First Post: Strange Song in Weird Key (with silly title).

I wrote this at a piano. I wrote it several years ago. It is designed to be playble by me--which means it needs to be playable by a novice to the piano. (I'll take lessons someday... :P) (But on the other hand, I comfort myself with the knowledge that "easy to play" need not be the same thing as "boring."*)

Also, for the record, when I play the song in person I play around with the rhythm some so it's not precisely exactly the same rhythm each measure as it is in much of the midi file. (You'll see what I mean.)

Also, in performance, I use the pedal some, but I never did get around to formalizing that.

Finally, the board asks that I explain the inspiration of or my thoughts about the songs I post. The truth is, I never have any idea where my songs come from. I'm pretty self-aware in most respects, but when it comes to music, the composing part of my brain is a closed book to me.

Edited to Add: I just listened to the file and realized the very last note is cut short for some reason. It should be held out for at least a couple beats. Don't know how to fix it--in my composition software, it plays fine.

Well, now that I've told you everything that's wrong with the piece, here it is! :o

-Kris

*YMMV

spooky song in weird key.mid

First of all welcome to YC!

Your piece showed some direction and a theme but if only it lasted a little longer. I think that you could have developed your ideas further. Because as it seems to me, there is some clear ideas inside but not much of a development. This sounds like the beginning or exposition of a piece. With development and recapitulation, it will be a much more complete piece. However, you might opt for a short piano work, which also works btw. Still you might need some development going on in there to keep the interest.

I think I do want to keep it short. But I'm interested to know how I might develop it without

A. Making it too much longer

B. Making it impossible for me myself to easily play.

Well, you have no idea what my skill level at piano is, so you can't really address B very well. But still, I am interested to hear ideas about how to keep the interest up. Where in the piece do you start to fall asleep? (I know you listened attentively, but hopefully you see what I mean--some songs reach a point where the "average listener" will just stop listening, and I think you were saying my song reaches that point somewhere along the way.)

And thanks for the quick reply!

KrH

A. I am not an avarage listener, have ears for atonal music.

B. I haven't fallen asleep. I told you, It had a good direction.

C. I too am a terrible pianist, but I don't limit myself with what I can play

D. And come on, no one falls asleep so quick, your piece was just over a minute.

Okay gotcha. To be clear, I wasn't saying you are an average listener, sorry to have been unclear. I misunderstood you as saying that the average listener (not you) would lose interest in this piece.

Also, to be clear, I don't generally limit myself to what I can play. It's just that there are certain specific pieces (including this one) which I want to be able to play on occasion.

Well anyway, thanks for the comments! I'll give some thought to developing the piece.

KrH

Kris.

There you go. I heard the piece.

It's a very interesting attempt! Really it is!

Inal, above (nightfly) loves the big things, so he wants more, but I'll say that, for what it is it's fine. It is undeveloped, largely, and I could see it going to several places, but for now, it just seems fine... (so not contradicting Nightfly, I know what he means... :cool:)

On what this is:

a. it has some repeated elements, but it is not minimalistic.

b. there is no set tonality, in the classical sense, but the fact that you are repeating the same intervals, and keep adding stuff makes it weirdly tonal, which is great! (for me)

c. the only thing to analyse really, is the intervals you use, harmonically, and the intervalic movement you do to the individual voices (the 1 moving semitone, the other tone, etc... reaching "by accident" at a perfect 5th). Clever movement! ;)

In all honesty, this is a great theme, that could work and be develped and everything. But something tells me that you're not too old, so the best thing to do is take what Inal and I have told you and go, immediately to write the new one.

And along with that, listen to lots of music, and try studying a bit more contemporary theory :)

I liked this. You have some good ideas here.

If I may be permitted to give my analysis, your piece sounded like it was based on a limited number of tones and intervals in a repeated series, which alludes to a personal synthesis of minimalism, serialism, and a Neoclassical passacaglia-like form, a bit like the works of Schoenberg, Berg, and Webern.

I do agree with The Nightfly that the piece would benefit from more development. Despite the atonality, you have succeeded very well in creating cohesion within the piece through consistency of rhythm and repetition of the serial pattern. However, more development, such as gradually introducing notes with shorter note values, would build up the pace and tension to give it a sense of direction. That could be easily achieved without increasing the length of the piece.

Also, you said that you don't have any idea where your songs come from. I think you use a very unique and vivid tonal palette. Perhaps what would be useful would be to take a look at your piece and analyse what tones and intervals you have chosen to use. That could increase your awareness of your musical language, allowing you to harness the tonal palette you have used, and use it in a more versatile way.

I look forward to hearing more of your pieces.

Hane Htut Maung

Thanks, everyone, for your comments and analysis so far. It's been very interesting and constructive.

If I do return to this piece, I think I will (as Nightfly suggested) treat it as an "introduction" to a longer work. Not a huge work--maybe three "movements" about the size of the song as it currently is. As Hane suggested, I will think about how varying beats-per-note could contribute to various dramatic effects. And as Nikolas suggested, I will think about, after all, not returning to this piece, and instead writing new stuff from scratch.

Thanks again!

KRh

BTW Nikolas your analysis (which, as an aside to everyone else, I had requested in another thread) was exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for, and was very informative as a jumping-off point for me to begin my own research into this kind of stuff.