Violet for Saxophone Quartet

9 minutes ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Really, we have to fail to success or fail better. Better to move beyond the limit to know how far you can stretch to than limited endlessly by fearing of touching the limit of the instruments. That will help us learn more than writing hunderds of safe pieces since you never what the potential of the instruments, motives, forms are.

So well put; I completely agree. One has to get out of their comfort zone to expand it.

14 minutes ago, Thatguy v2.0 said:

What I was really getting at with that point I made was being familiar doesn't necessarily mean you have to be safe. For instance, I play guitar, so being able to write something in a key utilizing the open strings makes playability for harder passages possibly easier, or where I am on the neck or what position I'm in might be better suited somewhere else. Of course you should push the boundaries of your writing, but knowing your instrument can help you achieve that in a more practical way versus thinking theoretically about it. 

Yeah definitely. For example in writing ( ) I am familiar with instruments and try to write things I can play and at the same time good. But sometimes for instruments we are not familiar with, we won't know where is the limit. I think writing someting impracticable and knowing that can also be a great learning experience.

4 minutes ago, Thatguy v2.0 said:

What I was really getting at with that point I made was being familiar doesn't necessarily mean you have to be safe. For instance, I play guitar, so being able to write something in a key utilizing the open strings makes playability for harder passages possibly easier, or where I am on the neck or what position I'm in might be better suited somewhere else. Of course you should push the boundaries of your writing, but knowing your instrument can help you achieve that in a more practical way versus thinking theoretically about it. 

Apparently we're bombarding MissCello's post haha. Sorry!

 

I don't mind at all! I love seeing everyone's points and perspectives on being familiar with an instrument.

12 minutes ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

But sometimes for instruments we are not familiar with, we won't know where is the limit. I think writing someting impracticable and knowing that can also be a great learning experience.

I agree. I had never written a wind quintet before, and I wrote that piece as a challenge to myself. Before I even wrote a single note I listened to damn near everything on youtube for wind quintets and busted out my orchestration book. It was great to dig into all of that

31 minutes ago, Thatguy v2.0 said:

agree. I had never written a wind quintet before, and I wrote that piece as a challenge to myself. Before I even wrote a single note I listened to damn near everything on youtube for wind quintets and busted out my orchestration book. It was great to dig into all of that

Me too when writing my wind quintet inspired by yours! I have to check the range , timbre of all different registers, watch all sorts of orchestration website and videos, listen to the sound etc. But I learn SOOO much by writing it! And honestly writing for 5 different timbres are much easier than writing a string sextet!

Nothing really to criticise. This work would be great in live performance. It might well be in 'the repertoire' so here's a hope that a quartet will be interested in it. It's well-crafted, engaging progressions enhanced by rhythmic twists. You've paid a lot of attention to detail in the score.

It is possible for a saxophonist to get barely a whisper out of the instrument - it shares that with the clarinet, possibly because of the single-reed mouthpiece. On the other hand it suffers the range awkwardness with the oboe (the conical bore) so the very top notes get weaker. Hence my single comment is the high E in bar 91 is fine as mf but would be difficult to get louder. Possibly more could be done with the dynamics therefore but that's a small point. 

I too 'suffer' synaesthesia - relating visual to sound organisation - music in its broadest sense - hopelessly sensitive to atmosphere - so although I've forgotten what a key is(!) I have a sense of your relating keys to colours. For me, some keys/tonal centres emerge strongly as colours, others not. 

Anyway, a pleasant listen. Brilliant. A Happy New Year to you.

Edit: Incidentally, I'd be interested in your electronic work as I consider my stuff 'contemporary'.... I'll watch out for it. 

3 hours ago, Quinn said:

Nothing really to criticise. This work would be great in live performance. It might well be in 'the repertoire' so here's a hope that a quartet will be interested in it. It's well-crafted, engaging progressions enhanced by rhythmic twists. You've paid a lot of attention to detail in the score.

It is possible for a saxophonist to get barely a whisper out of the instrument - it shares that with the clarinet, possibly because of the single-reed mouthpiece. On the other hand it suffers the range awkwardness with the oboe (the conical bore) so the very top notes get weaker. Hence my single comment is the high E in bar 91 is fine as mf but would be difficult to get louder. Possibly more could be done with the dynamics therefore but that's a small point. 

I too 'suffer' synaesthesia - relating visual to sound organisation - music in its broadest sense - hopelessly sensitive to atmosphere - so although I've forgotten what a key is(!) I have a sense of your relating keys to colours. For me, some keys/tonal centres emerge strongly as colours, others not. 

Anyway, a pleasant listen. Brilliant. A Happy New Year to you.

Edit: Incidentally, I'd be interested in your electronic work as I consider my stuff 'contemporary'.... I'll watch out for it. 

 

Thank you so much for listening and for the kind words! I agree that I could expand the dynamic range and make some of the soft parts softer. 

Your synesthesia sounds fascinating. I would be curious to hear more of your work (I've heard your Adagio - "Night" and love it) and how your visual experience may influence or guide it. 🙂

I have one very brief electronic demo as I decided to dip my foot into the genre for my first college course and write something for synthesizers (inspired by the late Vangelis and Blade Runner), and I will attach the link again for your convenience. I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for your interest.

Happy New Year!

All I can say is....it needs development! You've managed to avoid the clichés of many who experiment, ending up composing conventional music using  electronically generated sounds with a few surprise sounds thrown in. I remember reading that the first EMS and Moog synthesisers heralded the greatest breakthrough in sound organisation since the chromatic keyboard. They would break the bounds of the aural universe, they said. Seems a shame it just became another piano-alike for many!

With this piece all that's missing is a small amount of reverb.

Great. Thank you for posting it.

12 hours ago, Quinn said:

All I can say is....it needs development! You've managed to avoid the clichés of many who experiment, ending up composing conventional music using  electronically generated sounds with a few surprise sounds thrown in. I remember reading that the first EMS and Moog synthesisers heralded the greatest breakthrough in sound organisation since the chromatic keyboard. They would break the bounds of the aural universe, they said. Seems a shame it just became another piano-alike for many!

With this piece all that's missing is a small amount of reverb.

Great. Thank you for posting it.

 

Thank you for your feedback! I would love to turn this into something more substantial. 🙂