And yes, sometimes technology is a pain...

Today I've been cleaning up this blog a bit. I wanted to add a few more microtunes I've been working on and such. Unfortunately I found out there was what looked like a bug in Firefox 3 that meant the audio players I'm trying to embed in the posts wasn't showing up. So I checked Internet Explorer, and it was working there.

Sigh...

Wouldn't it be nice if there was just one way to play back a mp3 file. As it is I think QuickTime needs to be downloaded on the system for these players to even work.

Oh joy. oh bliss.

Now back to music things.

Microtune, #9 (The dying bassist)

Here's my next microtune. For some reason, when I listen to this it sounds like the bassist isn't doing too well, and in the end, just kind of dies off. There is something silly about this, and I like that.



Link to Microtune, #9

Microtune #10

I'm back to my mircotunes. Here's a small dance number--sounds like something I could use as the basis for a whole piece.



Link to Microtune, Day 10

Tune of the Week

http://tinyurl... my tune of the week. (mp3 file)

Renaming

I got tired of the name "Compositional Workshop" today. The new name is "The Note Head". Probably fitting. Sometimes I think I think too much about notes. (Just from the phrase "I think I think" you can probably figure that out.) So--I'm a note head--some one who does a lot of thinking about notes.

So let's see where this goes.

Music 366: Day 1

Music 366 Project


Day 1

What ensemble am I writing for?

I keep asking myself this question. The template file I used for Day 58 is titled "String Quartet, 12 8 time", but I know that it's going to be "performed" by a general MIDI instrument. The American Composer's Forum has a list of tips for submitting work. One of the tips is not to submitt MIDI realizations of orchestral works. I believe it is accompanied by the statement that if one would do that the selection committee may "questions your values."

So where does this leave me? Am I thinking too much? Part of me would love to record a string quartet doing this. But the reality is that I'm not at a music school any longer where I have ready access to string players. Another part of me says "deal with the problems of the instrument--the General MIDI Instrument." When you write for a pipe organ you go in knowing that you can't really control the attack with the keyboard. Dynamics tend to be tiered and achieved by pulling out or in the stops. You have control of the swell as well, but that will be for all the choirs within the swell.

The purpose of the Music 366 project is to generate ideas. For right now I'm writing for MIDI. If things I write can also be transcribed for acoustic instruments, great.