Dawn Wind Dance

This is an octet, four woodwinds (flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon) and four strings (violin, viola, cello and double bass). The instruments are all GPO. The title is just a suggestion as to the mood of the piece. I didn't, and don't, have a definite scene in mind.

The structure is roughly A', B, C, A, (A+B+C). It started as C, then to C, A to B, C, A then A, B, C, A. The last composing was to revise the introduction, add a finale where several motives play together and smooth out the transitions between the sections. The B section is taken from part of an earlier clarinet/viola duet. Tbe C section is a slight revision of the piece "Winds of Neptune" which was posted earlier.

One of the ideas in this piece was to pair off woodwinds and strings and have them move in fourths/fifths especially in the C section. Standard harmony is mostly avoided.

The percussive "thumps" are from double bass pizzicato fifths and fourths (high but exact intonation not critical), sometimes with the viola doing the same. [BTW, there is a bug in Fin2008 with pizz. in the double bass so starting in the middle may give pizz. instead of arco.]

There is a certain "overture" feel to the piece in the way it is structured.

The mp3 is here

Herb

I listened to the "more reverb" version late last night and think it is much much better. I know that you don't like a lot of reverb, and I don't either if the truth be told, but sometimes a piece just needs the space. In the KP2 player are some effects that will add space without adding a lot of trails to your pieces. The stereo on for example, sort of just widens it some. I have even doubled that in the past with some good results.

Now that I use Sonar though, I run a dry signal to there and do all the mixing with more powerful tools than than KP2 has. In time you may want to look into the idea of getting a good sequencer. You can pick up Sonar Home Studio XL for under 150$ and it makes life a lot easier in many ways. I am using Sonar 7 right now and am very happy with it.

Back to the music.

Very Impressive Herb!!

Ron

Originally Posted by rolifer

Herb

I listened to the "more reverb" version late last night and think it is much much better. I know that you don't like a lot of reverb, and I don't either if the truth be told, but sometimes a piece just needs the space.

Back to the music.

Very Impressive Herb!!

Ron

Ron

Thanks for listening. I will have to think about expanding my software arsenal - Sonar seems popular.

Pop music and some movie music add reverb for special effects but my use is just to maximize the "naturalness" of the sound. I tend to listen to my music as one of the performers "inside the music" which is good while composing but then a little more reverb will give a sound closer to what the audience hears. Next time I will try to remember to optimize the reverb .

I'm glad you like the piece - it took some time to write but I'm pleased with the result and I had fun composing it.

Herb

It has an empty feel to it which is really cool. I really like the B section its my favorite, its light and fun while still being very interesting harmonically. I like perfect intervals.

Is this meant to actually have dancing, or is it just part of the title?

Originally Posted by MonkeysAteMe

It has an empty feel to it which is really cool. I really like the B section its my favorite, its light and fun while still being very interesting harmonically. I like perfect intervals.

Is this meant to actually have dancing, or is it just part of the title?

Thanks for listening and commenting. The B section is probably the highlight of the piece although I like way the themes mesh in the final section.

Well, you could dance to it - I suppose you could dance to all of the piece as in a ballet - but the B section does suggest an energetic dance. I think it is more just a suggestion in the title as I don't intend to write a ballet based on these themes.

hi Euler!!

well, i liked it a lot. as usual, you create very lovely melodies. the textures are rich, and the flow is easy. even when you adventure into strange harmonies you are at the same time able to handle them in a very euphonic way through wise and expressive voicing. great effect! very appealing piece!!

Originally Posted by frantz

hi Euler!!

well, i liked it a lot. as usual, you create very lovely melodies. the textures are rich, and the flow is easy. even when you adventure into strange harmonies you are at the same time able to handle them in a very euphonic way through wise and expressive voicing. great effect! very appealing piece!!

Frantz,

Thanks for listening and for your encouraging comments.

I'm glad you found it had sufficient melodic content. With non-tonal music it is easy to wander off into strange harmonies and rhythms without enough melody.

Herb

A section...harder to comprehend. sometimes the ideas don't have a very natural flow...not saying this is bad. However, I feel that a better transition into B could occur. I appreciate the abstractness of the piece even in the B section..It actually reminds me somewhat of a sax quartet I am working on, but maybe allow a melody that is more comprehensible combined with the slightly unusual harmony at the beginning would make the piece more intelligible.

Originally Posted by benxiwf

A section...harder to comprehend. sometimes the ideas don't have a very natural flow...not saying this is bad. However, I feel that a better transition into B could occur. I appreciate the abstractness of the piece even in the B section..It actually reminds me somewhat of a sax quartet I am working on, but maybe allow a melody that is more comprehensible combined with the slightly unusual harmony at the beginning would make the piece more intelligible.

Thanks for listening.

I did make a lot of revisions to the transitions. They are greatly improved over what I had originally.

Of course, a composer always finds his own works intelligible. To some extent, there is a trade off between intelligibility and originality in that something in an old established style is always easier to understand.

Herb