pumpy_heart's Compositions

[pumpy_heart]

I'll put whatever isn't being published here. If you steal it, you'll die. If something gets published, I'll post links to appropriate listening and purchasing places here as well.
For now, these are just assignments for my Composition lessons. They all had to be in two voice style for piano, each piece mimicking a piece from Bartok's Mikrokosmos. I'd like for you to see the music as well, instead of just listen. There's more to learn that way.

An Error
MUS
This piece was to mimic "An Errant." The melody is transposed and imitated throughout the two voice texture. The melody is continued through a voice while a new line enters to match the melody until the slow down anticipates the recapitulation.

Chromatic Intentions
MUS
This piece mimics "Chromatic Implications." Here, the melody is transposed, inverted, and imitated throughout the piece. The ABA form sets up the imitation quite nicely. The transpositions lend themselves to diversity throughout the manipulated melody and lead back to the recapitulation at the end. However, the B section melody is first used at the recap to hide the recapitulation.

I was planning on adding a bunch of my assignments up here over the break, but I left one of my notepads at school. Oh well.
Comments are welcome.

[spitllama]

Wow talk about dissonance. I'm glad to find another fan. Everyone always thinks it sounds bad, but when it's used correctly it's great! I might recommend, as a listener, to use it a bit less, however. Both compositions use it throughout, and it can give the impression that you're actually doing it wrong lol. Are "An Errant" and "Chromatic Implications" both Contemporary?

Great job with those. It's nice to hear some fresh stuff. Do you compose for your classes or for free time?

[pumpy_heart]

Yeah, they're both contemporary. I'll take classes to learn how to better compose from the styles of previous centuries. However, my composition classes (at first) deal with 20th/21st Century compositions because no other class really teaches how to compose that way.
Each piece has a melody and it's treated like any other melody has been throughout the years. Imitated, variations, etc. happen throughout Contemporary music. Newer pieces have smaller motific ideas, if any at all. So this is all based on early contemporary pieces such as Bartok.

I composed these for classes, but I compose in free time as well. It's hard to write tonal music now without being as critical as I am with these contemporary based compositions. Which means I normally don't like my tonal pieces as much anymore. XD I'm sure I'll get back to it once I finish up this contemporary study. The first semester of composition was just getting used to and listening to contemporary music and developing simple contemporary pieces. Serialism is this upcoming semester, learning about 12 tone rows and being able to identify their use. Of course, some contemporary composers don't even use 12 tone rows anymore, finding that technique outdated. Funny.

But anyways, these pieces are me trying to learn and identify with contemporary pieces. I've written other pieces before that are much more tonal and will probably return to that after learning some of these newer contemporary skills. Just a tool in the arsenal when I hopefully (crosses fingers) become a video game composer.

[spitllama]

That would be so freakin sweet. You have to remember your days here when you get some big name in video game composition haha

[MaestroUGC]

What would you prefer to write: atonal or mostly tonal music?

[pumpy_heart]

Oh I would. This place kinda got me started in music period. I taught myself a little piano from the sheets on the site, started arranging before I even started my current primary instrument (bassoon) in high school. Started learning theory from analyzing these sheets, then moved on to the musical academics in high school. Now studying to be a Music Composition major. Might head out to USC for grad school. They got video game composers there who teach and I could pick up film scoring techniques as well.

Probably tonal. Atonal has it's kicks though too. Depends on the performers and the audience though really, as all music should. If I'm writing classical pieces for a younger player or ensemble, tonal would be better. If I'm writing classical pieces for an advanced large ensemble, probably a mixture of both with more atonal than tonal. Advanced chamber music would probably be all atonal, as there's such a lack of those in the repertoires of performers for their specific instrument or small ensemble.
In the video game or film medium, it depends on the situation. Many new AAA titles contain both, some almost purely atonal during gameplay. So it depends on the situation there.
Long answer to your question, but to me, I don't mind writing either one. I want to write what's best for the performers, performance, and the audience. What about you?

[MaestroUGC]

I agree that the music should be made to fit the situatuation/scene, but I prefer to use a healthy blend of the two. It all comes down to the issue of finding your own voice. Personally, I don't depend on the musicians and audience to determine what I write. Sure, I'd need to make sure a few of my works are palatable so they can be successful, but ultimately I write music for me. I currently find myself in the midst of two totally different routes of my music, a few of my projects a severely atonal, avante-garde music, while most of the rest are more conventional. The others are some blend of the two. Who would you say are your influences, who you regard as your model of music?

[pumpy_heart]

I mean, the audience seems to currently be ignored by the avant-garde and people don't attend classical concerts nearly as much because of that. But the audience I plan to normally be prepared for is the gamers out there and what they need to hear in the music. It kinda helps me to write thinking about the audience. My voice will be a mixture of the art we know as a video game.

I kinda have a ton of influences. If I was to write a classical piece for orchestra, it'd probably be Debussy after whom I'd model. Piano pieces, Beethoven and Mozart are grand as well. Berg is great at almost everything. As far as media audio is concerned, Nobuo Uematsu does great things with looping. Koji Kondo innovated all the time, especially with Ocarina of Time. Marty O'Donell has done the best disguising looping in recent years. Going forward in the industry would be Gary Schymann. I've read a lot about game audio and heard the most music from that, so the techniques used are more applicable to a game composer rather than a true new composer. Film music steals, as does game music, as does all music. Not looking to reinvent the wheel, but rather how it's spun.

[MaestroUGC]

Fantastic, that's exactly what I like to hear.

[pumpy_heart]

Is there a like button yet on these new forum things?

[spitllama]

No we need them

[pumpy_heart]

And a ton more, but not to be shared publicly. Message me if interested.

[pumpy_heart]

Hey guys. I finished a piece last semester and thought maybe some old friends would like to hear this.

Here is Festive Fire

[pumpy_heart]

Event!!!

Something something Composition Recital! This will be streamed.

A teaser just for those of the community. The last piece will be a small chamber piece coordinated with a video game player on-stage playing a game... Which game will it be...

Hope you can join and enjoy the stream! =D

[K-NiGhT]

omg hi pumpy!

edit: when will this be streamed? i'm kinda interested.