Menu
What's new
By:
Filters

Music only the composer can like

rJames

rJames

Senior Member
Hi guys. I've been re-doing mockups of a few cues with my newer libraries. I may even have posted this one here before (7 or 8 years ago) because it is one of my favorites.

My working title was "Experimental" cause I was just experimenting with intervals to form an idea.

The first phrase (2 bars per phrase) in the woodwinds is maj3 (E4), second phrase min3(E3), third phrase 2nds(E2) and fourth but in the middle of the phrase chromatics(E1) forming the idea. I use chromatics in the bass all over the place... basically the whole cue.

I didn't want this to be "chord" based and I have this "wave" in the bass or cellos to make sure that there is no chord to be chosen. But, of course, as I massaged the cue, chords form.

https://digitmusic.net/prePresentation/Our%20Town%20v4%20M.mp3 (Our Town)
Click to read more...
 
Thanks Guy. I appreciate that.

And you too Marcus. Thanks for the reply.
 
I enjoyed this quite a bit too. And I also think that you did a terrific job on the orchestration.

I disagree completely though that only the composer can like it. I think anyone who has listened to a lot of 20th Century concert music will find it quite 'normal'. If I didn't know you wrote it, I would have said that it was from the early 1930s or something like that - a little Mahler, a little Ives, a little Bartok, a little Alban Berg.
 
I'm glad to see you are not overdoing the dissonant possibilities and freedom that EIS can provide to everyone. Nice standard writing!!!
 
Thanks Ned, Leo and Gunther, great to find out that I am 100 years behind the times.

And Gunther, it is Ron... for future reference.

r(on)James not r(ichard)G Ames
 
Very nice cue, Ron!

And, I think what's cool is, you have this very jump-y melody that skips around the chord tones, and gives it a contemporary feel. Something that I need to work on more, is having that more athletic/agile melody that skips around, and creates a great shape.

You do a good job of keeping the dissonance under control, and have some great, quirky shapes to it.

The 5 -> 6- motion in the beginning is really cool... Scale #8? That's one of my faves. :)

Mike
 
I quite like it. What bothers me a little bit is that the use rhythm is too classical. These notes scream for more free rhythms. It feels like they are caught in a cage and want to break free :mrgreen:
Very nice and rich orchestration.
 
Belated thanks to Sammy for listening.

Thanks Mike for the EIS talk. I never know what scale I am in anymore... probably an EIS sin. But I just write. I don't even want to know the chords until I am adding parts and then it is just through post analysis. The few things I keep in mind when writing are; you can do anything you want to do if it sounds like it is meant to be, stay away from some common accidental dissonances that can muddy up the middle. This was purely an experiment using intervals.

Jaap. Rhythm is so important. It is my Achilles heel, especially when trying to write something to make some money.

Marcus. This really is just me experimenting, playing with how music is constructed, so I can understand your reaction. And knowing that someone doesn't like something IS constructive feedback. I think I appreciate negative feedback more than positive in that it can point out areas that need improvement if specifics are given. But even without specifics, it is a reality check.
 
Hmmm...

There was nothing dissonant really going on (nothing strongly dissonant anyhow)... And it didn't bother me one bit!

But, I'll be honest that I found it somewhat 'directionless' if I may RichardRon so I will confess that it didn't appeal to me too much. I don't know if this makes sense, but in any case it's my personal opinion and not an academic thesis of any sort... ;)
 
Some nice writing in there. Harmonically very under control imo.

As for the mix, I'd bring up the strings (especially the violins), and try also to bring them forward (or maybe push the others back).
 
Jamwerks and Nikolas, thanks for listening. But Nikolas, I think "directionless" is at least a short academic thesis isn't it?

All kidding aside, it was never intended to be dissonant. Leo brought that up because EIS "lessons" have a tendency to provide opportunity for dissonance. However, this was not one of my EIS projects per se. Rather an exploration of what would happen if I strapped myself to closing intervals. Other than that direction, it was directionless and strictly for fun.

I still hear it as a funny little poem written in the (foreign) language of EIS.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom