tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002923884396057823.post24704107399324145..comments2009-09-26T06:11:19.593-07:00Comments on Martha, composing: Blogging for the MCE: Nuts and Bolts (and Strings and Pedals)Marthahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03674780077272785239noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002923884396057823.post-85674436775301383912009-09-24T15:55:13.571-07:002009-09-24T15:55:13.571-07:00Hi, Deborah!
You definitely win the beer.
Yep, I...Hi, Deborah!<br /><br />You definitely win the beer.<br /><br />Yep, I like the latin/english macaronic texts a whole bunch, and I also like wassails. "Drinking for Jesus" works for me. <br /><br />Re the harp: nerdy composers go around trying to memorize whole tomes of orchestration and instrumentation information. You're clever to think of octave displacement, and smart to ask the question, "does the pedal affect all the strings of that name?" ... to which the answer is, yes, it does. Chromatic music is not impossible; it's just a nuisance to write and play. Some chords would be impossible (anything that had a G, G#, and A, for example, b/c the G# would have to spelled as either G sharp or A flat), but enharmonic spellings can usually work wonders ...<br /><br />Okay, back to writing new blog entries!<br /><br />:-)Marthahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03674780077272785239noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1002923884396057823.post-38160947610774212692009-09-22T20:27:46.549-07:002009-09-22T20:27:46.549-07:00Theme of those first three carols = drinking for ...Theme of those first three carols = drinking for Jesus!? (what, too obvious? there must be something way more subtle...)<br /><br />I find the mix of sacred and profane in texts like that appealing - brings the lofty ideas down to earth a bit, where they belong, amongst the humans that think them up. Maybe for the same reason, I enjoy the 3 poems that mix Latin and English. I like to imagine a time when Latin was so ubiquitous (in the life of the church) that bits of it snuck into daily expression ("with, ego dixi, have good day!").<br /><br />To the question of which style of writing I want to read in your blog, Martha - both, please! Your story about the meteor shower reminded me of how powerful that experience was the first time I had it, plus I'm glad to know that you think about what listeners will feel when they hear your music. (and curious to know what inspires you - stars? great! Whitey the skunk? ok, let me in on that sensation, too, why not?)<br /><br />And the nuts and bolts are endlessly fascinating, but then I was a music theory nerd. I love that composers have to learn a mnemonic for the harp pedals - who knew?? And what a serious constraint - does that mean it's nearly impossible to write chromatic music for harp? Does octave displacement get you around the pedal problem, or does the E pedal change the accidental on all the Es? How the heck does a harp work, anyway?? (I guess I should go look at Mark Adamo's blog!) <br /><br />Thanks also for sharing some sketches - though while I can "hear" that treble melody in my head, I'm not good enough to imagine the harmony you laid out. Will have to wait til a piano is near to check it out...<br /><br />Keep it up, this is fun, Martha - hope it's not distracting you *too* much from the actual composing!ddimasihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07232123881886232690noreply@blogger.com