Sailing the Chesapeake

Annapolis, Md is known as the sailing capitol of the world. Big claim I know, but the place is full of boats.

On any given weekend afternoon in the warmer months, the Chesapeake bay becomes a playground for all who can afford a hunk of fiberglass and some sails. The Severn River is the gateway for most Annapolitans to the majesty of the bay.

I have seen the mouth of the Severn so packed full of boats, that it looked almost as if I could walk the few miles across to the other side, just by jumping from boat to boat.

Well in this hectic mess of tacking this way and that and so many boats coming about at any time, collisions and near collisions are frequent, and spectacular when they are avoided.

This piece depicts a sailboat going along with the wind on a good tack and then coming about directly into trouble. Then a few seconds of shear terror take place when both skippers try frantically to avoid the imminent collision. Adrenaline is pumping and hearts are racing as the skillful Captains deftly manuever their boats out of harm's way. Slowly, hearts once again reach their peaceful state and breaths are let out and everyone goes smoothly on their way, once again enjoying nature's beauty.

This is all GPO and JABB, composed in Sibelius, and the resulting wav file played with in Sonar Home Studio

Here it is

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Any and all comments are appreciated.

Ron

Thanks Michael

I'm writing this while listening and I'm pleasently surprised. The beginning is very atmospheric, very much unlike a lot of your atonal work. Really nice beginning. I love it when the middle section starts, with the percussion. I can feel the stress the two captains are feeling. Overall a very nice piece that sets a great mood. Write more pieces like this. I prefer these pieces a lot over your atonal work. This piece is original while being tonal. Keep up the good work! :)

EDIT: if you find the time, please take a look at my newest piece: Click Thanks :)

Steven

I enjoy composing all kinds of music. Most of my works are tonal with a good bit of chromaticism thrown in for good measure.

I do occasionally compose strictly atonally, but that is usually just for the piano.

Thanks for commenting.

Ron

Hey Ron,

This is a well developed piece. I love the beginning and everything else after that isn't so bad either. Your production level has increased quite alot. I like the melody and the variations are well thought out. Your orchestration is better too and there are not any volume issues from what I can hear.

I can tell you put alot of effort into this piece.

One of my favorites form you. :)

Hey Ron,

This is a well developed piece. I love the beginning and everything else after that isn't so bad either. Your production level has increased quite alot. I like the melody and the variations are well thought out. Your orchestration is better too and there are not any volume issues from what I can hear.

I can tell you put alot of effort into this piece.

One of my favorites form you. :)

Hey Bob

Glad you found this one!

You wouldn't believe the amount of time I spent on this. Most of this was easy and pretty much wrote itself. The part that took me so long was the transistion in the middle. I still am not happy with it, although the transistion out of it I am happy with, in fact, I am proud of the way I tried to show everything returning to normal. I think that is one of my best transistions yet.

When I am not in school, I only have to work, so I am able to make time to compose. Now that I am back in school again, my time gets spent studying.

Thanks again

Ron

Wow, can't believe I didn't notice this sooner. This really is a great piece of music. It fits your descirption perfectly, the instrumentation is very balanced, and I don't notice any glaring volume issues. Near the end, I felt like it lost its direction a bit but from reading your desciption, this was intentional so I can't fault you. A very nice piece from you. One of my favorites.

Hey Tyler

I thought you might like this one. It is very diatonic.

I think I captured a sail boat on the water with the wind in its sails pretty well.

Thanks for finding it and taking a listen.

Ron

Ron,

Very smooth with swirly and ripply bits - it does remind me of the few times I have been out sailing. The balance you have achieved for the final audio with Sonar is very good.

Nothing I can see to improve - a very successful and enjoyable composiiton.

Herb

Hey Herb

I am very happy you enjoyed this. Not much like some of the ones I have done in the past is it?

Drop me a PM and let me know how the paper is coming along.

I just finished doing 5 hours of ancient Egyptian and Babylonian Math problems that taxed my brain to the max. This has been a crazy semester so far.

Well I am off to bed.

Thanks for taking the time to let me know you listened and liked it. I think you know that that means a lot to me!

Ron

5 hours of math...ugh...

but anyway, your piece...i thought you did a good job varying your wavy theme and found new and different ways to manipulate its content to keep it interesting. i loved the use of the timpani, it make me think of a storm. it seems like the marimba is now a staple in your work, which i rather enjoyed :D it also sounded very pentatonic to me (correct?) which was a good flavor you tacked on to make it even more envigorating. nice work Ron!

vince

GO MARYLAND!! haha.

Great piece!! I love the melody and the overall feeling of the piece.

The part that I loved the most, was near the end where it got all full and it was just really beautiful. I love your work, it great.

Vince

Glad you found and liked this one.

I am of Celtic ancestry and love the Blues, both of which use pentatonic scales a lot, so I guess it makles sense that I would as well.

It's funny that you should notice that I have been using the marimba a lot lately, I did too. When I start a new piece, I usually just take my last one and delete all the notes from the score and start adding notes for my next work. I sometimes add instruments, but rarely take any away.

But for some reason, my last 2 pieces are a Piano solo (no marimba) and a way off the wall orchestral piece that also does not use the marimba.

Thanks again and I look forward to a new piece by you.

Ron

GO MARYLAND!! haha.

Great piece!! I love the melody and the overall feeling of the piece.

The part that I loved the most, was near the end where it got all full and it was just really beautiful. I love your work, it great.

Scott

I am very happy you liked this. It is a bit of a departure from my usual style, but I think it worked.

Thanks

Ron

Lovely piece Ron.

The transformations of the sound speak a very nice world. Your production skills are certainly rising and rising! Very soon you'll be a BIG threat to the CGEmpire competitions!

Scott

I am very happy you liked this. It is a bit of a departure from my usual style, but I think it worked.

Thanks

Ron

Yes it worked very well. I think its important for composers to be versitile but still have their stamp on their work.

Nikolas

What a surprise. I didn't even have to ask!!!

The more I do this the more I understand what I am doing.

Sometimes I get lazy and use Sibelius's Rit and Accel and they never seem to work right. Most of the time I enter the tempo changes myself and that can get time consuming, but in the long run, sounds a lot better.

The new CGEmpire competition has me stumped. I have a minute's worth done so far of which 10 seconds is any good. I think I have to wait for a few more entries to get in before I am sure what I am doing.

Thanks for taking the time to let me know you went sailing.

Scott

I totally agree!

Thanks again

Ron

Nikolas

What a surprise. I didn't even have to ask!!!

I try to have a clear head when listening and attempting to provide feedback! Around this time, I'm afraid I'm stunned with work in general (PhD + computer games + cgempire) and I don't think I've reviewed many pieces. Only nics piece and yours now.

With you, because your music is not exactly simple, I really need a clear head. with some other stuff I have fewer "reservations".

I do follow you though, even if I don't comment always. At least I try to! :)

Nikolas

I should have said a pleasent surprise.:toothygrin:

I know how demanding a schedule can be. Between work, studying and school, I surprise myself by finding time to compose. I do it instead of studying which is not the right way to do things, but it has worked so far.

The main thing that I find humorous is that when I do ask you to listen to a piece, you always seem to find the wrong one. :w00t:

Regardless, I always appreciate it when you find the time to listen to any of my music. It means a lot to me.:thumbsup:

Ron