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Tag Archives: compositions

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Tigsource articles, that will appear here anyway, can be found here, if you can't wait for me to copy and paste them on here.

GTTM-based Chord Progression Generator

I’ll be posting some articles about the theory of Lerdahl very very soon. In anticipation of them (and to put something up so I can submit it to the Haskell Activity Report), here’s my implementation of a toy-model based roughly around his theory. It’s restricted to the process of chord generation.

Here‘s a simple playing by me of a chord-sequence that it produced. Here‘s a midi example that it produced by itself when I had it more developed.

There’s still a reasonable amount of work to be done on it, but it’s at a stage where it’s presentable.

Anyway, the current version of the haskell source code is here. Hopefully I’ll have more developed versions up in the future.

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Next time: some microtonality. Well; one piece anyway.

Scoredump the nth

Two short pieces here I finished about a month and a month-and-a-half ago respectively; one I think a not unsuccessful attempt at, admittedly, a genre without incredibly high standards of acceptance, that of the waltz-set:

5 Waltzes ( ps | pdf )

Anyway, the point was to try and be a little bit lyrical, and I don’t think I fell flat on my face (saying that they’re not particularly inspired lines).

And the second piece, which I have, I think, almost no time for excepting an odd rhythmical artefact that people might notice in bar 9 that doesn’t occur in bar 11, even though they are precisely the same. Unless my playing’s deteriorated to the extent that I have developed some accenting pathology. I should be able to have more fun with this effect in future (I’m not saying that it hasn’t been done before; it is, however, something that as an effect is new to me).

Lullaby ( ps | pdf )

Oh yes, now, without committing to anything, I wish to explain that though these pieces are rather a further step down the path of the trivialisation and miniaturisation I have tried rather hard to avoid, I had not put much time in to writing music when I wrote them and, as such, these are my just desserts, but that they do not in any event signify where I am going, nor where I wish to go, merely that I am, in fact, at least so obliging to myself so as to trundle along doing something where I can.

And, for those of the world with an interest in what I’ve been doing musically in the month or so since I wrote these things; I have put together several rather more substantial (but still, alas, miniature) pieces. They’ll find their way here in their own good time. Trying to become more harmonic. Succeeding, I think, but I’m going to have soon to make some concerted efforts to introduce some rhythm and polyphony else ways I’ll end up writing pseudo-chorales for the rest of my days, and then where would I be?

Also, prepare yourself for a JOKE, tomorrow, courtesy of a clarinettist.

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I promised myself a strict regimen of counterpoint last weekend. I guess I'm just getting what I deserved, then :(

More scores. More dump. Hurrah!

Woh, like. Totally going in a dodge direction at the moment. No more, though.

So first three light pieces. The first I threw together today and am more or less ok with, insubstantial as it is, the other two are my first efforts from last October when I was making the transition from thinking about modulations to trying to write music. I had a bunch of other modulatory snippits that were short, but occasionally quite nice; alas I don’t really have the skills to extract cohesive musical works from them at the moment.

Ok, so, then:

Piece 1 ( ps | pdf )
Piece 2 ( ps | pdf )
Piece 3 ( ps | pdf )

And, only slightly more substantially, a sonatina; weak, and almost certainly a dead and, indeed, rather clichéd end, but I do like some of the sounds it in.

Sonatina ( ps | pdf )

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Really like Reger's set of variations on this theme actually.

And now: A Prelude and a Sonata

Hmm. Weak prelude, and a weak (and v. short) sonata (I do like two bit of the sonata though, you’ll probably be able to guess pretty easily). Anyway the sonata’s my first try at doing something with some rigid medium-scale structure in a long time. Thus: I’m okay with it!

Sonata #2 ( PS | PDF )
Prelude ( PS | PDF )

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Episode 34: In which I return to the gimp.

Some Preludes

So I had a bit of a break there for a few weeks from musical things. I found it rather hard to do anything upon my return, so forced myself through seven short exercise pieces (linked to below), where in the more developed ones I was trying to figure out how to write free counterpoint properly (no, I haven’t quite cracked that yet). Anyway, I think I’m ready to try writing music again now.

Seven Preludes ( PS | PDF )

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I always like when I can bring (structured) graphs and cohomology into the picture. Yeah. : )

A quick tutorial, and a piece

So, I link two things here; firstly a sort-of tutorial for the counterpoint analysis program (more a worked example):

Counterpoint Analysis Program Tutorial/Fugue in Eb ( PS | PDF )

It should make the program make rather a lot more sense. Oh, and for the record, I don’t dislike the piece as much now as I did when I was writing the tutorial.

and, secondly, a rather dull affair:

Waking ( PS | PDF )

Well, that’s it for now. Have another compositional tool I’ve just finished, but want to see if I can do anything with it before putting it up.

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Iz in ur piano
writing u sonataz.

3 new pieces

I actually have written another post before this, but it’s only going to appear in two days time, because, well, the ordering of these things is important, and the contents of this post pre-date those of the one I just wrote, except this disclaimer, so.

Firstly, the worst piece I have written to date in my life; I include it simply because it invokes some Galois theory:

Suite ( ps | pdf )

Secondly, a quick oriental fugue that was to form part of its own suite, but alas I wasn’t able to come up with anything to complement it.

Fugue in F# ( ps | pdf )

Thirdly, I broke the 10-minute time barrier. This is important news for me. It’s also one of my better-sounding pieces, and my first recent attempt at writing a piece in sonata form.

Sonata ( ps | pdf )

As for what’s coming in two days. Well, ye’ll have to wait. (I do not mean to imply that it’s worth waiting for; it’s not, really).

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Here be bells.

My faux-“Irish” collection

*cough* Yep. Some more. But this time an “Irish”-themed batch.

First is over *gasp* six years old. It fit in to the theme, and has a small charm to it I think, so:

Etude No. 8 ( ps | pdf | mp3 )

Second was written last of all, so that the pieces might fit together and warrant my dredging up the above study; it’s slow and mainly atmospheric in intent (Also it is, shocking, me playing the notes in the recording – it was easy enough and had enough ornamentation that I could without expending any effort do a more convincing interpretation than my computer : ) )

Angelus ( ps | pdf | mp3 )

Thirdly, the piece that made me try put them all together, a short fugue with “Irishy” subjects; I’m pretty happy with the texture I managed to get for the most part. But yeah:

Fugue in Bb ( ps | pdf | mp3 )

So yeah; I can rest easy; three Irish-styled pieces in seven years is probably not anything worth notifying the doctors over, and I doubt I’ll increase my pace any time toooo soon.

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She knows what she wants. Do you know what you want?

Prelude & Fugue, Fanfare, and Nocturne

Bah. Another one. There’ll be some non-“musical” content up here before I post up any more of These Sorts Of Things, I promise! It’s a pretty small piece though, shouldn’t cause tooo much offence. If you’re a bit squeamish, just look away and you’ll be fine.

Prelude and Fugue in Eb ( ps | pdf )

[update: There were some errors in the prelude. oops. fixed now!]

Update:

Also, because adding new scores to an existing post isn’t the same as adding a new musical post and so breaking my promise above, two other pieces;

Don’t know what I think about the following piece; should definitely not be played with a metronome.

Nocturne ( ps | pdf )

And this is a piece that was originally titled “Dance” but seemed a little too short and repetitive to really be able to stand with that sort of title hanging off it. However, owing to some Bentzon-inspired inspiration, it appears in this humble post as a Fanfare, a title which, to my ears, suits it just fine!

Fanfare ( ps | pdf )

There. Take a big breath. Good. See? Wasn’t that bad; nothing too it, really.

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Yes, I know, not exactly one of my most inspired posting to this site.

Scoredump

Hah. Just a quick call to drop off some scores. And no, no recordings; don’t think any of these are really worth it this time. And, as usual, forgive my lack of dynamical indications.

Firstly, a monophonic fugue on the SOS motive, with a bit of That Other Tune thrown in near the end because, well, I had no other choice.

Also:just realized that this is badly formatted, that there are a heap of empty bars at the end.

Fugue on SOS ( ps | pdf )

Secondly, the worst fugue I have written to date (seriously, don’t bother; it’s just up here For The Record, Because).

Bad Fugue ( ps | pdf )

Thirdly, a prelude & fugue pair, the prelude of which I like (owing to notational laziness, I put the ornaments after the bar lines instead of before, which is what I mean to do), the fugue which isn’t as good as it aught be.

[Also:just realized that this is especially badly formatted, that I left the title out. Oops.: fixed!]

Prelude and Fugue in Am ( ps | pdf )

Fourthly, a wee rag with little to recommend it; it was mainly an exercise – I might try properly to write some another time.

Rag ( ps | pdf )

Fifthly, a song setting; oh yes, I tried. Actually my second attempt: yep, my first try was too bad to put up even *here*, which should tell you something about it. This one is okay though, I think.

Reflections in a Mirror ( ps | pdf )

And lastly (that is to say, sixthly), and most recently, a wee study; haven’t tried something like this in a while…I am a litttttle satisfied with it, though, all things considered.

Etude #23 ( ps | pdf )

[edit: some notes were in the wrong octave (of all places to be!); fixed!]
Anyway. Off with me again. Might be back any minute to finish putting up those wee stories from Way Back, heh.