Landon

Greetings to all! Well today I decided to concentrate hard and actually write a complete piece from beginning to end, as opposed to several random lines or exercises. I'm pleased with how it turned out, especially the first minute, although after that I'm not so sure. In some parts I can't help get the feeling that the idea has been used before by someone else (do you guys ever get that feeling?). I certainly hope it hasn't. Anyway, I've attached both the .mus file and a link to the mp3, which is really a recording of the Finale midi playback off my soundcard using Audacity. You see, my Allegro trial period ran out a while back and so I've been having to make due with Notepad, which is far from ideal. I can't get the dynamics and all to play back the way I want to and on top of that after using Allegro the lack of features in Notepad becomes sorely obvious. Comments and criticism welcome! -Landon (copy and paste, for some reason hyperlink wasn't working) Rain.mus

Thanks! that clears a lot of things up. I'm pretty sure I understand the concept now. -Landon

Ok, so I'm going through reading and taking notes on Walter Piston's Harmony and I came across a part where he mentions the Corelli Clash. "The anticipation in the cadence shown below, with the tonic sounding simultaneously with its own leading tone, is an example of the so-called Corelli Clash" But what is the Corelli Clash? In the index that was the only example given and the only page mentioning it. I did a google search and came up with several definitions. At first I only got extremely general terms like "a bold harmonic suspension" but even then Harmony listed the example under the Anticipation section, not the Suspension section. Then I searched further and found two definitions, one "a form of 2-3 suspension in the minor mode that results in some interesting dissonances" and two, "going from V7 (root position) to I6 (first inversion)" So what is it exactly? Thanks, -Landon

As a pianist, I can say that Hanon helps a lot, just start at a slow tempo on the metronome and slowly speed up. When you get to the quarter note speeds and you're having trouble, try stopping on every beat. It can take a while, and doing a boatload of slow speeds on those things can be a real pain (I know) but it seriously improves your figures. Schmitt is easier and a lot shorter if you are absolutely sick of Hanon and in need of variety. Together they make up the bulk of my technical exercises. Just practice every day, and remember, sometimes it can take a while to actually see major improvement, -Landon

Very true. In fact, I find most of the new bands today pretty bad. Not to say there aren't some really innovative groups out there, because there are. Its the same with classical or traditional composers: there's some really original stuff and some not so original. There is some really original three-chord rock, even though the most original bands, in my opinion are the progressive groups. Oh, and Kansas is coming through my way this May! I think a lot of people stereotype them for their more popular radio-friendly songs and dismiss their sprawling masterpieces like The Pinnacle, Magnum Opus, Icarus, etc -Landon

My favorite genre of rock is progressive by far. Of course, there are so many prog subgenres that thats a little bit a generalization (I don't particularly like progressive metal, speaking in general) and a lot of my favorite bands have since , unfortunately, gone more towards mainstream rock. My favorite groups are, in no particular order: Yes Gentle Giant Genesis Kansas Spock's Beard Jethro Tull Queen to name a few. I love the beautiful, elaborate, and complex musical textures these bands often produce, often involving heavy counterpoint and other such devices. Even though 70s Queen is really only part progressive, they're still my favorite band, or at least my second favorite. So yeah, I like rock a lot, but especially progressive, -Landon EDIT: More of the Giant On Reflection - Really Beautiful Song Excerpts from Octopus - Contains one of my favorite acoustic parts of all time + a madrigal (how often do you see that in rock?)

I enjoy a lot of video game music, especially Zelda, which is my favorite video game franchise. I find a lot of the pieces to be quite good, and to vary and develop rather well. I guess it depends on which game ect, because music like the original Super Mario Bros. theme is obviously a simple repeated tune, but more recently a lot of the music has gotten much more complex. Final Fantasy has also had some very nice music, even though I'm not much of a fan of the series. -Landon

Ah! There it is! Thanks! -Landon

Hi I downloaded the 30-day trial version of Allegro and really enjoy the interface ect. If I get notation software, I'm definitely going with a version of Finale, but I also noticed that when I'm composing the piece won't run any longer than a few pages. Seeing the extent that Finale is used in the music world, I'm sure I just missed something, but how do I change the length of the piece? -Landon