Thursday, September 12, 2013
17.) Filbert Street September 10, 2013
Filbert Street utilizes all six transpositions of Messiaen's sixth mode. Each phrase, separated with a measure of rest, is written in a different transposition. I also used non-retrogradable rhythms for this piece. Each phrase is an extended palindrome. Ironically, to create a non-retrogradable phrase such as these, one has to compose a phrase up to a certain point, and then actually retrograde the rhythm to finish it. So the retrograde is what makes it non-retrogradable. In The Technique of My Musical Language Messiaen explains his use of rhythmic pivot points. Each non-retrogradable phrase has a center note at where the reflection takes place. This ties in with his preference for phrases who's total rhythmic value is a prime number, such as a phrase equaling eleven eighth notes. Conventional phrase lengths are typically in even numbers, and the use of prime numbers can create a sense openness, and get one away from the ubiquitous four-bar phrase. I didn't actually concern myself with the prime numbers while I composed. But afterward I noticed that all the phrases were actually prime in length, with the exception of the last one.
Filbert Street in San Francisco is one of the steepest streets in the world, and my wife and I had the pleasure of driving down it a few weeks ago. It was scary and fun. The hills of that city really give it a vibe.
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
16.) Stuck Unstuck September 4, 2013
For this one I'm working with two transpositions of the second mode, which is the diminished or octatonic scale. The right hand chords are derived from the second transposition, the left hand from the first. An additional organizing parameter was used, in the area of intervals. The left hand and right hand intervallic structures mirror each other. This is different from Attraction (July 25) in that here the mirroring is not concerning the geography of the keyboard (if that makes any sense at all).
The combination of these two organizing parameters (the scales and the interval structures) limited my choices quite a bit. As I worked, my process evolved into this: For each of the four bar sections, I first composed the melody, then filled in right hand harmony with mode two, second transposition. Then I inverted the intervals and found appropriate notes for the left hand in mode two, first transposition. What it came down to was choices between left hand structures that were a minor third apart.
For the improv sections, I decided to improvise with the two modes. In the first open section my right hand continued with the second transposition, with the left hand continued with the first transposition. In the second open section, I flipped the two. It is quite sparse and simple, but I am improvising with polymodality, which felt like a good brain exercise.
The title seems like a stupid reference to the composing process. But I'm actually referencing my general feeling the last couple days. This is a great time of year in NYC. The weather cools a bit, the air seems clearer. It reminds me of three memorable moves in my past. One, moving to NYC (gulp) eleven years ago. Two, moving to Brooklyn seven years ago. Three, moving downstairs in the same house in Brooklyn two years ago. All three moves were exciting. Late summer/early fall is the time when I'm sad to see summertime ending, but also looking forward to getting back into the routine and getting some work done. It's bittersweet, and it can leave me feeling stuck and then unstuck quite rapidly.
Friday, August 30, 2013
15.) Doheny August 30, 2013
My wife and I just returned from a California trip. It was basically a drive down Highway 1 from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It was amazing. The Pacific Ocean has magical powers. It's unfathomable. You'll surely be reading more about the trip on this blog in the future. One of the highlights for me was an afternoon of surfing at Doheny State Beach in southern Orange County. I went to this beach on recommendation of my buddy Justin Keller. It was a special place. Gentle waves and gentle surfers. I've heard a lot about the angry territorial surfers of southern California and the strict etiquette followed at the heavily populated beaches. As a relative beginner, I was looking for a place with a more relaxed vibe, and Doheny was perfect. People were having a lot of fun, and were not concerned about dropping in. (Dropping in is basically catching a wave that someone has already caught, often restricting their route options.) They were cheering each other on. It was beautiful. For me, surfing is about connecting with nature and having fun. Doheny was the perfect place to experience both of those things.
So getting back to composing this week, I was naturally hearing something of major tonality, just to reflect the beauty of the trip. So I went with Messiaen's seventh mode, which is essentially a chromatic scale minus two pitches. I thought I would be able to extract the major tonality out of it. In this case, I was in G major and the pitches I had to avoid were A and Eb. It was especially challenging to avoid A - I was hearing it so often. I was forced to find my way around it. Just like avoiding surfers who were paddling out while I was riding a wave (if you allow me to be so corny).
Monday, August 12, 2013
15.) Brightness August 11, 2013
I squeezed this one in between travels. Here we have two transposition of Messiaen's second mode, the beloved diminished or octatonic scale. The top voice, which was composed in it's entirety before the lower voice was added, uses the first transposition. It was composed without any rhythmic structure, but I consciously kept the opening ideas in mind as I worked. The bottom voice uses the third transposition, and did have a preconceived rhythmic structure of short eighth note phrases separated by an eighth rest. After every four measure or so one eighth note is added to the phrase length. It is kind of obnoxious, but also gives the piece a particular vibe.
The title refers to how I'm feeling today. My wife and I just spent five days in Philadelphia at the Strengthening Health Institute studying macrobiotics with Denny Waxman and Susan Waxman. We learned a lot about the philosophies behind macrobiotics and also the practical applications of it. We were served delicious food prepared with the best ingredients in the most careful and caring way. This food and knowledge has left me feeling satisfied, inspired, clear-minded, and bright. This piece was extremely easy to write because of the state of mental clarity I was in. If you are interested in improving your life, I highly recommend checking out the Waxman's and the SHI.
I'm particularly thankful for that clarity as I only had a short time to get a composition written, notated, learned, recorded, and uploaded. Unfortunately my upcoming travels will prohibit me from uploading a piece next week. As I wrote earlier, I am committed to writing fifty-two pieces for this project, so with your grace, I will upload two pieces in one week in the near future as a make-up. Happy August.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
14.) Misconnect August 4, 2013
Misconnect was formed out of a transposition of Messiaen's third mode. It's very exciting for me to take a mode of his and see what chords can be formed from it. Most modes render unconventional relationships between commonly used chords. For this piece I used only major triads from that one transposition. The triads available from this transposition of the third mode are F, Gb, A, Bb, Db, D. We see that there are relationships that are more conventional; those in perfect fourths, F to Bb, Db to Gb, and A to D, and their inversions, D to A, Gb to Db, Bb to F. But what's most appealing to me are the less conventional relationships; those based in major and minor thirds, F to A, Gb to A, etc. Of course at this point in history triads moving in thirds is nothing new. I remember studying a Brahms Symphony in college and discovering many tertiary harmonic relationships. They also call to mind Bartok for me. But what's interesting and enjoyable with the Messiaen technique is that these triads are all tied together with the mode. They have a different relationship than they do in Brahms. I feel encouraged to move between them and they're supported by the melodic use of the mode. And it's all the more encouraging that the piece doesn't sound like a Messiaen piece.
Thursday, August 1, 2013
13.) Dialogues July 30, 2013
Dialogues is a two voice piece which utilizes Messiaen's fifth mode of limited transposition. The upper voices uses one transposition [B C Db F Gb G], while the lower uses another [D Eb E Ab A Bb]. Combined they include every note of the chromatic scale. The mode is interesting in theory, but using it was not very easy. This one felt limiting, and I grew tired of my limited choices quickly. I felt like I was overusing all of the pitches, always returning to the same ones. Happily, the juxtaposition of two voices with two different transpositions seems to obscure that feeling in the final result. Also, I welcome challenges like this and hope that by dealing with some of these limitations I will be pushed into new territory and grow as a composer and musician.
Rhythmically, Dialogues features a superimposition of structures. The rhythm of the top voice repeats after five measures, while the rhythm of the bottom voice repeats after three. The piece is fifteen measures in total because in that time all superimpositions are realized within those patterns. The sixteenth measure would be rhythmically the same as the first.
Thursday, July 25, 2013
12.) Attraction July 25, 2013
I was fooling around with some Messiaen modes trying to find ideas this week, when I noticed that a certain transposition of his third mode had a couple of mirror points on the piano. The pitches of this mode are [D Eb F Gb G A Bb B Db D]. If one starts this scale on D and plays it in contrary motion, the right hand ascending while the left hand descends, the intervals are symmetrical and the hands mirror each other. Later I discovered that certain transpositions of all Messiaen's modes actually have mirror points on the keyboard.
I thought it would be fun to compose a piece in which the hands mirror each other throughout. It was interesting because often times I heard something I liked for one hand, but wasn't crazy about what the mirroring voice had to do. I had to either change my original idea, or accept it and move on. About halfway through composition process, I remembered that I haven't done much with non-retrogradable rhythms for awhile, and I thought that they would work out quite poetically with the mirroring idea. So I simply used measure 15 as a mirror point and then retrograded the rhythm of the first 14 measures. This also made for some interesting phrasing, especially in combination with the mirroring pitch structures.
I naturally gravitated toward one of few mirrored structures in the scale that had a strong tonality, that of G-flat major. As it shaped up, it seemed that the piece became movement to and from G-flat major. I enjoyed the experiment and wouldn't be surprised if I revisited the mirror idea before this project is concluded.
It feels good to be working at home again with my usual instrument and equipment.
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