Composition Brain Goop #2

General Thoughts

When I talk about folk music in connection with this piece, I’m talking about Atlantic Canadian folk music with Celtic and Acadian influences, kind of like the sounds of Great Big Sea and Vishten, because that is the folk music I grew up with.

This is a continuation from my first section about my composition project, where I explained the basic technical bits and the specifics of the first part of my piece. In the first section of my composition, I established a tone for the piece, as well as showing off the a bit of the sensor node’s capabilities. In the second part of this piece, I want to have a more comfortable, familiar section for people to hold onto so I don’t lose their attention amidst too many new things. This folk song section will show off the soundscape possibilities that can add another dimension of experience to familiar musical elements.

The rhythm and pitch of the lyrics are flexible in the ways that folk music is flexible. The relative pitch matters, but since there will only be drums and rain as accompaniment, the transposition of the key doesn’t matter. The key will be some kind of major key, as in it resolves to ‘do’, but the range it covers is mostly between ‘sol’ and ‘fa’. When I was at the piano trying to figure out notes for the melody for this section, I settled on C4 to B-flat4, but each performer should choose a key that feels comfortable. There are certain anchor words to be placed on strong beats, but any notated rhythms for the in-between words can be shifted to whatever feels natural for the performer without changing the mood of the music.

The main challenge with this section will be the transitions in and out, and creating polished soundscapes that add depth and character without distracting from the performer, much like how a film score is meant to strengthen a film rather than take over.

Specific Outline (Lyrics & Effects)

If you didn’t read the first Composition Brain Goop post, you totally should go read it right now, otherwise, here’s a general overview of how I’ll be notating my piece below for brainstorming and documenting my process/progress:

Lyrics will be notated in regular text. Comments will be in brackets. Electronic idea descriptions will be italicized. Electronic trigger actions will be bold – R for tilting the head right, L for tilting the head left, F for tilting the head forward, and B for tilting the head back. After each tilt, it is assumed that the head be brought back to center.

---

The transition from the first section involves the emergence of rain sounds, and a folk drum beat in something like 6/8 time (dotted quarter = 112 bpm) that actually switches from 6/8 to a 3/4 feel (with constant eight notes) every second measure in the way that feels natural for sea-shanty-type folk songs. The drum will fade in for 4 measures, with the last measure being 3 strong quarter notes to signal the performer to start in the next measure.

Notes may be learned,

But my heart always yearned

To hear more than the page has to offer.

Can I hear the gulls cry,

With the waves crashing by

When you sing to me stories of water.

L gull cries

[Performer looks around in wonder]

spin crashing waves that continue and blend with the rain

[Performer clasps hands excitedly]

I’m strong like the wind,

And I surge like the water.

I know that I’m home when I’m sailing.

The sea always calls me,

And knows how to rock me,

And puts me at ease when I’m sailing.

I’m free like the wind,

With my peace from within

That flows through the sea as I’m sailing.

I just made this up

With a handful of luck,

And romanticized prose about sailing. [This last line with gusto! Like a punchline that acknowledges the cheesiness of everything that just happened.]

B Line up the trigger with ‘man’ in ‘romanticized’ to schedule the drum to end in 4 measures. Keep the backwards tilt natural, coming back to center by ‘sailing’ to emphasize the last word of this section. The end of the drum triggers another transitional morphing section in the sounds to unnatural spacey sounds.

[I’m not sure exactly what the tone of the next section will be, but I hope to find a way to transition back to something more introspective for the fourth, and final section that will combine the drum and rain of this section with elements of the third section that are yet to be determined, and lyrics that I have partly finished at the moment.]

---

Spread love and kindness wherever you go! 🙂