Practical Mage

Hi Jason!

Wow. This is a really amazing piece here. It's very pianistic, and it really is one of my favorite pieces of yours! You know, the first 6 seconds sound so normal... C F G A, moving to C# F G A-Bb... and I was like "wait, what?" then there was a D against the C sharp. Ah, there we go. couldn't be all normal now could it?

The next section with the quarter-eighth eighth figure I think could have been introduced a bit. Perhaps at some point have that against the triplet figure just a few times to get our ears tuned to that rhythm too.

The repeat of these sections with the minor changes works quite nicely, I think that the 2nd time you wouldn't have to introduce that quarter eight eighth figure before, as we've already heard it.

In fact, the only note I'd change is the 2nd to last note in the left hand. It goes "A C# D, A C# D, A&E" I think that 2nd D could be a D sharp. I imagined it in my head and I think it would make it a bit more complete.

Thanks for posting! This is a great work

Heckel

Thanks Graham. I do utilize that quarter eighth eighth rhythm quite a bit before it becomes a textural component. I'll look at adding that D sharp. Do you have the measure in question?

This was quite enjoyable. It is important in pieces based on a few ideas that the ideas are good ones, which I think is the case here. There was a nice, coherent structure, and it didn't get boring at any point.

the measure in question for the D sharp? 2nd to last measure. I must have just not noticed that quarter eighth eighth rhythm in the score. this is why I need to look at things 2 times!

Interesting contemporary piece you have here, Jason. It's almost a form of minimalism tweaked with some Romantic ideas -- the dragging ostinato, coupled with some flourishing runs ... but everything always coming back to the ostinato.

The name suggests something interesting to me -- "Practical Mage." It reminds me of a man trying his best to create magic (being a magician, not a literal wizard!), but he is so disinterested in drama, and when he tries to create drama in his acts, it doesn't really "feel right" to him, for some reason.

Maybe that interpretation is too literal of me (as is probably all too often the case!), but that's just what came to my mind

One thing I'd like to mention, though, is this rendering seems left-hand heavy -- the left hand part almost drowns out the right. I've noticed this on a few other renderings on other's music here -- is there something wrong with my headphones or something? This especially happens at about mezzoforte sections.

If not, you may want to make a command of "mp" to the R.H. staff, and a "p" command at the left hand staff, at the very beginning, for example. (And consequently, make the R.h. "F" and the left hand "MF" at mezzoforte sections.) This works with Sibelius, anyway -- you have Finale, I believe, and that may be a different matter.

Of course, a live performer would play it right, but until such a performance is available, it's good to get the midi playback as good as possible.

Thanks for sharing this Jason, this is really interesting work -- I enjoyed it a lot!

Yeah, Zach, I totally agree on the left-hand heaviness in the rendering. Finale is horrible at it - and trust me, it annoys me beyond end. Especially considering that in this piece, the right hand gets the melody for most of the B section!!! So yeah, I was done. I'm glad you enjoyed my foray into attempting process music (even though I failed!)

Jason,

Amazing, you really seem to have found your muse when it comes to music. You should definitely stick with the Twentieth Century.