Thursday, December 27, 2012

I'd like a different boat, please

Sometimes you have those awkward conversations with people where you might not be able to find the right words.  Sometimes it leads to you saying something embarrassing or revealing a bit more about yourself than you would have liked.  Sometimes it's hilarious.  Sometimes it's offensive.  People are usually forgiving though, and will at least give you a couple chances to get things right.  No matter how you begin, at some point you have to make noise.

I begin a lot of these entries in a goofy and mostly unrelated way until I find the thing that I actually want to talk about - and this one is no exception.  However, I like to think that I'm artistically relating this introduction with the thing that I actually want to talk about.  I am after all, an ar-teest.  

Or at least I think I am.

I find that many of my pieces begin the same way that I write journal or blog entries - that the beginning material may or may not end up being built into the underlying foundational organization for the rest of the piece.  This is a bit unique for a couple of reasons: 

number A.) Contrary to most music, the first thing you hear is not the most important thing.

number B.) This correlation between my music and my personal writing is indicative of the "personal nature" of stuff that I write - that I have a tendency to treat music as much of a means for inner-monologue as I do using words.

This is unique to think about!  I realized several months ago that I rarely if ever go back and revise the first section of a piece, though I will extensively and heavily revise the rest of it (as opposed to extensively and lightly revise.)  I also already know that I like to mirror music with people - especially philosophical approaches on what exactly the stuff is that makes us full of stuffing.  Perhaps it is my understanding of people that makes me treat a piece like another person.  Perhaps I like to give the music a few opportunities to make an impression on the listener; like the wait wait I'm not really a weirdo taste that I try and keep out of your mouth.

For those of you astute enough (can you use "astute" in a sentence without sounding pretentious?) to notice, there is a piece that I've posted that is currently in progress.

The working title is "Across, may I be ferried" and it is a very different project that something I have worked on before.  In short, it is basically a 10-12 minute dramatic scene with two vocalists and an instrumental ensemble of some sort.  Without revealing any magic tricks, it involves action, romance, and tragedy - it's really like an energy-shot of story-telling.

Okay, I'm intrigued, but so what? 

Well Mr. Rude-pants, (who has rude pants?) what makes this project unique is that it requires original text.  A Libretto.  For those of you out there in the grim reaches of space, a libretto is the text written specifically for the use of being set to music, and it is most commonly found in the context of operas, oratorios, one-acts, scenes, etc.  Thus, there is a difference between a libretto and a poem, since a poem was not originally written to be set to music.  As Bob Dylan would say, "If I can sing it, they're lyrics.  If I can't, it's a poem."

Well, the good news is that I already have a story, but I need / needed to create characters, write prose that is engaging, direct, and clear while being aware of the pacing.

Insofurther, (yeah, definitely a made up word,) you (I mean me) need to determine which parts are declamatory and which parts are emotive, the former lending to the progression of story plot while the latter lends to the development of the characters' feelings.  Given that I only have about 10-12 minutes, it is difficult to properly set up, develop, and intermingle not only the characters themselves, but also create conflict and resolution within the structure of the plot.

Once this is completed I'll actually begin setting the music; incorporating all of those little gems and Easter Eggs that composers love to put into music to pat themselves on the back.  (We are all so clever!)  These little gems and things invariably end up becoming the things that help you remember the names of different composers, so that when you take your music history test you don't fail.  

So the next time you do well on a history test, you're welcome.

As of this writing, I am still in the libretto-creating process.  One of the many reasons this project is challenging is because it requires a good sense of pacing - not only to align properly with the text, but to also conform to the time constraint.

Regardless of how I start, I find that the compositional process (for me at least) is an ever-evolving one, and I think that my music reflects that.  I am very interested and excited to see what happens with this project - what turns out to be effective and what does not.  It's all a learning process right?  Hopefully listeners will give me a few chances.

So, the next time you listen to a piece of music that you don't like, try thinking of it like something awkward said by someone you just met, because if it was an awkward thing said by someone you knew but didn't like, then you really wouldn't like it, and then we'd be talking about Country, and that's just not fair to anyone.


                                                                                                                                                                                       October 17th, 2012

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