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!