28.) Full Spectrum November 22, 2013

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Full Spectrum is an experiment utilizing three or four of Messiaen's techniques.  I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with the outcome, but I'm glad that I am comfortable enough to experiment in front of you like this.

The explanation of what I did is going to get very heady - sorry for that.  There is one of Messiaen's modes that I have had trouble using.  It is his fifth mode, of which the first transposition is [C Db F F# G B C].  I find this mode very limited and restricting, probably because there are only six pitches in it.  But I wanted to make use of it, and I did so by creating a row out of these pitches.  But rather than construct melodies and chords out of the row, I used it as a guide to determine the root of the chord I used.  I used several transpositions of the row and it's inversion, retrograde, and retrograde inversion.

Then I created a row of chord qualities, choosing chords that are triads with added notes.  These qualities include a major triad with a raised fourth added, major triad with a lowered third, major triad with a lowered second, minor with a fourth, and minor with a natural seventh.  The row was a sequence of eleven of these qualities, a prime number.

Rhythmically, the piece has four symmetrical, non-retrogradable, sequences, the center of each phrase marked with a 3/8 measure with a dotted quarter note.  The sequences are further defined with a different pedal point under each.

I am happy with the concept, but I might like to hear it orchestrated for an ensemble of some kind.   Or I would like to have more time to practice it, getting the soprano voice to speak clearly.  My dissatisfaction with the result here is mainly due to the melody being lost.  It's difficult to bring out the melody when many of the chords have close intervals in the top of the structure.   I'll keep trying.

     

27.) A Life November 14, 2013

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This piece is composed of the second transposition of Messiaen's second mode, the octatonic scale.  I really enjoy the possibilities that the mode offers.  This time I kept the mode during my improvisation, save for a couple mistakes.  Improvising with these modes has gotten easier as they've gotten more familiar.

26.) Rides November 7, 2013

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Rides is a sixteen bar blues boogaloo, using all three transpositions of the octatonic scale.  I happened to find a version of this bassline while messing around, and I thought it could work nicely in a blues form.  And, the bassline happens to be a palindrome, and therefor a non-retrogradable rhythm.  I originally had the center note as a quarter note, in a 5/4 meter, but decided to add a dot to it, in order to create a phrase that has a prime number of beats.  So this piece utilizes three of Messiaen's techniques: modes of limited transposition, non-retrogradable rhythms, and prime numbers.  And what's best is that it really sounds nothing like Messiaen.  If fact I can feel him shaking his head in disgust.  Great!

It was difficult to compose the melody because the bassline was very damn fun to play on.  I continually found myself improvising for extended periods, while I was trying to get the melody down.  It's just a fun thing to play.   I enjoyed it.

25.) Time Before Time October 31, 2013

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Another "bebopish" line, this time over the chords to Time After Time by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne.   I intended to use a different mode for this one, but found again that mode three worked the best for this sort of thing.  In attempt to make the line oddly phrased, and just for the fun of it, I kept a trill-like idea throughout it.

A special treat this week is that you get to hear the piece with a trio.  I convinced bassist Adam Hopkins and drummer Martin Urbach to let me record them when they were over for a rehearsal yesterday.  It was a lot of fun for me to have some company for this recording.

If you're paying close attention, you've noticed that I posted two pieces this week.  This was done in order to make up for a missed week in August.  I finally had a piece ready early enough in the week that I thought I could complete another.  So I'm back on schedule now.  Should be pretty smooth sailing from here on out, as long as the holidays don't get in the way too badly.

24.) I Like You October 28, 2013

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I found myself once again listening to Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz, and Warne Marsh last weekend.  I love the strangeness of the lines they wrote.  So I thought why not try to use one of Messiaen's modes to compose a line over a standard progression.  I chose mode three and the progression of I Love You by Cole Porter.  I'm sure Cole Porter is rolling in his grave; I heard he hated jazz, and I'd guess he wouldn't appreciate the Messiaen forced upon his progression either.   I suppose I'm using the slightly altered jazz musician changes to boot.  Mode three has plenty of half steps which I thought could assist me in this endeavor, and it actually nicely accommodates F major and A major tonalities, which happen to be the two key centers of I Love You.

This was a nice departure from the other ways I've been using Messiaen's ideas.  I enjoyed it, and I may do another.  It's actually somewhat difficult to write in this style, trying to use strange phrasing.  The conventions of bebop keep pulling one back into the proverbial line.   Please pardon me if my playing is a little rough around the edges.

23.) Sendak October 25, 2013

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Up to this point, I had overlooked Messiaen's fourth mode.  It consists of two four note chromatic cells a minor third apart.  For example [C,Db,D,Eb,Gb,G,Ab,A].  The piece uses four transpositions of this mode.  The use of each scale concludes with the two major triads that can be derived out of the mode, which happen to be a tritone apart.   I enjoy the sound of that relationship and I explored it in my improvisation.

I recently heard a Fresh Air interview with author/illustrator Maurice Sendak from December 2011, which was very beautiful and inspiring.   I highly recommend you check it out.  Terry Gross asked some questions that really opened him up.  It's very emotional.  It's full of vulnerability, integrity, and truth.  It encourages me to keep on keeping on with honesty, to follow my path, to trust my own voice.

22.) Three Quarter Moon

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Three Quarter Moon is in 12/8 time, which I rarely write in.  Interestingly a line in this meter just started coming out when I sat down this week.  I welcome it.  The piece features three voices.  Each of the three voices uses one of the three different octatonic scales.  It starts with a dialogue between the upper two voices, until the lower voice enters with the duplet rhythm.  Then the voices are added one at a time, until all three are happening at once.  It sounds a little chaotic at the end, but it was a fun thing to learn.