September 2011 - Composer's Toolbox

Tool #17: Augmentation and Diminution

DanLisMusic Posted on September 26, 2011

Here’s another post on (one of) my obsessions: motivic development. So far I’ve talked about octave displacement and additive processes in this motivic development vein, so I’d like to add another tool to the list of ways to develop motivically: Augmentation/Diminution. This is a pretty simple technique. It assumes that there is melodic or harmonic […]

Harmony Melody Theory Tools for Composers

Tool # 16: Letters Into Music

DanLisMusic Posted on September 20, 2011

Some composers have names that correspond with musical letters. Take B-A-C-H (B is Bb in German, and H is B natural in German), C-A-G-E, or the infamous initials of Dmitri Shostakovich: D-S-C-H (D-Eb-C-B in German). The idea that one can take letters from names, initials, words, or anything else that is verbally organized is a […]

Technology Tools for Composers

Tool #15: Copying Only What You Want in Finale

DanLisMusic Posted on September 14, 2011

Here’s a quick Finale tip that is very useful for cleaning up scores: Have you ever wanted to copy just the markings (dynamics, articulations, expressions, etc.) in Finale and not the notes because you want to make all of the parts look the same in terms of markings? There’s an easy way to copy only […]

Tools for Composers

Tool #14: Planning

DanLisMusic Posted on September 11, 2011

Why do we plan as composers? Why do we even bother to make plans, in their multitudinous varieties of detail and scope? In this post I’d like to examine 1.) Why we make plans, 2.) What makes a good plan, and 3.) What happens to a plan after it’s created. Let’s get started. 1.) Why […]

Theory Tools for Composers

Tool #13: Metric (Tempo) Modulation

DanLisMusic Posted on September 8, 2011

Update: click to get to this post for a metric modulation calculator! Second update: check here for the new, easier-to-use calculator! Alright, let’s tackle a rather hands-on technical tool. Metric modulation (or more accurately, tempo modulation) is the shifting of the beat from one rhythmic value to another. For example, simple metric modulations might change […]

Form Harmony Instrumentation Melody Orchestration Psychology of Music Theory Tools for Composers

Tool #12: Structured Improvisation, Pt. I (John Zorn Cobra Feature)

DanLisMusic Posted on September 2, 2011

I’d like to give an introduction to a topic that’s near and dear to my heart in music: structured improvisation. While I can’t do it justice in just one post (hence the “Pt. 1” in the title), I love improvisation, so I would feel ashamed if I neglected it in this blog. Structured improvisation can […]