Pinball Etude

Hey YC, I've not been back for a while! Thought I'd show you guys what I've been up to; here's a piano miniature that I finished in October. :]

Pinball Etude

When I saw your name pop up on the forum I got really excited, and you definitely did not disappoint. This is fantastic! I love the "slithery" sections and the energy throughout. You've extended your technique with those palm clusters and your rhythms are exciting. And your score is beautiful! I really don't have any critiques.

Would you mind talking a bit about how you developed this piece?

Awesome job!

Hey Black Orpheus,

Thank you for your kind comments! It certainly is exciting to drop in for a visit as well. :]

As for developing the piece; I used Lowell Liebermann's "Gargoyles" as a kind of structural model to start with (movement one in particular), and developed largely on two ideas: the eighth-note drive and the opening and the sixteenth-note melodic germ also at the beginning. At some points I use the eighth-note pulse from the beginning in retrograde or in different transpositions and I tried to integrate the sixteenth-note motive into the fabric of the piece as much as possible. Of course there are some sections that were not entirely derived (namely the bombastic 7/8 sections) but otherwise it was indeed a small exercise in miniature development.

Again, thank you for listening!

Thomas, I really like this. My only comment is on the ending, it sound's really sudden. Also, how do you get the notation like that where upper and bottom staves share a beam? I've been trying to figure that out in Finale for the longest time... but just can't seem to figure it out.

Holy moly, I don't know you but this is really cool. *like*

Hey, blackbaloons! Great to see you again! Wonderful piece! You've really matured as a composer since I first heard you. Congrats!

Hi!

Glad to see you back here again. It's nice to have someone who you've known on the site for a long time to come back!

Anyways, to the piece: I really like it! It would sound 5000 times better on real piano, but whatever. Great work here. Challenging piece, but not unplayable. In one spot you have an octave with a trill mark... do you want the bottom or the top note trilled? (You can't have both) Great use of the whole piano. Really no critiques.

Good work!

Heckel

Hahah I smiled at the direction "granitic;" that's such a Messiaen-ism. But this is a fitting piece to announce your long-awaited return (however short said "return" may be). I felt that your manipulation of texture was especially deft here, and highlighted the structure of the work well. You did a good job of creating a coherent dramatic arc within a relatively short time span: for me, much of this "arc" arose from the steady expansion of range and dynamic.

The motoric rhythms and general keyboard approach remind me strongly of some of Prokofiev's allegros, but I also feel that this steady eighth pattern tends to wander occasionally (most notably in ms. 18 - 21, as accompaniment to the winding sixteenth figure). Ms. 56 - 62 are also sort of unsatisfying for me: the transition seems too-abruptly begun and too-abruptly ended. Besides these two minor qualms, I enjoyed the piece: some of the sixteenth figures (particularly those in the upper range) did, in fact, call to mind the sounds of a pinball machine (whether this was intentional or your subtitle is unrelated, I don't know :S). Good work.

Hey, blackbaloons! Great to see you again! Wonderful piece! You've really matured as a composer since I first heard you. Congrats!

I agree -- this seems a little bit more consistent through-out. You know what it is you're getting with this piece -- it's unrepentant in the contemporary style :lol: It reminds me of something Leo Ornstein might write if mixed with some Alkan-esque piano shredding, and would make great film music for a dramatic and trippy scene.

Way cool :cool: Thanks for sharing, and it's good to see ya around again! :D

That was great.

I get what you're doing at the ending. I think human performance would make it sound less abrupt.

Great contemporary piece!

The only fault I found is the midi sound. I doesn't make justice to your piece. :happy:

In one spot you have an octave with a trill mark... do you want the bottom or the top note trilled? (You can't have both)

Great eye, Heckel, but since the trill is below the octave notes in m. 66 (when normally it would be above unless there isn't enough space, but there's plenty of space in this case), the implication is that only the bottom note is trilled.

Truly, truly impressive! A little feast! I mean, it's complex but unpretentious, involved but rather "light" and with a sense, not only of direction, but also of humor! First 10/10 for me on this site! I know my words mean nothing content-wise, I'm pretty much a layman, but...

Bravo!

Very cool, funny piece.

Thank you all for your kind comments! I understand the ending is a tad rough and (as Voce pointed out) the motoric eighths kind of wander a bit; if I ever go back and revise this piece or expand on it I'll be sure to keep that in mind. :]