Categories AnalysisFormInstrumentationNotation/EngravingReviewsRhythmScore CallsTools for Composers

“A Complaint” – Young Composer Score Call

Composer 1’s work “A Complaint” is based on William Wordsworth’s poem of the same title.  Please view the score here and listen to it below. This work has an apt sense of gesture, time, and structure.  The opening gestures of the work return to us at the end, in a “bookending” format.  However, the opening […]

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Categories AnalysisEngravingFormInstrumentationMelodyNotation/EngravingOrchestrationReviewsRhythm

Kyle Grimm – Pitchforks and Crow’s Feet

Kyle Grimm’s music spans the gamut of media and instrumentation.  A double bassist and dance collaborator, he also has experience working with ensembles and other performers.  This is evident in his work “Pitchforks and Crow’s Feet”. The score can be found here: Pitchforks and Crow’s Feet for Flute, Cello, and Bass. This work relies heavily […]

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Categories AnalysisFormPsychology of MusicReviewsTechnologyTheoryTools for Composers

Heather Stebbins – minim

Heather Stebbins’s work “minim” is a recollection and reimagination of sonic elements from prior works.  From her program notes: “minim (2014) is an exercise in excavation. I recently began going through old files and recordings from early projects and happily discovered that many of the sounds captivated me in both new and nostalgic ways. I felt […]

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Categories AnalysisFormHarmonyInstrumentationOrchestrationReviewsRhythm

Jacob Sachs-Mishalanie – Pole, Steam, Tree, Glass

Jacob Sachs-Mishalanie’s work “Pole, Steam, Tree, Glass” is an inventive approach to timbre, idiomatic writing, a certain poetry, and the interaction of acoustic and electroacoustic approaches.  As he writes in his program notes in the score, “Program Note: In this collection of four short pieces, I contemplate questions about electroacoustic music, searching not necessarily for […]

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Categories AnalysisFormHarmonyInstrumentationMelodyNotation/EngravingOrchestrationPsychology of MusicRhythmTeachingTheoryTools for Composers

Steven Maheu’s Elements of Creative Force – Part 5

Hi All, Here is another image from Steven Maheu’s Elements of Creative Force.  This explains how different elements can be contrasting or complementary to one another. We use the relationships between each number and another number to define if the two numbers are contrasting, or complementary.  This only applies when using the same color.  (We […]

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Categories AnalysisFormTheoryTools for Composers

Aya SB – Coalescence

Aya Shimano-Bardai’s notes in the abstract for the piece “Coalescence”: “Coalescence (2016) is a seven minutes and thirty seconds long acousmatic stereo piece. The compositional structure delves into the transitions between contrasted sonic spaces – open and clustered, distant and close, sharp and mild, etc – by underlining its varied acoustic elements. Mainly based on […]

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Categories AnalysisFormHarmonyMelodyNotation/EngravingPsychology of MusicRhythmTeachingTheoryTools for Composers

Steven Maheu’s Elements of Creative Force – Part 4

Before we proceed with this post, it is worth noting that there have been some small changes in Steven Maheu’s main Elements of Creative Force document.  The updated document can be found here: Today’s post is going to be short on my end, because Steven has devised an exercise for you to try, using the […]

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