Entry 1.

Knock on wood, I think this is going to work…So this is more of a test than anything, though I’ll put some relevant stuff in here just so it’s not just me standing on a stage, tapping a microphone.

So the first project, if that’s what it’s supposed to be called, was to compose 12-16 chords, none of which can be ‘real’ chords and none of them can repeat. Sound simple enough, yes? I thought so too, but I was pretty darn mistaken. I thought ‘Sure, we’re making up 12-16 chords and putting them in order so that there is a swell of tension and dischord (yes, I spelled it that way for a pun…ha ha.) about 61.8% of the way through, tapering off toward the end. Piece of cake, right?

No.

I have to admit, my first attempt was terrible. First of all, it is a lot harder to compose music when both of your hands are on the piano. I have a newfound admiration for composers who write for piano, because they’ve got to memorize two hands, while writing them down, while those two hands are probably occupied with the keyboard. Involving a second party would definitely be a good idea the next time I try and do this.

In order to make chords which don’t exist (which sounds kind of paradoxical in itself- the first indication that this was going to be a lot harder than it seemed) I more or less simply plonked my hands down on the keyboard, and wrote them down, putting a star next to the ones I liked. Unfortunately, all the ones I liked were about the same intensity, which was UBERINTENSE. Not quite what I was going for. By the time I finished my first draft of this piece, it was a mess of thick, dissonant chords which were impossible to put into any manageable order.

So I retreated to my computer and did some work involving my Finale program. For someone who has the skills of some type of early primate on piano, clicking notes onto a staff and listening to them afterward is a lot easier. (This isn’t cheating, right?) The best thing about doing it this way is that I can hear the chords played back to me without all the hesitation between chords, not to mention a rather colourful string of curses, in the comfort of my room. This string of chords turned out much better than the first, so it made the cut and was presented in class.

Having your composition played in front of a semi-critical audience was just about as revealing as I had expected it to be. It wasn’t so bad, on account of the fact that this is just the harmony, fairly simple, and nothing too grandiose or insightful.

Rating:
- Upon listening to my piece being played and rating it myself, my ratings were as follows:
2, 4, 5, 3, 4, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 8, 7, 7, 4, 3, 4.

Class comments:

- Chords 7/8 – 13/14 were very thick, layers came off after the 14th chord. (Definitely a valid point, seeing as I took roughly one voice out of each chord on the tapering end of the piece)
- Chords 2-6 there was a kind of ululation. (I totally agree, looking back on the ratings I gave myself.)
- Three definite levels- Chords 1-7/8, 7/8- 13/14, and 14-end. (Once again, I agree, my transitions between less intense and INTENSE are still a bit jerky.)
- Needs a bit more arc shape (right now it’s kind of a _-_ shape.)
- Start with less tension and grow from there (Personally, I really liked my first chord, but I could probably put an even less intense one or two before it, and take out a few of the later chords.)
- It got intense a bit too quick after the first chord (which is probably why it flatlined in the first section before the thick, middle section.)
- Chord errors! Chord 1 is an m9, and chord 5 is a triad with an added 6th. (For this one, I blame ignorance (which will soon be corrected because I’m in second year theory now!). But I’ll learn ASAP what the chords are beyond major/minor and dominant sevenths…Those Neapolitan ones and such…Yeah theory…)
- Oh yeah, and chord 10 was impossible…(Sorry Melissa! I guess this is definitely one of the drawbacks to composing on a computer rather than a keyboard…Lesson learned.) There was a stretch from a C to a C#...Oups.

The Plan:

- Fix tonal chords…Yeah, they’re definitely one of the first things to go.
- Fix impossible chord…Another thing to fix right away.
- Add a few, less intense chords to the beginning and delete some of the ones which have the same intensity level to make a better curve.
- Make a definite peak- this could be fun, actually, trying to find that really, really clashy (though possible!) chord.
- Do a bit of reordering- Ive already got a plan drawn out.
- Back off more at the end, so it doesn’t end on a 3 or 4 tension level.
- Listen to it over and over to make sure there’s a definite arc shape before composing the melody
- Get some feedback and more outside opinions- I can ask people in my residence/other music majors if they’ll listen to it and see what they think.
- Melodyyyyy and rhythmmmm. Rhythm to the chords, and write a melody over it…Once I get all the other things done, too!

Soooo I rambled. If you think I’ve got anything else to add to my plan list (chords to tweak, things to move around) please leave a note! I’ll try not to ramble so much on my next entry…Thanks for hanging in there if you read all of this!

Jess