Walk Don't Run - B.H. Series

Hello,

This is a follow-through from advice given by Doug Gibson along with encouragement from John E. and Aaron V. ("... study some scores from cripes' sakes!") per my Run For Life post. Doug explained B. Herrmann's method of permutations and provided a slew of motivic development options (see post).

I won't give a play-by-play now, but the first part introduces the primary material which is later used as fodder in the permutation sequence. I have done a shallow study off B.H.'s music in the past week and selected a few of his patterns as a guide. They include The Umbrella Structure: upper voices playing a multi-measure arc of closely spaced notes in two-part harmony with another voice playing chords beneath them in a simple rhythm (Little Girl Lost, Twilight Zone). Also included is a bit of Scene D' Amour from Vertigo with two of the three iterations using the original chords (now I've got your attention)

The MIDI-data is still rough in parts but heck, that's a lot of notes for me in one week! All comments are appreciated.

https://www.orfium.com/track/699977/walk-dont-run-craigduke/

Craig

 

FYI, I just updated the file. I cleaned up some of the intra-module transitions.

 

Thanks Doug. My mother uses the word "nit-pik." She's 92. Just sayin'.

I shortened up the third appearance of Scene D'Amour. Just a wiff of it left. An echo from a past love. I believe that was the one you were talking about. That makes sense, given that I was just starting the fast-paced sequence between modules; no reason to get bogged down in the past. I continued to work on the transitions between modules and module placement.

Because many of the modules are in different keys it take some crafting to modulate between them in a handful of beats. It's a good exercise in introducing new pitches for the upcoming measure while not sounding out of place in the present. That's modulation for you. Humans can get used to most anything, but it usually take time. "Honey, I think I'm going to cancel HBO next month." Give people time to get used to it. In music, no such luck.

Thanks for the comments Bradley. I believe you are talking about the Scene D'Amour from Vertigo (?). I wanted to add the famous theme to the piece for all the BH fans, so I put it there. I did want a contrast in harmony between the first instance (mine - pretty love) and second (Herrmann's - strange love). I tried to transition into it. Maybe I took a too easy path. I do find that I can get used to sounds after multiple hearings. Then I come back the next day and think it sounds out of place. And visa versa. Same with the module transitions. Sound good at first, but later does not. I think some things sound good because I repeat it so many times. My brain finds good in it, when in fact it is not. That's life. Then again there is always the "I spent all that time writing that, there's no way I'm going to get rid of it!."

I always remember what a professor of mine told me many years ago. He said that it take courage to remove a part or section you wrote from a composition and there is a natural bias against doing so, even when you know it should not be there. Not to get too far off topic but he also talked about knowing when to stop. The idea has haunted me for years. He showed me Beethoven sketches as an example. LvB writes a melody, nothing special, then transforms it ten times, then, knows it is exactly as it should be, knows when to stop. I suppose that has a lot to do with a composer's musical maturity, refined sense of beauty, and all that. Which gets into current neuroscience which seems to agree that at our core, we do not decide things based on rational thinking, we just "know." "Knowing" is delivered to us from our subconscious. I do know I should not write more on this less I bore my audience. See, I do know when to stop!

 

1. Let me help clear up my confusion about the SD'A instances. There are three. The first two are back to back (the second of which uses BH harmony). The third is later at the start of the module development section and has the C# G# pattern in the bass. I thought you meant the third should be changed.

This link plays the first two, then the third (C#/G#) and a shortened version of the third.

https://www.orfium.com/track/700455/sda-variants-a-c-c-c-new-craigduke/

2. I was modulating when you were still in diapers Yes, I do know how to modulate but will take Mike's class as a refresher.

What I did not clearly communicate, a few posts ago, was that I had not anticipated all of the characteristic of my group of modules before I got into writing the cycle; one being key differences. Speaking generally, some modules can be spliced directly together (same key or not). Others want a transition. Some transition may be required because of a difference in key, vertical and linear harmony differences, register differences, rhythmic differences, texture differences, etc. So, when modules do not splice, there is work to be done. That said, the transitions themselves are not bad thing, but opportunity.

I should probably use SoundCloud since it has a time counter. Less confusion. Or better yet, if someone could suggest one of these video programs where I could show the score and audio. ??