Invention | Eins

Counterpoint | Minor

Slowly, but surely, I'm starting to hear when things are not "right" between the two lines.

Pizzicato - not the same IRL

Attended a live orchestral performance today, and one thing that stood out a lot to me was the pizzacato strings. They sound totally different from the samples I have. Very smooth, not like the very percussive samples I have. I'm probably playing them at high velocities, lower velocities hopefully will yield what I heard this fine evening.

Looks like I will want to allocate some budget over to attending live performances. I'm not only interested in a full symphony orchestras, small performances like string quartets are also very interesting to me.

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I've been giving some thought about my music pursuits lately. I really have no idea where I want to take it. I don't believe I have a deep seated passion in it. Yet I pursue am wading yet deeper into it like.... er... a spatula mixing a... a chocolate cake mix. Yeah..... oh wait, I think I prefer pancakes. Damn.

Looking back, this all started with the Winter Jazz course I attended. That really sparked a flame in me, I really wanted to improvise and stuff. During that course, it was evident that every single instructor there could compose and play the piano at a high level. I pretty much went down that route.

But what do I really want? It seems like I have not only gone off course, but went off the motorway, crossed some borders, and jumped onto a highway in another country.

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Since beginning harmony and counterpoint, my music tastes appear to have changed as well. I'm beginning to feel unsatisfied with nearly everything I listen to. Especially after I started score study, I am really appreciating what kind of amazing art goes into classical music. And at the same time, alot of the pieces are just too damned long for me to "get" in their entirety.

And then older stuff I used to like, I'm slowly picking out bits that are now feeling very... uncomplicated. No, not sure what kind of word would describe it.  Perhaps repetitive? Ah, don't know.

What I do know, is what I am learning is both fun and challenging. So, I'll keep at it.

Counterpoint | Minor

Continued exploration into minor counterpoint, with an emphasis of both parts sounding smooth. Will probably tweak some more before I submit :)

64bit :3

Have shifted to running Logic in 64bit mode for a few weeks now, and I'd like to report that.... nothing has changed.... :P Only one AU plugin is still in 32bit, AAS's Strum Electric Guitar, won't be updated soon, and I don't use it much, and appears to work through the bridge. Finale's playback plugin appears in the 32bit bridge but who uses that in Logic? :P

The last package I had to shift to 64bit was XLN's Addictive Drums. Erm, nothing to say there. They've got a nifty new installer that downloads patches and all from "the cloud". Everything else worked out of the box, and my lastest saxophone track ran AD without any hickups.

Can't see any advantages either, I don't use that much ram. I had 7 instances of VI Pro running, AD as well as one instance of Kontakt (for the triangle) no ram issues. Yet.

The only other virtual instruments I use - that are already 64bit out of the box - are VIs running with the Aria sampler. So, all of my Garritan (sorely underused nowadays now that I have Kontakt) and Plogue VIs ran with nary a hitch.

Woo!

Counterpoint | Minor

Counterpoint: Minor

And we begin counterpoint in minor modes. I absolutely can't do this without a guide indicating which mode is which :-/

Castanets!

Like whoa. What a performance. I really want a castanet patch now (did I mention I'm a sample junkie?).

Plus watching the string performers is giving me some ideas on what kinda string patch to use. Double win!

Counterpoint: Major

Two part counterpoint! It is actually quite fun when you get down to it :3

Saxophone Log: September 2012

Opps, it's been awhile since I did one of these. I have been keeping up the sax on and off - lately I've been having a bout of illness, of which I had major fits of coughing so I've laid of alot of saxy times, and only tooted the horn on and off.

In any case, I really wanted to do this this month, so whilst I was recovering most of this month, I think this bout of sick is more or less over and I hope to return.

I've been thinking about the recording for a fair bit, and previously I was sort of playing into a corner - the Heil PR31BW has a hypercardioid pattern, so it accepts a slight bit of sound from the corner. Today instead, I had my back to a corner of the room, and the rear of the mic pointed towards the tiny hallway connecting my room to the bathroom. I think the signal is clearer and does not sound as boxy as before.

On the flip side, it appears I just had my first encounter with a resonant room mode. I didn't pick up on this until after I put on my VRM box for the final checks, and hear very clearly, a whistling, like flutes, on two of the loud notes. I had to use some serious high-Q on my notch filters to remove it. But by doing so, it caused the body of the instrument to be removed as well.

Annoying, but what I did was split of the section (it was two quarter notes long) and EQ'ed it separately to the rest.

Erm, apart from that I thought my arrangement could really use more umph, some parts just feel dead. Ah well, always next month :)

Counterpoint: Major

After a very enlightening lesson this week, I decided to firm up my understanding before moving on to counterpoint in minor. I still need to work on a few short phrases for two part counterpoint, but I have to finish up my backing track for my jazz improv track tomorrow.

In other news, I currently have a major lust for a Bosendorfer 290 sample set. First choice is VSL of course, but it's like EU149 for the Bosendorfer Imperial, and the newer Vienna Imperial costs more than triple that.

My favourite other sample company is SampleTekk and they've got a beautiful PMI Bosendorfer 290 :3 And the price is good. Don't need it now, but if I do, will most likely go for the sampletekk.

Counterpoint: Major

Having no life and feeling somewhat better today, I did 3 exercises, counterpoint in major, followed by two line counterpoint, and finally some 4 part harmony with the lead line from the first counterpoint exercise. Eh,  hope I'm doing the right thing.

Sequencing: Flute Quartet in A major

Sequenced a very abridged version of Flute Quartet in A major, K298 by Mozart. I think the mixing isn't too bad, but the flute is quite lifeless when compared against a live flute. Need to work harder!

I think this is mainly because I am following the score too rigidly, and used the performance legato patches all the way as it was mainly slurs and single notes. Listening to a live version on youtube I can probably replace certain portions with portato patches, maybe even trills in places. ALWAYS REMEMBER REFERENCE!

Counterpoint: Major

After clearing up some questions from the last lesson, this is a few short phrases using major harmony.

Chaconne - Two in One upon a Ground

Home sick today, some stomach issues. Spent what time I was awake sequencing this. Found the score off imslp.

Counterpoint: Two Lines

More homework... hope I got the rules all in.

Trumpet Concerto

A short sequencing test for the solo trumpet part of Hadyn's Trumpet Concerto, 3rd movement. I really should have checked it against youtube vids, I think I overdid the attacks in this test, and whilst it sounded quite appealing, it is far from musical compared to the mellower performances on youtube. Live and learn.

And here is an updated piece featuring less aggressive samples:
 

Counterpoint: Minor

Exercise 2 on my list is counterpoint with minor keys. The 3 different kind of minors together with the rules of counterpoint are seriously messing with my head.... >.>

Sweetness, combining articulations

Sweetness! Read some tips about improving weak attacks in vsl and figured out how to setup a patch so that only certain notes have a stronger attack, but still keeping the legato performance.

If I were to combine just the legato patch with sfz or staccato, the additional layer will always play with new triggered notes, but, if I used a Y axis keyswitch to switch the patch from legato + additional layer to just legato, it works!!!! Woo! I also tried it along the horizontal axis, evidently it does not work that way. Dun dun dun! I love my vsl :3

Some other patches I've tried combining that worked very well (this is on the Oboe) e.g. sfz + pfp swell, adds a nice bit to the attack, then swells. GAAAAAAH I WANT THE FULL LIBRARY OF ARTICULATIONS! Imagine the combinations and possibilities!

Counterpoint Practice

Oooookay, I officially started doing counterpoint this week. Got a few rules to follow for monotonic melodies.... will have one or two more exercises complete by Monday.