Musicproduction

Calm before the Storm

Another one written for a contest - I think it helps me to have a goal of some kind, and a contest is one way to get that.

The only constraint given to us in the contest was to only use two chords. I used A minor, and E major with some first inversions especially in the heavier section towards the end. I had my guitar tuned to a low C in the heavy section, so it’s a bit pitchy at times with the reduced string tension.

Speed Crash

This was written for a contest where the prompt was simply “Speed Crash”. There’s nothing about this song which matches that prompt - I’m not sure what I was thinking … I did put a bit more work into the transitions between sections in this one.

Transitions

I started this composition over the Xmas holiday of 2021. The idea started with some slightly dissonant chord progressions - I’m still not sure if parts clash in places but it was interesting enough to finish.

Developing Your Musicianship - Course 4 of 4

Here’s the final “Capstone” composition project for the Developing Your Musicianship course.

It took me over a year to pick up the final part of this four-part course, despite so much enthusiasm to work on this “Capstone” project which was supposed to sum up what I’d learned so far. Part of the reason for the long hiatus was that at the time I wasn’t resonating with the restrictions placed on what you can write.

The end result is nothing I’d ever listen to or feel much personal connection to. It sounds more like a TV theme than anything else! But I did have some fun with the off-beat rhythm in the main section, which perhaps gives it some identity. I also really enjoyed stumbling on the surprising chord change (borrowed from the parallel minor key) just before the quieter B-section. There’s also a rhythmic change on the surprising chord - it comes a little early to heighten the surprise. If the piece ended by sustaining that surprising chord, it would definitely be reminiscent of a 1980s US TV sit-com scene transition. But maybe that’s just me.

Despite feeling a bit cold to the whole accidental TV theme which came out of this project, there was plenty of value in putting a piece of music together and recording it.

Developing Your Musicianship - Course 1 of 4

I spent some time in early 2019 learning more about music composition.

I found a four-part course from Coursera called Developing your Musicianship. This course looked particularly interesting because it went beyond the basics into more interesting subjects such as extended chords.

It’s a four-part course, and I was most interested in parts 3 and 4. I couldn’t access these parts until I’d completed the first two, so I did need to review some familiar material. It was worthwhile as it gave me good experience writing and finishing composition projects.

Here was the output of part 1 - a twelve-bar Blues progression.