Brian Kozaczek

Compositional Process - Post 8; Development through Interpolation and Elision - Imagining the Cyclical at the Core of Experience

This session’s work was characterized by jumping between two different areas that I developed as transition material. After these two parts were finalized, I began reinventing the restated opening themes of the piece (already established previously in a new key). This reinvention involved modification of the larger-form structure of the phrase originally in mm. 1-16, the result giving a new character and importance to the material.

I will start first with the development of the transition in m. 121-123 This is the template for this material that I created in the last post’s sessions;

ex. 8a

As you can see, it is literally just the same phrase repeated 3 times. The repetition provided the pacing I needed to reach the high B in m. 124.

  This was my first attempt at developing this transition;

ex. 8b

I focused on the emphasis of the second large beat groupings in the middle line, and allowed that to sway other voicings. This was coupled with a sequence in the upper line that reached higher by step ( e to f#).

The problem of this attempt was that the metrical stress of the down beat in the middle line was drawing to much attention to itself, and what I liked at first - that rounded upper line (between top and middle parts) - took away from the repetitive simplicity of the impetus in the second large beat in the middle line - this note being the bridge between bottom and top parts creating a hinge for the melody to come out with a metrical sense, and further, its placement in the middle of the register of the line (as a whole) lessened the attention stressed for either top or bottom parts. With the emphasis in the middle it allowed for a reset via repetition, and a more fulfilling arrival in m. 124 in the highest register.

Next I attempted to try to fix the problem while relying on the sequence and a slightly elongated form;

ex. 8c

What was missing the sense of anticipation and fulfilling arrival at m. 125.

In my next attempt, I abandoned the rounded melodic contour voice-leading emphasizing the downbeat;

ex. 8d

Here I began to experiment with the middle line as the most important melodic function, and made a complete bid for pitch centricity B in m.124 in three octaves anticipating the high b in m. 125.

But now the problem became one of time; there was simply too much content in the transition as a whole and balance was lost.

In the 4th attempt I paired down the form to regain balance;

ex. 8e

I began experimenting with the voice-leading in the bass (m. 123). But two things became evident in holding back progress;

     1. I absolutely needed the three-octave upward thrust in anticipation of m. 124 

and

     2. too much use of pitch centricity A was holding up my game.

The solution I ultimately came up with is a sort of happy balance between all the struggles I have just gone over in this phrase.

I rely on the sequence, but instead of taking that up continuously by step, I set up a two-part form; A B A1 

where  A1 is instead an elision (hinting at voice-leading f#-e-f#) with the triple octave B motif.  The voice-leading in the bass is also a bit more satisfying, really preparing the arrival of D in m. 124.

The second area I developed as transition material is everything in mm. 136 - 159 in the above video.

My first move was to experiment with different sustained notes and durations of silence at the end of m.136. The phrase at m. 136 naturally wants to resolve to B, but this paired with space in sustain does not better help the entrance of the transposed opening material. Its function as the dominant in E takes away from the pivoting function the phrase at mm. 160 - 175 will have with the succeeding phrase.

Then with a thought to introduce some part of the restated and transposed material at m. 160 I focused on the original bassline in mm. 1 - 16 and was met with some inspiration, in that, the first three notes of that idea were also in use in the form of diminution elsewhere in the piece!

For instance, at m. 81 we have the introduction of harmonic pedaling of those two pitches in the middle part - just at duration values in eighth notes.

And at other places in the piece this whole-step pedaling in the inner voice is used as a supporting thematic element; m. 95  and again at m. 124.

So, using the octave C# at the end of m. 136 is a way of both resolution via interpolation to B, and to set up the whole-step pedaling that reintroduces the beginning theme in the bass - all the while vaguely suggesting the whole-step thematic structure prevalent throughout the piece.

There were some different choices regarding elements of pacing and emphasis in this section; mainly it boiled down to if whether the listener would hear the fuller and intact bass theme emerge, or that the anticipation here relied on something other than form carrying the transition.

I found that introducing the original theme too early had an affect defeating the peaceful floating repose that was warranted for this section. And that ultimately the effect was striving for a given expanse of time ambiguous enough not to tie it down in relation to the form of the phrase it was foreshadowing.

In this way, the simple pedaling of the two notes could be freed of implying the four bar phrase that it was ultimately to reach; time here, was the deciding factor. And the barest way to illuminate that was to rely on the alternation of the notes until the pace quickened enough to grab the listener’s recollection back to its true origin.

 Once these two transitions were set, the reinvention of the opening material became a simple joy to work out.

First, I doubled down on my hunch to modify the original form of this phrase; roughly, A  A1 B B1 In groups of four measures each (mm. 1 - 16)

And aided by the fact that this form is stated in solo bassline version mm. 144 - 159, it frees up the need to hold to the form for its proper restatement in mm. 160 - 175  and beyond.

Next I used the downbeat of m. 175 to pivot the phrase’s centricity to the pitch A, and use the inner structure/contour; ‘build-build-build-drop’ a total of two times, effectively eliding the four-bar structure to reintroduce the next restated phrase that catches the listener off guard a bit. This surprising elision, and its dramatically high range sets this material up to be an emotional high point of the entire piece.

Other minor changes in this session’s work occurred in m. 117, where I continued to fiddle with the held pause there by two beats. And also, way back at m. 74, where I finally bought, and added a half-beat space there, creating slight more measured effect.

- Things to Change, Things to Develop - The Direction Forward -

I think that coming up with the lower line, filling out the theme at mm. 184 - 199 will not be difficult. I have many ideas floating around in my head for this part. I believe it will most likely involve contrary motion in descent. It’s almost if that top line are stars or dust, just floating creating an ethereal atmosphere. The two parts will probably be independent from one another in some respect, including rhythmically. Interval-wise, I can imagine some convergence on something bittersweet being given emphasis.

I would also like to give more space to mm. 136 - 159. I want the listener to really lose grasp of time here. I will experiment in two-bar clusters - adding two notes at a time, closest to the slowest durations. I may even experiment with altering the current longest note duration that begins this phrase.

Other than this, what’s to come is to start working out my coda material.

Here, I may reinvent something naturally echoing mm. 63 - 81.

Most likely I will use repetition and range to reach the climax, as these are the usual elements to achieve this end.

An ulterior motive that I want to work with here is creating a cyclical effect with the first movement of this work. I don’t think I will use literal material from that movement, but I would like the end of this piece to also slip easily and naturally to the beginning of the first movement.

This is mainly out of conceptual considerations from two vantage points;

     1. The beginning of the suite calls for it musically. The first piece has that mysterious spinning quality that seems to have no real end or beginning itself.

and

     2. I feel conceptually, there is a cyclical nature to the process and experience, Friendship, Love, Joy, and Sorrow - (the title of this four movement suite). Something at the core of everything we learn that repeats in a way…

Compositional Process - Post 7 - Transformation 2.0; ‘Top-Down Irrationality in Design’

Strange sessions of work characterized the process in this post.

In the last post I began by saying;

“This post is very much like post 3 where I stopped at a very rough and unfinished point in the piece. But unlike post 3, this post is not a “tough” point to stop at, but is at a state that is ready to rocket forward to another Transformation in the following post!”

Well “not a tough point to stop at” turned out to be a more complicated matter.

I did complete the ‘decisive transition’.

But considerations of instrumental technique slowed down the work for quite a while as I tried different strategies for voicing and texture in this part.

This was the first rough draft of the transition at m. 124;

ex. 7a

I found while working this line out in several different variations I was thinking in 12 to 15 second chunks, allowing these to simmer in my brain to find the right pace. Eventually, I settled on a 3-part structure that roughly frames a 6″ phrase followed by two 10″ phrases, the last of which winds down to silence.

I decided straightaway that I would like to have this top line as legato as possible, so playing it all on the 1st string was the best option. This also allows the character of the line to be more easily shaped by timbre.

The problem now was having an accompanying line that would have to be modular enough to not be broken be the shifts in position in the top line.

In my first idea for the middle line I focused on harmonic combination on the 5th and 6th strings;

ex. 7b

But I soon abandoned the 3-note motive for the more inconspicuous pedaling of a 2-note motive. A bass was added and more space was utilized at the beginning of the phrase;

ex.7c

As this phrase developed, two important structural elements added to its definition.

The first was the duration of sustain of the held notes in the middle line. I tried to have these held notes on the pitch A, but a few times they naturally fell on B in the pattern.

In the first set of the phrase, mm. 124-129,  the duration of the held note was 3 eighth notes (with one exception). In the next set, roughly mm. 130-136, the held note is 2 eighth notes in duration (again with one exception). In the third set the bass and the middle line merge, making this structure ambiguous. 

The second structural element that emerged in this phrase, and working in tangent with the above, was the offset pattern of the bass note with the treble line’s rhythmic profile.

Starting with the anticipation of the second set in m. 129 the bass comes in earlier to the treble note, and then lines up to its resolution the following time. This happens a total of 4 times before the ritard at m. 136.

These two occurrences were worked out in tandem, shaping the intervals in the treble and bass, and controlled the flow in the cadence of the middle line - sometimes giving a slight hesitation and lending the relative tension before the fade out in m. 136.

The middle line of this phrase will take some finesse and problem solving to render in all harmonics - but honestly, after a while of trying to generate material purely on instrumental terms, the process got unnecessarily tedious.

The solution was ultimately found on purely musical terms, through ‘my ear’, and when it is time to go back and edit the completed score for fingering it will be better to make any changes accommodating fingering - rather than having to settle with changes to something technically accessible but musically inadequate. That is the recipe for dissatisfaction and frustration.

This is a good thing to find out…

And I have been through it before, that if something that is musically perfect is technically difficult, an adaption is very easily reconciled.

Sometimes composers forget that the possibilities of the instrument are nearly limitless within its range. But that is only practical if the range to adhere to is not limiting to the correct vision of the expression of the piece. The music will always trump the physical means to produce the sound. In this case it is a ‘top-down’ venture. Designed by a creator, and awesomely so it is, to work with the raw elements of music.

The strangeness of these sessions were in large part my giving in to this principle, and that as I set out to work on this material I was initially energized, then increasingly daunted - and now as I look back at the product of the work, it seems perfectly simple and straightforward. It’s almost like fast-forwarding to the end of some crazily complex sci fi movie about time travel, to find out the ending is so plainly basic that everyone breathing can understand it.

Other things that changed were the two beats that were added to m. 118, and a low E to enter m. 119. This helps balance m. 120.

I also modified m. 117, increasing the space by 6 beats - playing with that pause - and adding some lower voice-leading that bring out the last held note.

An interesting circumstance was brought out early in the working out of the decisive transition. 

In what was the bridge to that upper range, the sweeping arpeggio in m.121, was found to be too abrupt to set off the following material. I think mainly it was the implied harmony in m. 121 that was not enough to prepare the pivot to the new harmony. It may be that the move to that range also called for more preparation, but more space was needed in any case.

So I simply tripled that measure;

ex. 7d

These three measures will be used as a template to bring a little more interest and arrival at m. 124.

- Things to Change, Things to Develop - The Direction Forward -

Again like m. 121, I have a feeling that the ending at the transition in m. 136, I think I might experiment with a measure or a slight few notes preparing m. 138. But I’m really not sure about this just yet. I also think it would be a good chance to let the violin breath with a soft solo pedal tone into the shift.

On my thoughts about the texture and pacing in the return of the material after m. 136 from Post 6;

“So now I am all set to complete the ‘decisive transition’ from post 5 - the higher range music that completes the middle section. And after filling out this new part, I will simply carry out the model that was set up in the opening material, with necessary surprises and the faster pace.”

…I’m not so sure about anymore…

I kind of like the reset that is achieved after m. 136. The return of quarter note beats has a peace and repose to it.

I do have plans at modifying the basic form of mm. 138-153, elongating the last measure of it perhaps… creating a stutter that brings back the reprise of the material at m. 17.

Compositional Process - Post 6 - SET IT UP SATURDAY!

This post is very much like post 3 where I stopped at a very rough and unfinished point in the piece. But unlike post 3, this post is not a “tough” point to stop at, but is a state that is ready to rocket forward to another Transformation in the following post! So in an effort to own it a little bit more, it is a #SetItUpSaturday post, and brings awareness to the exciting feeling of something in its roughest state of work.

There were some medium size overhauls that happened this time around. The first thing I did was to add 5 beats to m.117 and repeat the little tag, A to B, that happens between the syncopating bottom and middle lines.

It is funny that this was actually the original version of this measure, but I thought for some reason at the time that the sound was too ‘folkish’ or too crudely dance-like. But the need for better pacing outweighed this critique.

Pacing played the major role in just about every edit this week. Mainly the issue is to get enough space between events to allow them to breath more.

The next edit was not actually concerned with pacing for the most part, but was one of those rare moments where the method found its way in influencing the practice. In post 5 I wrote:

“…in m.120 …this brought out the harmonic change and using rhythmic dissonance (in this case progressively shortening the idea) anticipated the big climactic endcap of the huge 3-octave upward-sweeping statement in m.121 in the video above.” 

When I was rereading after posting I realized that the rhythmic dissonance idea hadn’t actually occurred in the music (yet)! It was still just a latent idea that only existed in my mind’s ear. So this process of blogging enabled me to reexamine what I was writing, with what I was hearing! And accordingly this week I lengthened m.120 by two beats and progressively shortened the larger beats in the bottom line by an eighth note from beats 3 to 5.

Next in the pacing category was adding a ½ beat to m.74 - something that has been vaguely bothering me for many weeks. It’s an interesting spot… the narrative in the music has to be more tightly connected so that the space in m.78 sets the next idea in separating relief.

Other good-sized modifications in pacing this week happened around mm.118-120  The overriding need here was to get some more subtly and finesse from the alberti style line in the accompanying middle line. This helped prepare the middle m.119 for more contrast, and m.121 for stronger resolution.

With edits and modifications wrapped up from post 5, here is the start of the new material for this post;

(ex.6a)

This was the first idea I had to reprise the opening material.

It puts the bass in the top, and suggests the eighth note motion at the middle section’s quicker pace. The thing I did not initially like about this idea was that the harmony (in particular the g and d naturals) was too bound up in ideas from the proceeding section. So this was initially scrapped.

Next was a more traditionally minded attempt, keeping the parts in their respective ranges, and just modifying the harmony;

(ex.6b)

and its full elaboration;

(ex.6c)

But the problems with this were too many; The metric accents of the seconds in the top line brought too much structural obligations in terms of balancing. The range of the parts together sounded too bleck and muddled. Most importantly, as a reprise of the opening material, it was too obfuscated and overly tangential to be recognized as such; I got too much color and not enough contour - A distinguishing characteristic of the opening material.

For the next attempt I got a little more focused and back to composing basics; (ex.6d)

I went back to the idea of the original bottom being moved up top, but I mapped the lower line to the contour of the original and only changed accidentals, finally settling on a sweetly impending harmony that seems to imply its own pedal tone.

This can be heard at 2:15 in the video above (m.128)

I love this little part… am absolutely in love with it.

This was my feeling that night as I tried to sleep, with the love and expectation beating in my heart for this idea, child-like, as it is to me as its creator;

It is incomplete, and wonderfully full of potential. For one, I will fill in eighth notes to regain the quicker tempo of the middle section. Secondly, the immediate beginning and ending might get tweaked to fit the material that will be around it.

So now I am all set to complete the ‘decisive transition’ from post 5 - the higher range music that completes the middle section. And after filling out this new part, I will simply carry out the model that was set up in the opening material, with necessary surprises and the faster pace. I think for the next melodic phrase I will pivot on A and make that my base for a more major tonality version of mm.17-24.

Compositional Process - Post 5 - Doing the Obvious, and a Decisive Transition

After leaving the ‘transformed’ material from the 4th post, this is where I picked up from the ascending m3 F#-A in the top line (m.118 in the 4th post, m.114 in the current post);

(ex.5a)

but reaching the high B in m.119 left me nowhere to go, and though a valid arrival point, was reached prematurely.  So I decided to use this in a complex process as an interpolated goal to be reached after some intervening material.

I attached the F# and A to the idea in m.119 and inserted a measure of space;

(ex.5b)

At this point my ear told me to use the descending P4 in m.117 above to develop this phrase as a focal point in the texture, offsetting these higher events with a gently falling scale fragments punctuated by a bass note.

I did one repetition of the idea and found my bass B in m.116, in the video above, to be the most pivotal pitch in this transitional section, and in conjunction with the descending trend in range and softening dynamic level, I could get away with another kind of idea in the following measure. And in m.116 in the above video is the classic kind of ‘running’ or ‘wheel spinning’ found in toccatas.

Now, because of the two complementary elements comprising this immediate material; the idea of the descending interval in the highest part, and this new ‘running’ figure in m.116 - I decided to try a sequence alternating and varying the two ideas.

This was the first idea that I had for the sequence;

(ex.5c)

From this you can see the ‘running’ figure was developed with a moving bass and is not so static but still features the interlaced descending fragments. An interesting thing happened in m.117 above - possibly because of the late entrance of the C# (it comes in after the middle line starts to rise again) but definitely also because how the pitch class interacts in the harmony above - I found the C# wanted to pull up around the falling scale fragment that happens toward the end of the measure. So eventually I settled on a spicy little syncopated rhythm interlacing the lines in m.116 above.

One thing I was not happy about the original version of the sequence in ex.5c above, was the squareness of the rhythm of the half notes. I experimented with varying lengths of the bass notes - giving more space to some, less to others - until I settled on even dotted-halfs with an anticipating undotted half at the close of each of the measures.

Like other times in this series, you can see that I worked expanding an idea by added more and more beats to a measure to find the complete idea. So in mm.118 and 120, with time signatures; 22/8 and 28/8 respectively, that the original ideas were expanded. Especially in m.120 and this was because I really wanted to bring out the lower and lower descending middle line. This brought out the harmonic change and using rhythmic dissonance (in this case progressively shortening the idea) anticipated the big climactic endcap of the huge 3-octave upward-sweeping statement in m.121 in the video above.

- Things to Change, Things to Develop - The Direction Forward -

So here’s where the ‘decisive transition’ comes in…

As I was feeling out the next idea after m.121 of which in the last post I said;

“Where the music currently leaves off I will do one more similar section in the highest range yet, with inner line flourishing dominating the overall texture in more of waves than alternating notes. The harmoning will pivot toward some ecstasy, and at the same time will be even more gentle and infant like. This material could be from anywhere to 10 seconds to 30 seconds long.”

 - it very quickly became apparent, that because this (the highest) range of the guitar is so limiting, in the technical sense, and that this would be the close and ultimate transition from the middle to the closing section of the piece - that I would have to forgo explicitly working out this part and engage in a little complex process when I know better what that third and final closing section will be.

This way, I can create in the most economical means possible, the parallel material to the first opening minute of the piece, especially given that it will be in the most technically limiting range of the guitar.

And through the week I’ve started breathing sighs of relief, because as I had not any glimpse of what this parallel material would be, and what kind of character it would express - I’ve started to hear/feel a more rock-like, and even mischievously playful version of the opening minute. It would be great to contrast what was so reflective and somber, with something wild, care-free, and even a little rude or bombastic! 

It will be at the faster pace of eighth notes in the middle section, and if I can manage it, some tuplet flourish of sweeping chords as well!

Harmonically, I’m thinking to take advantage of the open A string, much exactly like the open E string was in the first minute. Well this is the plan anyway… It would put all other events at a starting point a fourth higher, and might be anchored at fifth or even seventh position, as opposed in third position as it opens.

Of course there is always the coda to think about…

A work of twenty minute duration total, cannot just be simply ended as if it was only the ending of a single stand-alone piece.

**BEFORE YOU PRESS PLAY - FOR FULL TRANSFORMATION - LISTEN TO THE MUSIC FROM THE PREVIOUS POST**

 - Compositional Process Post 4 - TRANSFORMATION TUESDAY - Reach for it, and Grab it - 

This has been a rare week that went pretty much according to plan. I did everything that I had to do, everything I wanted to do, and without much drama or bloodshed.

So picking up from last time, I had three pillars and two connecting rhythmic textures that together started to form a middle section of the piece. This week a transformation took place, expanded and fully expressed this material. The work was methodical but not really straightforward in a chronological sense.

I started by expanding the first pillar mm.79-81 by a beat and focusing on the accompanying and rhythmically supporting chords in the bass. This added momentum forward into the connecting texture. Also, a beat of sustain was added to m.78 to really separate the new section and highlight the change.

In mm.82-87 I began filling out the bass first. And at the same time I tried different rhythmic profiles - including polyrhythms, straight, and syncopated rhythms - I got the feeling that the melodic profile favored two subsections based on the preexisting alternating notes of the middle line. These subsections were set off by the initial statement and restatement of the pitch A in the bass. I also had the feeling that the implied harmony of these two subsections would trend toward minor or some other chromaticism to prepare for the rhythmically dissonant and raucous texture of the second pillar at m.92. The first section was slowly expanded by two measure with the insertion of mm.83-84 and the added two beats in the final measure at m.91. 

In mm.88-91 I created this bassline focusing on the resolution D->B at m.92 working with the supporting rhythm previously set up at mm.80-81.

I next tweaked the middle line at mm.82-91 with several groupings of 5,6,and 7 notes, and closing with a longer stream of constant eighth notes leading to the second declamatory statement of the pillar material. 

At the same time I worked on the top line at mm.82-91. I settled on an approach of lining up with the bass with a ‘on-off-on’ syncopation until the lockstep decent that begins in m.88. The top line at mm.88-91 went through several iterations until it also favored the resolution to A in m.92 and this likewise as the bass, done in a rhythmically emphasizing manner.

So after the next pillar in mm.92-96 I decided to work from the top down, realizing that the more striking contour of the top melody in mm.82-91 had pulled my ear to waiting for its development over that of the other parts.

This was my first attempt at a top melody in mm.97-106

(ex.4a)

So I knew I wanted to keep the range of this melody lower than the previous material. And overall make a softer and gentler expression. I focused on the relationship of the descending E->D# and slowly developed smaller groupings anticipating reaching the repeating high E.

The second section also grew, and to work into a more gentle mood I inserted even more setup space with two measures at mm.98-99. This gave me a chance to repeat the high E at a lighter dynamic to emphasize the new gentle approach.

After I worked out the top melody for the second section I began writing the bass for mm.97-109. At this time I started to cut more drastically from the top melody I sketched above (ex.4a). In particular, I cut the last note G# and so ended the melody trending upward.

With this second section between pillar 2 and 3 filled out, I found myself increasingly attracted and seduced by the statement of the first five measures in mm.101-106 and decided to repeat this material, and lend to the subtle and gently hypnotic nature of the music.

I then tweaked the repeat in mm.108-113 focusing on switching up the melodic contour and sweetening up the resolution to F# in m.111.

For the reprise or turnaround for this section in m.113 you can see by the time signature of 21/8 that it was expanded and developed to balance the two preceding subsections. Here the bass becomes more supportive of the top and emphasizes both parts upward motion. On the top I liked the resolution of the high G#->A in m.114

For the middle part in mm.97-113 I developed a slight variation on the similar material the was used previously. It is a little more playful, utilizing the E and answering with a quirky implied harmony by the G(nat) at the reset of the groupings.

As an added bonus to the success this week was with all this work, in m.113 I got to develop a new technique and instrumental possibility for future use. The second to last G# must be played with the left hand thumb! It works in this case because the left hand here is balanced toward the higher positions and bringing the thumb around does not burden the overall position! In fact it feels pretty comfortable and even seems to relieve the tension of that upward stretch.

I know this is not a new idea, but in the use of carrying out a natural musical tendency I feel this is an exciting opportunity to make the unorthodox a little more useful in a really legitimate way.

- Things to Change, Things to Develop - The Direction Forward -

So as strange as it sounds, this great development is tinged with a little realization of a hint of sadness.

In the scheme of things, this section is most likely the antepenultimate section. All past these last few days I have been getting waves of what might be, what could be the close to this piece.

Where the music currently leaves off I will do one more similar section in the highest range yet, with inner line flourishing dominating the overall texture in more of waves than alternating notes. The harmoning will pivot toward some ecstasy, and at the same time will be even more gentle and infant like. This material could be from anywhere to 10 seconds to 30 seconds long.

Somehow I will need to pivot the texture to the opening material, but my plan is to make the expression not somber but fun. Athletic and robust, like playing outside in the summer or early Fall. Resolving the gap between the change of texture and the harmonic need will be the greatest challenge.

And even further in the future, I will need coda material that closes the entire four movement piece. I have not got any feelings of this yet…

But knowing I am at least at the halfway point and having as much existing material right now that I will ever need for this piece also brings a new opportunity; perhaps maybe the chance for mischief. For breaking the rules, because by now they are set up fairly strong. 

- Compositional Process - Post 3 - Approaching the Forest; Finding the Form 1 - 

This was a tough point to stop at.

Lining up different parts and editing one or two notes at a time quickly gathers energy into a rush of momentum, and then you are on your quest, your mission. But I knew if I continued on in fleshing out this work I would bury precisely what I wanted to show in this whole journey.

So in this post I will detail the start of the real interesting and pivotal work in creating this singular piece of music. We will start to look at what will most likely be the chips and chunks that fall to the ground from the beginning block of silence, or marble figuratively. And hopefully, we will see by the end, the difference between the material that became fused inseparably to the whole and that which is forgotten. Most importantly, how the process favored that which stayed.  

It is tempting to go right to the most pressing and urgent developments, but I will start tieing up loose ends from the previous post and end on a forward footing like last time.

 - Changes and Modifications from 2nd Post -

This time around there was no major reworking of the material that I posted last time, only modifications on a few places concerning spacing/pace and emphasis. There were also minor changes to notation alone that I won’t get into.

On Emphasis, in measure 36 I added a chord on top of the preexisting bass that echoes the one that happens two measures before at measure 34. The major difference between the two being their highest note, from the open top e in m.34 and the interpolated resolution and echo to open b in m.36. Metrically, m.36 is the weaker in the 4-bar phrase, so this will also add to effect of the echo. Also, now m.40 further echoes m.36 at an even softer dynamic. This all gives textual interest and variation to this phrase before it moves to different material at mm.45-50.

File this under ‘Latent things that were just waiting to be brought out’. It was in my ear for a long time and just makes sense. 

On Spacing/Pace there were two modifications; one minor, one more significant.

In m.68 (now m.67) one beat was added to facilitate space, ¾ changed to 4/4. This gives that upward statement at mm.68-70 a better chance to breath and emotionally prepare for the following material.

And most importantly, at mm.63-65, the three-times repeated maj7th interval, I went back and forth, several times, to find the right pacing.

Here is a shot from my composition journal;

and compare mm. 63-65 in above video

Long story short; I did not like the unevenness of a longer second beat, but did like a shorter 3rd and last beat.

An interesting note on the imagery described in the picture above;

“as a young boy looking down to his chest - sad, and ashamed - quickly looks up with hope!”

so when these little flashes of scenes are a part of the creation of mental mapping of the music, subjectively somehow, though the complete story does not get told, they form like meta-information on how the music ends up expressing itself. Or said in another way, it is a part of the music that convinces us that there is maybe something else going on underneath the sound. And it does not matter specifically what that is, but the mystery of it activates some empathy you have within yourself, with your self, and it allows that transient feeling like love. It is a kind of love you kindle while creating the music or listening to the music; both creative acts.

These scenes also need not be inherently subjective. They may be originated in the imagination of one person and expressed to another person, wherein, they may faultlessly see the interpretation.

A thing similar to this happened to me in this music, where at mm.66-70 a composition teacher of mine told me that this phrase was like when he would go up to his young child, when they were a baby most likely, and do the “gootchy-goo” surprise-type finger game with them!

I laughed so hard! I think he was right, and now forever at that moment in the music I see a flash of that imagery in the sound. It doesn’t matter that it is related in imagery to anything else in the piece, but emotionally, the music not connected to any specific imagery as this, carries some of the narrative much like the relation an aria has with recitative in dramatic vocal writing.

Ok, so now we move on to the new material for the music in this post.

- At the Edge of the Woods; Finding the Form - From Complex to Simple -

By complex I think I generally mean that the process does not take place in the linear flow which one would hear the music in. In this case, it is the addition of working backwards, and coming up with preceding material to events in the music which are used as goals, permanent or temporary, at a later time in the music.

So, at probably the first session continuing the composition, I came up with this; (ex.3a)

M.81 leaves off exactly where the music had ended before, and mm.82-83 was the first new idea I had.

But harmonically, this forced the music too ahead of itself and toward B major. Most importantly it interrupted the flow of the music, and the gesture was compromised.

So I put this aside for later use instead of deleting it.

This was my second attempt for new material;

(ex.3b)

This attempt was important for two reasons;

I had got the feeling that the high E (in m.83) was the goal I wanted to reach. Secondly, I began to experiment with the texture I was aiming for for the next idea (mm.83-84 above).

But I ultimately felt that the high E was reached too soon, and that m.82 needed alteration.

So this was my third attempt;

(ex.3c)

And while I loved this, I felt it was way too involved so early in this section. In particular, the level of melodic involvement was too definitive and stylized; it says something important in the wrong place.

So I sent it to the boneyard.

NEXT!

No, so at this point I had two phrases to use for later that I were very relevant, and were also pivotal and character-building to the story I am trying to tell.

I also had a feeling for some of the texture I wanted to sustain in this section. So an element of form started to emerge before me; using the texture that emerged in ex.3b and the two important pillars in ex.3a and ex.3c.

For the fourth attempt I focused on developing the texture element, and specifically bringing out the rhythmic potential;

(ex.3d)

So by more-or-less placing this rhythmic profile between the major harmonic events above, I reached the current state of the music now; the first period, perhaps, of this middle section of the music.

And revealing a structure of; statement, variation, variation with harmonic turnaround.

- Things to Change, Things to Develop - The Direction Forward - 

So the challenge this week will be to subtly tweak that middle line to lesser and greater attention - moving it from background to foreground and back - and writing a simple top line and maybe an even simpler bass.

From the second harmonic statement of ex.3c I would like to integrate a little into the middle tremolo line, particularly around immediately adjacent areas. 

I am still not perfectly happy with the transition mm.81-82. I think I need to borrow a little from mm.92-94. 

I will need to find other spots on the guitar to do different alternating notes instead of B-C# in the tremolo texture. I will focus on keeping one of the notes an open string, but not exclude both being stopped. I would like to keep the interval a M2 or m2 to preserve that ‘blurred sound’ quality to the effect.

I would also like to extend the transition at mm.105-106 to accentuate the change afterwards.

And I’ll miss your laugh… your smile is a piece for solo guitar that I began sketching sometime in the summer of 2013.

This is the first sketch that I could find of the piece in my manuscript books.

It already shows elements of form being worked through, and contains much more detail than what is usual for my very first setting down of ideas.

I remember sitting out on my front steps playing and improvising a lot that summer, so that probably explains its developed stage at this first sketch.

Most likely, it was precisely the issue of form that lead me to make the sketch, to see what sense I could make of the rest of the piece after feeling my way through it on the fretboard. I do have only rare few compositions that were improvised until completion, whether that process took a single session or slow continual progression over days or weeks.

It’s almost more sweet some how to trade the timescale of seconds of improvisation for the detective work of writing on the page. For the process of the composition it’s all the same, but the slower, the better a kind of pain can be felt, and from that, a greater change over time.

This is usually the dynamic I work with, to improvise the beginning ideas and then at some point to start writing it down, and find a form really.

- About the title, about the concept -

Earlier that summer, about May or so, I got curious and started a Twitter acount.

This actually came about through a chain of events; got my first smartphone in Winter that year, became slightly obsessed (still heavily so) with podcasts, in particular Stuff You Should Know with Josh and Chuck, and wanted to write them an email telling them the name of a movie both of them could not recall during one of their shows.

I could not find the email address, somehow, but saw that they were on Twitter, so I made an account and tweeted that movie title to them! (it was My Girl - 1991).

Anyways… noticing that people would tweet kind of beautiful things not addressed to anyone in particular, the idea occured to write a piece of music about a random tweet I happened to see.

Such was this tweet;

I did not know until just a few months ago while researching this phrase, that it is actually lyrics or the title of a Blink 182 song!

This idea in general, writing dedicatory music to the fleeting sweet nothings of other people on Twitter I thought could be called a Twitter Libation.

So the feel of the piece is reverence, nostalgia, and an emotional backdrop that embodies such an utterance; And I’ll miss your laugh… your smile.

One thing that really struck me about this phrase is the difference in setup of “laugh” versus “smile”. And how the speaker remembers the person in two distinct ways that is are so emotionally varied, yet intensified.

By the “And” the phrase is a snapshot focusing two facets of memories among many, so there is a chronological element in which the speaker is recalling to complement the internal timeline of memory. Sort of a game within a game aspect.

All this again intensifies the two distinct qualities “laugh” “smile”.

The end of the phrase could be terminated with so many various emotions, and is thus ambiguous in this sense.

On one hand, if the chronology of the statement goes on after “smile” the state of the speaker could perhaps be perceived very differently if the line of thought ends with “smile”.

One interpretation could be suggested to be dreaming and reminiscing further, where the other could be yielding toward the negative or distressed emotional spectrum.

These kinds of cues to character are influential to different large-scale choices in the composition of the piece.

 - On the Composition, On the Construction - 

So now with most of the immediate background in place, I’ll dig into the music of the piece in its current state; what things interested me, and what things I want to develop, contrast, or change as the process continues.

After its current state is elaborated, I’ll go through a list of goals I’ll be looking to make progress on the next time I set down to work on it.

And in the next post, I hopefully can describe accurately the experimentation that took place in testing those goals as I see them now.

So I’ll start with sharing the piece as it is in its incomplete entirety;

and in a more familiar page format for solo guitar in one stave;

Here is a special video I did just for this post -  I wanted to show you more clearly by playing an excerpt so you can see how the ideas lay on the instrument.

It turns out I found the right hand part the trickiest - my hunch right now is this is because the ostinato like texture of the top line intersects from treble to bass strings at times, so in addition to a very pronounced bassline, the thumb likes to get in on the upper line for a few notes.

Also because of the this treble/bass string divide I found different melodies I hadn’t really anticipated become separable from the texture. On the instrument this music is very easily a three-voiced composition - in particularly the open B-string plays a very central part in voicing the uppermost melody. This is something I’ll experiment with as I learn to play it - I’ll let it swirl in my subconscious when thinking of new material for the piece as I go along.

The genesis of the piece is the bariolage (voice crossing) idea in 3rd position in the first measure of the piece. The right hand pattern for the top three strings is the standard;

a, m, i

then in measure three, a variation;

m, i, a

This pattern alternates every other measures in groups of two’s, and the bass has a linear type pattern in groups of fours. The section [A] contains 4 repeats for a developing variation over 16 bars

In the next section [B], at measure 17, the idea in the bass is retained, but the upper melodic material is consistently higher in register at 7th and 8th position. The contour is also reversed to an ascending direction, but still, the upper melody is in groups of two measures, whereas, the bass develops in groups of 4.

[A’] returns at measure 33, but in the 3rd repeat of the phrase at measure 43, a neat little alternating pedal takes over in the bass.

This idea generates a new top line (beginning properly in measure 45) that is still in the familiar grouping of two’s, but a little lower in register than [A].

This melody manages to break the grouping of 4 and extends itself to 6 measures, ending with upward momentum that springs back to [B’] material at measure 51.

[B’]  is much radically different to [B] than [A’] is to [A].

[B’] is wholly committed to the higher register at the start, as the line descends downward in the bass, to a completely different groove in the 2nd group in measures 55-58. It is then cut short and elided with material from [A’].

After a hemiola of sorts in measures 63-66 a completely new section is begun [C], which features a subtle shift in harmony and a quicker pace from the diminution of note values.

Measures 67-79 have a rhapsodic transitory feel to them, almost like an effect as a soliloquy, where the downward moving statement is answered after a pause with a corresponding upward statement (measures 67-71). The next phrase is longer at 3 measures long, and moving in a more stable contour, low-high-low, before coming to another pause (measures 72-75).

Like some reassurance or found conviction, a 3 note motive is repeated 3 times in the bass (measures 72-77). It is truncated the 4th time featuring only the descending motion the P4 from D to A in measures 78-79.

From here (measure 80 onwards) a consistently quicker rhythm is achieved using constant 8th notes in the upper line.

- Things to Change, things to Develop - The Direction Forward -

The main goal with this piece is its place in a larger work.

It is the final movement of a suite four pieces.

You can read about the 3rd movement here

and 

the 2nd movement here

as well as the background and meaning of the larger work these pieces are a part of.

As for ‘And I’ll miss your laugh… your smile’ I intend to close the suite in the happiest mood possible after the more dark descent the two previous movements traveled.

Technically, I am going for a toccata texture and pace.

So from where I am right now this is just beginning with the last two measures of the piece as it stands now.

For the form, I have no idea… but seeing that the previous two movements were outright ridiculously involved and labored as far as form being the crux of the means of their expression, I think I would like to go light for this capping piece.

Maybe something ternary, or ABA’, but I am not so sure that I will let up the fast passage work I now have in mind for the immediate future of the piece…

If I somehow am able to restate any of the opening material, I have my ear on the cool turn-of-phrase that happens in measures 55-58. It is such a cool little hip part, that grooves on the rhythm a little more than its surrounding material. I think I could work with that in the jubilant onslaught to come!

For key changes/harmony I don’t know yet either.

I am trying something new… something I have never done before.

Composing new music is and has always been such a revelatory vehicle of self-discovery for me.

Each time is uniquely eye-opening from many perspectives, yet when what it is that I’m trying to say in a piece reveals itself to me, it becomes so obvious in a way.

Every time there is that final “ah-hah” moment… it usually happens in the third or fourth working session from the end of finishing the piece.

Part of me wants to say (and yet part of me knows) that this is really the last time the object, or the identity of the music, is separate from my own. After this moment the ‘thrill of discovery’ fades substantially as the familiarity erases the seams between it and I.

But as familiarity often does, we are numbed to the beautiful moments of growth that insecurity, doubt, and even fear, which change brings. It is a sad moment in a way when we can’t feel the electric charge of fate with every new reaction to the process of creation.

So I am beginning a new adventure to accompany me on this next composition; for better, or for worse, I will blog the process of creating a new piece of music.

Each session I will document details, to varying degrees, of the struggles, questions, advances, and excitement of this new music as it happens.

Doing this blog, I will have two over-arching goals guiding my effort;

1. I want to remember my struggle, and how I carved the singular path of fate with the music. This is the very personal and sincere intent to ‘make the seams more readily re-discoverable’ to myself after the fact of finality with the music.

2. I want to use this as a moment to educate, enlighten, and advocate for what the awesome and uplifting power of creation with the musical arts can be.

For the initiated, I hope it will lead them to re-examine the power and poetic intent to communicate the ‘who, what, why, where, when, and which’ of their own musical efforts.

But probably most importantly, to the everyday person, and especially even the new or seasoned music student in college - maybe struggling with the inescapable obligation placed heavy upon them to understand, and dare say, respect, music theory - I earnestly hope to impress them with the light and freedom that the phrase “once only you know the rules, may you get to truly break them” releases.

I intend to create a feel and scene of a musical laboratory in these posts.

It should never be said or felt that music theory is strictly an academic pursuit. This is no doubt one of the biggest failures our current music education programs are guilty of.

If nothing else, I hope I can communicate how composition with the musical arts is part of the web of culture that binds the substance and experience of the lives of everyone we know around us. And for my part, I would like to show how music theory can and does facilitate that communication.

A good engineer has many toolsets at their disposal when solving a problem, and a deep and thorough knowledge of each tool. Composing music, if and when it can be seen objectively by the composer, is essentially an activity of problem solving and engineering. Intuition no doubt plays a huge roll as well, but there are many times when without the momentum of activity, there can be too little opportunity for real inspiration to break through.

Many of the revelations I record while writing about my efforts may be of a personal nature and only truly significant to me. But part of the skill set of having music theory as a specific lens and paradigm to musical problem solving (composing) is that it links you back to the past and across cultures in a more meaningful way. It allows you to discern, label, and compare previously unfamiliar musical phenomenon in a way that you can adapt in any situation towards self-expression.

Culture and history likewise have a peculiar interplay of response and adaptation where expression of individuality, and groups, drives certain dynamics of the other. Music is no different.