Week 10 - Composition Jedi

Test Fears:

Well, I passed theory more epically than I expected. I got an A on my final composition and a 'B' on the final exam, pushing my GPA to 'B+' territory. I'll take it. I was more than surprised to see an 'A' on the composition though, I thought for sure I'd crash and burn. All the stuff I got wrong on the previous one, apparently I fixed on this one. There were a few things I new were wrong before I turned it in, but I also knew that I'd have to undo the whole thing to fix those few things and that by undoing it all run the risk of breaking other things, so I tightened it up as much as I could and turned it in.

My instructor will tell us, "A composer can follow some of the rules all of the time, and all of the rules some of the time, but nobody can follow all of the rules all of the time." This last assignment showed me the truth in that. This program is forcing me to change many things about myself, and change is exhausting. I am so tired all the time. I find the work very fulfilling, just exhausting.

Jedi Right of Passage:

Part of the training for a Jedi is to make their own lightsaber, a right of passage moving from one level to another. For members of the 2023-24 class at the PNWFS - SFI, it is time for us to create our own film score template. A right of passage for sure, and probably nearly as difficult as making a lightsaber. Writing decent sounding film music is only part of what it takes to be a film composer. Score / Part preparation is another huge portion, and unless you are John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith, or Hans Zimmer, you have to do your own prep work. 

Some composers like to conduct their own recording sessions, others do not. Either way, you need an iron-clad score so there are absolutely no questions about what your intentions are. If you've ever been part of a performing ensemble and had a clinic or guest conductor, you probably remember a lot of time being spent getting to know his conducting style and him to get to know your playing style. In Hollywood, ain't nobody got time for that shit! A conductor needs to be able to walk up to the podium, open your score which he's never seen, an conduct a sight-reading that will most likely be the final recording an audience hears.

There are other tools at work to make this process easier, the conductor and all musicians wear headphones which have a 'click' sound in the tempo the conductor is waving his arms frantically at. As confusing as this sounds like it would be, it's necessary for a large ensemble to start, play, record and stop all at the same time.

That kind of work requires a serious amount of specifications, which we spent last week doing when putting together our templates.

Here's the 'lightsaber' I built this week.

We won't be using this full one until next quarter. For now, we use a scaled down version. My first assignment is to write 26 bars of music for a Soprano Sax melody and 13 string player accompaniment. 

The subject is 'Rom Com' so I'll be writing a theme for a Romantic Comedy. The recording session for this cue will be Friday December 15th as Studio X in Downtown Seattle. I'll post a short version here on the blog and a full version over on Patreon should anybody want to hear it. 

 

 

Week 9 - Calm before the storm

Finished my final composition for theory and uploaded it today. I feel pretty good about it, but I felt pretty good about my last assignment and ended up with a C. Tomorrow is the theory final exam and I'm a bit fussed because of my grades. I need a 'C' minimum for a class to count towards my degree and currently I'm living at 86.17% (Solid B). 

As long as I don't get anything lower than a C on either the composition or exam I'll be alright. I never imagined I'd be hoping for a C in a music theory class, but that's the world I'm living in right now. According to this program I am a B student, well, at least in my theory class. My other grades are fine, more than enough to keep my average well above C.

If, by some disaster my grade falls below a C, I can still finish the program and get a Certificate of Completion rather than the Master Degree, which in reality isn't terrible, I guess. I mean, I'm not so much after the shingle as I am after the skills. However, if I'm a C student, what does that say about my skills? Can I expect to survive in the industry if I'm just average?

Not the feeling I wanted to carry into Thanksgiving week.

Week 9 - Something shifted

It's been a hectic 2 weeks. I suspect it's only going to get more and more hectic as we go on. The work is becoming more intense and there is more of it. I am thrilled for the holiday next week, I get three school days off to recover physically and emotionally. 

Film Music History this last week was 'Catch Me If You Can', Spielberg / Williams. What a great movie and an amazing score! Hanks and DeCaprio were brilliant! The score is a departure from Williams' usual heavy symphonic stuff (Star Wars, Indiana Jones, etc.). I can only imagine how cathartic it was for him to write an all jazz score. If you didn't know, Williams started out as a Jazz pianist and arranger. He has tight Jazz chops, every bit as good as his symphonic work. If you've never seen it I highly recommend you watch it or at least check out the score. It's mostly saxophone and vibes, freakin' awesome!

Getting to do more actual writing to film, the weeks assignment for Digital Performer is to score 2 30-second clips from a the most recent Spider Man game. It's still more about the tech than about the music, but I am making the music as real as I can at the moment. It's the most enjoyable task I have right now.

Theory. Well, today was the last class of the 2nd full theory class I've had this quarter. We just took the midterm in ear training, and next Monday is another final for theory. My head feels like it's going to explode from all the fire-hosing this quarter. As for the shift, I feel it's happening. I'm not sure how to explain it, all the stuff in theory that used to cause me anxiety, the stuff I was terrified to see corrected with all the red pencil, has somehow become more, I don't know, natural?  I'm working on the final composition project (Monday will be the comprehensive written exam) Let me show you what I've been doing.

This is page 1 of my final composition project. 

'Class 503 _ ComPosition15' 

We were given this:

1.    We were instructed to write 2 8-bar phrases using everything we have been taught so far. We were also given some guidelines:

• It has to start on a I chord, bar 9 has to be a IV chord and the very last bar has to be a I chord. Suffice it to say the the BbMaj7 in bar 1 is a I chord and the EbMaj7 in bar 9 (which is on the next page) is a IV chord. It's simply the alphabet. In this case, B is I, C is II, D is III, E is IV, and so on. After G comes A then back to B. So Bb is I, Eb is IV. 
• Must use at least 2 Modal Interchange Chords
• Must use at least one secondary dominant that resolves to a tonic substitution chord
• Must use at least II-V's
• Must use a substitute dominant chord
• Etc.

I don't expect you'll understand that, other than to see that they give you 'things' you have to do, while developing the notes they give you and make it musical.

2.    Check out the score above again, see where is says '6 Voices - Voicings'? That's where I create a six note voicing using the scale associated with BbMaj7. Which is a different scale depending on what key you are in. You'll see that each measure has 6 whole notes stacked on top of each other, those are the voicings I came up with. There are certain rules that govern how a voicing has to look, but there are still hundreds of combinations. These are mine!

3.    Next I have to make those pitches more interesting by applying activation, or simply put, rhythm. The next 2 lines up on the score, '5 Parts - 3 Groups - Piano' is where I take those 6 pitches and add rhythm to 'jazz' things up a bit. Again, I get to choose the rhythms following a set of rules just like the voicings.  

That's enough jargon, it's become more and more enjoyable the last 2 weeks. My 'shift' is around how I feel about what I have created. It 'feels' different to me, it sounds better than I expected, and this was more enjoyable to do than the last few projects. 

HA! That was cool. As I was writing the paragraph above, I had a thought about how to change this music, so i stopped long enough to make the change (about 10 minutes)

Anyway, that's how inspiration works! I dig it! 

I think I'm going to post one of the 30 second clips from the Spider Man game on my Patreon Page if you want to hop over and check it out. 

David Checketts Music Patreon

I'll put it out for the public so anyone can see it. However, if you'd like to support me on this mad adventure you can sign up for as little as $2 a month.

Ciao!

Week 7 - Upward Swing

Definitely on an upward swing this week. It seems all the cobwebs and self-doubt from last week are melting away.  

Applied Composition & Theory:

We are finally getting into theme writing in theory; enough of the building blocks, we are now assembling themes / melodies! We also get to do our first audio mock up for this week's composition assignment. (Using software to emulate the sound of actual instruments) We are starting small, activated texture (rhythmic movement of harmony) with piano and a solo wind instrument of our choice. We are still limited to the range we can use for a melody, pretty high in the register. A Flute would work but I think I'll go with an Oboe. 

MIDI Sync / Digital Performer:

We also started syncing music to video using Digital Performer. We are using an existing horror trailer with no music and writing our own music in sync with the onscreen action (changing feelings according to what's happening in the film). For the most part, it's an exercise is demonstrating we can use the software successfully. We won't be graded on the quality or aesthetics of the music itself, only that we can add software instruments and line up emotional changes with onscreen action.

Film Music History: 

This week's film was Alien, Directed by Ridley Scott, music by Jerry Goldsmith. This is the first real example of the pitfalls associated with being a commercial composer. Goldsmith wrote an amazing sci-fi score for Alien. However, Scott and his editor trashed it in post production, cutting out most of what Goldsmith wrote, adding stuff he wrote from other films, and even adding a orchestral symphonic piece written by Howard Hanson for the end credits . Not even a film composer writing specifically for film, just a symphonic piece Scott and the editor liked. 

If you are familiar with Alien, I recommend watching it from the special edition DVD or iTunes store, it comes with an isolated track of the music Goldsmith wrote originally for the film. It's night and day difference! As a film composer, you are contracted to write music as dictated by the director and that is it. You have creative input but there is no guarantee any of your music will appear in the final film. 2001 a Space Odyssey is another example of a film that had a custom score written for it, and ended up with a bunch of music by Strauss. Ultimately the decision lies with the director, and in this case, Scott and the editor trashed what would have been an amazing film trying to 'outguess' the expert they hired and ended up with a mediocre score. At least that's the way I see it, I could be wrong.