techniques of composition.
(for exercises, click here)
a meditation between two slices of bread; a story of tragedy and deli meats.
This was the first piece I wrote for the class as a means to get something out for ECUtorial to rehearse. I thought about having a piece that fits on one page, and is written for everyone and anyone (love putting socialist undertones in everything), and thus: this. The title was written half-way through the piece's production, after a chat with Joshua Pope in the library. Does it mean something? Up to you to decide.
the potted plant tango.
Usually, I write weird music for uni, and make the more "acceptable" music for side projects off uni, but this seemed like the place to do a normal song, the place being the Tango Neuvo concert for SOUND SPECTRUM 21.1. This, like most of my lyric- based songs, originated with the lyrics, with the strange thought of a potted plant that wishes to tango. The original conception of the piece had an interview with a potted plant before, a la Creature Comforts, but then it got too complex and I don't have a good animation software to do anything impressive so it just remained as a song. I wrote the lyrics in my notebook on a train late at night (the best place to write) and whipped up a demo that night. Orchestration wasn't too much, just kinda whipped it up because I can do that now and added some parts I thought would sound cool, and to my surprise, it did sound cool.
Also thank you Cora Jean for singing my silly song, her instagram is @corajeanmusic if you wanna check out more of her stuff (highly recommend).
Also thank you Cora Jean for singing my silly song, her instagram is @corajeanmusic if you wanna check out more of her stuff (highly recommend).
potted plant full score.pdf |
labaNightmare.
So I realised an hour after the piece was performed in the concert that no one knows what labanotation is for the joke to even land, so quick recap: labanotation is an outdated practice used by some dancers to notate dance. It's become outdated to newer technology, that being "filming the dance". When Lindsay showed us an example, it was robotic and boring, which made me think: could I make this look like art? I didn't even realise that there's some beautiful examples of hand labanotation, but most software labanotation programs are clunky and act like microsoft paint. Anyway, I found a "free" software (I had to edit out the watermark) and compiled a bunch of symbols used by laban-ers and made something akin to modernism? Either way the performance ended up great, so written music is automatically good (by association).
the world from a lonely seagull's eyes: a reflection on the city of fremantle.
This piece (which is spelt wrong in the bandcamp, but it still works and I'll go with it) was written on a bench in Fremantle, about 500m from Fremantle train station with a Subway sandwich in my non-writing hand and staring down a seagull. Although there wasn't much planning throughout writing process (it was a lot of hey that might sound cool/be funny and then subsequentially writing it down), I feel like it's a really me piece. The scenario and half of the directions are silly and absurd; the idea of a choir doing seagull sounds is hilarous to me, but behind all of that is a strangely beautiful and reflective performance.