Compositon 4 Beginners (1 Viewer)

[Catastrophic24]

Hey ppl,

need a little advice on how 2 write an unconventional composition....meaning one that is written in non-western notation. in class we have been told we can basically invent our own ways of notating but its the "where 2 begin" part that has lost me.

Any suggestions on the forms of notation i could use 2 represent instruments.

oohh sorry i forgot the instruments also cannot be tradional instruments ie. piano guitar etc.

more like the sound a typewriter makes or kettle boiling etc.

weird and confusing stuff....well at least it is 2 me.

any help u can give will be much appreciated, thanks

 

[Jazz Man Tim]

aha
draw... draw what the sound looks like to you

an example would be for me maybe the sound of jingleing keys would be lots of little triangles? or something

another good thing would be to write a key so anyone can peform what you have written

 

[ur_inner_child]

tim's right.

for example, some stuff we came up with was drawing how to notate a repeating note that bounces and gets faster.

we drew a note of whatever duration, and did a squiggly line after in the route of what a bouncing ball would make. When you play it on the piano, your finger has to act lie a bouncing ball.... and we even wrote "like a bouncing ball" on the score. I know you can't use traditional instruments, but then again, you can turn anything into an instrument.

For starters, have a bit of research if you can't start. Or better yet, listen to some music that just goes nuts.

Think about unconventional ways to play an instrument. Break the rules of time. Break the rules of key signatures, tempo etc. I forget which piece of music, but after the song, the score tells you to stamp your foot and shout "YEAH!"

Tell the performer at throw his sticks in the air and let them fall onto the stage for all we care. Chance music!!! Be creative. Be inspired by other composers!! possibilities are endless!!!

 

[Jazz Man Tim]

Yep Ur inner child is righter

listen to Luciano Berio's Sequenzas esp the one for womans voice. its nuts

there is also a very good book you can borrow from the Australian Music Center about 20th century obsecure notation, written by John Cage or somebody like him, its VERY good and useful, quite crazy tho

 

[demosthenes]

hey tim have u heard the max roach (drummer) cd Freedom Now? There is a song in there about racial protest....FAR OUT! Its whack! Its just Roach playing insane rhythms and a chick screaming. It is so confronting!
Or Bjork has a song on medulla called "Heaven's Mouth" (or something....i forget and cant be bothered looking) where it is a piano playing a beautiful, simple melody, and a vocal group breathing and panting and screaming.

 

[Jazz Man Tim]

max roach is awesome. just awesome, so is art blakey haven't heard Freedom Now tho...
sounds awesome tho.

Bjork does alot of out there stuf as well, not a great fan of her music but i respect her for what she does tho, very interesting.

 

[vas y molo]

You are so lucky you get to do graphic notation!!

We did them all the time (requested by the class) so this time they said we had to do a serious one

you can practise by listening to your fave song and drawing each melodic line the way you hear it.

just draw everything you hear.

eg: right now, im listening to Mariah- breakdown.

so Id do the drum beat with the accent on every 3rd beat. soo maybe like little circles and a big one (for the 3rd beat) then id draw really little wavy lines on Mariahs melissmas and so forth

 

[danilion_22]

types of notation

There are many ways to notate music. the most common forms are traditional on the stave. or you can be more experimental and interesting and do a graphic notation. this includes using pictures and a key to demonstarte when and how an instrument will play. i will be doing this too for my composition due on this monday. i will also be adding some stave notation as well in some parts. yeah it is a weird thing to do.

 

[Phanatical]

With about one year to go until compositions are due for the HSC, I'd like to once again stress the importance of having a good composition tutor. The Sydney Eclectic Composers Society (www.secsmusic.org) is made up of over 80 young composers, most of whom are offering tutoring services, and the Society can put you in touch with tutors from your area. Good thing about composition tutors is that we don't just do Composition, but we also cover Musicology, with an indepth course of Aural and Harmony (covering Sight Singing, analysis of works, melody dictation, and the other requirements of the HSC course).

I tutor in the Parramatta area, so if anybody is interested you should contact me at andrew.quah@secsmusic.org.