Greg's Gazebo

[greg]

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.....

[mn dave]

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

[Renfield]

I can see your name in lights: The Greg Gazebo Band

How about "The Greg Gazebos"? It certainly has a vintage feel to it.

[karlhenning]

The Greggazebos

[greg]

 
not sure i'm feeling the name, there.....

[greg]

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. 

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. 

[karlhenning]

By all means, get beyond the "just throwing stuff together" stage 

[greg]

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. 

[Joe_Campbell]

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

[greg]

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.

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. 

[greg]

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....

[lukeottevanger]

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. 

[greg]

True, you really need a wind machine for this sort of thing. 

As long as it's portable and the bassist or cellist can wear it on his/her head....

[Joe_Campbell]

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)

[greg]

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:

[greg]

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. 

the deadline is Jan.9  and it has to be under 15 min.
http://www.nyae.org/Pages/page11.html

[karlhenning]

Keep it going!

[greg]

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! 

[Joe_Campbell]

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! 

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!

[greg]

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! 

I guess if you were completely satisfied with a composition, you would never write anything again anyways!

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."