Welcome to my blog

I have created this site in order to provide performers, listeners and composers with a description of a composer's experiences with the creative process. The posts will provide discussions of the inspirations, challenges, and successes of a composer from the inception of the piece to the culmination in performance. I will provide a link to where you can see and hear the works in progress. Comments and questions are always welcomed. They will not posted unless you grant me permission.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Lan Na Thai 2nd movement

I wish everyone a blessed and happy Thanksgiving! I woke up early this morning and worked on the 2nd movement which I began several days ago. To my surprise, I completed that movement this morning. Part of the reason for completing it sooner than expected was the fact that my ear was telling me to bring back the opening sections for the end therefore creating a ABA'C ABA' form.

The experience of trying to create a piece of music that sounds like Thai music by using western musical language and aesthetic has been challenging. Eastern music uses a lot of repetition yet sounds improvisatory. The contrast is created by things changing subtly over time. Western music has greater contrast and clearer formal structure. I already addressed the challenge of the different scale systems and how I dealt with them in an earlier post. So what I seem to be creating is a piece influenced by Thai music but written with a western aesthetic. With this in mind, let me discuss my second movement.

I chose to use an oboe-like instrument that I hear in examples of Thai music for one of the pre-recorded sounds. Sibelius has a Duduk (an Armenian double reed instrument) as one of its sounds, but this instrument sounds closer to an oboe that the double reed instrument I hear on recordings of Thai music. The Thai double reed instrument is much less focused and seems to be richer in clashing overtones than the oboe. To recreate this sound, I double the melodic line a second or third below the melody according to the pentatonic scale that I am using. I am very pleased with how this recreates the Thai double reed instrument. I also use finger cymbals, taiko drum, and a xylophone-like instrument in the pre-recorded sounds.


The pre-recorded sounds begin this movement and create an ostinato to the saxophone melodic line. The saxophone line is very rhythmic and technical and incorporates trills (A). At 3'05.2", the xylophone ushers in a contrasting section, alternating the line with the saxophone (B). At 3'16.5", the A material returns but this time the saxophone and xylophone are in imitation with the xylophone being the lead voice (A').
Even though I use these constructional principles, I still let my ear be my guide. One thing my ear suggested was a change of rhythm in the xylophone part approaching 3'21". The original line called for a rhythmic shift to having the phrase start on the beat, but this did not work here. I then shifted the phrase to starting on the upbeat. I also wanted the saxophone to imitate the sound of a xylophone roll on some of the long notes. A trill did not work, so I suggest the use of flutter tongue or a timbre trill (where the saxophonist trills between two different fingerings for the same note). 3'36.5" begins the C section with its new tonality shift and thinner texture. Programatically, this movement represents a period in Thai history where there were wars with Burma. One could think of this section as introducing this foreign element into the piece. 4'19" ushers in the return to the ABA' section from the beginning. I did not alter this section very much except near the end where I extend a 4/4 measure to a 5/4 measure to create a stronger ending. The movement ends with the gong.

The alto saxophone part is in concert pitch while I compose the piece. The recorded accompaniment sounds are not accurate on the MIDI playback. The shakuhachi plays back like a saxophone instead of a flute and the gong ageng plays as a cymbal instead of gong. These sounds are correct when I use Sibelius Sound Essentials, which I will use to create the prerecorded sound version to go along with the saxophone part. The sounds are also in a better balance. Please use your imagination when listening and substitute the correct sounds in your mind. To see and hear what I have composed thus far, go tohttp://www.cooppress.net/lan_na_thai_blog.html

Dr. B

Monday, November 24, 2008

Lan Na Thai 1st movement Finished

This morning, I tentatively finished the first movement. I say tentatively because while I feel that is finished now, it may not be in balance with the other movements. It may be necessary to come back to it and lengthen it if the other movements over balance it.

The first movement is 2'52" long. I have repeated some of the earlier material with variations to the instrumentation and melodic line. Since the first part had been so freely composed, I felt that it was necessary to repeat some of the material in order to provide the movement with unity. After the faster and more energetic middle section, the Taiko Drum at 1'22.8" transitions to a slower tempo and more calm ending which concludes quietly with the gong alone.

The alto saxophone part is in concert pitch while I compose the piece. The recorded accompaniment sounds are not accurate on the MIDI playback. The shakuhachi plays back like a saxophone instead of a flute and the gong ageng plays as a cymbal instead of gong. These sounds are correct when I use Sibelius Sound Essentials, which I will use to create the prerecorded sound version to go along with the saxophone part. Please use your imagination when listening and substitute the correct sounds in your mind. To see and hear what I have composed thus far, go to http://www.cooppress.net/lan_na_thai_blog.html

Dr. B

Friday, November 21, 2008

Lan Na Thai 1st movement Continued

Over the past few days, I have worked on the second section of the piece. This section is more intense than the first section. It begins at 39.6" and continues until 1'30". Since I am trying to stay with a limited scale system, I needed to find other ways to introduce variety into this composition. This section has a steadier rhythmic feel although the rhythms that I use are very varied therefore still creating a sense of improvisation rather than strict 4/4 time. This section is also more contrapuntal as the saxophone and the 4 other pre-recorded sounds are all active. I even use a little bit of imitation from 1'03.6" to 1'08.4". At 1'10.8" I bring an earlier section back (27.6" to 39.6") but add parts to that section so that it fits with the previously established energy. 1'22.8' uses the taiko drum to transition back to a calmer feel.

The alto saxophone part is in concert pitch while I compose the piece. The recorded accompaniment sounds are not accurate on the MIDI playback. The shakuhachi plays back like a saxophone instead of a flute and the gong ageng plays as a cymbal instead of gong. These sounds are correct when I use Sibelius Sound Essentials, which I will use to create the prerecorded sound version to go along with the saxophone part. Please use your imagination when listening and substitute the correct sounds in your mind. To see and hear what I have composed thus far, go to http://www.cooppress.net/lan_na_thai_blog.html

Dr. B

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Lan Na Thai 1st movement

I have completed around 54 seconds of the first movement. Here is a description of what I am attempting to depict with this movement: I. Sukhothai - Refers to the period between 1248 and 1438 and is known as "the dawn of happiness". This was an ideal state, a land of plenty, and peaceful. I envision a peaceful movement.

I listened to a lot of Thai music before composing this piece. I discovered that Thai music uses a scale of 7 equal tones and the 4th and 7th tones are often used only for embellishment. I toyed with trying to recreate this scale using my Sibelius software for the pre-recorded sounds, but found the process complicated. I also toyed with the idea of using short excerpts of recorded Thai music but rejected this because of copyright concerns and also the challenge of linking up the sounds to the saxophone part as I compose. I opted for using a pentatonic scale for both the saxophone and pre-recorded sounds. It is interesting to note that if one compares a pentatonic scale (c,d,e,g,a) to the major scale (c,d,e,f,g,a,b,c), the 4th and 7th tones are omitted. The actual pitches are not the same as the Thai scale, but it has a similar character. Starting at 39.6", I use an F# and B (4th and 7th tones) more often. I also toyed with having the saxophone play some quarter tones. This is still an option, but I was challenged by the play back plug-in for quarter tones in the Sibelius program. It was easy to use, but did not seem to play back correctly.

Other things I observed about Thai music is that it seemed to lack strict formal structure, therefore it was more improvisatory, and it seemed to be more like story telling rather than having strong musical direction and climax. I am trying to capture these characteristics as I compose this piece.

Another challenge I faced was how to notate the music for actual performance. You will notice that I added a second count to each measure so that the saxophonist can relate to the pre-recorded sounds. I also intend to condensed the pre-recorded sounds to one staff for the purpose of providing the saxophonist with cues as to when the pre-recorded sounds occur.

As a composer, I am interested in balancing unity and variety. There are repetitions in this piece, but not strict repetitions, therefore creating unity and variety simultaneously. For example. measures 5-9 are a repeat of measures 1-4, but a beat is left out of the sustained note on the repeat therefore creating a rhythmic variation. The saxophone part is very ornamented similar to the Thai singing style and the rhythms are very varied creating a sense of free meter even though it is written in 4/4 and 3/4. Tempo changes add to that sense of freedom. It will take practice by the saxophonist to coordinate with the pre-recorded sounds.

The opening 39" are fairly sparse regarding pre-recorded sounds. That changes at 39.6" as the pre-recorded sounds become more dominant, therefore creating contrast to the opening section.

The alto saxophone part is in concert pitch while I compose the piece. The recorded accompaniment sounds are not accurate on the MIDI playback. The shakuhachi plays back like a saxophone instead of a flute and the gong ageng plays as a cymbal instead of gong. These sounds are correct when I use Sibelius Sound Essentials, which I will use to create the prerecorded sound version to go along with the saxophone part. Please use your imagination when listening and substitute the correct sounds in your mind. To see and hear what I have composed thus far, go to http://www.cooppress.net/lan_na_thai_blog.html

Dr. B

Friday, November 14, 2008

Plan for a new piece

I have completed the transcription of a work of mine for brass octet that I will enter into a competition, so now I am ready to begin work on another piece. A former colleague of mine, Andy Wen, asked me to write a piece for him to premiere at the World Saxophone Congress to be held in July 2009 in Bangkok, Thailand. Naturally, my first thought was to try to use Thai folk music in the composition. After researching Thai folk music on the internet, I found it troublesome to incorporate because the timbres used are very unique and do not translate well for solo saxophone. I then began to researched Thai history and came up with the following ideas:

Title: Lan Na Thai (translation - Million Thai Rice Fields)
Instrumentation: Alto Saxophone and Pre-recorded Sounds
Movements:
I. Sukhothai - Refers to the period between 1248 and 1438 and is known as "the dawn of happiness". This was an ideal state, a land of plenty, and peaceful. I envision a peaceful movement.

II. Ayutthaya - This is the period from 1351 - 1757. It was characterized by wealth and wars with Burma. I envision this movement to be fast and violent.

III. The Chakri Dynasty - 1782 to the present - General Chakri, also known as Rama I, was the first king of the Chakri Dynasty. He moved the capital to Bangkok. This dynasty witnessed Thailand becoming a modern nation and moving from a absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. I envision the movement being triumphant in character.

Recorded Sounds:

I plan to use composed sounds that are characteristic of Thai music. The sounds will include various percussion, a marimba-like instrument, oboe-like instruments, and flute-like instruments.

As you can see, my inspiration is different from what I originally intended, but still will incorporate Thai folk music. I still marvel at the internet because I am able to sit in my own house and see and hear examples of Thai folk music thanks to utube and amazon.com.

I have a busy concert weekend with the York Symphony as we are doing Mahler's 5th Symphony, so my creative energies are going towards that. I hope to begin actually composing this piece next week.

Dr. B

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

My Mesa State College Visit

I send my readers greetings from Grand Junction, CO where I am in the last day of a three-day residency at Mesa State College. Tonight is the premiere of my Regal Variations, a flute and clarinet duet that I wrote for the Ballif Duo. Kristi and Adam are doing a marvelous job with the piece and I am looking forward to the performance this evening.

On Monday, I spoke with a group of music majors about creating win-win opportunities in music. Much of the music business has functioned with the creative artists being at the bottom of the ladder regarding receiving compensation for their talent. Fortunately, technology has enabled composers, performers and audiences to connect with each other and to by-pass the traditional music business model. I urged the students to think like the people they want to reach and to come up with creative ways of helping those people achieve their goals while they achieve their own goals.

I am also doing a three-day composition seminar for ten student and community members that is based on my book, "A Composer's Guide to Understanding Music". The students appear very enthusiastic and I have been meeting with some of them individually to give them some ideas they can incorporate into their compositions.

This afternoon I am doing a talk at the Mesa County Library called "Music To Your Ears". It is intended to help people listen more effectively to music by showing them how composers used unity and variety to express their ideas.

During my free time, I visited Colorado National Monument and enjoyed the scenery as well as nice hike amongst the cliffs. I have also been transcribing one of my compositions for brass octet to enter into a competition.

I return home tomorrow and hope to get back to more composition. November and December are very busy performing months for me, so composition gets put on the back burner.

Dr. B