Donkeys and Melons - Minimalism

Hi there! I'm new to the site. I love it.

I have been composing minimalism after listening to so much of Steve Reich recently, and it just sort of comes naturally now. My composing methods are basically: pattern, repeat the pattern, get another pattern from the same instrument, let this pattern "take the additive" (additive melody look it up), listen to that unison canon, add a few 7ths and 9ths here and there, add more instruments, repeat, perhaps a few times.

So, this particular piece, is for Two Flutes, Two Marimbas, and Two Pianos, and works on the idea of unison canons, and crossrhythms, and therefore is african drumming and gamelan inspired.

The score is ridiculously long and quite pointless. I must find a way to structure it - it has so many repeats that there is really no point in having each and every little part. It is just for your reference. Cor blimey 63 pages long!

Have a listen, please, tell me what you think.

This site rocks!

You have officially introduced me to minimalism, and I'm definitely going to research it quite thoroughly. I enjoyed the piece quite a lot. I must ask though...donkeys and melons? Why? :lol: Also you made 5/4 sound completely normal. Kudos.

Also you made 5/4 sound completely normal. Kudos.

Well the nice thing is that 5/4 IS completely normal, and it really bugs me when people call it an "irregular" time signature. Have a listen to Eight Lines by Steve Reich if you can. Thanks for the feedback - a lot of people seem to like it. Its different, I know. The whole idea came from Animals and Fruit. The first movement reminded me of monkeys; I associate monkeys with bananas, so called the first movement "Monkeys and Bananas". The whole thing is called animals and fruit. I think I might upload that soon.

Yes, but it's not often you see people use 5/4 correctly. I know I can't yet. :lol:

This is really cool man... you can tell your a Reich fanatic! (like me!) XD I love how the music kind of metamorphasises with the passing of time...with some unexpected twists (the flute duo on page 18 for example) you've really captured the essence of minimalism right there! :) The music moves like I always imagine a school of fish does, which is exactly what you want of course.

Loving that opening idea! Reminds me a bit of R's Violin Phase. Its always nice to see a 5 metre executed will.

To give some advice, I would maybe develop your sections a bit more...in my opinion the piece sort of ends before it truly begins...take an example of "music for 18 musicians"...Reich presents us with an idea and lets that run until you're almost sick of it,,, but then suddenly changes it to something new and fresh. In this piece,, everything is "new and fresh" all of the time...leave us with some time to chew on your ideas! they're over too quickly!

On notation, just try to reduce the staff size to fit 2 or maybe 3 systems on a page. Its not a big thing, but it would make the whole thing look a lot nicer.

Also,,, would you consider halving the note values, halving the tempo marking, and using a time sig. of 5/8 instead?

The reason I say this is because you go through bars so quickly, it would be impossible to sight read.

Nice work! :) hope to hear more from you in the future!

(PS. WHAT is with the title "Donkeys and Melons"!?)

This is quite good, and I like the title, haha! :) I second Sabian's suggestion with the time, because that would clean up the score (I think...), and it really does have a more aquatic/tropical feel to it than a donkeys-and-melons feel to it, so that may be something to consider. But this is a very good piece regardless, and you should be proud of it! :D

Thank you guys so much! Wow. I have never shown my work to anyone, and I am thankful for your feedback!

The notation is rushed - I could definitely clean up the score to make it look like Music for 18's score; simply musical directions with several repeats and all that.

@sabiansoldier --> A lot of people told me that I let some sections drag on for too long - and I intend to do a composition for GCSE Music in minimalism, and it really can't run over 5 minutes - I really need to work on something. I really want to use your idea to really repeat a phrase until I'm sick of it, but then some people don't like that.

I LOVE MINOR 7th Chords 9th 11ths WOWOWOWOWOWOWOOWW

I'll tidy up the notation.

Thanks so much guys! :)