greg on September 04, 2007, 05:51:02 AM
lol! i'll remember that quote, Schoenberg was a smart man.

yesterday, i just used it to erase every single bar except the first. Sure, you can come up with something that sounds good at one moment, but when you play it again, it just doesn't make sense.
I wrote 9 bars where the violins start it out and here's how it goes when i play through:
bar 1- fine
bar 2- doesn't make sense to write this at this moment, although it sounded good at first
bar 3- (a single note) totally banal-sounding
bar 4 to 7- the octave leap is actually nice, but then it goes into notes that are just questionable
bar 8 to 9- i would like it if it were in a completely different context, it resolves in E major and the resolution itself doesn't feel like it makes any sense

i know for sure that it's because while writing this opening line i've come to stops and then tried to figure out what to do next- that's the whole problem, the best stuff, or at least the majority of what you write just comes to you, and you try to transcribe what you hear. Probably the best time of all to compose would be in the middle of the night, waking up at maybe 3, when you can't think straight and your consciousness is really impaired. The best, clearest dreams are usually at 4, i really wonder if there is some sort of relation?...... (in fact, when i was reading about lucid dreaming, you had to wake up at around 4, stay up a little bit and go back to sleep).
i could go on, i just remember a few things, but nah, i'll be rambling like an old man...

I should send you off to read Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus, wherein the devil (a possibly syphilitic hallucination) tells the crypto-Schoenbergian composer Adrian Leverkuehn that composing has become "devilishly hard" these days, that right when you think have something decently original, you conclude that it sounds too much like Rimsky-Korsakov, or somebody else, and you begin to despair of ever forging anything new and worthwhile.

Despair is the devil's key to your soul!    >:D

Which is why all real Americans are always optimistic!    0:)
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: greg on September 04, 2007, 10:58:17 AM
Quote from: Cato on September 04, 2007, 09:46:55 AM
I should send you off to read Thomas Mann's Doctor Faustus, wherein the devil (a possibly syphilitic hallucination) tells the crypto-Schoenbergian composer Adrian Leverkuehn that composing has become "devilishly hard" these days, that right when you think have something decently original, you conclude that it sounds too much like Rimsky-Korsakov, or somebody else, and you begin to despair of ever forging anything new and worthwhile.

Despair is the devil's key to your soul!    >:D

Which is why all real Americans are always optimistic!    0:)
i looked that book up:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doktor_Faustus

that sounds like a fun book!  :D Next time i go to the library, i'll see if they have it.

QuoteAcknowledgement to Arnold Schönberg
In the novel (Chapter XXII) Leverkühn develops the twelve-tone technique or row system, which was actually invented by Arnold Schoenberg. Schönberg lived near Mann in Los Angeles as the novel was being written. He was very annoyed by this appropriation (without consent)), and later editions of the novel included an Author's Note at the end acknowledging that the technique was Schönberg's intellectual property, and that passages of the book dealing with musical theory are indebted in many details to Schönberg's Harmonielehre.
that's cool  8)

but yeah, that's just how it seems these days, i haven't written anything in almost a year, but i've had an idea every once few months, except i'd write something down and then erase it!  :o
the two main problems are: 1) i'm starting to compose at the piano instead of the guitar 2) using 4 staves instead of 2 when i attempt something orchestral

i've solved #2, deciding from now on to stick to two staves (it can be done, although a lot of information might be left out in some sections, and i have to do stuff like never write octaves, whatever to save space). The solution to #1 is to just learn how to play the piano much better; i've been playing through Prokofiev's sonatas and have gotten a lot better since a long time ago, though still i can play very little at full speed. And playing his stuff is fuuuuuuuuuuun!!!!  ;D ;D ;D

so, i might just practice the piano for a few months and pick up where i left off (bar 2 lol)
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: BachQ on September 04, 2007, 12:22:20 PM
Greg, don't you have your own gazebo for posting your compositions?  Where is it?
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: greg on September 04, 2007, 12:55:20 PM
Quote from: D Minor on September 04, 2007, 12:22:20 PM
Greg, don't you have your own gazebo for posting your compositions?  Where is it?
not since the forum changed to this place

here, i'm going to upload all of my music to the very first post of this thread, i just figured out how to make a zip file, just gimme a few minutes and it should be up
Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: greg on September 04, 2007, 12:58:07 PM
oh wait, never mind... i'll do it tomorrow, looks like there's more to it than i thought
Title: In re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: BachQ on September 04, 2007, 12:58:24 PM
Greg, change the name of this thread to "Greg's Gazebo".

You started the thread, so you have the power.

Make it so.

Everything is going to be OK.

Title: Re: In re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on September 04, 2007, 02:18:11 PM
Quote from: D Minor on September 04, 2007, 12:58:24 PM
Greg, change the name of this thread to "Greg's Gazebo".

You started the thread, so you have the power.

Make it so.

Everything is going to be OK.

Gazebafy this thread, Greg!
Title: Re: op.12 Night
Post by: greg on September 05, 2007, 06:39:40 AM
ok, look at the opening post, i have all my stuff there  :)
Title: Re: op.12 Night
Post by: BachQ on September 05, 2007, 06:47:55 AM
How 'bout a gazebo?

Title: Re: op.11 Night
Post by: Cato on September 05, 2007, 06:58:19 AM
Quote from: greg on September 04, 2007, 10:58:17 AM
i looked that book up:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doktor_Faustus

that sounds like a fun book!  :D Next time i go to the library, i'll see if they have it.
that's cool  8)

but yeah, that's just how it seems these days, i haven't written anything in almost a year, but i've had an idea every once few months, except i'd write something down and then erase it!  :o
the two main problems are: 1) i'm starting to compose at the piano instead of the guitar 2) using 4 staves instead of 2 when i attempt something orchestral

i've solved #2, deciding from now on to stick to two staves (it can be done, although a lot of information might be left out in some sections, and i have to do stuff like never write octaves, whatever to save space). The solution to #1 is to just learn how to play the piano much better; i've been playing through Prokofiev's sonatas and have gotten a lot better since a long time ago, though still i can play very little at full speed. And playing his stuff is fuuuuuuuuuuun!!!!  ;D ;D ;D

so, i might just practice the piano for a few months and pick up where i left off (bar 2 lol)

Thomas Mann's Doktor Faustus is a very musical and a very German book, even though it was written in exile in California.

Schoenberg hated the thing!  Supposedly when he happened to see one of his ex-patriate friends in an L.A. grocery store and the topic of this book came up he intoned with incense "I'll have you know I have never had syphilis!"  That Thomas Mann was baffled by his reaction, since the book is more about Germany and its history as seen through a fictitious composer who is clearly not Schoenberg (except for that composing technique) goes without saying.

That explains the note at the end of the text, which is written also in Mann's ironic high style.

Anyway: on composing I always found two staves restricting, and most of the time used at least 4 staves, if not 6 or 8, depending on the size of the work.  And then it was on to the orchestral paper.

One of my former students graduated from the Mozarteum in Salzburg and is now a professor of piano: Prokofiev sonatas are his specialty.

It is usually good to have Prokofiev at your fingertips!
Title: Re: op.12 Night
Post by: mahlertitan on September 05, 2007, 07:12:06 AM
interesting compositions, maybe i should upload some of mine too..
Title: Re: op.12 Night
Post by: greg on September 05, 2007, 07:16:36 AM
Quote from: D Minor on September 05, 2007, 06:47:55 AM
How 'bout a gazebo?


alrighty then, if you and Karl want a Gazebo, i'll give you one  8)

Quote from: MahlerTitan on September 05, 2007, 07:12:06 AM
interesting compositions, maybe i should upload some of mine too..
Go ahead! I'd love to hear!  :)

Quote from: Cato on September 05, 2007, 06:58:19 AM
Anyway: on composing I always found two staves restricting, and most of the time used at least 4 staves, if not 6 or 8, depending on the size of the work.  And then it was on to the orchestral paper.
or maybe i could do as much as possible with 2 staves and then add whatever i could on a couple other blank staves so i don't forget all the other stuff i want to add (but the first two staves would be something that i could play through myself, with just 2 hands)
probably this is closer to how most composers work, when i was writing with 4, the 1st staff might have writing, the 2nd might be blank, and the 3rd might have writing- it was very confusing to look at

Quote from: Cato on September 05, 2007, 06:58:19 AM
One of my former students graduated from the Mozarteum in Salzburg and is now a professor of piano: Prokofiev sonatas are his specialty.

It is usually good to have Prokofiev at your fingertips!
sweeet  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on September 05, 2007, 07:30:43 AM
Did Night morph into Opus 12?  What came of Opus 11?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: BachQ on September 05, 2007, 07:36:45 AM
Quote from: greg on September 05, 2007, 07:16:36 AM
alrighty then, if you and Karl want a Gazebo, i'll give you one  8)


8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on September 05, 2007, 07:48:27 AM
Ah! I am now briefed!

Quote from: greg on August 30, 2007, 11:11:10 AM
i added that piece that is based off of Terry Riley's In C as op.11, "We'll C" (yep, i just thought of the title)
so if my next opus is called "Night", it'll be op.12, that's why i changed the thread name
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on September 10, 2007, 10:07:16 AM
i'm writing down Blather Lather, op.6 and Opassa Beach, op.8, and also the rest of Outside the Village

i didn't like how Blather Lather sounds, though- the structure just isn't right, i'm combining it into one movement this time.
Opassa Beach is a string trio which barely makes it to the second page

when this will all be done, who knows, it may be awhile. But it will surely feel good to have all of my compositions in one neat little package, all complete!  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on September 18, 2007, 06:01:37 AM
good news!
but first let me start off by saying a couple of things i did before last night with my music.
1) worked more on Blather Lather, more specifically, just kept the theme from the beginning of the second movement to develop, mainly throughout, erasing basically the whole thing besides that. I don't have too much of it written yet, but i don't expect the piece to be longer than 4 or 5 minutes.
2) this is a bit crazy- but i designated my "95 measures in 4/4 time" (with my electric guitar playing over a looped drum track) as op.12!  ;D I didn't think it would be a bad thing to do, really, even though it isn't exactly "classical", but it's something that could easily be written out as a score- some time eventually i will write out the score, it'd be easy. The guitar part is easy to write, and for the drums, i'd just have to write one bar and then write "play 95 times" lol

the main point, though, is that i got so tired of not being able to compose that i just went for it. Took my guitar, started writing in Noteworthy like I used to. op.13, Night. I was just messing around on guitar when i came up for the opening line, the contrabasses playing pp, s.p., tremolo, (in the lowest register) Bb for a half note duration, G for a half note duration, F# for a half note duration. Then everything started from there, i ended up writing over a minute in one sitting!  :o

i set it up as a string quintet (vn 1, vn 2, va, vc, vb) and intended it to be an orchestral score, but now i'm going to try to see if i can set it up using an orchestral template cuz hearing it as a string quintet and imagining it played by orchestra really sux. Anyways, I'm extremely satisfied with this minute i've written so far, the only thing i have to do now is avoid my #1 mistake, moving on to new ideas too quickly. And now I know more than ever how to do that.

so what is "Night" about? i've taken inspiration writing this from a dream i had a few days ago, it was like a nightmare in a totally 100% untraditional sense. I had the soft joyous melodies of Prokofiev's Cello Sonata playing while I found something that made me sick (and is probably happening in real life anyways  :P ). The music "underneath" all of this I guess you could say is this piece, Night. I want it to represent the truth, extreme moodyness, confusion, and a desire to escape, all in a neoRomantic idiom. And I've gotten off to a great start  >:D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on September 18, 2007, 08:04:08 AM
just orchestrated the first minute  ;)

please ignore the last couple of seconds, starting at the 1 minute mark, those are just a few bars i'm working on that i haven't filled in yet

i think it's a nice, dark intro that's a cross between the opening of Mahler's 3rd and Schubert's Unfinished. Every time I listen I'm really excited, it's simple now, but I haven't written anything like this before- later when it gets to the more complex parts, i really won't be able to wait!  :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on September 19, 2007, 10:19:21 AM
made a few slight changes in the clip, w/volume and stuff...
but after that first minute, what to do next has been extremely hard today. It's not a problem of writing in general, just ideas- i don't want it to jump to the next idea, yet i also don't want it stay too much the same, because it can get boring and lead into a sound harmonically that i don't want. I've written, now, 3 different plans today for the next few bars, but every time i go over it and play it again i seriously don't know what to think. The littlest thing can make such a big impact that it turns the whole thing into a direction i don't like, i guess i just have to be careful and keep on coming up with ideas until i find one that i'm absolutely satisfied with, as satisfied as i am with the 1st minute  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: BachQ on September 19, 2007, 10:20:58 AM
Quote from: greg on September 19, 2007, 10:19:21 AM
It's not a problem of writing in general, just ideas- i don't want it to jump to the next idea, yet i also don't want it stay too much the same, because it can get boring and lead into a sound harmonically that i don't want.

Go for a long walk ........ preferably in the forests and countrysides of Germany and Austria ..........
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on September 19, 2007, 10:24:30 AM
Quote from: D Minor on September 19, 2007, 10:20:58 AM
... preferably in the forests and countrysides of Germany and Austria ..........

Don't do it, Greg!  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on September 19, 2007, 10:25:49 AM
Quote from: D Minor on September 19, 2007, 10:20:58 AM
Go for a long walk ........ preferably in the forests and countrysides of Germany and Austria ..........
:'(
that would be the perfect thing to do, but..... one day

i'll go for a walk here in my Florida neighborhood, after i meet my little brother at the bus stop in a few minutes. i guess that's the second best option  :P
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on September 19, 2007, 10:40:12 AM
Listen to the song the alligators sing . . . .
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on September 20, 2007, 06:34:21 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on September 19, 2007, 10:40:12 AM
Listen to the song the alligators sing . . . .
op.14 What the Alligators Tell Me  :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: BachQ on September 20, 2007, 08:36:22 AM
Quote from: greg on September 20, 2007, 06:34:21 AM
op.14 What the Alligators Tell Me  :)

Make it so.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on September 21, 2007, 05:51:54 PM
i got past the 1' mark safely.....
but now something is happening that is just wrong. Every time i try to open my .nwc file, it doesn't open- just has an error message, "this file failed to open. It may not exist or may be corrupted."

i added this 4-note bass line that transitions the music to the next section that's really, really striking, it's somewhat Shostakovich-like. But when i saved the MIDI file, it doesn't even get there. It stops a few bars before that. And what's weird is when i play back, sometimes the bass line doesn't even play at all, SOMETIMES. It's totally random. and how can playback be random, that doesn't make sense  ???

when i get it up again, i'd like some thoughts about how i transition the music using this bass line. Is it too soon or no? but of course, i have to rewrite the whole score and figure out how to do stuff that i have no idea how i pulled off, thanks piece of junk program
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: BachQ on September 21, 2007, 07:18:23 PM
Quote from: greg on September 21, 2007, 05:51:54 PM
i got past the 1' mark safely.....
but now something is happening that is just wrong. Every time i try to open my .nwc file, it doesn't open- just has an error message, "this file failed to open. It may not exist or may be corrupted."

i added this 4-note bass line that transitions the music to the next section that's really, really striking, it's somewhat Shostakovich-like. But when i saved the MIDI file, it doesn't even get there. It stops a few bars before that. And what's weird is when i play back, sometimes the bass line doesn't even play at all, SOMETIMES. It's totally random. and how can playback be random, that doesn't make sense  ???

It's cursed, Greg ..........
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on September 22, 2007, 04:47:36 AM
i just need a voodoo potion  :(
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 04, 2007, 06:36:53 AM
I've finished putting everything down in MIDI :)
But.... i want to post everything on the first post of this thread, i just need to get it into mp3 format. Anyone who can do this for me? I've tried doing this myself- i'd rather not go into the details, but it just isn't working out.  :P
i have op.1-12 and the clip of op.13 (or shall i say preview?  8) ) i want to make op.1-3 (each have 3 movements) into one file, with nice-sized pauses to seperate the movements, but i'm pretty sure i'll be able to do that myself
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on October 04, 2007, 06:59:18 AM
Quote from: greg on September 22, 2007, 04:47:36 AM
i just need a voodoo potion

I'll send you the e-mail address of an accredited witch-doctor . . . .
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 04, 2007, 03:49:17 PM
Quote from: karlhenning on October 04, 2007, 06:59:18 AM
I'll send you the e-mail address of an accredited witch-doctor . . . .
cool, go ahead
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: BachQ on October 04, 2007, 05:02:11 PM
Quote from: greg on October 04, 2007, 06:36:53 AM
with nice-sized pauses to seperate the movements,

We'll pay especial attention to pause length, Greg ........ and critique you accordingly ........
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on October 05, 2007, 04:10:24 AM
Quote from: greg on October 04, 2007, 03:49:17 PM
cool, go ahead

It's a while since I've been in touch with him, and he's moved into hedge fund management now.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 09, 2007, 10:00:12 AM
ok, i've updated.
i have the rest of my freakish stuff in MIDI, just check on the first page.

EDIT: just changed the link. Using MediaFire now for all my files, it's the best  :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 24, 2007, 06:36:45 AM
man, i thought i was never going to get anywhere on op.13! I stopped on 1:26 when the thing was lost. I rewrote the whole beginning exactly how it was before, then trying to write new stuff after that. I must've tried 7 or so different things, or sections, over the course of 4 or 5 different days of actual work. Then 2 nights ago, I finally wrote something that would bring me out to new sections- the solution, after an excessive amount of thinking, was somewhat simple. Sustain the bass drum roll and the low, almost inaudible horns. Write a free solo flute line- then i didn't know what to do after that. After working last night, I wrote for over an hour straight, writing 1:36 to 2:11 (in the music). Over 30 seconds, not too bad in one sitting.

At 1:48 a melody starts (the first developmentally possible melody!) which is something that really caught my attention- wow! How should I describe it? A melody that asks a question mark in a forest? One thing I'm wondering about is the bass drum roll. I'm writing the longest bass drum roll I know of, and i can't erase it because it sounds good with it being sustained, it is THE glue that holds the music together between these "sections". It starts at 1:23, but I can't see it ending until at least 2:30, probably 3:00 even. Whether a bass drummer can hold a quiet drum roll that long, i don't know  ???
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: BachQ on October 24, 2007, 08:10:41 AM
Quote from: greg on October 24, 2007, 06:36:45 AM
At 1:48 a melody starts (the first developmentally possible melody!) which is something that really caught my attention- wow! How should I describe it? A melody that asks a question mark in a forest?

At some point, it may be helpful to provide the music so that we may listen to it .........
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: johnQpublic on October 24, 2007, 08:35:21 AM
Quote from: greg on October 24, 2007, 06:36:45 AMIt starts at 1:23, but I can't see it ending until at least 2:30, probably 3:00 even. Whether a bass drummer can hold a quiet drum roll that long, i don't know  ???

No problem concerning player physical aspects and so long as its a concert bass drum that can angled to play sustained rolls there's no instrumental physical problems either.

Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on October 24, 2007, 09:08:01 AM
Quote from: greg on October 24, 2007, 06:36:45 AM
A melody that asks a question mark in a forest?

That's beautiful.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: BachQ on October 24, 2007, 09:23:32 AM
How does a questionmark in a forest differ from, say, a questionmark in a heath or glade?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on October 24, 2007, 09:27:31 AM
Quote from: D Minor on October 24, 2007, 09:23:32 AM
How does a questionmark in a forest differ from, say, a questionmark in a heath or glade?

That's beautiful, too.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: BachQ on October 24, 2007, 09:32:58 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on October 24, 2007, 09:27:31 AM
That's beautiful, too.

Mvt 1: Forest queries
Mvt 2: Heath queries
Mvt 3 .......
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 24, 2007, 09:52:32 AM
Quote from: johnQpublic on October 24, 2007, 08:35:21 AM
No problem concerning player physical aspects and so long as its a concert bass drum that can angled to play sustained rolls there's no instrumental physical problems either.


phew....  :)

i'll try to upload the music, hopefully i can get it up in less than an hour, though it might be tomorrow... i still have to fix a few things to fix from the transition of rewriting that first minute

(one thing that concerns me when it's listened to other people is that their MIDI might be different from mine. It can throw off the dynamics a lot, and dynamics are everything  >:( )


but hey, this is a good idea, maybe every time i write a few more minutes you guys could listen to the new minutes and comment if you want. I'll make sure to update from time to time  :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: johnQpublic on October 24, 2007, 10:11:21 AM
MIDI sucks...get real live musicians  ;)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 24, 2007, 10:18:11 AM
Quote from: johnQpublic on October 24, 2007, 10:11:21 AM
MIDI sucks...get real live musicians  ;)
you got a spare orchestra you can lend me, John? ;)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 24, 2007, 10:30:55 AM
ok, here it is.
so, i just want to know, is the bridge (1:29-1:47) a bit "awkward" or do you think it fits?
i just added the glockenspiel part less than 20 min ago lol... when i listen to it i'm thinking that it just really needed it! But after i listen, it REALLY helped the bridge sound better, when the contrabass and timpani are playing chromatics. I'm just not 100% sure about those seconds in between....
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 29, 2007, 10:22:03 AM
i think i'll update at about 7' then 12' or something, and it'll be somewhere under 20'.
somewhat fixed the "bridge" section- BUT now i'm considering putting a (figurative) big black line, to make sure of a seperation between the 2 sections, which i now know are definitely 2 distinct personalities. This will ensure that my music doesn't sound like it has multiple personality disorder.  ;D

last night i just typed and typed.... man, this stuff is coming along great!!! i don't think i could've done it with just a piano and sheets of staff paper.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: locrian on October 29, 2007, 10:24:00 AM
There's a flying monkey in Greg's gazebo!!!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 29, 2007, 10:29:36 AM
oh no!
what shall we do?

i'll call......
The Deadly Shooting Monkey to the rescue!
(http://www.xlarge.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/monkey-gun.jpg)

but as he soon realizes, the Poopy Flying Monkey is his brother!

oh no, will he murder his own brother for the sake of Greg's Gazebo?.......
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mikkeljs on October 29, 2007, 01:09:34 PM
Hey Greg!  :) How are you? Have you composed something new?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: BachQ on October 29, 2007, 01:40:28 PM
Quote from: mikkeljs on October 29, 2007, 01:09:34 PM
Have you composed something new?

Yes, he had a newly minted score for a grand opera ......... but he pooped on it .........
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: johnQpublic on October 29, 2007, 02:05:55 PM
Mint flavored scores give me "the runs".
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 30, 2007, 05:51:04 AM
Quote from: Herzog Wildfang on October 29, 2007, 01:40:28 PM
Yes, he had a newly minted score for a grand opera ......... but he pooped on it .........
:-[

Quote from: mikkeljs on October 29, 2007, 01:09:34 PM
Hey Greg!  :) How are you? Have you composed something new?
sup, Mikkel! Yeah, check on the first post of this thread. I have all of my stuff there linked to mediafire... a lot of it is just weird short little experiments but one piece i like more and more when i hear it is the op.11 "We'll C" (based off of Terry Riley's In C). And I'm working on an op.13, my first orchestral piece, "Night", which i have clips of.... though i've changed a bit of it so the clips are just to give everyone an idea, as i said i'll probably update when i'm halfway or 1/3 of the way through this piece, which will be just under 20'.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on November 12, 2007, 11:15:21 AM
i'm updating because i'm seriously thinking about not writing (or at least TRYING not to write more until I get Finale). I'm figuring with my job I can actually afford it, the two really big purchases i want to make this year (besides a car) is a home gym and Finale (~$500-600 each). I should be making at least $700 a month, if my schedule keeps on going this way i'll still have a couple hundred bucks left each month after the usual stuff to pay for. And community college seems really cheap, i got an e-mail awhile ago from the counselor of the school and she said the class is $337, for 2 months..... it seems like there should be more to this, maybe, i'll find out about that later.


just to let everyone know..... so they don't think i just erased my whole op.13  ;D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on November 14, 2007, 12:24:50 PM
ok...... just wanted to post the little changes and the what, 30" extra of music i wrote. The reason I'm doing this is because i'm almost 100% sure i want to delete from 1:25 until the end. I just didn't think the music I was writing was what I wanted for the piece, although it's actually pretty neat sounding stuff.

I write up to 2:54...
1:25 to 1:49 is just a messed up section with a plan to build some bridge, but i'll probably just extend this whole section and do some sort of bridge much later
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mahlertitan on November 15, 2007, 09:18:20 AM
Quote from: G...R...E...G... on November 14, 2007, 12:24:50 PM
ok...... just wanted to post the little changes and the what, 30" extra of music i wrote. The reason I'm doing this is because i'm almost 100% sure i want to delete from 1:25 until the end. I just didn't think the music I was writing was what I wanted for the piece, although it's actually pretty neat sounding stuff.

I write up to 2:54...
1:25 to 1:49 is just a messed up section with a plan to build some bridge, but i'll probably just extend this whole section and do some sort of bridge much later

well,
1. TURN OFF THE MOTOR!! or whatever that annoying percussion thing in the background is.
2. Ever heard the word "modulation"? don't you find music that always rest in the same key boring? I know i do
3. Turn of that motor thingy, there is hardly any development in there, i don't know what you "wanted" for the piece, maybe you can clarify beforehand.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: BachQ on November 15, 2007, 09:34:47 AM
Turn off the reverb .......
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Guido on November 15, 2007, 12:12:04 PM
Finale can be very easily got by, shall we say, less scrupulous methods.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on November 15, 2007, 01:50:03 PM
Quote from: Guido on November 15, 2007, 12:12:04 PM
Finale can be very easily got by, shall we say, less scrupulous methods.
check your pm  ;)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on November 15, 2007, 01:53:29 PM
Quote from: GBJGZW on November 15, 2007, 09:18:20 AM
well,
1. TURN OFF THE MOTOR!! or whatever that annoying percussion thing in the background is.
2. Ever heard the word "modulation"? don't you find music that always rest in the same key boring? I know i do
3. Turn of that motor thingy, there is hardly any development in there, i don't know what you "wanted" for the piece, maybe you can clarify beforehand.
1. it's a sustained bass drum...... in a real performance, it wouldn't sound bad, i don't think, because it's more "felt" than anything. But yeah, with MIDI it doesn't sound that great unfortuanetely
2. hmmmmm i'll have to check that again, i thought it sounded fine. Didn't want to build it up just yet, wanted to hold off a bit.
3. I thought the same thing for development, that's why i'm planning to extend the first section. All great thoughts  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: BachQ on November 15, 2007, 03:18:56 PM
Quote from: G...R...E...G... on November 15, 2007, 01:53:29 PM
1. it's a sustained bass drum......

Of course it is ......... how could we have missed that ?  ::)........

Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on November 16, 2007, 06:03:29 AM
Quote from: D Minor on November 15, 2007, 03:18:56 PM
Of course it is ......... how could we have missed that ?  ::)........


i don't know how GBJGZW missed that  ;D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on December 19, 2007, 06:00:16 AM
In each piece that i write, i want a certain attitude, so normally i write a description on the page with the instrumentation in my scores. I wrote a description here as well:

QuoteIn the depths of the deepest night
There is no turning back
Ride on, into blackness
While your dream remains lost forever
i want it to be as dark as a Pettersson symphony hehe  >:D

but the main thing is, after what, over a month, i finally wrote a couple of bars that I like and make sense after where i left off! And there were even a couple of times where i stayed up for 2 hours trying to write something after that point, only to erase during 7 different times.  :P

a couple more things:
-now i've reduced the staves, in Noteworthy, to 2 staves (treble and bass) + percussion (as a 3rd stave). It's much easier to write this way, even if it is at times a bit hard to read. Just layering all the instruments into 3 staves helps, you can still hear which instrument is playing what, anyways...
-i have an idea when it comes to actual scoring..... instead of a standard orchestral score, what'd be cool is to have a default of this setup:

          Treble
Winds   Bass

          Treble
Keys    Bass

           Treble
           Bass
Strings  Percussion

(where Winds= winds and brass, keys= harps, celesta, piano, etc., strings= strings, plus the percussion section)

and it'd be notated like fl, trp, v1-16., and roman numerals for percussion (I for the 1st percussionist, etc.)

i'd keep this as a default..... whenever a section isn't playing, i'd have it whited out. And, for greater readability, new staves can be freely added. But the minimum you'd see on each page is two systems of 7 staves, meaning 14 staves.

-i also need to rewrite all my stuff in Finale...  that might take forever lol :P
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on December 27, 2007, 08:31:29 AM
i hereby retire from composing indefinetely (maybe a year or so)....

ok, i guess i'm not retiring, but i doubt i'll have time for quite a while now that i know i'm going to school soon.....


my sketches... i only wrote a couple seconds more, but i like the transition- hardly thought i could've made it out of that section safely, but finally did.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on December 27, 2007, 08:33:20 AM
Quote from: 僕はグレグ (Greg) on December 27, 2007, 08:31:29 AM
. . . but i doubt i'll have time for quite a while now that i know i'm going to school soon.....

Oh, that's all right then.

I was worried that you were giving up composition in order to devote more time to establishing the 71 dB Center for Vibrational Field Research  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on December 27, 2007, 08:37:37 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on December 27, 2007, 08:33:20 AM
Oh, that's all right then.

I was worried that you were giving up composition in order to devote more time to establishing the 71 dB Center for Vibrational Field Research  8)
no, actually, that's why Ubloobideega gave up composing.

stopped at op.9,543,768.... and that op.9,543,769 he was working on was a masterpiece!  :-\
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mikkeljs on December 31, 2007, 09:18:28 AM
I liked that composition very much Greg!  :) Have you got time to study some theory or just make some analysis? 
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mikkeljs on December 31, 2007, 10:28:04 AM
Do you know, if there exists a piano transcription of Xenakis´s Mycenae Alpha? I just found it on youtube with it´s graphic score. I think it would be more ideal to arrange it for large ensemble orchestra with lots of strings, but I think microtonal and very complex sounds like that can easily be transcript for piano.

I read, that Messiaens bird transcriptions were critizised by ornitoliges for being not autentical, though Messiaen claimed, that he tried to copy the birds very precisely. One of the problems is, that the bird songs are microtonal. But Messiaen always write two voices as parrallels on a given interval, and a few times the interval chances. That results in very complex sounds. To me it sounds pretty much alike the bird songs.

By inspiration from Messiaen and Ives, I think it could be interresting to write a piano transcription of Mycenae Alpha if it doesn´t exists.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on December 31, 2007, 11:29:00 AM
Quote from: mikkeljs on December 31, 2007, 09:18:28 AM
I liked that composition very much Greg!  :) Have you got time to study some theory or just make some analysis? 
you mean the fragment to "Night"? good to hear  :)



Quote from: mikkeljs on December 31, 2007, 10:28:04 AM
Do you know, if there exists a piano transcription of Xenakis´s Mycenae Alpha? I just found it on youtube with it´s graphic score. I think it would be more ideal to arrange it for large ensemble orchestra with lots of strings, but I think microtonal and very complex sounds like that can easily be transcript for piano.

I read, that Messiaens bird transcriptions were critizised by ornitoliges for being not autentical, though Messiaen claimed, that he tried to copy the birds very precisely. One of the problems is, that the bird songs are microtonal. But Messiaen always write two voices as parrallels on a given interval, and a few times the interval chances. That results in very complex sounds. To me it sounds pretty much alike the bird songs.

By inspiration from Messiaen and Ives, I think it could be interresting to write a piano transcription of Mycenae Alpha if it doesn´t exists.
now that's a fun idea!  :D



http://youtube.com/watch/v/yztoaNakKok
(i didn't even know it was on youtube, good thing you found it for me)

i have followed the score, but a video is extra nice...... as for transcribing it to piano, i'm surprised you think it wouldn't be too hard! You're the piano guy, so i don't think i could do it.... if you wanna try it out, i'd love it if you could post a sound file and the score on this thread, if you can. Good luck, i think you'll need it  ;D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mikkeljs on December 31, 2007, 11:49:21 AM
Quote from: 僕はグレグ (Greg) on December 31, 2007, 11:29:00 AM

now that's a fun idea!  :D



http://youtube.com/watch/v/yztoaNakKok
(i didn't even know it was on youtube, good thing you found it for me)

i have followed the score, but a video is extra nice...... as for transcribing it to piano, i'm surprised you think it wouldn't be too hard! You're the piano guy, so i don't think i could do it.... if you wanna try it out, i'd love it if you could post a sound file and the score on this thread, if you can. Good luck, i think you'll need it  ;D

I think it would be possible to realize in a good way, but not easy to  perform.  ;D 

The structural precision nature of this music must result, that many passages should be taken exact from the graphic score and transmitted to the keys. But I think I would experiment a bit in some places, fx for single tones or glissandi, and combine them with extra keys on the piano, to substitute the microtones and flow otherwise.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on December 31, 2007, 12:00:20 PM
$#@! haven't listened to Mycenae Alpha in awhile..... listening right now and can't believe how cool it sounds..... for a piano transription, you'd tons of chromatic glissandos, and most likely 4 hands since such big chords couldn't be played w/2 hands.
Following the score, I could see Xenakis skill, as it's much than someone simply drawing anything on the screen. Certain sounds don't even sound like it's coming from the machine.... for example, at 4'09" it sounds like someone blowing into a microphone at what sounds like the end of a section, and then it goes into some sound that's like a train.

i like the comments, too- at least most of them. But my favorite is this:
QuoteIm simplily fascinated to learn more about contemporary music
0:)


ok, off to listen to La Legende!  ;D ;D ;D



Quote from: mikkeljs on December 31, 2007, 11:49:21 AM
I think it would be possible to realize in a good way, but not easy to  perform.  ;D 

The structural precision nature of this music must result, that many passages should be taken exact from the graphic score and transmitted to the keys. But I think I would experiment a bit in some places, fx for single tones or glissandi, and combine them with extra keys on the piano, to substitute the microtones and flow otherwise.
extra keys on the piano? So do you mean you're going to try to transcribe it for a microtonal piano or something? And maybe make it a prepared piano, too?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on December 31, 2007, 12:03:50 PM
oh, btw, you haven't heard of a score for La Legende d'Eer, have you? Like a transcription, sort of like Mycanae Alpha? I'm not sure if he wrote one, or if it has survived....
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mikkeljs on December 31, 2007, 12:08:44 PM
Quote from: 僕はグレグ (Greg) on December 31, 2007, 12:03:50 PM
oh, btw, you haven't heard of a score for La Legende d'Eer, have you? Like a transcription, sort of like Mycanae Alpha? I'm not sure if he wrote one, or if it has survived....

I will check that one out soon.

Quote from: 僕はグレグ (Greg) on December 31, 2007, 12:00:20 PM



extra keys on the piano? So do you mean you're going to try to transcribe it for a microtonal piano or something? And maybe make it a prepared piano, too?

No I just mean, I would add some notes in the piano transcription, to substitute the lack of microtones. Especially with this low melody that comes alone and returns.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on December 31, 2007, 12:18:36 PM
Quote from: mikkeljs on December 31, 2007, 12:08:44 PM
No I just mean, I would add some notes in the piano transcription, to substitute the lack of microtones. Especially with this low melody that comes alone and returns.
good, i see you've already got it  ;)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on March 11, 2008, 11:43:58 AM
wow, it's been 2 months.....
just over a week ago, i was finally able to write something that convinced myself past that ~2' mark (op.13). That was after months and hours of writing, sometimes staying up 3 hours late, to try 7 different things and then erasing them all.  :(

So now, I've started an op.14, but it's for solo electric guitar. It's like an Etude, although of course I won't call it "Etude" or "Toccata" but i'm still trying to decide on a title.
after that, i'm seriously considering making op.15 an orchestration of Schoenberg's op.15 Book of Hanging Gardens, with text in English.  :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on March 17, 2008, 06:43:19 AM
i've had an idea, though not sure if i'll go through with it.......

"The Universe is Raining Blood", op.13 (for organ and chorus). I'd have to rename "Night" as op.16, though, since op.14 and 15 are already decided.

And as for that solo guitar work, I've figured out a name- "From the Dark Ocean", op.14. It's sort of connected to my op.1 Lighthouse of Black Light...... the connection? Well, how about a picture?

That's the Dark Ocean with the Lighthouse that uses Black Light in the background.

Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mikkeljs on March 21, 2008, 09:20:15 AM
I must hear your new piece soon. I look very much forward to hear how you have developed. You seem to be quite productive! That´s a very nice thing to be.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on March 21, 2008, 10:52:11 AM
Quote from: mikkeljs on March 21, 2008, 09:20:15 AM
I must hear your new piece soon. I look very much forward to hear how you have developed. You seem to be quite productive! That´s a very nice thing to be.
I wish i could get it together soon! But the process seems to be slow......
i have, though, finally found the right track on both op.13 and 14. After toooooooooo long and toooooooo much erasing.....

Anyways, yeah, can't wait for everyone to listen when they're finally done!  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mikkeljs on March 21, 2008, 04:24:18 PM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on March 21, 2008, 10:52:11 AM
After toooooooooo long and toooooooo much erasing.....


I heard a funny story about erasing. One of the composer student in Copenhagen have just written an minimalistic horror opera that lasts 1 hour and 40 minuttes, about Poe´s Berenice, and when he was finish, he realized that he had made a calculation mistake 40 minuttes back, so there was two words left from the music in the end. And he could only make it perfect if he recomposed the last 40 minuttes completely different.  ;D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on March 22, 2008, 01:43:43 PM
Quote from: mikkeljs on March 21, 2008, 04:24:18 PM
minimalistic horror opera
hm, sounds like a new genre......

Quote from: mikkeljs on March 21, 2008, 04:24:18 PM
And he could only make it perfect if he recomposed the last 40 minuttes completely different.  ;D
:-X
i hope he was at least using Finale....
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mikkeljs on March 23, 2008, 02:57:06 AM
Do you know how to get a wav-file from cd into the computer and then to the email? I tried, but I don´t think it works. There is this gmgrecording mail, where you post your own recordings. Username: gmgrecordings and password: goodmusicguide

Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on March 23, 2008, 01:56:31 PM
Quote from: mikkeljs on March 23, 2008, 02:57:06 AM
Do you know how to get a wav-file from cd into the computer and then to the email? I tried, but I don´t think it works. There is this gmgrecording mail, where you post your own recordings. Username: gmgrecordings and password: goodmusicguide


"gmgrecording mail"...... what? Never heard of it!
is it on this site?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mikkeljs on March 24, 2008, 12:04:30 AM
It´s on yahoo.com There is tons of recordings from gmg´ers in there!  :D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on March 24, 2008, 12:11:21 PM
Quote from: mikkeljs on March 24, 2008, 12:04:30 AM
It´s on yahoo.com There is tons of recordings from gmg´ers in there!  :D
interesting! Never even knew about it.

But i can't find it.

here's my search, i don't know which link it is.

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=gmgrecording+mail&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mikkeljs on March 30, 2008, 06:37:48 AM
just go to yahoo.com and log in with the username: gmgrecordings and password: goodmusicguide
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on March 31, 2008, 05:03:56 AM
Quote from: mikkeljs on March 30, 2008, 06:37:48 AM
just go to yahoo.com and log in with the username: gmgrecordings and password: goodmusicguide
Cool!  :o

ok, i'm definetely going to check these all out.....
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on March 31, 2008, 05:42:31 AM
could you repost them as mp3 files? There's really no way to play them, and I really wanna hear!  :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on April 26, 2008, 06:35:36 AM
QuoteThe year 2009     30 September 2008

http://www.operacity.jp/en/concert/award/guide.php

The deadline for the Takemitsu competition. I'm not sure I'll have it ready by then...... maybe if the instrumentation rules are the same, i'll send it by 2010. And I wonder who the judges will be, too! They have Lachenmann for 2009, what if they had Penderecki for 2010?  :D

but I do have two goals before Aug.18 (going to school):

1) Finish my video game- Final Fantasy XII...... played over 90 hours so far, it'll take over 120 if I finish all the hunts. (just over 70 if i didn't do the hunts)
2) Finish Night. One thing I've noticed is that as long as I don't make rules for myself when composing, everything turns out fine. That's the only thing I need to stop doing- just play through and whatever comes to mind should be written. And as for recycled materials such as motifs/themes, they should be written again only when I feel like it, instead of thinking that I'm writing in a style where stuff has to be repeated, just do whatever I feel like (that's the Golden Rule).  8)

Well, best spend all my time home writing, eh?  ;)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on April 26, 2008, 10:11:26 AM
Where are going to go to school?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on April 27, 2008, 06:30:47 AM
Lake Technical Center, Computer Programming. Course lasts about a year......
This is just like a safety net, i suppose, since making a living doing something music-related would be preferable.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on April 28, 2008, 03:39:33 AM
I am not the man to despise a non-musical safety net  :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on April 28, 2008, 07:18:54 AM
Just yesterday, i found out the lady I work with goes to that school- she's finishing up pretty soon, but she says it's a "wonderful" school, and that i'll like it. She's taking Legal Administration, and the course lasted about a year. And also, she says they always have programs to help you find jobs (like internship fairs).  0:)


Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on April 28, 2008, 10:56:52 AM
My current project is to make up some lead/rhythm guitar to this club music/techno-like track that my dad's friend created.
Unfortunately, i'm discouraged to play fast shred guitar stuff, but i'll try to find a way to make it interesting somehow.  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: MN Dave on April 28, 2008, 11:01:28 AM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on April 28, 2008, 10:56:52 AM
My current project is to make up some lead/rhythm guitar to this club music/techno-like track that my dad's friend created.
Unfortunately, i'm discouraged to play fast shred guitar stuff, but i'll try to find a way to make it interesting somehow.  8)

I'll take a slower, tasty solo over "shredding" (wanking?) any day of the week.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on April 28, 2008, 11:03:14 AM
Quote from: MN Brahms on April 28, 2008, 11:01:28 AM
I'll take a slower, tasty solo over "shredding" (wanking?) any day of the week.
Oh, it totally depends...... there are both good and bad slow solos and good and bad shred solos.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: MN Dave on April 28, 2008, 11:04:47 AM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on April 28, 2008, 11:03:14 AM
Oh, it totally depends...... there are both good and bad slow solos and good and bad shred solos.

I suppose so, but shredding always sounds to me like, look how fast I can play!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on April 28, 2008, 11:10:12 AM
Quote from: MN Brahms on April 28, 2008, 11:04:47 AM
I suppose so, but shredding always sounds to me like, look how fast I can play!
That's why you need to change the way you listen!

It's sort of someone who listens to Mozart being turned off by Schoenberg, right? He may see Schoenberg as lacking in emotion, when it's just the opposite! Instead, there's tons of emotion, it's just more frantic and extreme..... a good shred-like guitar solo that is EXTREMELY emotional is Steve Vai's For the Love of God.....

check this out. No emotion, eh?  ;)
It's more akin to a cadenza in a violin concerto.
http://youtube.com/watch/v/avKhKDef9Vo
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: MN Dave on April 28, 2008, 11:15:31 AM
I can't listen now. Will try to remember later.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on April 28, 2008, 11:17:17 AM
Quote from: MN Brahms on April 28, 2008, 11:15:31 AM
I can't listen now. Will try to remember later.
Cool dude 

(and if you forget, i'll remind you hehe)  ;)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: MN Dave on April 28, 2008, 11:27:03 AM
Hey, Greg, have you ever heard Dragonforce (for the yuks) or Frank Zappa (for the seriously good guitar-playing)?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on April 28, 2008, 11:36:04 AM
Quote from: MN Brahms on April 28, 2008, 11:27:03 AM
Hey, Greg, have you ever heard Dragonforce (for the yuks) or Frank Zappa (for the seriously good guitar-playing)?
a little bit. (of both)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: MN Dave on April 28, 2008, 01:21:04 PM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on April 28, 2008, 11:10:12 AM
That's why you need to change the way you listen!

It's sort of someone who listens to Mozart being turned off by Schoenberg, right? He may see Schoenberg as lacking in emotion, when it's just the opposite! Instead, there's tons of emotion, it's just more frantic and extreme..... a good shred-like guitar solo that is EXTREMELY emotional is Steve Vai's For the Love of God.....

check this out. No emotion, eh?  ;)
It's more akin to a cadenza in a violin concerto.
http://youtube.com/watch/v/avKhKDef9Vo

I didn't watch the whole thing, but the beginning was slow, like I said. I don't consider that shredding, I guess.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on April 28, 2008, 02:53:46 PM
Quote from: MN Brahms on April 28, 2008, 01:21:04 PM
I didn't watch the whole thing, but the beginning was slow, like I said. I don't consider that shredding, I guess.
3:10 to about 4:10 is actually more what I'm talking about. Shredding, yet it's emotional and interesting.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 02, 2008, 08:07:20 AM
I did a calculation of the 1st prize winnings from yen into dollars- (the guy who won last year's Takemitsu competition, Sho Ueda, must be a rich guy from being in the finals a lot)

12,000 yen = ~ $11,000!  :o

and the lowest cash prize last year was ~ $3,325!


I really would like to hear that guy, Sho Ueda's music- here's a description by Nishimura:

Quote*Sho Ueda "Never Stand Behind Me"
Mr. Ueda has been a finalist for the "Toru Takemitsu Composition Award" twice before, in 2000 and 2004. So this is his third time. I listened to those previous compositions in the past competitions, and this time I thought his musical content and language were even more intense, and his contrasts varied. I was surprised with his bold orchestration, and sometimes I thought he was aiming for too much effect. But neither does it have an empty quality and it is very persuasive in portraying a vivid description of the composer's inner drama. I could feel a plaintive pathos within the harshness, and perhaps this might be the reflection of the composer's life. I wonder how Mr. Takemitsu would consider this kind of monster-like piece, which sometimes has ferocious sounds, and is unconventional and extreme in style. However, to tell you the truth, my compositions also have this tendency sometimes, and Mr. Takemitsu once said to me: "Nishimura, you need to get rid of more notes. It's too noisy." I replied "I cannot get rid of any more notes. This is the minimum I need." Mr. Takemitsu laughed and said "Well, what can you do?" and forgave me. So, maybe Mr. Takemitsu would have rather enjoyed Mr. Ueda's piece, and respected his talent.

As part of a new generation of composers, Mr. Ueda challenged himself to expand the orchestra's palette of sound. This is a significant matter. However, this kind of problematic piece will have pros and cons, and some people might hate it or some might really like it. So my mind is split as well. Since there are second place and third place already, I thought of asking the audience to raise their hands whether this piece should win the first place or fourth place. But that doesn't make much sense either ...so I will make the decision. I know somebody might make an objection. So if you don't like the result, you can throw tomato at me...I would like to announce that Mr. Ueda wins the first place this time.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on May 02, 2008, 08:22:16 AM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on May 02, 2008, 08:07:20 AM
12,000 yen = ~ $11,000!  :o

Hey! That'll pay for a month of college!  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 02, 2008, 08:25:21 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on May 02, 2008, 08:22:16 AM
Hey! That'll pay for a month of college!  8)
lol!  ;D
that's why i'm not going to school for music or anything else (most likely)- with that money, you could pay for going to school i'm going to for 9 years!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 14, 2008, 04:34:31 PM
Guys, you all just HAVE to visit my new (redesigned) myspace profile......

it's excessively awesome.

myspace.com/IbanezMonster


Transfigured Night to a dark foresty background..... fits so perfectly. The only thing is that sometimes the music just stops before it's supposed to.  :P
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 19, 2008, 02:49:47 PM
wrote another 4-bar attempt today starting at bar 34, 1:39........ the countless attempt, i'll probably end up erasing it....... maybe one day i'll actually progress since i haven't moved from that spot in 6 months. Kept trying to write more, except i just can't. I have to save the world, or at least escape somewhere else before i have to wake up at 4:30 tomorrow...... and the actual act of composing doesn't do anything for me.

The only way I was able to compose my other music was because I was bored and had no worries- summer break, just stayed in my room typing into Noteworthy and wrote music VERY quickly, and was able to come up with good ideas and pretty satisfying music. Nowadays I just struggle to think of anything interesting at all- besides 10-minute bursts where i just use all of my creative energy to pound on the piano or guitar, and after that i can't write any of my ideas down at all. As soon as they're made, they vanish. Can only rarely concentrate on what i'm doing......

I wonder if I can ever compose again when I'm not on vacation. One of the last things I want to do when I get home from school or work is use my mind to think up some music, when I'm too tired to think at all. (The last thing in the world i want to do is to talk to people). What I NEED is to waste my time going online and listening to music, or playing a video game. I hardly have any energy for anything intellectual like composing.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 20, 2008, 10:23:47 AM
last night, dashed off 2 more bars off the top of my head after the 4 i wrote earlier yesterday...... just looked at them again now. It "works" but I don't like it.  ::)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on May 20, 2008, 10:28:45 AM
Two whole measures last night?  ;)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 20, 2008, 10:37:13 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on May 20, 2008, 10:28:45 AM
Two whole measures last night?  ;)
you think Handel was prolific, wait to you see my truckloads of music!  ;D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: BachQ on May 20, 2008, 10:40:16 AM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on May 20, 2008, 10:37:13 AM
you think Handel was prolific, wait to you see my truckloads of music!  ;D

When did we ever say that Handel was prolific? 
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 20, 2008, 10:47:05 AM
Quote from: Dm on May 20, 2008, 10:40:16 AM
When did we ever say that Handel was prolific? 
Telemann, sorry  :'(
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: BachQ on May 20, 2008, 10:48:07 AM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on May 20, 2008, 10:47:05 AM
Telemann, sorry  :'(

If you ever screw up like that again .........
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 20, 2008, 10:55:17 AM
Quote from: Dm on May 20, 2008, 10:48:07 AM
If you ever screw up like that again .........
yeah, i know..... you'll lock me in a room, tied to a chair and have "Discovery" being blasted through a stereo at full volume repeatedly.

i'll have to be VEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYyy careful......
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on May 20, 2008, 10:59:15 AM
Lock you in a room? We aren't savages here, you know . . . .
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: BachQ on May 20, 2008, 11:04:21 AM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on May 20, 2008, 10:55:17 AM
yeah, i know..... you'll lock me in a room, tied to a chair and have "Discovery" being blasted through a stereo at full volume repeatedly.

i'll have to be VEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYyy careful......

Yep.  Imagine your torture chair placed directly in front of these speakers, while blasting Saul's Discovery nonstop:

(http://www.freshpictures.net/data/media/1/331fresh.jpg)


BTW, Click below for Saul's beloved composition modestly titled Discovery:

http://www.saulcomposer.com/Discovery%20Music.mp3

(http://www.saulcomposer.com/Discovery%20Music.mp3)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 20, 2008, 02:00:28 PM
Quote from: Dm on May 20, 2008, 11:04:21 AM
BTW, Click below for Saul's beloved composition modestly titled Discovery:

http://www.saulcomposer.com/Discovery%20Music.mp3


(http://www.saulcomposer.com/Discovery%20Music.mp3)
Someone who knew nothing about him would probably think that "Discovery" was titled that way because it sounds like that was the first time he ever discovered music, by writing that piece.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 23, 2008, 09:41:57 AM
I think I'll be doing things totally different. I've been working on a piece for electric guitar (and whatever rock band instrumentation after that) since yesterday. And today I've come up with so much good stuff that it'd just be wrong not to turn it into anything. This is some really good stuff...... but the hard part is, when you stop and go to start writing from where you left off, often it's just impossible to get into it like you did the first time.

And the new piece I'm writing will be called "Night", op.13 (instead of the orchestral work i can't continue).

I'll try to record what I can before too long...... give me a week or two for a demo.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 23, 2008, 09:56:25 AM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on May 23, 2008, 09:41:57 AM
but the hard part is, when you stop and go to start writing from where you left off, often it's just impossible to get into it like you did the first time.

I just picked up the guitar and played through what I wrote and honestly didn't feel like writing any more. And I just wrote it all a couple hours ago. :P
It's like there's something about finishing a piece of music that's very uninteresting..... so the real challenge for me, compositionally, is to get "into" an unfinished piece of music so I can finish it right!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: MN Dave on May 23, 2008, 09:57:07 AM
Are you writing a rock opera?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 23, 2008, 10:02:39 AM
Quote from: MN Dave on May 23, 2008, 09:57:07 AM
Are you writing a rock opera?
lol!
it's just going to be a rock instrumental......
but it's very different from what I've heard. You can hear my influences, but it's a pretty original sound.
The intro itself is something else  :o ......
i mess around in E minor and G minor, it sort of lurks in the darkness and then I hit this G# major that just comes from nowhere, then a C major, Lydianized and then ended on a fade out Cm..... it's just magic!
Then it goes into the rhythmic, melodic section with a Shostakovich-like tune, except I have in mind the atmosphere of something quite different....

but of course to really understand, i'd have to let you listen to it.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: MN Dave on May 23, 2008, 10:04:01 AM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on May 23, 2008, 10:02:39 AM
lol!
it's just going to be a rock instrumental......
but it's very different from what I've heard. You can hear my influences, but it's a pretty original sound.
The intro itself is something else  :o ......
i mess around in E minor and G minor, it sort of lurks in the darkness and then I hit this G# major that just comes from nowhere, then a C major, Lydianized and then ended on a fade out Cm..... it's just magic!
Then it goes into the rhythmic, melodic section with a Shostakovich-like tune, except I have in mind the atmosphere of something quite different....

but of course to really understand, i'd have to let you listen to it.

You need to write a rock opera about Ublooobedooga, or whatever-the-hell his name is...

Because I said so, that's why.  ;D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 23, 2008, 10:05:08 AM
Quote from: MN Dave on May 23, 2008, 10:04:01 AM
You need to write a rock opera about Ublooobedooga, or whatever-the-hell his name is...

Because I said so, that's why.  ;D
I'm considering something like that.  ;)
I did write a piece called "Blather Lather", another called "What the Zorgenoth?" but not a piece about Ubloobideega.....
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: MN Dave on May 23, 2008, 10:06:22 AM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on May 23, 2008, 10:05:08 AM
I'm considering something like that.  ;)
I did write a piece called "Blather Lather", another called "What the Zorgenoth?" but not a piece about Ubloobideega.....

Just remember to use plenty of midgets and donkeys. People looove midgets and donkeys.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 24, 2008, 02:56:03 PM
Quote from: MN Dave on May 23, 2008, 10:06:22 AM
Just remember to use plenty of midgets and donkeys. People looove midgets and donkeys.
ha! Who do you think will stage it?  ;D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: MN Dave on May 25, 2008, 05:10:54 AM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on May 24, 2008, 02:56:03 PM
ha! Who do you think will stage it?  ;D

I don't know that but you should use the Cloverfield monster while you're at it.

(http://www.beyondhollywood.com/stillsx/2007/09/cloverfield-monster-picture-1.jpg)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 25, 2008, 05:39:19 AM
Quote from: MN Dave on May 25, 2008, 05:10:54 AM
I don't know that but you should use the Cloverfield monster while you're at it.

(http://www.beyondhollywood.com/stillsx/2007/09/cloverfield-monster-picture-1.jpg)
Never saw the movie. Looks like a wimpy version of "Sin" from Final Fantasy 10.

http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/tF4JJKYo0Uo&feature=related
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mikkeljs on June 06, 2008, 02:39:27 AM
Hi Greg! Guess what I just found today!  :D In a bound of free scores from the conservatory library, there was an original handwritten score and sketch of a cadenza by Nørgård. The cadenza was written to the concerto no. 12 by Vagn Holmboe...

There were also lots of scores with signatures from Nørgård, one from Finnisy, and an extremely interresting letter written to Nørgård 40 years ago. The composer who wrote the letter, had send Nørgård a song for chorus, and he write, that one of the melodies in the work can develope new stuff infinitely, because it has a self similarity, and he decided to call it "the infinity seria" - as if Nørgård didn´t knew that phenomenon already!  :o 
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on June 06, 2008, 05:55:52 AM
Quote from: mikkeljs on June 06, 2008, 02:39:27 AM
Hi Greg! Guess what I just found today!  :D In a bound of free scores from the conservatory library, there was an original handwritten score and sketch of a cadenza by Nørgård. The cadenza was written to the concerto no. 12 by Vagn Holmboe...

There were also lots of scores with signatures from Nørgård, one from Finnisy, and an extremely interresting letter written to Nørgård 40 years ago. The composer who wrote the letter, had send Nørgård a song for chorus, and he write, that one of the melodies in the work can develope new stuff infinitely, because it has a self similarity, and he decided to call it "the infinity seria" - as if Nørgård didn´t knew that phenomenon already!  :o 
Which composer wrote the letter? Are you saying Norgard got the idea for the infinity series from a friend?  :o
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mikkeljs on June 06, 2008, 07:31:14 AM
The letter was from a totally unknown danish composer. I can give a translation of it later, when I get time. Many danish composers has used the infinity seria after Nørgård, but the way the composer write about it, it just looks like, he try to explain the idea, and that he decided to call it the "infinity seria"!  :o
That´s vierd!

Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on June 06, 2008, 08:57:18 AM
Quote from: mikkeljs on June 06, 2008, 07:31:14 AM
I can give a translation of it later, when I get time.
looking forward to it!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mn dave on June 06, 2008, 09:11:22 AM
Greg's garbanzos.

(http://www.oasisnaturals.net/images/garbanzo.jpg)

So, do you have yourself on YouTube yet?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on June 06, 2008, 09:30:26 AM
Quote from: mn dave on June 06, 2008, 09:11:22 AM
Greg's garbanzos.

(http://www.oasisnaturals.net/images/garbanzo.jpg)

puke.......


Quote from: mn dave on June 06, 2008, 09:11:22 AM
So, do you have yourself on YouTube yet?
nope...... have no idea when i will be.
made a recording a few months ago playing a song, don't know what happened to it......
i'm still working on the same song that i just started. Of course, now that the inspiration is gone from the day I started it, it's nearly impossible to continue it.... same problem as when writing op.13  ::)

i keep at it...... trying to play through and add something.... trying....... if only it were possible to write the whole thing in a day, it'd be great.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mn dave on June 06, 2008, 09:36:16 AM
Man, you composers need to get your stuff on YouTube, so the millions can watch you do your thing.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Brian on June 06, 2008, 09:38:36 PM
Quote from: mn dave on June 06, 2008, 09:36:16 AM
Man, you composers need to get your stuff on YouTube, so the millions can watch you do your thing.
Like that Carly Comando or whatever her name is, with "Every Day."
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on June 23, 2008, 12:27:26 PM
ok, i guess i'm going to try a different way of composing.
Instead of progressing through what i'm writing and expecting to write straight through (which would be more ideal), i'm just going to start coming up with fragments that may or may not fit with what i'm writing.

Also, I've started a couple of fragments of a new work for piano, "ForeverZero" which is actually the name of an attack of an evil video game character who i used to have as an avatar. It's an awesome attack, the whole screen goes black and everything explodes!  ;D

As for the guitar work, i'm not sure what the title will be...... i don't quite have a clear vision for the rest of it, either, which i plan on possibly developing with my new work style.

so, it'll probably be like this:
op.13 ForeverZero
op.14 (guitar work)

And as for the guitar thing...... i've decided it'd probably be best to eventually record EVERYTHING myself. This means, if i do something like rock instrumentals, i'll play all guitar, bass, and keyboards and synth (which i have to practice, obviously), and either learn the drums or use a drum machine or computer program.
But what about live performances? You could just use a backup track along with guitar. Unless i find people who are willing to do everything i say, which won't happen at the beginning, obviously......
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on June 26, 2008, 04:27:09 PM
hmmmm

i might possibly be in a band soon, or at least meet them and play together. Possibly.

First of all, i chose to work only weekends when i start school- i should make just enough to get buy- which means i'll have off 3 pm till whenever on weekdays.

A guy I work with (known him for nearly a year now) just mentioned he was a band promoter (just told me because he saw me playing guitar). In fact, he told me a story today- almost got a band to go BIG.... they were the top band in Central Florida, ready to be signed by Universal Records. They were out there listening, and planned to sign them when the guitarist confronted the lead singer about him sleeping with his girlfriend, and then the lead singer said, "i'll never sing for you again" and they all broke up.


He has a band that needs 2 guitarists. But this stuff is more "screamo", and heavy music. If the band he was talking about (i guess it's a different band) and I meet, we'll probably scare each other, most likely. "Wtf are you playing?" And then i'd think "man, this is some horribly stupid music." Or we could work together to create a new type of metal, like Shostakovich death metal. Or Boulez death metal. But I don't see that happening. But you never know, if it worked out I could become a rock star and then break away and do my own thing.  0:)


I just e-mailed him a recording of the op.12 (95 Measures) so he could get a taste of my style, or at least my influences, but not the exactly style I want to continue. And I'm trying to get him on myspace, so I can direct him to my page and ask him what he'd think about Shostakovich death metal (since I have Shosty 4th right when you visit my page).
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on July 08, 2008, 08:01:27 PM
A'ight, here's an arrangement I made of the 12th song of Schoenberg's Book of Hanging Gardens (for strings).

I just felt the urge to post what i have up so far, since i could get the urge to tweak it for eternity (and might end up doing so). There needs to be a better balance of dynamics and slight tempo adjustments in there.

Any thoughts? Would the song cycle sound better for orchestra? It's obviously good enough to need some sort of arrangement.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on July 11, 2008, 07:35:51 AM
Here's a waltz idea i have, just a few bars but i thought i might save it. Except I'm not looking for waltz ideas, I'm looking for adagio ideas!  :(
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on July 11, 2008, 07:57:42 AM
So, save the waltz idea for another time.

Don't complain when you get an idea  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on July 12, 2008, 07:59:50 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on July 11, 2008, 07:57:42 AM
So, save the waltz idea for another time.

Don't complain when you get an idea  8)
Exactly!


Well, yesterday I got an idea i really can't complain about- an adagio idea i've been searching for all along! The part circled in the score is what i wrote yesterday, the rest i filled in just now but realize that i'll have to actually take some time to rewrite it, since it doesn't sound that good.  ::)
(also, the main theme needs glissandos)

maybe i could throw the waltz idea as a B theme or development section of the adagio idea?  :)

(midi file right above picture)

Just trying to direct myself here with these little ideas...... up until now, my music has been directionless, although i think fun to listen to- but i don't want to keep writing that way forever, and only that way. Gotta get closer to the many other aspects of the way i want to write.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on July 15, 2008, 03:12:58 PM
(yeah, forget that last post- i could use something from that somewhere, though....)

oh well, on with the experimentation....... the ultimate goal being to make myself my own favorite composer one day  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on July 15, 2008, 03:20:20 PM
Hit it!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on July 15, 2008, 03:21:41 PM
Quote from: karlhenning on July 15, 2008, 03:20:20 PM
Hit it!
8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Renfield on July 15, 2008, 07:42:53 PM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on July 15, 2008, 03:12:58 PM
the ultimate goal being to make myself my own favorite composer one day  8)

A worthy goal! 8)

(And incidentally, well-chosen soundtrack for the MySpace profile: had me entrapped for a good few minutes, there. ;D)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on July 16, 2008, 06:51:56 AM
Quote from: Renfield on July 15, 2008, 07:42:53 PM
A worthy goal! 8)
heck yeeaaaaaaaaahhh you gotta aim for space from the beginning or you'll never get there.  8)

Quote from: Renfield on July 15, 2008, 07:42:53 PM
(And incidentally, well-chosen soundtrack for the MySpace profile: had me entrapped for a good few minutes, there. ;D)
you're not the only one!  :)
probably i should keep it where the Mahler 10 plays first when you open up the page, because it goes PERFECTLY with the background, but the Shosty 4th just catches your attention much more......
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on July 23, 2008, 06:17:25 AM
forgot to update......

my friend listened to the track i sent him (my op.12) and said he was very impressed and he wants a copy of that and anything else i have recorded for guitar, so i made a CD but forgot to bring it to work yesterday..... he wants to let the other guitarist, or someone, can't remember which band member, listen and he tells me "think about joining the band!" because i told him how i kinda do my own thing......

but, i guess i'll just have to see.....
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mn dave on July 23, 2008, 06:19:09 AM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on July 23, 2008, 06:17:25 AM
forgot to update......

my friend listened to the track i sent him (my op.12) and said he was very impressed and he wants a copy of that and anything else i have recorded for guitar, so i made a CD but forgot to bring it to work yesterday..... he wants to let the other guitarist, or someone, can't remember which band member, listen and he tells me "think about joining the band!" because i told him how i kinda do my own thing......

but, i guess i'll just have to see.....

I can see your name in lights: The Greg Gazebo Band
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Renfield on July 23, 2008, 06:27:35 AM
Quote from: Apollo on July 23, 2008, 06:19:09 AM
I can see your name in lights: The Greg Gazebo Band

How about "The Greg Gazebos"? It certainly has a vintage feel to it. 8) ;D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on July 23, 2008, 06:31:14 AM
The Greggazebos
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on July 23, 2008, 04:31:43 PM
 :-[
not sure i'm feeling the name, there.....
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on July 29, 2008, 01:44:52 PM
seriously thinking about trying to write a string quintet for the next NYAE competition- the due date being Jan.9......

told them last time i wouldn't be able to do it again, but it looks like i should have time to write, even despite school.  8)

i'm thinking most likely i'll be using both the adagio and waltz ideas, and it'll be one big, complex movement- i'm aiming for somewhat of a slow-fast-slow scheme, roughly.

either way, i'm in it to win it this time..... a thousand bucks plus a recording- gotta try harder this time, instead of just throwing stuff together like before  0:)


so, i plan to do quite a bit of dreaming about "what the perfect string quintet would sound like"........ which will mean tons of brainstorming and more sketches. Time to get on with it.  :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on July 30, 2008, 06:25:41 AM
By all means, get beyond the "just throwing stuff together" stage  ;)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on July 30, 2008, 08:17:48 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on July 30, 2008, 06:25:41 AM
By all means, get beyond the "just throwing stuff together" stage  ;)
hehe  :)
last night, i wrote a few bars for solo bass in E major (might need to change it to cello)- i thought, what would be the ideal opening of a string quintet? (keep in mind i'm trying out writing "deep" music alongside my other "fun"/"interesting"/whatever music).

i want it to be simple (doesn't much besides the two notes G# and B), yet morph into a theme somehow...... i want the beginning and end to have the same character- sustained, no rhythm, meditative at the beginning and exhausted at the end- the middle being full of action. (i have in mind parts of DSCH's 8th SQ and the ending of Mahler's 9th as my reference points).

i also want some complex yet convincing rhythms and ideas in the middle, maybe some serial ideas, but not fully atonal ones- maybe just my own- or if i can figure out how to manipulate the infinite series, or maybe just come up with something completely different.

AND i want a lot of counterpoint going on, which should be a challenge since i'm not used to writing counterpoint that's really complex...... in other words, i want to embrace a little bit of ideas from each period, but make it my own and throw in my ideas.  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Joe_Campbell on July 31, 2008, 11:54:25 PM
I haven't heard any of your motivational pieces (i.e the shosty and mahler), but perhaps if you started slowly at pianissimo in the lowest registers of the cello and ascended chromatically/in specific intervals while increasing the tempo to your desired speed, you could get the effect your after.

In fact, if you wanted to make it contrapuntal, why don't you have each instrument come in delayed by specific fractions of the total bar length of your main theme, but adjusted to end at precisely the same point? I would imagine that the start would have to be REALLY slow to achieve this, and I have no idea how musical it would sound, considering I don't know your theme.

I'm coming from a completely inexperienced compositional background, but I hope this gives you the inspiration you require :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on August 01, 2008, 09:48:38 AM
Quote from: JCampbell on July 31, 2008, 11:54:25 PM
I haven't heard any of your motivational pieces (i.e the shosty and mahler), but perhaps if you started slowly at pianissimo in the lowest registers of the cello and ascended chromatically/in specific intervals while increasing the tempo to your desired speed, you could get the effect your after.
hm, not the effect i'm looking for in the beginning....... maybe somewhere in the middle, though.
crossed out what i wrote, and now i have a vision of lots of of long quiet sustained, big chords at the beginning with irregular rests and dynamic markings like <<<<<<    >>>>>>, but have yet to work on it.



Quote from: JCampbell on July 31, 2008, 11:54:25 PM
In fact, if you wanted to make it contrapuntal, why don't you have each instrument come in delayed by specific fractions of the total bar length of your main theme, but adjusted to end at precisely the same point? I would imagine that the start would have to be REALLY slow to achieve this, and I have no idea how musical it would sound, considering I don't know your theme.

I'm coming from a completely inexperienced compositional background, but I hope this gives you the inspiration you require :)
I think I had that idea before, yet could NOT figure out how to calculate it! So I asked 71 db and he figured it out for me, and the ratio works. But putting this into practice (and making it sound good) would be a huge challenge, and yes, thanks for the reminder, that's just what i needed- a challenging idea to consider.  :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on September 11, 2008, 01:38:06 PM
I've thought of a good name for the string quintet i'm working on..... "Distant Winds."
and at the ending, i'll write "Distant Winds blow into eternity......."

i considered adding a tamtam at the beginning, but felt it was a bit too gimmicky. Just working on the opening bass theme for now....
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: lukeottevanger on September 12, 2008, 01:40:13 PM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on September 11, 2008, 01:38:06 PM
I've thought of a good name for the string quintet i'm working on..... "Distant Winds."
and at the ending, i'll write "Distant Winds blow into eternity......."

i considered adding a tamtam at the beginning, but felt it was a bit too gimmicky. Just working on the opening bass theme for now....

True, you really need a wind machine for this sort of thing.  ;D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on September 12, 2008, 04:47:15 PM
Quote from: lukeottevanger on September 12, 2008, 01:40:13 PM
True, you really need a wind machine for this sort of thing.  ;D

As long as it's portable and the bassist or cellist can wear it on his/her head....
(http://www.starlight.com/images/Windmachine.gif)

Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Joe_Campbell on September 12, 2008, 11:59:09 PM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on September 11, 2008, 01:38:06 PM
I've thought of a good name for the string quintet i'm working on..... "Distant Winds."
and at the ending, i'll write "Distant Winds blow into eternity......."
Perhaps some broken augmented chords could be what you're looking for, a la Scriabin in his 5th piano sonata. There's no other example in music I've listened to that I think more convincely portrays what I think you're after. (bars 31-32, 35-36, if you have the score)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on September 13, 2008, 07:07:32 AM
Quote from: JCampbell on September 12, 2008, 11:59:09 PM
Perhaps some broken augmented chords could be what you're looking for, a la Scriabin in his 5th piano sonata. There's no other example in music I've listened to that I think more convincely portrays what I think you're after. (bars 31-32, 35-36, if you have the score)
That's actually a very good recommendation.
I'm not very familiar with that sonata- never tried to play it or anything. I've only tried playing 9, but could only get through a few of the easiest bars........ but of course, Scriabin is a very important composer to me, since the idiom i'm looking for will likely sound a bit like his.

What I'm looking to say, though, is this, but in a different way:



Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on September 18, 2008, 02:14:36 PM
just a quick note......

i've been working on the beginning, and it's going very very well- which is significant because I've been writing stuff down and erasing it a day later even if I thought it was awesome the previous day. I'm actually saying what I want to say, musically, now.  8)

the deadline is Jan.9  :P and it has to be under 15 min.
http://www.nyae.org/Pages/page11.html
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on September 18, 2008, 06:02:27 PM
Keep it going!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 14, 2008, 01:14:29 PM
I'm actually playing around with different beginnings....... always asking, "What would be ideal?"
I still have what I wrote before in mind, but I keep on coming up with better stuff!
Here's what I just wrote a few minutes ago:

after writing this, i don't feel i can go backto what i wrote before, though!  ;D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Joe_Campbell on October 14, 2008, 08:47:33 PM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on October 14, 2008, 01:14:29 PM
I'm actually playing around with different beginnings....... always asking, "What would be ideal?"
I still have what I wrote before in mind, but I keep on coming up with better stuff!
Here's what I just wrote a few minutes ago:

after writing this, i don't feel i can go backto what i wrote before, though!  ;D
Reminds me of a line from East Coker by TS Eliot:

Because one has only learnt to get the better of words for the thing one no longer has to say, or the way in which one is no longer disposed to say it.

I guess if you were completely satisfied with a composition, you would never write anything again anyways! :D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 15, 2008, 11:23:34 AM
Quote from: JCampbell on October 14, 2008, 08:47:33 PM
Reminds me of a line from East Coker by TS Eliot:

Because one has only learnt to get the better of words for the thing one no longer has to say, or the way in which one is no longer disposed to say it.

I sure had to read that one a few times!  :D


Quote from: JCampbell on October 14, 2008, 08:47:33 PM

I guess if you were completely satisfied with a composition, you would never write anything again anyways! :D
And that reminds me of a Shostakovich quote.
From memory, so it isn't exact: "I write my next work because I'm not satisfied with my previous one."
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Joe_Campbell on October 15, 2008, 11:46:18 AM
Quote from: GGGGRRREEG on October 15, 2008, 11:23:34 AM
And that reminds me of a Shostakovich quote.
From memory, so it isn't exact: "I write my next work because I'm not satisfied with my previous one."
That might have actually been where I got my paraphrase from, anyways! ;D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on November 04, 2008, 12:13:31 PM
I think I'm just going to not worry about composing much for awhile. I just don't have the time nor the environment to get stuff done when I have to worry about a million other things. For one, I don't have days off. All weekend I work, and not only does it ruin the weekend, but Friday is ruined because of anticipation and Monday is ruined because I need a day to recover from the weekend.

What I need to focus on doing is filling in the gaps of musical knowledge and then, with that, doing "improv-composing" with my OWN ideas. "Improv-composing"  is basically just going on the piano and improvising, or pretending like you're composing but not writing it down. It's not like performance improvisation, either- you can backtrack or formulate themes and experiment- is basically like brainstorming on the piano.

Once I study enough scores and know them inside out, I might have a better chance to formulate my own "big" ideas. It seems that most composers have their own "big" ideas which make them stand out- and they usually have several. For example, Prokofiev has a fascination with white note themes, especially when played with one hand while the other hand is playing the black notes- see part of the beginning of the 6th sonata, and also a section in the op.11 Toccata, where the LH plays the theme in the high register while the RH adds black key notes in the same register- "dissonance for dissonance's sake". Recently, studying the last movement of Bartok's 6th SQ helped me understand a direction i was thinking about going but didn't "know" about it until I looked though it.....


I want to give up the idea of writing a String Quintet for the NYAE competition. I'll use the time to study more orchestral scores and work through everything until I can write just one that I'd be very confident about submitting into the Takemitsu competition. I need to think about every single aspect of music and develop a personal aesthetic, and then go to the keyboard and improvise on those ideas, until it feels like I could just go on all day. That's when I'll be ready to say what I want to say.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on November 04, 2008, 12:17:26 PM
A million is a lot of things to worry about  ;)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on November 04, 2008, 12:28:21 PM
Here's an old idea I've had which I haven't figured out how to use. A technique I call "line blurring" only because I've never seen it before. I think Stravinsky did something like this, though.


Quote from: karlhenning on November 04, 2008, 12:17:26 PM
A million is a lot of things to worry about  ;)
Yes, it is, and that is a rough estimate.  ;)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on February 08, 2009, 06:36:01 PM
.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on February 08, 2009, 06:36:36 PM
.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on February 27, 2009, 07:56:33 PM
Just thought I'd share a brief piano lick I came up with today.

Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on February 28, 2009, 03:43:54 AM
It's got that Debussy vibe . . . .
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on February 28, 2009, 06:21:24 AM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on February 28, 2009, 03:43:54 AM
It's got that Debussy vibe . . . .
Really?
Now that you mention it, I kind of get what you mean.  :)
But I was thinking that it sounds instead so much like Rachmaninoff, especially if it were played near the end of a phrase.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 26, 2009, 01:08:51 PM
I think I finally get how to compose the best I can, given the knowledge I have at the moment.
It's this simple: compose with the clearest mind possible. The clearest mind possible is when I have nothing I need to immediately do or worry about, so I take a nap in the afternoon, wake up and see my guitar (or walk over to the keyboard) and just play for no reason or previous intention. From there, a few minutes in, I develop an absolute focus, and the best material comes out.
At this point, even if I try to worry about something, it's hard to- which is a shockingly good thing!  :o

It seems you can feel it in your head- complete emptyness, devoid of thoughts, which is extremely rare given my schedule. So, hopefully, I'll be able to get more of these moments, since it seems the only wise time to compose.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on May 26, 2009, 03:08:53 PM
Splendid post, Greg. Buona fortuna!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Joe_Campbell on May 26, 2009, 03:40:38 PM
...time to stop posting in the "Schoolgirl Crushes" thread...
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 26, 2009, 03:51:02 PM
True, this is much more important.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on May 26, 2009, 04:32:29 PM
Bring that hammer down, Joe!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 26, 2009, 07:17:05 PM
 ;D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on July 01, 2009, 07:25:24 PM
A few things....

I'm writing op.13, which for the moment, I'm calling "Shadows", and it's for solo clarinet. When I'm done with this, I'm going to be working on my first symphony.  >:D
I'm very happy with what I've written, although it's painfully slow writing. The last few days, I've written probably a minute worth of material, but realized it didn't sound right coming right after what I just wrote, so I just kept it written on the page without crossing it off. Hopefully, during the course of the piece, I'll get to use this material again (since I think it's good)- however, I won't force it, or convince myself that I need it, since that's a deadly mistake that can make it sound like you're just writing a bunch of bullshit.

When I started writing this, I wanted simply to experiment with melodic writing. I wanted to test myself. However, I wanted only melody, with no accompaniment, so I ruled out piano. Also, I didn't want to be tempted by possible extended techniques or effects, so I ruled out all string instruments, (and especially) including electric guitar. I also wanted it to sound good, with an instrument that can have a smooth tone, and is easily listenable to for a long time. What else, besides the clarinet?  ;D

I'll have to post what I've written so far once I get Noteworthy or something else installed on my laptop...

for now, some more thoughts cont'd...
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on July 01, 2009, 07:58:32 PM
I spent all day with two main chords in my head as a base, and some lines as a melody over it...
basically, a back and forth F-Ab (I-bIII)
mid range:
F  Eb
C  C
A  Ab

i'm thinking this will be the foundation of my style. Whenever I think of this, there's two main sources that immediately come to mind.

1- the song "Fuan na Kokoro", from Final Fantasy 7. I've circled the part with a similar progression (Ab-C). Something about that part of the game, especially with the music, is really something. It's a big ghetto, and at the end of it, there's a church, where the flower girl (Aeris) is. It's sort of symbolic for the only hope left in the place, which is a miserable mess. On an abstract level, when I think of these chords, I sometimes see black, with a slight touch of purple, and even a slighter touch of blue, possibly (could be an abstract interpretation of the game area).

2- the final movement of Mahler 9... I've already mentioned this so much, that I'd rather not add much, except say that for some reason, when I think of this chord progression, and think it's a "Mahler 9" thing, I see mountains.

But really, to me, it represent something else, which makes me want to expand on this idea, musically- it seems to represent the feeling of thinking of experiencing something beyond human experience, which goes beyond all rules and possibilities of the universe, but will never be possible (and even more impossible is to put this into words).  :P

http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/xO1V9OSW3ys&feature=PlayList&p=2351049CA43A6CC6&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=3
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on July 02, 2009, 04:33:14 AM
Activity in the Gazebo, spendid!

Write more!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mikkeljs on July 02, 2009, 07:35:08 AM
Quote from: Greg on July 01, 2009, 07:25:24 PM
although it's painfully slow writing. The last few days, I've written probably a minute worth of material, but realized it didn't sound right coming right after what I just wrote, so I just kept it written on the page without crossing it off.

A minutte of materiale on a few days?! I would consider that as quite a lot. Although Im getting incredible more productive, I can still only write about 5-10 seconds of music pr day.  :o

I like very much your kind of diary of your composition process. Have you thought about study composition some day, maybe far in the future? Copenhagen has some really good composer teachers, which is probably the only corner of music, where Denmark can be proud. There is a great culture of composers, on the conservatory is Hans Abrahamsen, Bent Sørensen, Niels Rovsing-Schow and Niels Peter. Hans Abrahamsen was very talented from early age but got a block, and he is a very good for orchestration and notation. Bent Sørensen is among the 3 of my absolute favorite composers, and Niels Peter is one of the leading composers of electro-acustics in the world. He studied in Paris with all the famous ones and they asked him to stay and teach.

And if Im right, immigrants can study for free in DK, or at least it is very easy if you insist to go there!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on July 02, 2009, 07:44:26 AM
Quote from: mikkeljs on July 02, 2009, 07:35:08 AM
And if Im right, immigrants can study for free in DK, or at least it is very easy if you insist to go there!

Can you study in English there, Mikkel? Is mastery of Danish required?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mikkeljs on July 02, 2009, 10:31:47 AM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on July 02, 2009, 07:44:26 AM
Can you study in English there, Mikkel? Is mastery of Danish required?

Yes, all the teachers speaks english, and I speak more english than danish, since if Im sitting with a table with 10 danes and one from abroad, people just speak english. Many of the students from abroad can´t say a single danish word. Even my teacher don´t speak danish!  ;D

Wait a second...Im not 100% sure if it is free to study for anyone. In DK education is always free for danes and danish students gets money from the state for 6 years of study, enought money for living! Which is fantastic for musicians who don´t have time for a job. Hmmm...I think it is also free to study for anyone from abroad, they just don´t get money to live for.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on July 03, 2009, 04:27:46 AM
That's pretty cool if it's free!  :o
I don't know, maybe one day...  ;D

I think when i meant a minute in a few days, i meant 40 or so seconds (never timed it), and it was slow tempo.
I know what you mean about the only 5-10 seconds per day, unfortunately.  :P

Quote
In DK education is always free for danes and danish students gets money from the state for 6 years of study, enought money for living! Which is fantastic for musicians who don´t have time for a job.
Ahhh... so that must be what you're doing? Must be nice.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mikkeljs on July 03, 2009, 02:45:15 PM
Quote from: Greg on July 03, 2009, 04:27:46 AM
That's pretty cool if it's free!  :o
I don't know, maybe one day...  ;D

I think when i meant a minute in a few days, i meant 40 or so seconds (never timed it), and it was slow tempo.
I know what you mean about the only 5-10 seconds per day, unfortunately.  :P
Ahhh... so that must be what you're doing? Must be nice.

It could be fantastic if we studied at the same place!  :D

Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on July 03, 2009, 03:57:15 PM
I guess we can dream.  ;D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on November 30, 2009, 12:47:11 PM
So, umm... I think it will probably be a couple more years until I can start writing music again (it's already been over 2 since I finished the last thing I wrote). I just hope no one is expecting anything.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on December 07, 2009, 08:54:34 AM
I have a question...
in the future, I plan on writing a symphony. Now, the form I have in mind is one EXTREMELY long movement without break. How long would be the longest I can possibly write that would be acceptable? I know it's pretty much a gray area subject matter, and there would be no clear definition. The Pettersson symphonies can go on longer for a single movement than anything else I can think of, and I'm sure they are a huge challenge just for this reason.

Oh, and the length I have in mind would be something over 2 hours- maybe 2 hours and 20 minutes or so. I just want to outdo any Symphony that came before with one big, bold, completely epic statement that doesn't split up into parts, and that's the best form I can think of- even if it takes several years to write, and it's the only symphony I end up writing.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on December 07, 2009, 11:36:56 AM
Well, if you write a 2 hour & 20 minute symphony so that the result carries -- then you have established a new "how long is acceptable."
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on December 07, 2009, 12:57:53 PM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on December 07, 2009, 11:36:56 AM
Well, if you write a 2 hour & 20 minute symphony so that the result carries -- then you have established a new "how long is acceptable."
I haven't thought of it like that!  :D
Well, hmm... I gotcha. Gotta think like a pioneer.  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on February 16, 2010, 02:05:36 PM
A few quick notes:
I've chopped down my opus list in half- removing stuff that I thought were just short, useless pieces that I didn't even like. Now I feel like if I had to show someone all of my works, I'd be completely fine with it, since the ones I left remaining aren't bad.  8)

So, my new opus list looks like this:
op.1 Piano Sonata
op.2 String Quartet
op.3 What the Zorgenoth!
op.4 Blather Lather
op.5 The Bend of Time
op.6 We'll C

(the first two i just switched back to the originally conceived titles- formerly, they are "Lighthouse of Black Light" and "Ah! How Refreshing").

As for op.7... I mentioned that I'd start writing it this summer. Yes, I think I will start... however, as for finishing, that's another matter- it'll take how long it takes, even if it may be a year.

My op.7 I plan to be an orchestral piece written for the Takemitsu competition, so it will be under 20' (and obviously I want it to be just under). I just can't imagine finishing in time for this year's competition since I have so much "other" stuff I need to learn during the summer, so, I'm just going to say hopefully I can finish in time to submit it for the 2012 competition (deadline being Sep.30, 2011).

The working title is "op.7 From the World of Nothing"... during the course of this year and a half, I'll start by considering my style and recording fragments/themes/ideas, maybe even posting them. Then, from that maybe I can develop a direction and put it together in time.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on February 16, 2010, 03:04:27 PM
Good luck! Write well!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on March 26, 2010, 05:51:58 PM
Just been going through tons of musical ideas...

sometimes I just freely improvise, too, and see what comes out. I've had this sort of "sound" or "style" that just "happens" when I improvise sometimes. It's kinda disturbing.

To describe it in storylike terms- it's either one of two things. The first is the image of a dark street with no end it sight. It continues on forever, and you walk down it. The other is the emotional state of experiencing "grinding and gnashing of teeth" of burning in hell while you look up and see heaven from a distance. (Making up this stuff wasn't even intentional- it just happened).

For the second one, typically I just make big dischords in the bass with the left hand while my right hand plays melodic like stuff in the treble. The effect is like screaming for help while being tortured. Sometimes I have a habit of doing something different that I never learned from anywhere- while the treble is in the middle of a phrase (like a scream for help), cut the phrase short before it "finishes" and repeat it maybe a step higher and it's like it screams louder and louder while being in more pain. Honestly, the most disturbing musical language I've come across- Pettersson is tame compared to the possibilities of this language- maybe even some of Schnittke's pieces, too (and Penderecki as well).


I don't think I'm going to try to focus on that language much (although I may experiment with it). It's just too disturbing. I want to focus on more of a language of what a philosopher might feel like sitting on top of a mountain, enjoying scenery, while... philosophizing.  :D


Also, I've been working on an opening. I just won't be satisfied until it's the best one I've ever heard, so I still haven't written it yet.  :-\
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on March 31, 2010, 09:18:23 AM
So I got the first two bars down.  :D
(It starts off with very quiet tam-tam strokes and muffled notes in the cellos. )

BUT the important thing is, I think I finally found a way of composing which works for me best. It might sound extremely strange, but...
I'm pretty much trying to compose while watching anime at the same time. I have that electronic piano program and whatever anime video I'm watching on the screen at the same time. I also have a book of staff paper, so I can write the music down when I need to.

I feel like ideas are coming to me better doing this- the reason being is that I'm more relaxed, especially if I'm lying down. Probably the whole reason for my creative block for the last 2 1/2 years is mostly because if I just go sit at the piano with the intent to compose, I have the thought that I could sit there and waste my time for hours, and then have to go to work. But if I'm composing like I'm doing now, it doesn't even matter if I don't write anything- I'm still getting through something, even if it's a completely different goal. So, I just write, take my mind off of it for a while, think of some ideas, change stuff... should work out.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on March 31, 2010, 09:53:27 AM
Quote from: Greg on March 31, 2010, 09:18:23 AM
So I got the first two bars down.  :D
(It starts off with very quiet tam-tam strokes and muffled notes in the cellos. )

All right; we want two new measures today!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Scarpia on March 31, 2010, 11:41:23 AM
Quote from: Greg on March 31, 2010, 09:18:23 AM
So I got the first two bars down.  :D
(It starts off with very quiet tam-tam strokes and muffled notes in the cellos. )

According to what I've read above you have to sustain this another 2 hours, 19 minutes and 50 seconds and you've already used the tam-tam.   ???
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on April 01, 2010, 05:27:28 AM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on March 31, 2010, 09:53:27 AM
All right; we want two new measures today!
I think I can pull that off.  :D


Quote from: Scarpia on March 31, 2010, 11:41:23 AM
According to what I've read above you have to sustain this another 2 hours, 19 minutes and 50 seconds and you've already used the tam-tam.   ???
Lol, actually the one I'm writing now will be slightly less than 20 minutes since I'm doing it for the Takemitsu competition.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on May 19, 2010, 02:19:05 PM
I decided to erase what I wrote and start from scratch sometime around the beginning of this month... turned out to be a good decision, I think.

Finally, I think I got a good feel for what I'm going to do. Between last night and today, I've written ~11 bars of music, which is unheard of for me, for the last 3 years. I have a very good feel for what I'm writing and actually have too many good ideas to write down, which is always a good thing.

Also, I've decided to title it "Gray Skies-" a variation on Liszt's "Gray Clouds" piano piece (title-wise, not music-wise).

Probably the biggest factor to get me going was the first two notes. For some reason, it reminded me of the Thunder Plains from Final Fantasy X, so I decided, "heck, why not stick to this direction?" Doing so, I felt I had a subconscious direction to write certain stuff, and it was just a matter of following my intuition. 

So, to get an idea of what I was thinking of (the "Thunder Plains"), this video shows it (the background song to it is also really cool)... although it also shows lots of random battles and dumb custom characters names, though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX7jZhutT_M
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on May 20, 2010, 03:56:58 AM
Quote from: Greg on May 19, 2010, 02:19:05 PM
I decided to erase what I wrote and start from scratch sometime around the beginning of this month... turned out to be a good decision, I think.

Finally, I think I got a good feel for what I'm going to do. Between last night and today, I've written ~11 bars of music, which is unheard of for me, for the last 3 years. I have a very good feel for what I'm writing and actually have too many good ideas to write down, which is always a good thing.

Molto bene!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on June 10, 2010, 06:10:18 AM
op.1 Piano Sonata
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on June 10, 2010, 06:11:03 AM
op.2 String Quartet
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on June 10, 2010, 06:11:48 AM
op.3 What the Zorgenoth!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on June 10, 2010, 06:12:51 AM
op.4 Blather Lather
op.5 The Bend of Time
op.6 We'll C
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Franco on June 10, 2010, 06:32:55 AM
Greg,

I listened to parts of the first three compositions and think they represent a good bit of work.  Of course you need to try to get actual performances since the MIDI sound files do not come close to representing the music and present significant obstacles to others appreciating what you've accomplished.  But I know how hard it came be to get live performances.  One suggestion: if there is a university near to you, try networking with the music students and faculty towards this end.

You should definitely keep writing because I hear a unique voice and plenty of talent - try to not become frustrated with the process, and don't put too much pressure on yourself - just write, write, write - I am convinced that 99% of learning how to compose is from doing it.

Best,

Franco
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: (poco) Sforzando on June 10, 2010, 10:56:47 AM
I would find it helpful if you posted your scores too.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on June 10, 2010, 01:21:51 PM
Quote from: Franco on June 10, 2010, 06:32:55 AM
Greg,

I listened to parts of the first three compositions and think they represent a good bit of work.  Of course you need to try to get actual performances since the MIDI sound files do not come close to representing the music and present significant obstacles to others appreciating what you've accomplished.  But I know how hard it came be to get live performances.  One suggestion: if there is a university near to you, try networking with the music students and faculty towards this end.

You should definitely keep writing because I hear a unique voice and plenty of talent - try to not become frustrated with the process, and don't put too much pressure on yourself - just write, write, write - I am convinced that 99% of learning how to compose is from doing it.

Best,

Franco
Thanks for listening.  :)
I was really just putting these up because Saul requested, but I don't mind others listening. The last one on here (op.6) I wrote 3 years ago...


As for the scores, the only one I have in pdf form is op.5 (attached). This is the one Karl played, back when I was experimenting for a while with notation whose rhythm is represented by the length of lines (what is called again, durational notation?)- I'll never do that again lol. I bet he's glad he played that version rather this one, though.  :D

The rest are, ahem... a bit scrambled in format. I have some written on staff paper and Noteworthy and others written in just Noteworthy- "We'll C" has some bars that must be up to 20 quarter notes long, but I have to divide everything into as close to 4/4 as I can get it, so the score will actually be readable. Eventually, I want to get them all in pdf, but I want to do other stuff before that, considering rewriting the stuff in Sibelius will be a huge project.


btw, my personal favorite is op.6 "We'll C." I love it! However, that's completely not what I want to express in my future work.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Saul on June 10, 2010, 01:49:28 PM
Greg I must tell you that I enjoyed all three compositions.
Your music has a refreshing quality of spontaneity, really nicely done and interesting.
The last one was a charm, really good piece.

Thank you.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on June 10, 2010, 01:59:48 PM
Thanks for listening, Saul.  :)
I think others have said stuff to the effect of what you just said. If they sound "spontaneous," it's probably because they are. The last one, if I remember correctly, I just sat down and wrote over the course of, maybe, 2 hours out of random inspiration and nothing better to do.


(sucks that on each file, the last second is cut out. In "Blather Lather," the whole last note was cut out).  ::)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Saul on June 11, 2010, 09:50:56 AM
They were fun piece indeed, Greg.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on June 14, 2010, 10:52:16 AM
Here's a recording of "The Bend of Time." Sounds better than MIDI, eh?  :)

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=dcb128f2935e1368ab1eab3e9fa335ca2093c057b4317add
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on June 14, 2010, 11:53:33 AM
Did you decide to adjust the notation at all, Greg?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on June 14, 2010, 06:44:45 PM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on June 14, 2010, 11:53:33 AM
Did you decide to adjust the notation at all, Greg?
Are you talking about adjusting it from the original version with just lines indicating rhythm?
Just a couple of posts ago, on this page, is the pdf attachment of the score, which was my adjustment.

Eventually, when I "rewrite" my scores (pdf them), I'll make this one look a little better, too- but only using small adjustments. I'm still keeping the whole time signature change every single measure just because it's cool.  :D


btw, the recording is actually Sibelius Sound Essentials.  ;)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Saul on June 14, 2010, 07:27:36 PM
Quote from: Greg on June 14, 2010, 10:52:16 AM
Here's a recording of "The Bend of Time." Sounds better than MIDI, eh?  :)

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=dcb128f2935e1368ab1eab3e9fa335ca2093c057b4317add

Really Cool Piece.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on June 15, 2010, 02:03:09 AM
Quote from: Greg on June 14, 2010, 06:44:45 PM
Are you talking about adjusting it from the original version with just lines indicating rhythm?
Just a couple of posts ago, on this page, is the pdf attachment of the score, which was my adjustment.

Splendid! I'll have a look this afternoon.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on June 15, 2010, 02:03:48 AM
Quote from: Saul on June 14, 2010, 07:27:36 PM
Really Cool Piece.

Of course. I played the premiere ; )
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on June 15, 2010, 01:19:44 PM
A short sketch of a possible second string quartet:

http://www.mediafire.com/?witlzdozifz

(as i go make some adjustments right after posting it  :D )
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Saul on June 15, 2010, 07:40:19 PM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on June 15, 2010, 02:03:48 AM
Of course. I played the premiere ; )

Did you really?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on June 15, 2010, 08:17:27 PM
Quote from: Saul on June 15, 2010, 07:40:19 PM
Did you really?
Yeah, he included the piece in one of his recitals.

btw, everyone- ignore that last post. Messed around with it a bit more and it sounds better- I might re-upload it.

However, I'm going to have to stop there and save it for one day (since I like the material). Starting a new project like this isn't my goal, and I shouldn't get sidetracked. I've gotten the hang of writing back, it seems... so, continuing from there, I should be able to write my orchestral work (there might be delays for other reasons, though).


(as a side note, strangely, I typed it in Sibelius without using any instrument at all- just typed notes straight in, and it didn't even feel awkward)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Saul on June 16, 2010, 04:59:41 AM
That was really nice, Karl.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on June 16, 2010, 05:06:20 AM
Quote from: Saul on June 15, 2010, 07:40:19 PM
Did you really?

I did, at King's Chapel here in Boston, 20 June 2006.  And if the composer has adjusted the notation to my liking ; ) I shall play it again.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Saul on June 16, 2010, 05:54:29 AM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on June 16, 2010, 05:06:20 AM
I did, at King's Chapel here in Boston, 20 June 2006.  And if the composer has adjusted the notation to my liking ; ) I shall play it again.

Greg, you're lucky...
Did you send Karl a chocolate box with some flowers?
I think he deserves it.

Again, this was a nice gesture, Karl... not too many people have an orchestra at their disposal, and to use this privilege to perform some new not mainstream composer's work, was generous.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on June 16, 2010, 06:12:05 AM
Flowers to Maria and chocolates to my mom-in-law Irina, thanks! ; )
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Saul on June 16, 2010, 06:22:01 AM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on June 16, 2010, 06:12:05 AM
Flowers to Maria and chocolates to my mom-in-law Irina, thanks! ; )

I think they wouldnt fight about it, they will share!  :D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on June 16, 2010, 04:55:46 PM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on June 16, 2010, 06:12:05 AM
Flowers to Maria and chocolates to my mom-in-law Irina, thanks! ; )
I would, except that would probably seem creepy.  :D

Seriously, though, as I've said a million times before, one day I'm gonna have to come up there and meet you guys. I'll bring my guitar and a small amp and we could jam together.  :D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 14, 2010, 07:30:25 PM
4 months later...  ::)
Well, I guess you could say I have it pretty much figured out. I know what to do now.

The more I think about it, the more it seems to me like writing is more of a matter of concentrating on what you want to express. The "concentrating" part is possibly the hardest, as well. It's just keeping your eye on the ball. It's way harder than it sounds, since anything can be a distraction- when you're successful, you know it because you're so glued to it that you just can't tear yourself away.

You can't force concentration, either, because that's exactly what kills it best. I feel like I'm finally starting to write a good opening for an orchestral piece after 3 years of trying. Of course, what killed my concentration was me deciding to set up a specific time to write- maybe an hour or so, and then I had to stop and go to work or something. This just makes the subconscious feel uneasy and it's impossible to concentrate this way.

I guess the method would be: "if you kinda have an idea of what you want to write, just relax and let it happen."  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: (poco) Sforzando on October 15, 2010, 04:08:33 AM
Quote from: Greg on June 16, 2010, 04:55:46 PM
I would, except that would probably seem creepy.  :D

Seriously, though, as I've said a million times before, one day I'm gonna have to come up there and meet you guys. I'll bring my guitar and a small amp and we could jam together.  :D

Stop in New York on your way to Boston and I'll treat you to lunch.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 15, 2010, 06:35:19 AM
Quote from: Sforzando on October 15, 2010, 04:08:33 AM
Stop in New York on your way to Boston and I'll treat you to lunch.
Sounds like a plan.  8)
Though it would be quite a while until I'd be able to...  ::) but if I can someday, I'll let you know.  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on October 19, 2010, 06:52:20 AM
Quote from: Greg on October 14, 2010, 07:30:25 PM
4 months later...  ::)
Well, I guess you could say I have it pretty much figured out. I know what to do now.

The more I think about it, the more it seems to me like writing is more of a matter of concentrating on what you want to express. The "concentrating" part is possibly the hardest, as well. It's just keeping your eye on the ball. It's way harder than it sounds, since anything can be a distraction- when you're successful, you know it because you're so glued to it that you just can't tear yourself away.

You can't force concentration, either, because that's exactly what kills it best. I feel like I'm finally starting to write a good opening for an orchestral piece after 3 years of trying. Of course, what killed my concentration was me deciding to set up a specific time to write- maybe an hour or so, and then I had to stop and go to work or something. This just makes the subconscious feel uneasy and it's impossible to concentrate this way.

I guess the method would be: "if you kinda have an idea of what you want to write, just relax and let it happen."  8)

I couldn't really say how it might be best for you to proceed . . . the thing is (I think) to get oneself in the habit of writing . . . write a minute of music every day, at whatever time of this or that day, you like, and even if you wind up throwing that minute out. Cultivate that habit, so that when the time arrives to "relax and let it happen" (which is the right spirit), you're ready. "The readiness is all."
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 19, 2010, 06:56:16 AM
Cool. I'm trying to do just that. As long as I don't force myself, I think I should be able to write something satisfying.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on October 19, 2010, 06:58:53 AM
Quote from: Greg on October 19, 2010, 06:56:16 AM
Cool. I'm trying to do just that. As long as I don't force myself, I think I should be able to write something satisfying.

Or, if on this or that day you feel that it's forcing yourself, do something "mechanical" . . . Reduce part of a string quartet for piano, arrange a Chopin Prelude for clarinet quintet, take a melody from anywhere and play with its contrapuntal possibilities.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 19, 2010, 07:04:32 AM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on October 19, 2010, 06:58:53 AM
Or, if on this or that day you feel that it's forcing yourself, do something "mechanical" . . . Reduce part of a string quartet for piano, arrange a Chopin Prelude for clarinet quintet, take a melody from anywhere and play with its contrapuntal possibilities.
Yes, exactly. Anything to stimulate the need to write- often, just studying scores, or specific musical ideas. What I'm looking for is a style that is somewhat melodic and motif-based, heavily gravitating towards the bass register, more in the p-mf range of dynamics, thick (but not muddy), contrapuntal, and with stuff such as light cymbal rolls, tubular bells, and bowed vibraphone in the background as orchestral ornamentation- not to mention many other details I've discovered that I would like to include. It will be interesting to see how that turns out.  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on October 19, 2010, 07:06:43 AM
Studying the scores often is good, too, of course. But the key (I think) to the daily exercise is the physical act of setting pencil to paper, the motor habit and its connections to your musical mind.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 19, 2010, 07:22:27 AM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on October 19, 2010, 07:06:43 AM
Studying the scores often is good, too, of course. But the key (I think) to the daily exercise is the physical act of setting pencil to paper, the motor habit and its connections to your musical mind.
Kinda like the habit of going to GMG and clicking "new replies." I can't stop!  :D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on October 19, 2010, 07:48:02 AM
I can stop anytime . . . .
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 25, 2010, 10:25:04 AM
Well, here's a sketch of the beginning. No dynamics added yet, although they are extremely important (the first note will "crescendo from nothing" (a modernist idea))...

When I typed it in, I thought it would possibly sound awful, but it turned out to be quite the opposite!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: rappy on October 25, 2010, 12:10:35 PM
Is there a link to Mahler's 10th?  :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 25, 2010, 12:11:58 PM
It's that obvious, isn't it?  :D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: rappy on October 25, 2010, 12:24:55 PM
Definitely!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Luke on October 25, 2010, 12:25:18 PM
Quote from: Greg on October 19, 2010, 07:04:32 AM
Yes, exactly. Anything to stimulate the need to write- often, just studying scores, or specific musical ideas. What I'm looking for is a style that is somewhat melodic and motif-based, heavily gravitating towards the bass register, more in the p-mf range of dynamics, thick (but not muddy), contrapuntal, and with stuff such as light cymbal rolls, tubular bells, and bowed vibraphone in the background as orchestral ornamentation- not to mention many other details I've discovered that I would like to include. It will be interesting to see how that turns out.  8)

Heard any Gavin Bryars, Greg? Might not be your cup of tea but the sounds you are talking about are the sort of thing that saturate his music. Bryars' music is my guilty pleasure - I find him absolutely fascinating, even though from work to work there is not a huge amount of variation, and I have more discs of him than of any other post 1950 composer (about 25, I guess, largely thanks to his superb own label, GB, which puts out plenty of stuff) and there's a brand new disc of his percussion music, which I got only last week, which I think you would love to hear for these kinds of sounds - it's called New York, and I reckon you might find it worthwhile to give it a shot.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 25, 2010, 01:09:37 PM
Never heard of him, but the "New York" clip is similar to what I have in mind.

http://www.amazon.com/Gavin-Bryars-New-York/dp/B0045F9U8E/ref=sr_1_cc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1288040789&sr=1-1-catcorr
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 30, 2010, 10:47:11 AM
Should I be able to finish this piece by May?

I have, basically, half a year and I expect it to be around 18 minutes long (I have the first minute written).
I think it's best that I only write when I feel like it- no, that's probably the only way. I think I'll be working at Lowes for at least 2 more months, which means little energy to work on anything constructive. Half of the time, when I'm home, I just feel like sleeping and then doing something completely novel so I can work off the depression that working there causes. Writing music or studying anything does not help at all.

Then, if I start work as a full-time programmer, I will have less time, true... but I should have a lot more energy for composing, since that type of work is closer to fun than work, to me. I also say "May" because I want to go to school in May, and I just won't have any time to compose at all for 4 years.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Scarpia on October 30, 2010, 12:45:11 PM
Quote from: Greg on October 30, 2010, 10:47:11 AM
Should I be able to finish this piece by May?

I have, basically, half a year and I expect it to be around 18 minutes long (I have the first minute written).
I think it's best that I only write when I feel like it- no, that's probably the only way. I think I'll be working at Lowes for at least 2 more months, which means little energy to work on anything constructive. Half of the time, when I'm home, I just feel like sleeping and then doing something completely novel so I can work off the depression that working there causes. Writing music or studying anything does not help at all.

Then, if I start work as a full-time programmer, I will have less time, true... but I should have a lot more energy for composing, since that type of work is closer to fun than work, to me. I also say "May" because I want to go to school in May, and I just won't have any time to compose at all for 4 years.

I struggle to find any clue that you want to compose music.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 30, 2010, 06:51:57 PM
Quote from: Scarpia on October 30, 2010, 12:45:11 PM
I struggle to find any clue that you want to compose music.
Well, I'll just let you struggle all by yourself then...
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Scarpia on October 31, 2010, 08:16:31 AM
Quote from: Greg on October 30, 2010, 10:47:11 AM
I also say "May" because I want to go to school in May, and I just won't have any time to compose at all for 4 years.

Quote from: Greg on October 30, 2010, 06:51:57 PM
Well, I'll just let you struggle all by yourself then...

You are planning your excuses for not composing four years into the future!  Henning, on the other hand, composed his viola sonata while riding a bus to work through the streets of Boston.   I'm not a composer, but when I feel driven to do something I go to work in the morning with bloodshot eyes because I was up half the night working on my project.  If you've got the passion to do it, you will do it. 
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 31, 2010, 09:30:38 AM
Quote from: Scarpia on October 31, 2010, 08:16:31 AM
You are planning your excuses for not composing four years into the future!  Henning, on the other hand, composed his viola sonata while riding a bus to work through the streets of Boston.   I'm not a composer, but when I feel driven to do something I go to work in the morning with bloodshot eyes because I was up half the night working on my project.  If you've got the passion to do it, you will do it.
I'm not sure how he writes in his head like that- I don't know how to.

When I'm going to school and working full time, there won't be any time to do anything. I could try, but I doubt I could get much written. Me having to sleep 9 hours a day doesn't help. I just slept 10 hours last night and all I feel like doing is staring into space, hoping I'll feel better as soon as possible. I've been trying for the last few hours to continue my work, but I can't concentrate. (Last week, I felt like I was exploding with ideas and was having fun with it).

There's a difference between wanting to do something and feeling like doing something.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: DavidW on October 31, 2010, 09:31:47 AM
Greg, why do you sleep so much?  Do you just need that much sleep or are you depressed?  I'm sorry if I'm being intrusive.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 31, 2010, 09:56:34 AM
Quote from: DavidW on October 31, 2010, 09:31:47 AM
Greg, why do you sleep so much?  Do you just need that much sleep or are you depressed?  I'm sorry if I'm being intrusive.
Good question. I really, really, wish (if it were humanly possible) that I didn't have to sleep. It really is a waste of time.

I really don't know what the problem is exactly. I can only go so many days at a time until I just lose my energy. I just went nearly 2 weeks until I basically fell apart Thursday and Friday, and I thought that was very unusual to go that long feeling normal. I regain my energy after a couple of days, usually, so I bet I'll have it back tomorrow.

I used to know a guy that said he slept 14 hours on some days that he was off. I heard one possible explanation is the messed up fast metabolism which drains your energy (he had that problem even worse than me, which I didn't know was possible)  ;D. Then again, he said he was bipolar, but I thought the moods change over a long period of time. I could definitely tell, seeing how different he was from one day to the next.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: DavidW on October 31, 2010, 09:59:39 AM
Oh it's just a weekend thing then.  I thought you meant every day! :D

I get 5-7 hours per day during the week, 8 hours is my sweet spot, but I compensate with 9-10 hours per day during the weekend. :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on November 02, 2010, 10:14:42 AM
Quote from: Greg on October 31, 2010, 09:56:34 AM
I regain my energy after a couple of days, usually, so I bet I'll have it back tomorrow.
As predicted. However, I have a pretty good idea of how to "keep" my energy. I will have to try this out...

Also, what is amazing to me is how much of a difference there is when I am writing vs. when I am writing in a certain direction. It's probably impossible to explain in words, but when I just sit down and write, it'll be a struggle- however, when I decide to focus on a certain "direction" or "mood," notes come from nowhere that I never would have thought of, and the music kind of composes itself. I think this may be one of the key differences between a great composer and someone who just writes music. You can teach yourself so much, but if you don't have that original style that is your own, you can only have so much success in writing. I will definitely have to consciously focus on that "feeling" that I want to express, because the second I take my eye off that (which is extremely easy, unfortunately), composing is a struggle. As I'm writing now, the only notes I've accepted conform to this...
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on November 04, 2010, 07:37:40 AM
Fascinating.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on November 04, 2010, 05:06:18 PM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on November 04, 2010, 07:37:40 AM
Fascinating.
Really?  :D
Hey, if you could even understand what I was saying in that post, that itself is fascinating!  :D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on September 12, 2011, 01:32:36 PM
Good news. I have written something.

It is a piece for solo electric guitar which is entirely on the clean chorus setting. It is very slow, mysterious, meditative, and I suppose a few minutes long (haven't timed it).

This is completely different from anything I've written before. I had been working on this on and off for probably a month now, but just today I decided to completely cut out most of what I had written (which was distorted guitar) and work around "that melody" which I originally had planned to add at the end.

The piece is very unique and will probably only cater to a few people who will love it, and the rest will just be bored by it. The only thing I can possibly compare it to would be the clean/chorus sections in Meshuggah's Catch 33, but even then, it's quite different from that.

4 years it took to write an op.7...  :-[ now that I understand the way my mind really works much better than I did years ago, I might be able to write an orchestral work eventually. The only way I can write is during a day off, hours at a time (with no sense of having to do anything the whole day). And then, I can only do this procedure once every one or two weeks. But I will also have to figure out my personal procedure of writing for an orchestra, as well.


The title?... no clue yet. But, I'll upload it soon- maybe today or tomorrow.  :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on September 12, 2011, 07:33:26 PM
The title... a couple of ideas so far.
1- Under Lucid Skies
2- Dream Guide

(a Dream Guide is a dream character in a lucid dream who is (instead of being an ignorant and brainless regular dream character) someone who knows everything about you).
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on September 13, 2011, 04:05:17 AM
Quote from: Greg on September 12, 2011, 01:32:36 PM
Good news. I have written something.

Excellent! Knew you would, when the time came.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on September 13, 2011, 08:41:31 AM
Okay, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/v/v3yTVaAIA-c&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

It's op.7 Under Lucid Skies.

The recording sucks. Kinda ruins the important subtleties, but it will at least give you an idea of it. Also, please excuse my little brother bursting in my room at the last second, yelling, "Good lawd, man!"
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Luke on September 13, 2011, 11:13:23 AM
Two minutes in and moved to write - this is very effective, Greg, very simple, pure ideas, beautifully paced and patiently worked through. Haunting stuff. I also love the sound - I never understand what you are talking about with this stuff, but there is just that hint of an edge to this essentially soft tone which works very well. I like it a lot!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on September 13, 2011, 12:46:58 PM
Wow, Luke, glad to hear that! The sound I used was just the very first setting on my Line 6 amp- it puts the Chorus Flange and Delay on at the same time.

I think, to explain the title better- it can represent the feeling of being in a lucid dream (you know, when you know you are dreaming). And if you think about it, here you are in another world, disembodied, because your real body is in bed, yet you are only controlling an imagined body. Then you look up at the sky, which seems so real, yet it isn't.

My mom used the term "in limbo," which is perfect.  :D I think I've broken through to a different sound on this one- expanding from this would be an interesting task.  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on September 14, 2011, 09:51:35 AM
One more note: I memorized the whole thing and played it. I'll write the score before long.

I think memorizing it is way easier, but if I wrote a complex orchestral score, I don't know if I'd be able to use that method.  ??? Physically writing while making up the music is just not fun for me, and slows down everything. Well, I guess super memory will be a necessity!  :D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: karlhenning on September 14, 2011, 10:03:22 AM
Quote from: Greg on September 13, 2011, 08:41:31 AM
Okay, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/v/v3yTVaAIA-c&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL

It's op.7 Under Lucid Skies.

Lovely! Bravo!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on September 14, 2011, 10:15:09 AM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on September 14, 2011, 10:03:22 AM
Lovely! Bravo!
Thanks, Karl!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on February 03, 2012, 02:09:39 PM
op.8 Through the Rift of Dreams

Let's just see how this goes is all I'm going to say for now...

but I have a good feeling about opus 8. First few bars I'm still sketching (nice ideas so far), but the name I just thought up and it fits perfectly (I've been thinking of a perfect title for a couple of years, actually).

I'm writing this for the Takemitsu competition, and it's scored for a somewhat standard orchestra, because I don't want to risk, for example, them not having a corresponding model of synthesizer keyboard to what I need. Also, I'm writing directly into Sibelius full score, as it just feels most comfortable that way, rather than the traditional short score on staff paper while on the keyboard.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on February 04, 2012, 04:26:52 AM
Work well!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on February 04, 2012, 05:34:56 AM
Thank you, Karl. I'll try.  ;)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on February 19, 2012, 07:05:21 AM
Well, having absolutely no time all week to even write anything sure helps. Not. Hopefully, Monday morning it will feel fresh and easier to think of something from having been away from it for so long.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on February 20, 2012, 09:11:36 AM
Well, there goes my hour for the entire week. I developed an idea, but no time to write it into notes. What amazing productivity.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on March 02, 2012, 03:02:30 PM
Okay, just want to make a note.

This might be potentially very good news: even though I'm at the beginning, I'm not stuck at the 3rd bar any more. I think I realized that to break out of being stuck, I just have to concentrate intensely- and I mean extremely intensely. Not sure how to word it, but after 2 or 3 weeks at being stuck there (and it was starting to look like the problem of being stuck I had for 2 years), I did that, and the next few bars sound great. If I get stuck again, I'll try this again.

I also have been trying the intense concentration thing when playing basketball, and my shooting percentage actually has gone up. If I do this, I hit half of my 3-pointers and 80% of my free throws, after several tests the last few times of playing. Before this, I'd average about 50% from the free throw line and 30% from the 3-point line.

The sound file is an approximation, because the volume is way off (sorry about all the silence at the end), and the score of course, won't look anything like that, because it will be a semi-cutout and have big number time signatures at the top.


score:
http://s833.photobucket.com/albums/zz257/ibanezmonsterg/?action=view&current=op8sketch.jpg

music:
http://www.mediafire.com/?4bd1tpb99q93244
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Lisztianwagner on March 02, 2012, 03:21:49 PM
Quote from: Greg on August 30, 2007, 11:11:10 AM
op.1 Piano Sonata

Wow, a Piano Sonata? Sounds very interesting, I have just to take a look at it!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on March 02, 2012, 03:29:13 PM
Quote from: Lisztianwagner on March 02, 2012, 03:21:49 PM
Wow, a Piano Sonata? Sounds very interesting, I have just to take a look at it!
Hehe, yep, that one was from quite a while ago. I was just starting to write back then. :D
Good thing you reminded me of my first post, because now I've updated the opus list with the new works.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Lisztianwagner on March 03, 2012, 06:24:17 AM
Quote from: Greg on March 02, 2012, 03:29:13 PM
Hehe, yep, that one was from quite a while ago. I was just starting to write back then. :D
Good thing you reminded me of my first post, because now I've updated the opus list with the new works.

Was that the old one? Ah, I didn't know it, I'm always used to look at the first page to see what a thread is about. :)
Anyway, that's great! Being a pianist and a huge piano lover, I hope to find many piano pieces in your opus list! ;)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on March 09, 2012, 12:12:20 PM
I wish they would make the Sibelius Sound Essentials for Sibelius 6 diminuendo and crescendo work correctly, because I'm wasting countless hours not being able hear what I need to write next, because every time I play back the music, it doesn't play back correctly.   
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Ataraxia on March 09, 2012, 12:13:25 PM
Quote from: Greg on March 09, 2012, 12:12:20 PM
I wish they would make the Sibelius Sound Essentials for Sibelius 6 diminuendo and crescendo work correctly, because I'm wasting countless hours not being able hear what I need to write next, because every time I play back the music, it doesn't play back correctly.   

Can't you play it in your head like Beethoven did? I'm serious.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on March 09, 2012, 12:39:46 PM
Quote from: MN Dave on March 09, 2012, 12:13:25 PM
Can't you play it in your head like Beethoven did? I'm serious.
That's what I'll have to do... the problem is for some reason when I play it in my head, it gets a little confused and nothing sounds right at that "point." I might as well use the word "point" to specifically describe the point that I leave my work to work on it another day... it's the same problem I've had for the last several years, and why I've hardly written anything. Hard to explain.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on March 09, 2012, 03:40:06 PM
Okay, this is exactly what happens. I'd appreciate it if anyone could offer a thought.

I'm writing. Everything goes smoothly, as if I'm simply improvising. Then, at some point in the middle or ending of a "phrase", I either run out of steam, or I write something, listen to it and delete it. I go back to rewrite the portion I deleted. It doesn't sound quite right. I rewrite it again. That doesn't sound quite right, either. (I don't mean "not good," because often it does sound good. I mean, "not logically connected with what came before.")

The more I try to correct it, the worse the situation gets. Every time I replay the music, what I just deleted gets stuck in my head. I try to imagine something better, but I can't, because the only thing that comes to mind is what I just deleted. There is no room for any thought.

I've recently gone back to the pieces that were never completed because of this problem over the last several years. The orchestral work called "Night" (see the beginning of the thread from 4 1/2 years ago) and another one (a duo for clarinet and flute, called "Prelude to Everything and Nothing") I can easily pick up where I left off, each well over a year or two ago. (There are others like this, but I don't bother, because they suck). I'm assuming this is because it's been so long since I've listened to them that all of the deleted stuff I've forgotten over time and can't cloud my mind any more.

Now, how am I going to, say, work on my piece for 8 hours on Fridays if I get stuck? I simply don't have time to write a minute, wait 3 months, write another minute, etc. when this is a 15-minute piece I want done before September? (and honestly, I want to put all of my other personal projects on hold until I can get this done- no games, no anime, no languages, no programming projects, etc.)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on March 10, 2012, 08:32:16 AM
Well, looked up a couple of sites...
seems like it could simply be categorized as writer's block. Probably obvious, but apparently writer's block is more dynamic than I thought.

most likely the cause and solution:
http://ollinmorales.wordpress.com/2011/07/15/productivity/

In summary:
cause: being worried about the outcome.
solution: detach yourself from the outcome.
Worrying about the outcome hinders creative flow of thought...

Now how do I go about achieving this? If I submit this to the competition and win 3rd place or greater, I will accomplish the two things I need more than anything at the same time (other than winning the lotto):
1) a trip to Tokyo (if I had one wish before I died, this would be it)
2) $6,000+ this would get me out of my job of the last 4 years which has given me depression for the last 4 years, into a job I like which will eventually be higher-paying.


How is it possible to detach oneself from something this important? If I simply didn't care that much, then why not jump off a bridge?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on March 10, 2012, 11:19:45 AM
I got past it.  :o

Should have tried this again and stuck with it intensely.

Quote from: Greg on March 02, 2012, 03:02:30 PM
This might be potentially very good news: even though I'm at the beginning, I'm not stuck at the 3rd bar any more. I think I realized that to break out of being stuck, I just have to concentrate intensely- and I mean extremely intensely. Not sure how to word it, but after 2 or 3 weeks at being stuck there (and it was starting to look like the problem of being stuck I had for 2 years), I did that, and the next few bars sound great. If I get stuck again, I'll try this again.

This is what I did... however, first time, nothing materialized. Second time, I had a vague sense. Third time, I started writing. The trick I learned here is that it might not come all at once, but to simply keep trying at this special concentration over and over again to understand what musical path works best logically after the point of being stuck. Now, although I'm still messing with the notes a bit, it's in a direction that makes sense.

I'm sure anyone reading this is wondering "what?..." You weren't concentrating before? ???
The best explanation I can give is that, since I'm trying to make it as best as I can, I tend to erase anything that doesn't sound great, and like I said, this forms a endless loop because I can't get rid of the fragments I just erased out of my head while I'm playing back the music and trying to envision something good musically progress from that point. This creates the writer's block.

Using special concentration I think somehow shifts brain processes back to the creative parts of the mind rather than, say (I'm guessing, though could be wrong) the amygdala. It's a completely uphill battle, but if this works, I should be able to finish the piece in a timely manner.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on March 10, 2012, 11:23:02 AM
1 minute down, ~14 minutes to go!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on March 10, 2012, 03:30:23 PM
Progress!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Cato on March 10, 2012, 05:18:04 PM
Quote from: Greg on March 10, 2012, 11:23:02 AM
1 minute down, ~14 minutes to go!

Today's (March 10, 2012) Wall Street Journal has an article called How To Be Creative.

See if it helps!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203370604577265632205015846.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_6 (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203370604577265632205015846.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_6)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: DavidW on March 10, 2012, 05:30:00 PM
That was an interesting article. :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on March 10, 2012, 06:36:58 PM
Quote from: Cato on March 10, 2012, 05:18:04 PM
Today's (March 10, 2012) Wall Street Journal has an article called How To Be Creative.

See if it helps!

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203370604577265632205015846.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_6 (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203370604577265632205015846.html?mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Lifestyle_6)
I sort of agree with this.

Music-wise, I think creativity comes about using one's own ideas up to a point where it becomes their new musical vocabulary. This is something I'm already doing, since my new piece is influenced by the last guitar piece I wrote, and none of them sound like anything I know of. If I keep on writing with this new language, it could easily become a new style if some other composers picked it up.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on March 16, 2012, 08:18:43 AM
I think I'm going to start over again. The difference will be that I'll try to follow a different method of composing, because my current method really isn't working.

The direct input into Sibelius is great, but I simply cannot write a little bit of a large work, work on it again a little, stop, work on it a little again, stop, etc. Listening to it, I just feel no inspiration to continue it at all, even though it sounds great. In fact, I actually had this problem when I was composing years ago, except that I just didn't care as much about how "logical" it sounded, and they were kind of all over the place. The only exceptions were when I could write the music in one sitting.

What I should do is somehow imitate the style of composing of Under Lucid Skies. What I did was have preconceived ideas, and in a flash, I just put them all together. It almost felt like I composed it all within a few minutes. Everything is logical and sounds good- no problems at all with being stuck during the writing process.

The difficulty while be figuring out how to arrange a 15-ish minute orchestral piece in the same ease as Under Lucid Skies, which is 4 minutes of often repeated material for solo guitar which I can just pick up and play.  ::) The only way I'll be able to succeed in writing this is to have fun with it, I can say that for sure...
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on March 16, 2012, 08:56:28 AM
Sometimes, starting over is the only path to progress. Good on you for enduring!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on March 16, 2012, 09:07:15 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on March 16, 2012, 08:56:28 AM
Sometimes, starting over is the only path to progress. Good on you for enduring!
Well, I have no choice!  :D
It's most likely the only ticket I'll have to go to Japan for several more years, despite wanting to the last nearly 10 years...
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on April 06, 2012, 07:54:40 AM
I'm kind of liking this type of phrasing. The horn's phrase is 4 bars in 4/4, yet its repetition in the beginning starts not directly at the second bar, but after the first eight note of that bar, making the first phrase 9/8. The trumpet plays this, but changing up the note values, yet it all feels similar and controlled- nice! Of course, it's obvious where I got this type of rhythmic thinking from, but if used extensively, it can be very useful.


(http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz257/ibanezmonsterg/003.jpg)
view larger:
http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz257/ibanezmonsterg/003.jpg


sound:
http://www.mediafire.com/i/?lcz9s2u3kca0jk3
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on April 13, 2012, 07:00:57 PM
Finally, I got one concern completely out of the way:

I always feared that the music I'd end up writing for the Takemitsu competition would end up possibly "too conservative." After some digging, I found one of the 1st-place winners, Paul Stanhope's Fantasia on a theme of Vaughan Williams.

Lovely, and definitely conservative, tonal music. Now I can feel unrestricted to write however I want.  >:D

http://www.myspace.com/pstanhope
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 04, 2012, 04:33:09 PM
Ha. What I'm writing is some pretty good stuff. Page and a half since last night (and better than what I wrote before). I can see Sir Harrison Birtwistle liking this.

I also have a vacation coming up at the end of next month, going to Kentucky, so I'll have quite a bit more time then to write. Surprised I haven't come up against a block yet. What I'm doing, though, seems to be helping so far: when I just feel like stopping, I'll stop and take a break for a few minutes and do something else. Then, I'll think of anything that might get me inspired so I can get back into it without it feeling like a drag to return to it. Also, I maintain a mentality while writing that is slightly different: although, as now, I've written directly into Sibelius in the past without an instrument, writing now is more of a calm process that simply involves manipulating stuff around. I have a vague idea of what I want, and I just mess around with notes until it just feels right. I'm hardly thinking about theory at all. Hard to explain.

Let's see how this goes...
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on May 04, 2012, 05:01:59 PM
There's more time in Kentucky, I've heard it said....
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 04, 2012, 06:31:54 PM
Ha! Given the scenery, that definitely seems true. It would be nice if I could take my laptop outside and hook it up to something (rather than letting the battery drain in ~40 min.) Where we stay, there's pretty much nothing but mountains in the distance- perfect scenery for writing. That, and quietness. (Actually, not far from where we stay is an Amish community that we visited)...

There's something to think about next time you're on the bus, writing music.  ;)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Szykneij on May 04, 2012, 07:26:05 PM
Quote from: karlhenning on May 04, 2012, 05:01:59 PM
There's more time in Kentucky, I've heard it said....

And up ahead's another town that I'll go walking through,
With the rain in my shoes
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 06, 2012, 07:29:55 PM
Wow.
Let's just say this first 1'05" is shaping up to be the new music I've always dreamed of. (~14 minutes to go)

I got kinda stuck for a while, though... I worked on the same section for 30 minutes during break yesterday, and no progress despite several ideas. Then, I worked on it the last 2 hours or so, not being able to get out of the same section. Then, I started to simply listen line-by-line to see what sounded right, and through a little patchwork, I was able to progress out and into some  :o territory (clarinet, crotales, strings)... well, I won't share this until I'm done, but I can't wait!  ;D

One interesting point is that some of these accidental things actually turn out to be good- for example, it starts out at 40 bpm, but I didn't see the 35 bpm and didn't even notice the tempo went down, but if I push it back up to 40 bpm, it sounds too fast. People may find this to be a very strange tempo which actually works, but in all honesty, it was accidental (and I'm keeping it!)

Just a note to myself... perhaps the way to get out of the blocks is to totally not rush anything and pay attention one line at a time during playback, rather than all of the music; also, treat it more like a puzzle.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 08, 2012, 08:09:32 PM
I did rewrite the same bit a million times all day yesterday and today, but it was worth it. The couple of extra bars I've laid out are perfect and I won't change them now.

What I learned, though, was that I need to simply play it back again and again before writing another note (rather than just writing notes without doing that, which is what lead to rewriting the same section so much). Write the note or two, then play it back again. If it fits, it'll usually lead to extra notes, or maybe a bar. Play back the bar, polish up, and enjoy. Hopefully now that I know that, I'll be able to write a bit faster.

Somehow, it's almost sounding kind of like some of the contemporary composers I hear in certain sections...
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 09, 2012, 09:31:08 AM
I might be typing a message or two here every day, but oh well!  :D
And I might keep on saying how gorgeous this music, but oh well...  8)
hehe

It just has one flaw so far: At the 1' mark is when I transition into the next section, which is the start of something to develop (and the transition is perfect, too). However, it feels like the ideas are progressing too quickly. The solution, I think, might be to either somehow develop or repeat the first minute of music. Then, around the 2' mark or so is when it gets to the next section. The second section almost sounds Ligeti-ish, like in Lontano or something- really beautiful, despite being quite dissonant if you look at the actual notes being used.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on May 09, 2012, 09:36:01 AM
Quote from: Greg on May 09, 2012, 09:31:08 AM
. . . However, it feels like the ideas are progressing too quickly. The solution, I think, might be to either somehow develop or repeat the first minute of music . . . .

Carry on.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 09, 2012, 09:44:09 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on May 09, 2012, 09:36:01 AM
Carry on.
Yeah, I'll try to knock this thing out first before progressing...


What I wish to express in the music can pretty much be summed up by one picture:
(http://i833.photobucket.com/albums/zz257/ibanezmonsterg/theme_ntp_background.png)
(this the theme I use for Google Chrome- it's called "Fly Away").  :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on May 09, 2012, 09:52:08 AM
How do you get the hair right, musically?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 09, 2012, 10:22:52 AM
Hmmm... uh...  :-[
tell the performers to use pink wind instruments?

(http://www.thepresentclub.co.uk/lg_images/Pink_Silver_Flute.jpg)
:-[
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on May 09, 2012, 10:24:38 AM
I don't think any flutist I know would agree to play such . . . an . . . instrument ; )
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 09, 2012, 10:35:01 AM
Hmm... maybe I'll keep it to the bassists, then.

(http://pinkblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/pinkbass.jpg)
;D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on May 09, 2012, 10:41:56 AM
Does Allan know you've crashed his pad?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on May 09, 2012, 11:19:16 AM
Anyway, I'm sure there are flutists out there who would play such a . . . device.

It's just that they are not the flutists I know : )
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 09, 2012, 11:59:04 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on May 09, 2012, 10:41:56 AM
Does Allan know you've crashed his pad?
Hmm... probably not, though I was thinking if M Forever ever performed my music, I'd make him the only one with the pink bass.  :P


Quote from: Greg on May 09, 2012, 09:31:08 AM
However, it feels like the ideas are progressing too quickly. The solution, I think, might be to either somehow develop or repeat the first minute of music.
Figured it out, done, and it works (not the entire first minute, but the beginning, basically). At 2'25" right now. Minor retouching is needed, which should take no longer than 10-20 minutes. Now time for work... off tomorrow, so more fun.  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on May 09, 2012, 12:01:18 PM
Quote from: Greg on May 09, 2012, 11:59:04 AM
Figured it out, done, and it works (not the entire first minute, but the beginning, basically).

Good! : )
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Szykneij on May 10, 2012, 03:01:49 PM
Quote from: Greg on May 09, 2012, 11:59:04 AM
Figured it out, done, and it works (not the entire first minute, but the beginning, basically). At 2'25" right now.

Greg, just an observation from a non-composer -- You seem to have a bit of a focus on clock time (seconds and minutes) instead of  measures, phrases, motifs, etc. Perhaps if you forget about the clock completely and concentrate more on shape and flow, your creativity will be more unfettered.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 10, 2012, 07:52:01 PM
Quote from: Szykneij on May 10, 2012, 03:01:49 PM
Greg, just an observation from a non-composer -- You seem to have a bit of a focus on clock time (seconds and minutes) instead of  measures, phrases, motifs, etc. Perhaps if you forget about the clock completely and concentrate more on shape and flow, your creativity will be more unfettered.
The reason why I'm looking at the clock is because of the 10-20 minute requirement. I just like to see my progress.
Oh, I'm definitely paying attention to those aspects. In fact, that's pretty much all I did today... barely any progress time-wise overall :-X, but now I have a better sense of where it's going, at least.

The one "flaw" that will just have to remain is that the two sections don't really complement each other well. Then again, I don't think that critically of a work by a famous composers, so it's okay, I guess.

I say I wouldn't post a preview, but here it is:
http://www.mediafire.com/?r20fii5r4hqqikc
(also note that the last bar is under construction). Anyone catch any references?  ;)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 10, 2012, 07:54:59 PM
And never mind that clarinet note that gets cut off...  ::)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 12, 2012, 04:20:04 PM
Well, this is interesting...
first of all, if anyone can think of ideas for a solution to this: playing back music I've written without hearing the music I've erased following it in my mind. How do I forget the music as soon as possible, without waiting a really long time (because I don't have the time to wait)?

Explanation:
I finally ran into a real "block" again. However, I have confirmed more strongly than ever that what the reason for the block was that when I erase a section of music that I've replayed many times, it gets stuck in my mind, and when I try to "write over" it, I can't, because the only thing that comes to mind is the music I've just erased.

I know this because several of the projects I've dropped over the last 4 years I've picked back up and wrote over them after a long time had passed (just to see if I could, out of curiosity). Just now, I continued my original version of "Through the Rift of Dreams" that I dropped in March, due to a block- I broke past that block because my subconscious couldn't remember what to play back after that point. My mind was free to let the new ideas flow, apparently, and the few bars that follow sound good.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 14, 2012, 09:39:20 AM
Figured it out.
I won't go into detail (unless anyone is interested), but I broke out of the block. If I run into another block, I'll use the same method...
good to know that I'm free to continue now, at least.  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on May 14, 2012, 10:02:31 AM
Quote from: Greg on May 14, 2012, 09:39:20 AM
Figured it out.
I won't go into detail (unless anyone is interested)

Consider me interested : )
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 15, 2012, 07:01:26 AM
Heh... well... how should I explain this?  :D

I ended up erasing what I wrote yesterday. It fit in perfectly, but I just thought it was a boring measure.
However, this morning I reworked the measure and have been replaying it, and so far I like it and it fits in (because of the density, it may take up to a couple of hours to finish lol). That hasn't happened yet with my numerous attempts to get past this part.

I thought about this yesterday (about getting through blocks)... probably the method to do so is no method. It's like a Zen Buddhist thing. Tackling the problem only makes it worse. In fact, the note in the first chord past the block that actually got me interested was an accident. This is the best explanation I can come up with for now, Karl.  :D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on May 15, 2012, 07:17:21 AM
Hey, I understand the difficulty inherent in explanation : )
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 17, 2012, 06:55:42 PM
Minor update:
http://www.mediafire.com/?t9521n9f5149m5m

(the end consists of sketches I'll tweak or erase and silence I forgot to remove lol)

Very, very pleased with this piece so far. One thing I need to really think about is the structure, though. The melody at 2:21 changes the course of the piece a bit abruptly, at least in emotional tone. Tomorrow, I'll have to see if there is a way to make a smooth transition from the preceding bars into that melody. What's cool is that the two major fillings I've had to make have not only been successful, but they are the only reason why the music holds together at all in the first place; I had doubts before that I could fill in effectively, but I've proven myself wrong. This one might be a bit more challenging, though.  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: snyprrr on May 18, 2012, 06:18:11 AM
Thanks again for your input! ;) My 'beginning' 'middle' and 'end' chains now only need to be linked up. It's like having this big unwieldy thing which could fall apart when you're carrying it, haha.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 18, 2012, 07:06:21 AM
Haha, cool. I'll be interested to see how it ends up, as it is a really cool idea.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: snyprrr on May 22, 2012, 06:50:46 AM
Quote from: Greg on May 18, 2012, 07:06:21 AM
Haha, cool. I'll be interested to see how it ends up, as it is a really cool idea.

update:

actually WORKED (10% inspiration/90% perspiration) on this sequence, like a JOB, for hours on end, just having to redo section '4' over and over,... currently in section '6', probably out of 12 all together, but the second half should be easier than the first.

I may have a feeling like this is something really cool,... as I'm doing it, an inner world/life is being revealed, it's strangely meditative...

Anyhow, EVERYONE wants me to STOP THAT UGLY NOISE!! I can only work alone,... might have to go to the park,... that WOULD be truly Composer-like, haha, so tragic, ahh.

OK, daylight's burnin', got 'til 2pm...
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 22, 2012, 08:11:48 AM
How long is the sequence going to end up being?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on May 22, 2012, 08:49:16 AM
Will it become . . . vexatious? . . .
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 22, 2012, 02:53:16 PM
He's trying to do some Xenakis-type stuff on classical guitar. The idea I know about so far is something that sounds really cool, though difficult to pull off due to the limitations of the guitar (even though compared to other instruments, the guitar is one of the least limited).
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 22, 2012, 03:02:38 PM
I should mention that in my work, I'm spacing things out drastically, all for the good.

The ideas I already have are being more fully developed, which is how they should be. The result will be more of a solid piece which heads into different directions at appropriate times. It's kinda weird writing content "in-between."  :P

Oh yeah, and I also got to throw in the harp's "Thunder Effect" at one point around the beginning. The thunder effect is just the harpist slapping the low register correction: forceful glissando on the lowest strings, so all of the strings ring out in a cluster, and the force causes the vibrating strings to strike each other, creating an additional metallic buzz. Sounds great with a tam-tam stroke.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: snyprrr on May 23, 2012, 09:36:24 AM
Quote from: Greg on May 22, 2012, 08:11:48 AM
How long is the sequence going to end up being?

whew... just finished the linking... from the beginning to the link (around the middle) is @18-20 'measures' (if we count 4/4),... will begin going over the second half of the link now for rewrite...

I have flubbed it all the way down to a single, insistent, low E note... from which the next section proceeds...

... a few more days hopefully... once again, I'm burnin' 'alone' time, ack :o...


I am so determined to get this section down,... it totally represents 'work' to me, and I will not be a spoiled brat (I hope!)... (Capt. Kirk:) must... finish... part... can't... let... it .... uh.... win...

I see the final form almost forming itself now...

... need... oxygen...
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on May 23, 2012, 09:54:44 AM
We worry about you, little fella.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Philoctetes3 on May 23, 2012, 05:25:11 PM
Quote from: Greg on May 17, 2012, 06:55:42 PM
http://www.mediafire.com/?t9521n9f5149m5m

I really dug this, at least what I could pick up (nothing to do with you, more with software limitaitons). I especially liked the Ligeti-like strings that played over and in the background for the first minute or so. That you used the clarinet, which has one of my favorite instrumental sounds, was also a noted plus. The melodies were also lovely. My favorite part was the transition at 3:49, when all of the other sounds just dropped off abruptly, I felt that really worked well. Also, very good note passing amongst the instruments.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 24, 2012, 09:18:08 AM
Quote from: Philoctetes3 on May 23, 2012, 05:25:11 PM
I really dug this, at least what I could pick up (nothing to do with you, more with software limitaitons). I especially liked the Ligeti-like strings that played over and in the background for the first minute or so. That you used the clarinet, which has one of my favorite instrumental sounds, was also a noted plus. The melodies were also lovely. My favorite part was the transition at 3:49, when all of the other sounds just dropped off abruptly, I felt that really worked well. Also, very good note passing amongst the instruments.
Wow, I'm really glad you're liking this.  :)
I'll be interested in what you think of the final version vs. this one, whenever I'm done with it. Mainly, I'm extending some of the sections, because I feel the piece would be better (more "solid") if they were drawn out a little bit more.

Right now, I'm trying to extend that Ligeti-ish section, but it's very difficult, because I'm mainly dealing with floating melodic fragments, while at the same time trying not to make it too abstract or too concrete to go in a different direction, because I still want it to connect to that Mahler-ish melody (the Mahler-ish melody I've laid out the blueprints for its development, but haven't filled it in- just one word for what it might be: damn  :o ).     

Anyways, back to work for me and syprrr.  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Szykneij on May 25, 2012, 03:55:02 PM
I enjoyed listening to that too, Greg, but I have one concern. Are you scoring this piece for authentic instruments? If it's meant to be performed by synthesized instruments, I like the effect, but I'm trying to imagine what it would sound like played by a real ensemble and I can't. The long sustained (clarinet?) notes are too unnatural sounding for me. Those dudes need to breathe at some point. Just a point to consider so you don't lose playability points.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 26, 2012, 03:35:55 PM
That is one concern. In that one transition section with the clarinets, I've changed it slightly (into a better sounding transition), but it still is somewhat problematic. Since we're allowed to score for up to 3 woodwinds each, I'm using 3 clarinets (3 plays bass clarinet when necessary). My solution to make it a bit easier is making the first clarinetist play the notes during the transition and have the second play that long, sustained note. It all depends on how long the clarinetists can hold their breath, so I might need to make a note in the final score indicating that if it's not possible to sustain the note that long, then the third clarinetist can smoothly make an imperceptible entry to ease the lungs of the second clarinetist- or simply write it in the score. The sustained effect is what I'm going for, though.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Szykneij on May 26, 2012, 03:44:31 PM
Quote from: Greg on May 26, 2012, 03:35:55 PM
That is one concern. In that one transition section with the clarinets, I've changed it slightly (into a better sounding transition), but it still is somewhat problematic. Since we're allowed to score for up to 3 woodwinds each, I'm using 3 clarinets (3 plays bass clarinet when necessary). My solution to make it a bit easier is making the first clarinetist play the notes during the transition and have the second play that long, sustained note. It all depends on how long the clarinetists can hold their breath, so I might need to make a note in the final score indicating that if it's not possible to sustain the note that long, then the third clarinetist can smoothly make an imperceptible entry to ease the lungs of the second clarinetist- or simply write it in the score. The sustained effect is what I'm going for, though.

It's hard to tell if this is possible without seeing the score, but if two clarinets are available to double the same long note, staggered breathing between the two players will give you the effect you want.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 26, 2012, 03:54:33 PM
Quote from: Szykneij on May 26, 2012, 03:44:31 PM
It's hard to tell if this is possible without seeing the score, but if two clarinets are available to double the same long note, staggered breathing between the two players will give you the effect you want.
True- now I just need to not forget this when writing the final score.  ;D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on June 05, 2012, 06:12:58 PM
Steady, but slow progress...

someone has a job/project for me- as far as I understand, it has something to do with setting up a website. I might not be able, too, though, since as slow as this is going, I'll probably be finished around the end of summer, which is the end of my free time.

Pretty much almost all I did today was look up different information, learn interesting stuff and play basketball with some kids. I'll force myself to write a few notes and jump to something else because I really just do not want to work on anything at all. Probably the messed up work schedule takes a few days to wear off, as long as a certain amount of time of relaxing occurs. The next three days I have plenty of time... (or it could be that I'm trying to finish a section which I know exactly how to shape, so it's really tedious to write, even though it will end up sounding nice)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on June 21, 2012, 03:52:27 PM
10 minutes total of written material so far. However, out of this ten minutes, there is still some editing I'll have to do- just editing to make it sound better, because in some parts I just had to write something. Those parts I just consider drafts. In all, this piece may even end up being as long as 18 minutes long, since I do plan a long-ish, slow ending.

One interesting new development: although this is a single-movement, uninterrupted piece, I've actually designated section titles. There are six sections:

Landscape.
Limbo.
Night.
Contradiction.
Flight.
Eternity.

Right now I have to figure out how to connect the Contradiction section to the Flight section. Ugh.  ???
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on June 30, 2012, 05:26:29 PM
I almost completed a second piano sonata, but I have to warn: it is VERY, VERY unusual.
It's in three movements, and actually, only the middle movement is atonal. The last movement uses a technique which I've never heard explored before. Also, the last movement is slow, but only the most capable pianists would be able to pull it off. I won't give away any more details, though.

There's just one thing I need to fix, and I'll have it uploaded soon. Let's just say that this piano sonata did not take much time to write, which is why I wrote it.  :P
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on July 05, 2012, 07:19:11 PM
Quote from: Greg on June 30, 2012, 05:26:29 PM
There's just one thing I need to fix, and I'll have it uploaded soon. Let's just say that this piano sonata did not take much time to write, which is why I wrote it.  :P
Maybe I'll upload the 3rd movement sometime, but for now I'm not going to worry about this at all.

Concerning my orchestral work: I ended getting about 14 or 15 minutes of material written, but I erased so much and reorganized it that I brought it down to 10 minutes. However, this is a pretty solid 10 minutes. What I erased was good material, but it simply did not fit in with the character of the work (I'll eventually upload the music snippets of these). Just a tad of touch up is needed- maybe only an hour or two worth, so that's why I say it's a solid 10 minutes. The last challenge is to simply develop the "Limbo" section, which I plan to end loud and then break off into silence before the "Night" section starts. Hopefully I can make 3-4 minutes out of this, to bring the total timing to 13-14 minutes.

I also renamed the work because... well... don't ask. It's now called "Phantom Travels."  8)

Now the sections are labeled:

Landscape.
Limbo.
Night.
Contradiction.
Coalescence.



The only thing is that I might have to put off (actively) working on this for around a week or so. I need to take care of some school-related issues so I'll be ready when I go back in late August.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on July 27, 2012, 12:44:40 PM
So close... I could probably finish it today if I really pushed myself, but it shouldn't take any longer than a couple of days. It'll be around 14 minutes long.

Of course, I'm only talking about the (posting) audio file. The pdf score will take at least a week to set up, then a day or two to figure out how to mail my score to Japan.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on July 30, 2012, 09:20:07 AM
Finished with the audio!  8)

op.9 Phantom Travels (http://www.mediafire.com/?d5n4ld18ttmp28c)

I might have to reupload it sometime, though, because in a few parts there are glitches and some of the dynamics didn't come out quite right. My computer was slowing down a bit during Sibelius' write process to the audio file, so maybe that explains the glitches. Also, it's kind of insane how much messing around with dynamics is necessary.

(Minor note: I'm naming it as op.9 because I'm going to add that "Orchestration of Prokofiev's op.88 Symphonic March" as my op.8 ).

Overall, I'm very pleased with how this turned out. I keep imaging this as an overture to an opera or something, because of its length...

Next step: prepare score in pdf (estimated time: 1 week)
Final step: print and mail
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on July 30, 2012, 09:25:58 AM
Just downloaded that puppy . . . .
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on July 30, 2012, 09:42:30 AM
Greg, this is beautiful, and really strong. You've made great strides since The Bend of Time. Bravo!  I'll listen to this one several times again.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on July 30, 2012, 11:16:19 AM
I say it again: very well done! A pleasure to listen to, even in MIDI guise.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Cato on July 30, 2012, 11:35:54 AM
Quote from: Greg on June 30, 2012, 05:26:29 PM
I almost completed a second piano sonata, but I have to warn: it is VERY, VERY unusual.
It's in three movements, and actually, only the middle movement is atonal. The last movement uses a technique which I've never heard explored before. Also, the last movement is slow, but only the most capable pianists would be able to pull it off. I won't give away any more details, though.

There's just one thing I need to fix, and I'll have it uploaded soon. Let's just say that this piano sonata did not take much time to write, which is why I wrote it.  :P

We want to see it and hear it!  ASAP!!! 
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on July 30, 2012, 12:09:26 PM
Thanks, Karl!  :D

Quote from: Cato on July 30, 2012, 11:35:54 AM
We want to see it and hear it!  ASAP!!! 
Haha... well, okay. For now I can post the third movement, but the first two are incomplete. However, considering the formulaic and minimalistic nature of each movement, it shouldn't be much work to finish the first two movements.

Here's the audio:
http://www.mediafire.com/?h28xz3mak4dpf8p

When I end up getting the score ready, you'll be able to see the technique I'm using more apparently- not only in this, but in how I use it at the end of Phantom Travels.

Basically, the left hand is repeating the same note at a gradually lower proportion (15 notes per measure, 14 notes per measure, 13, etc. down to 1). The right hand is simultaneously playing a melody which repeats, but every time it repeats, one more note at the end is chopped off. It's like a lullaby of death.  :D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on September 03, 2012, 07:00:17 AM
I reuploaded Phantom Travels:

http://www.mediafire.com/?pj8q8x0lys2dryv

This time there's a bad glitch at the 2 minute mark, but the rest is completely fine, so it's overall less glitchy than the previous version.
Still really liking the piece.  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: AndyD. on September 13, 2012, 11:41:41 AM
I heard a little Bartok...in fact I thought of the Music for Celesta, etc.

A little Mahler too, plus I hear some of the extreme metal influences that both Greg and I like.

The midi can be irritating, but then so much midi can be. Really good music, definitely keep writing Greg!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on September 13, 2012, 01:51:53 PM
Andy!!!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: AndyD. on September 13, 2012, 02:06:14 PM
Quote from: karlhenning on September 13, 2012, 01:51:53 PM
Andy!!!

:D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on September 13, 2012, 07:04:23 PM
I was a little bit surprised when you mentioned Bartok, Andy, but I realized that the beginning uses the Half-Whole Diminished scale, which is what Bartok uses quite often. We use it quite differently, though, but there is that similarity.

Also interesting that you hear a Blut Aus Nord influence... honestly haven't listened to them much- I've been listening a bit more to a band called Deathspell Omega, which is another French black metal band that is somewhat experimental and associated with Blut Aus Nord. But I will listen to Blut Aus Nord, keeping that in mind.  ;)

I though it would be funny if I was a finalist in the competition and had to talk about my piece and influences at a workshop (I think that's part of what they do) and mentioned all of these heavy metal influences.  :D




As for the op.10 2nd Piano Sonata... I might have done by the end of the year. Or next month. Who knows.
3rd movement is fine as it is, 1st movement I need to rework, and the 2nd movement I'm just completely redoing (making it the long, complex, non-formula based slow movement, though I'm still considering the idea of still using a recording of Vocaloid's Hatsune Miku, who will sing some Japanese lyrics of my choosing).
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Bogey on September 14, 2012, 05:07:09 PM
Hey, Ange!  Those Vermont trees turnin'?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: AndyD. on September 14, 2012, 05:12:01 PM
Quote from: Bogey on September 14, 2012, 05:07:09 PM
Hey, Ange!  Those Vermont trees turnin'?

Just startin' Boge, and hellllooo to you!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Sergeant Rock on September 15, 2012, 05:46:44 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on September 13, 2012, 01:51:53 PM
Andy!!!

Quote from: AndyD. on September 13, 2012, 02:06:14 PM
:D


A rare Andy sighting! Cool.

Sarge
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on October 20, 2012, 05:19:08 PM
Why I don't look at my score and why it's dumb that they don't let you submit sound files to the competition: I see that I accidentally marked a percussionist to play tam-tam instead of bass drum. This goes on for quite a while, and the music wouldn't make sense like this. It would completely ruin the whole section of music. And then the tam-tam that is supposed to come in later would have no effect but annoyance by then. And there is no way to make an edit to this. Now I'd be surprised if it was even selected as a finalist.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on October 20, 2012, 06:28:06 PM
Shake it off!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on October 20, 2012, 08:25:40 PM
There is always the chance that Birtwistle will wonder why the 2nd percussionist goes from playing the tam-tam to an instrument change to... the tam-tam. And that it wouldn't make sense musically, when the rest of the work does.

If I'm not selected, I'll just have to ask if I can submit it again next year with all of the corrections. Also, I somehow left off the "Limbo" title section. If I would have known that it really doesn't take that long to get it shipped to Japan, I could have spent a couple of extra days to review for errors.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on October 22, 2012, 07:23:01 PM
Then again, I might have corrected the score printouts and forgot that I did. I remember correcting something crucial, but can't remember what it was. I'd give it a 50/50 chance that I did.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on October 30, 2012, 08:08:05 PM
The op.10 Piano Sonata 2 is still looking pretty good. The outer (1st and 3rd movements) are done. 1st = 2'40", 3rd = 1'00". The 2nd movement will be the body of the sonata, and I expect it to be around 7-8 minutes long. The outer movements are just the introduction and conclusion.

I want to get this done by the end of the year so I can finally get the scores and updated Sibelius Sound Essentials sound files to all of my other music. It'll be a solid list, op.1-10 with a pdf and a mp3 file for each.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on October 31, 2012, 04:43:36 AM
Keep it up!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on October 31, 2012, 02:30:06 PM
Quote from: karlhenning on October 31, 2012, 04:43:36 AM
Keep it up!
Yes, sir!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on November 04, 2012, 09:08:09 AM
I'm not going to set an arbitrary goal date or deadline for op.10... but, eh... probably no later than spring next year.

For now, I'm working on something important that I have put off for a few years: getting all of my scores in pdf form and updated into a better sounding set of mp3s using Sibelius Sound Essentials.

op.4-9 is DONE! Now op.1-3. The import option in Sibelius is, of course, what immensely speeds up the whole process. One thing I noticed was that you have to turn Live Playback off when importing a MIDI score if you want to edit dynamic playback, etc (after a bit of googling). Then I will post them on the first page of this thread. Kind of awkward 5-year copyright gap (2006, 2011) between op.6 and 7 lol.

Also gotta work on looking through snyprrr's guitar piece...
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: snyprrr on November 05, 2012, 01:08:58 PM
Quote from: Greg on November 04, 2012, 09:08:09 AM

Also gotta work on looking through snyprrr's guitar piece...

Haha ;) ;D,... I have actually just finished the 3rd draft. Same blueprint, but now I have poured Compositional Acid over it and over it until right now I'm about 80-97% satisfied that everything is where (and what) it is.

To be frank, I was embarrassed by that 1st draft that I sent to you and T&F. Then, I sent the 2nd draft of the first few pages to give a better view of what was really going on, but, as I was going through the whole of the thing, I was finding mistakes that I'm sure would be making people scratch their heads. Now I'm about 97% sure that every note is what it is. My notation definitely needed some clarification.

Some of the time values in that 1st draft were hideously off, in fact, the whole second half that was in half notes, turned into dotted quarter notes. I can 'feel' the rhythms, but, writing them down's another story. But, I'm pretty sure all the values are correct now.

So now I send the whole piece through the pizza press again, locking everything in from the beginning. Technically, when it comes out of the oven this next time, the piece will/should be set for Eternity. The whole thing reminds me of a long body of armor, made up of all these block-like plates coming passed you. My one friend thought about dominos.

What's really cool is that the piece (this 'Part 1' (out of two) at least) is the absolute fulfillment of whatever vague, Late-Xenakis-inspired idea I had about THREE :o years ago. I think it's a monstrous piece, and, though it may look like kindergarten at first glance, the difficulty level (to play it right and well) is pretty intense for me: I certainly can't/won't play it 'live'. My fingers would probably just simply refuse.


Anyhow, I'm glad I'll be able to hear your stuff soon. I'll be looking for them. You can certainly look over the second packet I sent, but I will certainly be sending you the Final Product asap, maybe a month or less. Yay! Exciting!!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on November 06, 2012, 07:06:39 AM
Done?!  :o
Awesome... I will be really looking forward to looking over the final score.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: snyprrr on November 10, 2012, 09:42:41 AM
Quote from: Greg on November 06, 2012, 07:06:39 AM
Done?!  :o
Awesome... I will be really looking forward to looking over the final score.

I have begun steamrolling the piece from the beginning, and, lo!, HOW many mistakes did I find on the first 3 Pages? 10!! After I've looked over it HOW many times? Wow!, how much does 'copying error' creep up in EVERYONE'S work? I hear the jews are good copyists, haha!! Well, apparently I need new glasses, because I'm seeing 2 leger lines where there is only 1, oy vey!

So, I say it's done, and then I find a cache of mistakes. Certainly, if I don't make every note clear and correct (especially in 'Modern Music'), how will anyone know? Frankly, the mistakes I've found really bug me, because, as soon as someone plays the chord with the note missing, they're going to be, like, This is stupid... I'll just be nice to poor snyprrr, 'cause he thinks this chord rocks. ::)

Oy, at least it's fun for me, like hunting for blackheads... eeewww! :-\ But, I would certainly hope to get to the end of 'fixing'. At SOME point, every note needs to be where it's supposed to be. Only then can the inner merits (or demerits) of the piece come out.

At this point I'm HIGHLY embarrassed by the very first draft I sent out. Surely no one could have deduced much from that, though, still, the 'flavor' of the piece has been in there since the beginning. But, for a piece so drearily dissonant, I had BETTER make sure that I get criticized for something I meant to do instead of some random copying error.

Still, it's God's way of teaching me 'detail study'. I'm grateful. ;) Still, I can't believe I'm pouring ALL my energy into such a 'dreadful' piece. I sometimes have to shake my head at myself: WHAT? ??? am I thinking?

I must be thinking it's 1977 or something, haha. Oy... vey...
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on November 10, 2012, 11:24:11 AM
I know what you mean about the errors.
I might have to see if the guy running the Takemitsu competition can send Birtwistle the message about that one mistake that would destroy 2 minutes of my music.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on November 10, 2012, 11:56:24 AM
Message sent.
I would guess that the guy who runs the competition corresponds with the judges through e-mail and get e-mails like these. But... we'll see what he says.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: snyprrr on November 11, 2012, 09:25:49 AM
Quote from: Greg on November 10, 2012, 11:24:11 AM
I know what you mean about the errors.
I might have to see if the guy running the Takemitsu competition can send Birtwistle the message about that one mistake that would destroy 2 minutes of my music.

You found a mistake AFTER you'd sent off the 'Final Completed Draft'? Yea, that's my concern here. I have to go out and get a whole new tank of Compositional Acid! But, the more mistakes I find, the less there will be, haha!!





btw- a question about 'harmonics'. All the harmonics in my piece are natural (at this point at least). Do I make a diamond, make a circle over it, and ALSO write 'arm. nat.' (or 'nat. harm.') on top of it? I neglected to write in the little circle, so I was wondering about your confusion about my harmonics. As you know, the harmonics I'm mostly using are between the 2nd and 4th frets (the really high natural harmonics). How would I have written it for you to automatically now what I meant?

Or, do I just need to be open to questions? I would think that if I were dead and the music was written exactly perfectly, you wouldn't need me to answer questions. So, I assume that any question is the result of faulty notation. hmm??
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on November 12, 2012, 06:24:26 AM
Quote from: snyprrr on November 11, 2012, 09:25:49 AM
You found a mistake AFTER you'd sent off the 'Final Completed Draft'? Yea, that's my concern here. I have to go out and get a whole new tank of Compositional Acid! But, the more mistakes I find, the less there will be, haha!!
An here is my e-mail reply: "Unfortunately you cannot correct your mistake after entry."
I might have already corrected the printouts, but I don't remember. If it were selected anyways and got performed with a tam-tam, that would really be a shame, though I bet at that point (after being selected) they would allow a correction.


Quote from: snyprrr on November 11, 2012, 09:25:49 AM
btw- a question about 'harmonics'. All the harmonics in my piece are natural (at this point at least). Do I make a diamond, make a circle over it, and ALSO write 'arm. nat.' (or 'nat. harm.') on top of it? I neglected to write in the little circle, so I was wondering about your confusion about my harmonics. As you know, the harmonics I'm mostly using are between the 2nd and 4th frets (the really high natural harmonics). How would I have written it for you to automatically now what I meant?

Or, do I just need to be open to questions? I would think that if I were dead and the music was written exactly perfectly, you wouldn't need me to answer questions. So, I assume that any question is the result of faulty notation. hmm??
The natural harmonics with diamonds are good. I might have to look at some sort of harmonics map or something, because I think I remember not knowing where some of them where.

It'll help you if you keep in mind that I've hardly ever messed around with classical guitar pieces- almost all of the guitar I've played is rock/metal, which included TAB.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on November 19, 2012, 11:35:18 AM
Tomorrow I'll have all of my music in updated form (Sibelius Sound Essentials, which is MUCH better-sounding than MIDI) and all of the music scores in pdf, which I'll post here. Just gotta finish op.1. Also teaching another guitar lesson tomorrow.  8) (Needless to say, not a ton happening in school this week).
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on November 20, 2012, 03:32:39 PM
Well, ahem... make that most likely Thursday. Soon, anyways.
The import on the 2nd movement of the Piano Sonata was so horrible that I have to rewrite the whole thing in Sibelius; I doubt the 3rd movement will import it any better. These are somewhat long, complex movements with lots of notes (my longest piece, overall).

So... quite a few more hours of manual input. Thursday, depending on how much time I spend with my friend. And great guitar lesson; got an extra $10 for staying over slightly. Fastest hour ever.  ???
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Mirror Image on November 21, 2012, 09:54:02 AM
You're not going to be spending time with family on Thanksgiving? You must be a pretty lonely guy.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on November 21, 2012, 10:49:26 AM
Quote from: Mirror Image on November 21, 2012, 09:54:02 AM
You're not going to be spending time with family on Thanksgiving? You must be a pretty lonely guy.
Nope; I live with them. We might eat at around 2 or 3 or so. My friend will be visiting his grandpa's house, which is in the area, so we're planning on hanging out in the morning. So... in the evening I'll work on my stuff some more, although rewriting my Piano Sonata is so much work that my stuff my be uploaded later than Thursday.

I wish I could be lonely if I wanted to. It would be a luxury to be able to either get away from or see people whenever desired.  :P
Are you visiting your parents for Thanksgiving?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Mirror Image on November 21, 2012, 12:24:47 PM
Quote from: Greg on November 21, 2012, 10:49:26 AM
Nope; I live with them. We might eat at around 2 or 3 or so. My friend will be visiting his grandpa's house, which is in the area, so we're planning on hanging out in the morning. So... in the evening I'll work on my stuff some more, although rewriting my Piano Sonata is so much work that my stuff my be uploaded later than Thursday.

I wish I could be lonely if I wanted to. It would be a luxury to be able to either get away from or see people whenever desired.  :P
Are you visiting your parents for Thanksgiving?

This is good to hear, Greg. Like you, I live with my parents. Can't afford to live on my own without a roommate and who wants one of those? :) Anyway, hope you have a good Thanksgiving. I'll be slaving away at work tomorrow, but, at least, I'll get leftovers. :D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on November 23, 2012, 08:13:43 AM
Posting links... last step will be done tonight after 10pm.



Quote from: Mirror Image on November 21, 2012, 12:24:47 PM
This is good to hear, Greg. Like you, I live with my parents. Can't afford to live on my own without a roommate and who wants one of those? :) Anyway, hope you have a good Thanksgiving. I'll be slaving away at work tomorrow, but, at least, I'll get leftovers. :D
Definitely.


Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on November 23, 2012, 08:29:36 PM
Done.

http://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,3174.msg75592.html#msg75592
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on November 25, 2012, 06:18:33 AM
Keep on keepin' on!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on November 25, 2012, 06:24:12 PM
Quote from: karlhenning on November 25, 2012, 06:18:33 AM
Keep on keepin' on!
Thanks.
Besides the 2nd Piano Sonata, I have a few ideas... mainly titles with references to anime. Eventually I need to write an Electric Guitar Concerto and some symphonies, but that's for later. For the next few years, I might write a few small pieces about anime; I wouldn't have time to do anything epic, but maybe small acoustic guitar pieces or something. 

A few ideas:
-Until the End of the Dream (name of episode 9 of Clannad)... a melancholy for acoustic guitar, piano, cello, violin or something
-Someday in the Rain (last episode of Haruhi Suzumiya)... acoustic guitar
-Hyouka (name after the show)... acoustic guitar
-Lain (after Serial Experiments Lain)... a short, experimental electronic or orchestral work
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: snyprrr on December 03, 2012, 11:30:37 AM
Quote from: Greg on November 06, 2012, 07:06:39 AM
Done?!  :o
Awesome... I will be really looking forward to looking over the final score.

Well, it's a month later. The Five Sections that comprise 'Part 1',... oy, well, I'm 99% on Section 1, and I've completely fallen apart from the last note of Section 1 to the first note of Section 2 (in your first packet, this is the faster section on Pages 2-3). Somehow I have to re-write this Section 2,... I haven't even gone over the later bits.

Truly I need something else to occupy me too. I tend to work on one thing at a time, but I really need to stop being such a prima donna.

Anyhow, the opening Section 1, with the crashing block chords, has really tightened up. It started with everything whole-notes, but now I have chiseled much detail and meter. I'm really quite fond of this piece, it's really me.

So, I'm hoping to have this bridge between Sections 1 & 3 fixed here, and I know I can get it from what I already have... I have to cut something, turn something backwards/upside down,... I MUST be done!!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on December 03, 2012, 06:47:08 PM
Sounds like you're just about there. Nothing wrong with going back and redetailing a few things.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on December 07, 2012, 09:57:47 AM
I'm wondering if I should ask whether I can resubmit it for next year or just go ahead and upload it on youtube or what.

The 4 pieces that were selected didn't include mine. Birtwistle wrote that he based his selection on pieces that we would have liked to write himself. Not sure how great of a method that is; I'm writing for me, not him. How would I go about getting a real performance of this?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on December 07, 2012, 10:00:07 AM
Quote from: Greg on December 07, 2012, 09:57:47 AM
Birtwistle wrote that he based his selection on pieces that we would have liked to write himself.

Well, I suppose at least his narcissism is frank, there.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on December 07, 2012, 11:07:25 AM
Well, here's the source:

QuoteThe adjudication of the Takemitsu Prize was one of the most difficult problems I have had to face. I have now been writing music for over 50 years and have completed more than 120 pieces and the more music I write the more subjective my response becomes. In fact my judgement of a piece is whether or not I would like to have written it. When I unwrapped two large cardboard boxes filled with 97 pieces of orchestral tutti a panic set in. How was I to approach the task with the maximum degree of subjectivity? The tactic I decided upon was

1. Examine each piece for at least 15 minutes
2. Reject the obvious non-runners
3. Finalise and digest the rest over a period of time
4. After a week or so make a shortlist of possible winners
The shortlist turned out to be 27 pieces. This was the most difficult task of the whole process. Of 27 pieces eighteen of them could be said to come from the same stable, namely – having dense static textures, slow tempo, quiet dynamics, super-imposed rhythmic unison expressed with often beautiful orchestration. I called them the "Rothko pile". The 9 remaining pieces were individual and did not make a composite group. The Rothko pieces because of their similarity were the most difficult to deal with. I made a short list of them – 6 in one pile and 12 in another but the decision was difficult and gave me a lot of problems. Day after day I moved two scores from pile 2 back to the other, eventually settling on three possibilities. The other group of 9 was easier and I decided on 5 possibilities which gave me eight candidates to choose four winners from.
As a general observation I noticed that there was no evidence of anything expressed through rhythmic energy or a sense of melodic invention but the whole level of creativity was wonderful and gives me hope for the future of real music.
http://www.operacity.jp/en/concert/award/news/121207.php


I wonder if my score was in the "Rothko" pile...
this is the problem with writing music in general, and the main reason I never joined a band. Personally, I would rather listen to what I wrote than any of Birtwistle's music or what I've heard from previous Takemitsu competition winners. But what decides whether I get a performance or not is one person's musical taste.

The band that wanted me to join (other than being way too far away) hasn't gotten anywhere yet. The drummer works at Toys R Us and lives with parents. Music is definitely something you do for fun, not for money. I wonder how some of these people can afford to spend so much time composing and studying in school for music when the reward usually isn't something you can live off of.

But I would like to get this piece performed. How would I go about doing that?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: snyprrr on December 09, 2012, 02:00:11 PM
Quote from: Greg on December 07, 2012, 11:07:25 AM
Well, here's the source:
http://www.operacity.jp/en/concert/award/news/121207.php


I wonder if my score was in the "Rothko" pile...

haha ;D, well, at least he explained the 'process', haha...


I have just gotten back from an intensive rewrite of those first two sections that I was laboring with. The 'bridge' has been reworked, and now I'm on to sections 3-5. I'm actually kind of proud of this apparent final draft, I think (if professionally written) it makes a nice visual punch. I believe all the notes are right and the rhythms are correct (even with tweaking, this current draft expresses my wishes pretty perfectly).

I have read two tomes on Music Notation in the last week, and, really, apparently knew most of it anyway,... it's Compositional Issues I've got mostly; though, I've learned some useful tips.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on December 09, 2012, 05:54:39 PM
I hate to rush you, but I've got 4 weeks until I go back to school (last day is tomorrow)... if I get your score after January 7, I can't promise I'll have much time to look at it immediately.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on December 12, 2012, 07:10:07 AM
I sent in an inquiry, perhaps my final one. If I can't resubmit it, I may make another youtube channel that solely features my music.

QuoteHello!

I sent in a score, "Phantom Travels," to the Year 2013/Birtwistle competition and was not selected. If I send in the same score next year, will the score be eligible or ineligible?

I was somewhat surprised to see it not selected, but in the end it is one person's musical taste. Birtwistle explained that he selected scores that "he would have liked to have written." However, I wrote a Greg Cook score, not a Birtwistle score. It is easily my best composition; on the level of some of the previous winners I've heard, yet more original, I think. It would be nice to send to another judge; if not, that's okay, because then I can put the audio on youtube.

Oh... one final question. There are no recordings of the concerts for the finalists, are there?

I appreciate the help so far, by the way.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on December 12, 2012, 07:14:04 AM
Good luck!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on December 13, 2012, 09:16:47 AM
I can submit it next year!  :o

QuoteDear Mr. Greg,

thank you for inquiry.
You can submit same piece next year, because the judge will change.
Please send 2 copies of the score by 30 September 2013.
Concerning recordings, we don't have them, because Japan Broadcasting
Company recorded every concert.

Sincerely yours,


===================================
Jun Sawahashi(Mr.), Producer
Toru Takemitsu Composition Award
Tokyo Opera City Cultural Foundation
------------------------------------------------------------
3-20-2, Nishi-shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku
Tokyo 163-1403, JAPAN
TEL: +81 3 5353 0770
FAX: +81 3 5353 0771
===================================
Eotvos is the judge next year; not sure what his musical tastes are and not familiar with his music other than mild listenings long ago. Anyone listen to his stuff?
Saariaho is the judge two years from now. I'd love to meet her and I have the feeling that she would appreciate my piece more than any of the other judges, but if I were to win, it would be better, financially, to win next year.

I guess I was wrong on my theory that if people kept on resubmitting, the score count would build up to an unbearable number. This year, Birtwistle received 97 scores, which is lower than normal.

Just gotta correct that one tam-tam/bass drum mistake... If I don't win after several years, I should be at a point in my life where I'll have time to write another orchestral work (after I'm done with school). Age limit is 35, I think.



On another note, probably not going to call my 2nd Piano Sonata a Piano Sonata any more. Just doesn't feel like one. Might add three more short, experimental movements to form some set of small piano pieces.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on December 13, 2012, 09:21:04 AM
Quote from: Greg on December 13, 2012, 09:16:47 AM
I can submit it next year!  :o

Good!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on December 20, 2012, 10:36:24 AM
I'm not sure if I already wrote this (I don't see it posted), but I decided to change my op.10 Piano Sonata 2 into a sort of Piano Suite. It is titled after an anime I watched recently.

My new outline for my piano work:

op.10 Hyouka
I Library
II Clubroom
III Chitanda's House
IV Mystery
V School Festival
VI Another Mystery
VII The Future

The two movements I've already written will be assigned as I and VI. After I relistened to my op.1 Piano Sonata and then listened to the movements I had written, I was thinking that they really don't sound like Piano Sonata movements at all, but short piano pieces.


I also want to write a solo acoustic guitar called "Hinamizawa," which is the town in my favorite anime, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. The town is modeled after Shirakawa-go, which is a real village in Japan that I want to visit one day.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: snyprrr on December 20, 2012, 12:50:16 PM
Quote from: Greg on December 20, 2012, 10:36:24 AM
I'm not sure if I already wrote this (I don't see it posted), but I decided to change my op.10 Piano Sonata 2 into a sort of Piano Suite. It is titled after an anime I watched recently.

My new outline for my piano work:

op.10 Hyouka
I Library
II Clubroom
III Chitanda's House
IV Mystery
V School Festival
VI Another Mystery
VII The Future

The two movements I've already written will be assigned as I and VI. After I relistened to my op.1 Piano Sonata and then listened to the movements I had written, I was thinking that they really don't sound like Piano Sonata movements at all, but short piano pieces.


I also want to write a solo acoustic guitar called "Hinamizawa," which is the town in my favorite anime, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni. The town is modeled after Shirakawa-go, which is a real village in Japan that I want to visit one day.

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?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on December 20, 2012, 12:51:50 PM
You're "going Gangnam," aren't you?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on December 20, 2012, 07:12:49 PM
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.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: snyprrr on December 22, 2012, 10:37:59 AM
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
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on December 22, 2012, 05:48:38 PM
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...
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on January 26, 2013, 07:52:55 PM
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...
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on January 28, 2013, 09:06:55 AM
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)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on January 28, 2013, 08:20:55 PM
I put all of my music on soundcloud now:
https://soundcloud.com/greg-cook-9
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on March 16, 2013, 08:24:11 PM
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.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning 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!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on March 17, 2013, 07:39:48 AM
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!
:)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster 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.

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

>:D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on March 26, 2013, 11:04:18 AM
21 notes per second?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on March 26, 2013, 01:06:12 PM
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.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on April 25, 2013, 10:43:36 AM
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...
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 05, 2013, 07:51:34 AM
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
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 14, 2013, 06:18:35 AM
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.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on May 14, 2013, 06:25:56 AM
Psycho chickens, qu'est-ce que c'est?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on May 14, 2013, 07:30:57 AM
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:

(http://dma.wtw-x.net/DMA/DigimonStands/Toei/Piedmon.gif)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on May 14, 2013, 07:34:58 AM
Quote from: Greg on May 14, 2013, 07:30:57 AM
That is everyone's reaction...  :P

Dang. Went right along with the herd . . . .
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on June 13, 2013, 09:21:40 PM
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
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on July 18, 2013, 08:07:33 PM
Ha, yes, a month-long break was taken.  8)

And very gladly have found an inspiration to start writing again- scrapping the beginning of the last movement and rewriting it. Now, it opens and builds on my variation of the melody in this video, at 1:04.


http://www.youtube.com/v/oDfqCNgeHTU

I've been playing Final Fantasy 13 and am surprisingly impressed at the music, but had that fragment stuck in my mind. That sublime, calm, crystalline feeling...
I think my version is varied enough from it to not be considered copyright enfringement, hopefully.  $:)

Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on July 20, 2013, 09:34:10 AM
Done with everything but the 3rd movement now, of which I have 2 1/2 minutes written. I think this one might be 6-7 minutes long, though.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on July 21, 2013, 07:03:05 AM
Glad to see some activity here!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on July 27, 2013, 10:20:43 AM
MP3 is done and ready!

I'm going to try to get the score done tomorrow, since I'm basically putting everything aside so I can get this done.
I'll post them together, with a summary of the movements, hopefully, tomorrow...

(Turned out to be 36 minutes long)...  :P
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on July 27, 2013, 08:43:57 PM
(http://img.animefreak.tv/meta/5/38273.jpg)

op.10 Hyouka

Here's the mp3 and pdf files.
Score is a bit sloppy, I know... I rushed.
http://www.mediafire.com/folder/t1dfyr76sdw8g/op.10_Hyouka

I Library
This is where the club members first meet: Oreki, Chitanda, Fukube, and Itara. It starts off with a crab canon, of course inspired by Bach; however, the effect is more about atmosphere than technicality.

II Clubroom
Where the club meets after school. It starts off in a very odd 11:10 (eighth note) rhythm in 4/4, which is like a melody that is slightly staggered. Then semi-jazz breaks out. A mystery is told, which leads to Chitanda's joyous catchphrase, "I'm interested!"

III Chitanda's House
Chitanda lives in a huge farm mansion that is completely isolated from any other houses. The music captures that and more.

IV Mystery
Both mysteries involve some sort of technical trick. This one, after the low, rumbling clusters, is something you'd have to figure out after looking at the score.

V School Festival
The first part represents Chitanda dashing madly during the festival, trying to arrive at her destination but being distracted several times. I constructed the main line using two interlocking patterns that lines up after the 4th time. The second part represent Oreki's waiting, staring out the window, surrounded by the magic of the festival.


VI Another Mystery
The trick here is pretty much observable just by listening. The two lines that are repeated between the right and left hands don't line up, so they create something new through repetition. Meshuggah made me do it.


VII The Future
This is when Chitanda and Eru are walking home, and Chitanda hints at a possible future with him at her farm. The music is probably better for a snowy scene (which it isn't), but oh well. Like I mentioned above, inspired by Final Fantasy 13's "Serah's Theme," which I believe uses the same two-chord progression as something by Satie (Gymnopedies?).


If anyone wants to know the timings of the movements, let me know... otherwise, there is always the score to look at.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on July 31, 2013, 06:10:16 PM
Has anyone listened to this yet? I know it's long, but I probably won't even be writing anything (or just very little) for the next 2-3 years.

Riveting thread, isn't it? One work a year for 2 years, then a planned 2-3 year hiatus.  :P ;D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Mirror Image on August 02, 2013, 08:01:26 PM
You should orchestrate it, Greg. Of course, as an orchestral addict, I would write that. :) I did listen to about 10 minutes of it and it sounds quite nice. It would be nice for a pianist, however, to weigh in on this though.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on August 03, 2013, 04:57:40 AM
Quote from: Mirror Image on August 02, 2013, 08:01:26 PM
You should orchestrate it, Greg. Of course, as an orchestral addict, I would write that. :) I did listen to about 10 minutes of it and it sounds quite nice. It would be nice for a pianist, however, to weigh in on this though.
Thanks for listening to it.
There are some parts that might sound better orchestrated (I do prefer orchestra overall), but I think most of it sounds better and is more suited towards piano. I wouldn't have the time to do an orchestration, but if someone heard it and said they could do it, I'd be very interested how they'd pull it off.
You should try listening to the rest; a pretty good bit of variety in there, though maybe not in the same way as Schnittke.  ;D
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on October 21, 2013, 08:15:28 PM
I'm thinking of just abandoning titles with traditional forms... so my op.2 String Quartet I might rename. Also, I have more specific ideas about three pieces I want to write.

op.1 Musical Portraits
op.2 The Gold Saucer
op.3 Ubloobideega
op.4 Blather Lather
op.5 The Bend of Time
op.6 We'll C
op.7 Under Lucid Skies
op.8 Prokofiev's op.88
op.9 Phantom Travels
op.10 Hyouka
op.11 Hinamizawa
op.12 Squall's Dead
op.13 Serial Experiments Lain




op.2 The Gold Saucer is named after the unforgettable "Gold Saucer" area from Final Fantasy 7. Movements are:
I- Entrance
II- Sephiroth Clone
III- Chocobo Race


op.10 Hyouka- renaming the "School Festival" movement to "Kanya Festival"

op.11 Hinamizawa- a solo acoustic guitar piece, named after the village in Higurashi no Naku Koro ni

op.12 Squall's Dead- An orchestral work about the theory of Squall having died in Final Fantasy 8 after the battle with Edea, most of the game being his dream, or his own "Final Fantasy."

op.13 Serial Experiments Lain- An orchestral work with noise tapes, double bass drumset and several 8 string electric guitars. Probably 8-10', and my whole goal would be to make this the most brutal and crazy music ever.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on October 22, 2013, 03:48:51 AM
Thinking of any new pieces?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on October 22, 2013, 10:44:15 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on October 22, 2013, 03:48:51 AM
Thinking of any new pieces?
Yep. Thinking of op.11-13. Writing... will be another story for a while.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on October 22, 2013, 10:45:23 AM
Well, you're thinking, and that's good. It starts with thinking  :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on November 21, 2013, 08:45:19 PM
Couple of thoughts:

1. I will have to rewrite the 3rd movement of Hyouka (the Chitanda's House movement). That was the one that I rushed, and honestly I knew all along that I'd have to rewrite it but just never got around to it. Too fragmented and needs better phrasing in some places. The ideas are golden and the movement definitely has great potential for beauty, but rushing it (it was the last movement I finished and forced myself to complete several minutes of it within a day) is what is preventing it from its full potential. Listening to it is like reading a writer with great ideas who can't write. Just needs editing... sometime...

2. The "School Festival" movement from Hyouka is renamed to "Kanya Festival," if I didn't mention it.

3. op.1 Musical Portraits is yet AGAIN renamed, this time to "Kefka." Musical Portraits sounds bland and after playing Final Fantasy 6, Kefka had to be honored somehow in my music.  :D It's evil clown ruler music, after all!   
(this must be the fifth time I've renamed this piece lol)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on November 21, 2013, 08:50:44 PM
Couple more thoughts:

1. Maybe it's more than just the 3rd movement that needs rephrasing, but WOW! That main melody melody in the last movement is something else. Definitely needs touching up, but that energy during the buildup at the beginning...  ???

2. I've been experimenting with composing in my head since right now I have no time to compose. I can write and memorize easy stuff, but complex stuff...  :-\
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on November 22, 2013, 03:43:09 AM
Step by step.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: jochanaan on November 22, 2013, 05:54:09 PM
Quote from: karlhenning on November 22, 2013, 03:43:09 AM
Step by step.
Gradus ad Parnassum. :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on February 12, 2014, 05:51:42 PM
My opus list may end up looking more like this in a few years:

op.1 Kefka
op.2 The Gold Saucer
op.3 Ubloobideega
op.4 Blather Lather
op.5 The Bend of Time
op.6 We'll C
op.7 Under Lucid Skies
op.8 Prokofiev's op.88
op.9 Phantom Travels
op.10 Hyouka
op.11 Serial Experiments Lain (concept stage)
op.12 Squall Is Dead (concept stage)


Those two pieces are sticking in my mind. If I could only write two musical pieces for the rest of my life, I'll make them those. I'm not feeling that "Hinamizawa" piece I was considering writing... I guess I never was really up to writing a solo acoustic guitar piece.

As for Serial Experiments Lain, I changed my mind about it being orchestral- I would make it instead solo electric guitar + recording. Still 8', still would make it absolutely insane. May take a very, very, very long time to even get the knowledge needed to make the sounds I'd like to make, plus time to refine exactly how it would be formed.

As for Squall Is Dead, that is still a working title and I'm not even sure of how I'd organize the movements. I'm not sure yet whether it would be completely orchestral or be a concerto for guitar, or perhaps a guitar concerto in just one movement while the other movements are simply symphonic.

Yeah, expect these in... about 4 years.  :-X
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on March 07, 2014, 10:03:52 AM
http://www.youtube.com/v/MagDl_19mIM&feature=em-upload_owner
A better-sounding version of my opus 1 uploaded by Fred Edwards.  :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on August 31, 2014, 06:37:46 PM
Believe it or not, I have finished writing an op.11. It's called "Chains of Promathia" (named after an expansion pack for Final Fantasy 11). There's a twist: it's a metal instrumental.  8)

I used Guitar Pro 5 to create the score. Now it's just a matter of recording: first going to record the drums in FL Studio and then I'll record the two guitars and bass, them mix them. The whole point of this is just to have something guitar-related done before I take a several year break again from writing anything (or at least anything significant).

It actually turned out more 70's prog than I expected. There isn't a ton of shred going on in the song, but when there is, it's even more difficult than it sounds. I'm having a difficult time with it, so any who can play the solo besides me... is, um, let's just say, "preeeeeety good."  ;)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on September 01, 2014, 07:30:06 AM
Good on you for writing!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on September 01, 2014, 07:34:23 AM
Quote from: karlhenning on September 01, 2014, 07:30:06 AM
Good on you for writing!
Thank you, sir.  8)
Recording equipment is set up... could be some delays, though, due to school and the difficulty of actually performing the music.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on September 12, 2014, 10:15:27 AM
Copy/paste from fb:
QuoteDone recording my song "Chains of Promathia." Both guitars and bass guitar are performed by me, drums are sampled. This is not a good recording at all (home recording and plenty of inaccuracies, especially when it comes to timing and synching instruments), but it'll just give an idea of what I wrote in Guitar Pro.

https://www.youtube.com/v/B5Q3QCDJyPs&feature=youtu.be
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on September 12, 2014, 10:35:13 AM
Will check that out this weekend!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: mn dave on September 12, 2014, 11:20:21 AM
\m/
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Mirror Image on September 12, 2014, 08:05:45 PM
Quote from: Greg on September 12, 2014, 10:15:27 AM
Copy/paste from fb:
https://www.youtube.com/v/B5Q3QCDJyPs&feature=youtu.be

Very cool, Greg. It actually kind of reminds me of this piece by Ben Monder called Hatchet Face. Check this song out sometime. It's on his album called Excavation.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on September 12, 2014, 08:18:54 PM
Quote from: Mirror Image on September 12, 2014, 08:05:45 PM
Very cool, Greg. It actually kind of reminds me of this piece by Ben Monder called Hatchet Face. Check this song out sometime. It's on his album called Excavation.
Thanks, John. I looked up Ben Monder on youtube and couldn't find that song. I did find a song called "Echolalia" which was amazing. Seems he's really obscure... what else is out there like this?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Mirror Image on September 13, 2014, 08:16:21 PM
Quote from: Greg on September 12, 2014, 08:18:54 PM
Thanks, John. I looked up Ben Monder on youtube and couldn't find that song. I did find a song called "Echolalia" which was amazing. Seems he's really obscure... what else is out there like this?

Check out Ellenville and Sunny Manitoba by Ben Monder.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on August 15, 2015, 08:28:52 PM
It's almost been a year...  :(

Well, eventually I'll get working on my epic instrumental prog or whatever piece. Guitar solo + backup of A LOT of different instruments. 4 movements, about an hour long most likely.


My main inspiration will be:
(http://static.tumblr.com/kezrwee/VoFmc01ho/tumblr_lpskf3p5lx1qjxm01o1_500.gif)

;D


(and of course, Mahler, Meshuggah, Xenakis, BTBAM, Haken, etc.)

Probably 80% Haken/Mahler and 20% Meshuggah/Xenakis...
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on November 24, 2015, 04:48:34 PM
Today I wrote a solo acoustic guitar piece that's about 2 minutes long or so. Gonna learn how to play it and then will post it within the next few days.

It's called "Ubloobideega's Waltz."
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: ibanezmonster on November 24, 2015, 04:56:00 PM
Then again, the name isn't set in stone yet. Possibly "Black Mage Waltz?" Wearing a black mage hat would be awesome while playing this.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on November 25, 2015, 02:32:11 AM
Good. Bring it!  :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on December 18, 2015, 09:39:44 AM
Greg's YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/ibanezmonsterg/videos)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on April 07, 2019, 04:36:38 PM
I've written two new piano pieces- if anyone is interested in listening, PM me.

Very satisfied with them.  :)

So to explain my plan, in brief:

I will be releasing 4 albums on bandcamp when I'm done (either by late this year, or more likely next year).

Album 1: Piano Works- 1 hours' worth (already finished, used CFX Concert Grand for this, which is about 90% as good sound quality as a real performer IMO)
Album 2: Chamber and Orchestral music- ~38 minutes' worth, will just be my previous compositions but rewritten in EWQL for better sound quality
Album 3: Instrumental Rock/Metal album- ~40-50 minutes' worth, I have a lot of fragments of music that I will have to arrange for this
Album 4: (No specificed genre)- ~40 minutes worth, I don't have music for this yet, but it will be a concept album involving eerie-sounding guitars and certain "unlikely" percussion, etc.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 22, 2019, 09:21:42 AM
Over halfway done with the writing of my new album.
Though tbh not enjoying it even though liking very much the new music. Having to notate everything entirely kills the fun of composing music.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on October 22, 2019, 09:29:46 AM
Glad to see you're progressing, in spite of the chore!
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on October 22, 2019, 10:25:30 AM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on October 22, 2019, 09:29:46 AM
Glad to see you're progressing, in spite of the chore!
Thanks.  :)

I guess, put another way, it's only the brainstorming part of composing that I actually enjoy. The rest is too tedious to be fun.

Album will be out next year. Spring or summer.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on February 21, 2020, 08:13:35 AM
Now: spending next few days putting tracks in Cubase, then will be able to officially begin recording guitar parts. All of the music is written already.

Then just mixing/mastering and getting the physical albums after that.

Just wanted to say this album is top notch, 10 out of 10 imo.


There are about 3 tracks you could sneak under the category of classical with guitar.  :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on February 21, 2020, 11:13:11 AM
Quote from: greg on February 21, 2020, 08:13:35 AM
Now: spending next few days putting tracks in Cubase, then will be able to officially begin recording guitar parts. All of the music is written already.

Then just mixing/mastering and getting the physical albums after that.

Just wanted to say this album is top notch, 10 out of 10 imo.


There are about 3 tracks you could sneak under the category of classical with guitar.  :)

Carry on.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on February 21, 2020, 11:14:29 AM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on February 21, 2020, 11:13:11 AM
Carry on.
Aye aye captain.  8)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on February 21, 2020, 11:16:10 AM
When the album is ready and available, you should write to Earrelevant and ask them to review it.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on February 21, 2020, 11:55:47 AM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on February 21, 2020, 11:16:10 AM
When the album is ready and available, you should write to Earrelevant and ask them to review it.
Looked it up... looks like only classical reviews?

My other two albums of all of my older stuff is classical, but this album is mostly, not sure... but instrumental prog rock/metal, I guess? (with 3 tracks that are sorta classical)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on February 21, 2020, 12:31:52 PM
Quote from: greg on February 21, 2020, 11:55:47 AM
Looked it up... looks like only classical reviews?

My other two albums of all of my older stuff is classical, but this album is mostly, not sure... but instrumental prog rock/metal, I guess? (with 3 tracks that are sorta classical)

They're gradually expanding the "post-classical" element.  So, I'd say, write with a request, describing the album, and see what Mark says.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on February 21, 2020, 12:32:27 PM
Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on February 21, 2020, 12:31:52 PM
They're gradually expanding the "post-classical" element.  So, I'd say, write with a request, describing the album, and see what Mark says.
Sure.   :)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Mirror Image on February 21, 2020, 06:55:26 PM
Quote from: greg on February 21, 2020, 08:13:35 AMJust wanted to say this album is top notch, 10 out of 10 imo.

I suppose the notion of humility went out the window with this comment. ::)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on February 21, 2020, 08:08:18 PM
Quote from: Mirror Image on February 21, 2020, 06:55:26 PM
I suppose the notion of humility went out the window with this comment. ::)
Either honesty or humility. Can't have both in this situation.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Mirror Image on February 21, 2020, 08:26:44 PM
Quote from: greg on February 21, 2020, 08:08:18 PM
Either honesty or humility. Can't have both in this situation.

Well, it's one thing to be happy with your work, but it's another to boast about it with a 10/10 rating from yourself. I've recorded many things I'm happy with, but I'd never claim it to be good or give it a personal rating. I'll leave that to the listeners. I'm not really in any position to judge my own work.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: some guy on February 21, 2020, 08:49:29 PM
Quote from: Mirror Image on February 21, 2020, 08:26:44 PM
I'm not really in any position to judge my own work.
Sure you are. You are, after all, one of your listeners. And you have to please yourself, first, no?
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on February 22, 2020, 04:33:06 AM
Quote from: Mirror Image on February 21, 2020, 08:26:44 PM
Well, it's one thing to be happy with your work, but it's another to boast about it with a 10/10 rating from yourself. I've recorded many things I'm happy with, but I'd never claim it to be good or give it a personal rating. I'll leave that to the listeners. I'm not really in any position to judge my own work.

I read it as his feeling that it is the best work he's done to date.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Karl Henning on February 22, 2020, 04:33:36 AM
Quote from: some guy on February 21, 2020, 08:49:29 PM
Sure you are. You are, after all, one of your listeners. And you have to please yourself, first, no?

Verily.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on February 22, 2020, 06:44:45 PM
Quote from: some guy on February 21, 2020, 08:49:29 PM
Sure you are. You are, after all, one of your listeners. And you have to please yourself, first, no?
Yeah, this is my way of thinking.

Seems being extremely critical and tweaking every detail until it sounds "just right" is the way increase how stuff sounds from like a 6 or 7 to a 9 or 10... also just listening to feelings like "that's awkward when it just stopped there, feels like it should go on a bit for another 30 seconds," etc. and acting on the corrections always seems to help a lot.

My music is mainly just for me. Sharing it is a secondary thing, because it is the right thing to do in case some people also really enjoy it.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Mirror Image on February 22, 2020, 08:04:27 PM
Quote from: some guy on February 21, 2020, 08:49:29 PM
Sure you are. You are, after all, one of your listeners. And you have to please yourself, first, no?

Ah, but that's the catch. I'm never truly satisfied with my own music and the way it comes out. There was one piece I recorded (which no one has heard at this moment) that I was proud of and I seriously doubt I'd be able to do again in the way it was captured at that moment, but I'd never give it a rating or say it's 'top-notch'. That really isn't for me to say. There's nothing wrong with being proud of your work, but I suppose there's a part of me that doesn't like being told something is good unless I hear it for myself or if I specifically ask whether it was good or not. Anyway, perhaps I just read what Greg said wrongly or simply took it in the wrong way. But I have several friends that are also musicians and none of them has said something like Greg has said. If a musician friend wants me to hear something, they usually just say "I hope you enjoy it". They don't give me an opinion along with it. If anything, they're glad I listened in the first place.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on February 24, 2020, 07:31:45 AM
My evaluation is more something I'm saying to myself, but out loud, if that makes any sense.

If you're never really satisfied with what you write then you should mercilessly criticize it because then you can figure out what to change. That method has helped me a lot.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Mirror Image on February 24, 2020, 07:40:19 AM
Quote from: greg on February 24, 2020, 07:31:45 AM
My evaluation is more something I'm saying to myself, but out loud, if that makes any sense.

If you're never really satisfied with what you write then you should mercilessly criticize it because then you can figure out what to change. That method has helped me a lot.

My point is what you wrote, IMHO, came off sounding self-congratulatory and egotistical. And yes, there's no harsher critic than oneself, but that notion seemed to slip through the cracks with your initial comment. :-\ Anyway, looking forward to hearing the album even if it isn't my cup of tea.
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on February 24, 2020, 07:56:36 AM
Quote from: Mirror Image on February 24, 2020, 07:40:19 AM
My point is what you wrote, IMHO, came off sounding self-congratulatory and egotistical. And yes, there's no harsher critic than oneself, but that notion seemed to slip through the cracks with your initial comment. :-\ Anyway, looking forward to hearing the album even if it isn't my cup of tea.
Must be just a matter of perspective. When i hear of composers/musicians say the same thing about their own stuff i don't think anything of it.

Glad to hear you are looking forward to it.

It has some variety in it, but most likely will scare off half of my audience on the first track. It's called "Pyramid Head," so enough said if you know the character lol. :P
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: Mirror Image on February 24, 2020, 09:30:27 PM
Quote from: greg on February 24, 2020, 07:56:36 AM
Must be just a matter of perspective. When i hear of composers/musicians say the same thing about their own stuff i don't think anything of it.

Glad to hear you are looking forward to it.

It has some variety in it, but most likely will scare off half of my audience on the first track. It's called "Pyramid Head," so enough said if you know the character lol. :P

I won't litter up your thread any longer other than to say that it's good to know you're proud of your work. Acknowledgement of the work and just hearing it as a listener can be a satisfying experience, especially if you throw your critic's cap out the window, which I have been trying to do for quite some time. ;)
Title: Re: Greg's Gazebo
Post by: greg on February 12, 2023, 10:27:17 AM
So since I might not ever write any classical music again (and if I do, it would just be something more like additional tracks in future albums for my non-classical music), I'd like to conclude this old thread with the links to my complete classical works.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9X4DLG84bg

https://newtypemage.bandcamp.com/album/classical-works