Jo Nomad

(Does learning music history inhibit the actual original "creation" of music? That could be a sound reason for rebuking music history.) .... Anyway! The question seems to be paradoxical. Do you need music history? CAVEMAN: ugh. ......... ugh. ugh. .......... *beats primitive drum* .... howl. ugh. ^This caveman did not know anything about music history when he played the first instrument. Music history is a tool. It is a road map. If one has a decent knowledge of music history, then he can do little more than tell you what period a piece was written in, who the composer was, and what they were going through at the time. Music theory, however, is infinitely more important than music history, and it's not even supremely important. Look at Cage (Water Walk, 4'33'')! BUT! for the rest of us who want to make music, theory is the best way to learn. I have never taken theory and it took me the better part of a year to get a sense of key, time, and rhythm. During this time, however, I could tell you everything about Classical Era composers short of what they had for breakfast on a given day. It didn't help me contribute to the musical community or even understand their music. Fundamentally, the most important thing that one seeking to understand music should have is a sense of their own personal musical philosophy and the ability to accept, and, to a certain degree, understand the musical philosophy of others.

I see a lot of criticism for the lack of dynamics, so I feel obligated to explain myself. I haven't entered any dynamics in the score because I feel that the performers will instinctively "feel" the right level of volume to play at. No instrument hogs the limelight, if you will, but instead supports the line of every other instrument. When this piece is performed, a note will be attached that will tell the performers to gradually crescendo in and decrescendo out. As far as the portions of the piece in which every instrument is playing, there should be no dynamic shift whatsoever. I guess my only defense for excluding dynamics from the score is that I, as a composer, don't want to interfere with any natural processes which might unravel as the piece is played. The performers should be able to simply know what to do. Thank you for the critiques and comments. Keep 'em coming!

Things I liked: Rhythm at 39-42 Collision theme was well-illustrated. Creative use of chords. Things I didn't like: Monotonous rhythm 2+2+3. It is driving, but collisions are rarely that constant. Triplets on the trumpet at the end. Too showy. Covered up some potential in the rhythm. Overall: It's good. The things I mentioned that I didn't like don't take away too much from the overall quality of the piece. It's very descriptive. Good Job and keep 'em coming! Jon

Hello YC! It's been a while, but I think I've written something you can enjoy! It is a minimalistic compostition for flute, oboe, bassoon, glockenspiel, xylophone, piano, violin, viola, and cello. It is written completely without dynamics for two reasons: one, no one instrument is more important than any other, and two, the intensity is not supposed to change throughout. The meter is a catchy 7/8, the key is Bb, and the tempo while not breakneck isn't lagging, either. I am looking forward to having this performed sometime this summer. The piece is meant to illustrate night life without being dark, moody, scary, or in any other way cliche. As always, any comments or critiques would be appreciated. Thanks! Jon SoundClick artist: Jon Ginder - page with MP3 music downloads Long After Night Has Fallen.mus Long After Night Has Fallen.pdf

I know it doesn't follow the exact structure for a rondo, but it's close. Besides, it's more modern than classical, so I don't think structure is all that important. I could be totally wrong, but whatever- if I am, I'll change the title. ANYWAY about the piece. It's very high-energy. 232 beats per minute. I wrote it in two hours because there are a lot of repeats throughout. It's really repetitive, but the people I've already shown it to say that it doesn't really take away from the listening experience. A-theme: Really high-energy. Bouncy. B-theme: Basses and cellos keep the fast rhythm, upper strings bring in a slower melody. C-theme: A bridge. SoundClick artist: Jon Ginder - page with MP3 music downloads Rondo.mus Finale 2009 - [Rondo.mus].pdf

This is great! Admittedly, I've never read any Lewis Carrol, but I've seen the movie "Alice in Wonderland" and been in the play "Follow that Rabbit." From what I've gleaned from these, the Queen of Hearts is a caricature. You've shown me a "different side" of her: I appreciate it. The music is well executed, very dark and primitive. Makes you wonder if the King of Hearts is Vlad the Impaler. Very well done. Jon

Haha, it's hard to pick out, I guess. However, it's very present: not a theme so much as an idea. I'm sure that you would find it in a heartbeat if you looked at the score. BTW: Thank you! I think I found the new title! Scratch "Smoky Mountain Sunrise," the new title is "A Very Pleasant Rambling."

Hunter: You're right about the title. Little cheesy, I'll work on it, haha. Ron: Three hours on the first day, two hours on the second. (This one sort of just fell out of me, haha.) Thank you for listening. Thank you more for enjoying!

Bravo! When I first looked at the score and saw all the whole notes tied together, I have to admit: I thought the piece would be boring. I realized very early in the work that my assumption was dead wrong. What a hauntingly beautiful melody! The ideas on performance are immensely creative. I tip my hat to you! I could visualize this being played in a dim, candle-lit room. The music and the atmosphere go perfectly hand-in-hand. Again, bravo! Jo Nomad

Hey everybody! This is a quartet for two violins, viola, and piano. It took two days to write. I'm pretty happy with it because it encompasses a lot of different ideas without really straying too far from the central idea. The piano part is sort of jarring and rythmic, but the strings really smooth it out. The scene is supposed to be a Sunrise, but there are hints of wildlife (the pizzicato=birds, etc.) Comments are, as always, welcome! Thank you! SoundClick artist: Jon Ginder - page with MP3 music downloads Quartet.mus Finale 2009 - [Quartet.mus].pdf

I'm impressed. I'm normally not one for atonal music, but this piece is very well done. I will listen to again later and tell you why I like it.

Here's the pdf. Sorry I didn't do that earlier. I just downloaded a pdf writer. Finale 2009 - [Rain.mus].pdf

Sorry about that, I don't know how to make .pdf 's. I knew that I was going to have to do more with dynamics (and probably change some levels on SoundPad as well.) Haha, stopping at 2:20... I'm afraid I have no real defense. Except that I have ended many a piece quite suddenly and without resolution because deep down, I really love seeing people look like they wish I'd gone on. It's a weird sort of complement I guess. I realize, however, that it's not practical for the purposes of, say, entertaining an audience. With this in mind I will do three things: - Ask someone to either help me learn to make .pdf's, or make one for me. (I'd rather learn myself.) -Change the levels in both Finale and SoundPad. -And try to expand the work... since it does kinda beg for it. Thank you for the comments.

Hello all, I wrote a piece for piano, Bb clarinet and celesta called "rain." It is supposed to emulate a (you guessed it) rainstorm. I tried to make the piece as convincing as possible, so I created a mood by reiterating motifs with different voices and reflections. The celesta gives the actual "raindrop" sound, but the piano and clarinet represent the drops falling. I want to make the mood as rainy as possible, so I wrote it normally (Rain), and then I made a version with cave-like echo (RainEffects). It is the same piece, but the echo creates a different mood. I'm worried that the original is too... flat. I think that's the word... one-dimensional. But I'm worried that RainEffects may be too busy, would require some cleaning up, especially in the 3/8 section, but I'm not sure. I need more ears, haha. So, please post which you think best accomplishes the mission of impersonating a rainstorm and why. Also, tell me what I can do to assuage my doubts about that version. I'm comfortable with re-working these a bit. SoundClick artist: Jon Ginder - page with MP3 music downloads Thanks in advance. Jon Rain.mus

I'm not offended by your analysis. Not everyone likes the same music, that's understandable. You did, however, point out that the piece is intended to convey a mood. So, if creating the mood was my goal, was the piece a success? Yes, and here it is. SoundClick artist: Jon Ginder - page with MP3 music downloads Any other comments?