Search the Community

After coming home I took my guitar and wanted to experiment. There is a bit of microtonal stuff in there based on tuning. I have written a piece for orchestra and guitar before, but for some reason I feel like I am overwhelmed with possibilities at the moment. My plan is to expand this idea for orchestra. This is basically a transcript of my improvisation. It will be orchestra with a guitarist. I want to brainstorm this stuff. Form will not be identical. Feedback on notation technique is appreciated as well. I actually thought about removing all the time signatures (since the caesura signifying a 1/16th note break is a compromise in itself), but it's there for now. Audio file isn't perfect, please check the score simultaneously (had problems with the arpeggios where there is a simultaneous E and E-10c). (Oh yeah, this is on solo guitar, it doesn't say it on the score apparently) For some of my own immediate thoughts: I am in-between starting the orchestral version with the guitar on its own or starting with an intro of some kind. I like the abruptness of the start of the guitar theme. It's like stubbing your toe and being angry at the table corner for bestowing such pain upon you. The guitar impro version is also quite dense, so maybe there's space between the ideas. Additionally there is a lot of fragmentation, which can work well in a Rite of Spring style, where everyone sort of does their own fragment. Maybe this could grow over time (I also like the returning to theme). In the C part the recording does not convey what it sounds like on the guitar (issues with my own technical limitations aka lack of will to fight with musescore) and there is something I want to do there. One of the larger problems will be the microtonality. Of course guitar is quite a different instrument to many others and the microtonality here is relatively tame (except for the bends) and some instruments can certainly be prepared to match the vibe of the guitar (microtonally tuned harp?), but I feel like it will still pose many issues. Although I must admit, sometimes older string quartets etc. are not perfectly in tune - and I love that vibe. And if you find the piece humorous or straight up dislike it, don't be afraid to say it! I don't want to be stuck in an echo chamber and I have thick skin. Honest feedback is my favourite. Keep in mind still that this is the start of an idea. Apologies if there are some etiquette mistakes, new here. Love from Finland -Pyry 30 degrees.pdf

Two days ago I participated in a Photo Marathon in which we had 12 hours, 12 themes, and had to take 12 photos. It was a pretty exciting challenge. So the idea occurred to me that we might organize a "Composition Marathon" on YC. To do it, we would have to adapt the idea. So I am starting this thread whereby we can collectively brainstorm to refine the idea and eventually hold the marathon. Here are my own suggestions for the adaptation of the photo marathon idea to a "composition marathon". These ideas are suggested as a starting point. Feel free to suggest your improvements or modifications. 1) 12 hours: Since this will be an online event with a global audience of composers, I suggest that we change this to 24 hours in order to take into account the time differences between countries (which could mean that if we made it only 12 hours, several countries' composer's might happen to be asleep during most of those hours). We can agree on the starting time and announce it several days before, doing a countdown to the day and hour (with no details of "themes" announced yet) while asking everyone to register. 2) 12 themes: These could be adapted to mean restrictions on the pieces to be composed. These "restrictions" could mean any of the following (feel free to add your suggestions): a) Limited number of bars to compose in. We could, for example, specify 10-bar miniatures as one of the "themes", as Christian Perrotta did in a successful challenge some time ago. We could go even shorter and ask for 5-bar miniatures, for another of the "themes". b) Related to the above, we can specify the form of the pieces. Possible forms I would suggest would be: free form, Soliloquy, or sententia (Latin for sentence, a form I have originated and composed several sets of pieces in). c) We can supply different musical themes to compose pieces on. d) We can specify the key signatures of the pieces to be composed. e) We can specify the time signatures of the pieces to be composed. f) We can specify the instruments for which to compose pieces. 3) 12 photos/pieces: As regards the number (12) of themes or restrictions, we could once again adapt this to composition in one of the following ways: a) 12 variations on one theme b) 12 sententiae c) 12 soliloquies d) Any of the above restrictions (see No. 2, a-f) x 12 (i. e. 12 x 5-bar minatures, or 12 5-bar miniatures for different instruments, 12 pieces in 12 different provided themes, 12 sententiae/soliloquies/etc. for 12 different instruments, 12 5-bar miniatures in 12 different key signatures, 12 variations on a theme for 12 different instruments, etc). Waiting to hear your input and ideas on how this composition marathon can best be organized and held. It could become a yearly event and would serve to generate increased interest in composition, excitement for young and beginning composers, and challenge and motivate all of us to improve as composers.