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Hi! Thanks for listening. I definitely do not have any sort of practical system or toolkit I am pulling from with the quarter tones. They are just something that I love because I feel like only having 12 tones to use at a time is too limiting to the colors, emotions, and moods that I want to express through music. However, I like to use them in this way of just extending the harmony rather than being just sound effects or gimmicky. What I will say with this piece, though, is how much I clicked with using quarter tones to subvert expectations on romantic music. Just taking major / minor chords and flattening the 3rd down a quarter tone adds a complex emotional depth. A lot of the work was finding intentional ways to use a tone to build a chord that fit what I was trying to express in a certain section, which sometimes meant not using quarter tones at all / I would have to mess around to find what pitch worked. My favorite part of this piece is that page 11 true major chord climax. We spend 6.5 minutes never having a pure cadential major chord that it makes it feel so meaningful to arrive there. It helps re-contextualize such a cliche that is present across all of classical music. How many pieces have you heard end on a tutti major chord like that? But, when the entire work is fighting towards that one moment of a true 12-tone major chord, it makes it feel so fresh.

That is so interesting you view that ending as hilarious! To me, this entire work is serious (outside of the title not sounding so). That one true, pure major chord at the end marks this deeply emotional climax that we fought for the whole piece. Everything is on the verge of falling apart, but we finally get this one major chord, only for it to ooze away into a mess of nothing. Isn't it amazing how many more tools for twisting themes and motifs there are when introducing 24-TET? I think this romantic context was such a fun sandbox to mess around with because it makes it so much more striking to hear all of these romantic sounds be "out of tune." I am sure I can see your argument for some of the screeching and obnoxious stuff being humorous, but the emotion in my heart when I wrote it and as I listen to it is more based in sadness. There is not really anything about the meaning behind the gestures that comes from a joke this time around, which I think is why this work stands for being so personal to me.

Yo! I am so pumped to show you my latest completed work. It is a special one to me, and one I am proud of for capturing lots of beauty / stating many things without making it too difficult performance-wise (outside of the quarter-tones). Would love to hear thoughts: https://youtu.be/UywtvFo4Qi4

Hello, I think I like this a good bit! The unnatural velocity (in DAW terms) of the bass clarinet makes it hard for me to follow the line. Like, the bass clarinet's blend does not make it as cohesive to follow as the percussion. I love the percussion, especially because it sounds pretty realistic. While I love the percussion, that is also what I want to comment on. It of course sounds nice. But, with the ranges you use, the constant activity of the percussion, and the lack of switching instruments you use, the percussion just sounds the sound the whole time. There were several moments where the vibes were playing a repeating line. Could have been cool to have it slowly morph into a set of toms playing a different groove. Or to utilize more of the timbres available even by the vibes. More lows, less sustains, possibly the glock could play some colorful out-of-chord notes. The percussion sounds are in the box and I want to hear you take them out of the box more. - Evan

Hello, It is quite lush. I like that it is not overwritten. This looks like it would sound good with a real orchestra. My favorite parts were the times you went for a big contrast. There was one moment everything got loud, when the piccolo joined in, that was especially powerful. You do a good job changing up the aural environments you put this simple melody, which allows the work to convey some unique feelings. This is something I used to do in my works a lot, and I personally love using motifs to give certain sections of music a new meaning. - Evan

Hey! Thank you! I really only tried to mimic Mahler in like 2 of the sections, but yes - I am trying to do something different. I do not think this specific piece has room for jokes. You could interpret the loud chirping as a joke, but it is more meant to be something upsetting that is interrupting the pretty melody. I am having fun and feel most called with this work to create something romantically-aligned, but in order for it to be done my way it needs to have this extended harmony. It is the only way I feel I can insert "me" into this type of music faithfully. There is so much more emotion I can convey in any given section by throwing in quarter tones or hiding major chords amongst a pile of oobleck. Like, that final build to the messed up major chord being blasted by the bass instruments is one of my favorite things I have composed, and it works because we expect a major chord to sound a certain way. I think it is amazing how something as simple as lowering a pitch by -25 cents in a major chord can make you completely uneasy. I am definitely actively trying not to be super contemporary in my writing and am working to pay homage to romantic era music. The sweeping lines, bigger focus on counterpoint, and orchestration is really what my push here has been. I appreciate your words of encouragement. Hopefully I will be able to share a more complete version in a few months!

Hi, I’m a clarinet player. But, for oboe, yes it gets a bit high. It is meant to be obnoxious, though, so the register should be fine?

Hello, I have been pretty in the mud on this piece I am writing. I had good steam, but fell off a bit. I really like this concept of romantic/Mahler but messed up, and I like the material I have here. I am going to pick it up to start working on it again for a call for scores I want to submit it to, but I just wanted to ask for some of your thoughts before I get into again! Score: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/qc63mx6he5pmvk4yt0cyn/01-Full-score-Sketches-to-Get-Me-in-the-Mood-of-Orchestra.pdf?rlkey=pky0orqwjilgwpa7hvryogd2r&st=tnmyoyex&dl=0 Audio: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/zqukrchsclku4ks013755/Orchestral-Sketches-Version-7.19.24-WIP-Piece.mp3?rlkey=ut6qrhh3exlfejca6rh6yl2ix&st=mx2dxwhl&dl=0

This opportunity is seeking composers from anywhere in the world who have heard no more than 5 of their pieces premiered across their life to submit (not including self-performed premieres) to receive: $400 paid commission to compose a 5-10 minute work for solo EFX clarinet (clarinet and guitar FX pedals) Premiere of the commissioned piece by professional clarinetist Chris Mothersole Professionally recorded and mastered track of the commissioned piece Professional engraving of the commissioned piece by Evan Erickson Sponsored by Dorico, a copy of Dorico Pro 5 ($579) Sponsored by Wallander Instruments, a copy of Noteperformer 4 ($129) Submissions close June 9th with no required entry fee. Click here for more details and the application form: https://www.evanericksonmusic.com/2024-call-for-scores

Woah, weird to hear I was being talked about and discussed. Would love to see that conversation. Is there some place on discord someone shared my work, because the YouTube link has been getting a lot more views than I thought it would? These past few months, I actually have really clicked with improvisatory music and the idea of arranging soundscapes through less-controlled means. You are still able to construct a song with meaning, purpose, and structure, but the end result is something different than these written down / more controlled means of music-making give. In a big way, my approach to this piece was applying this new appreciation I have for sound arrangement into my written music. Now, this piece was a direct order from my teacher to be designed to "win competitions," so he gave me a plethora of rules. I wasn't allowed to use box notation, because apparently it is more impressive to see everything written out note by note. I had to make it constantly attention grabbing, and it had to be at the highest quality output for any idea I wrote down. While so much of this piece is technically extremely difficult, it was my way of expressing this newfound improvisatory chaos that has been building inside of me. There is no way for any of these rhythms and gestures to be performed perfectly, but the intent behind the jumbledness (or togetherness, at times) allows for less stress beyond the notes IF it were to be performed. When I was first starting this work, I was still in the process of being broken. I was still a bit scared for my supporters and possible listeners to be scared off by me leaning into what my teacher was pushing me to be. But, at one point, I realized I just want to create something more than happy minimalism. I want to create that really gritty gently caressed up stuff that just sounds cool (which is why I am so excited for the electroacoustic phase I can feel is about to happen with me). I am not saying I did that or not with this work, but I wanted to push myself to grow. I wanted to push myself really hard to implement my ideas in a mindset I had never done before. Everything displaced, everything muddied, and gestures / soundscapes that I experimentally crafted piece by piece. I know there will be pieces beyond this one, and they will each have different intents and purposes behind them. But, I think for this one, it was for me primarily. I just wanted to really invest myself in this as an educational tool and form of self-expression, inviting people into what emotions I felt like conveying. In this case, I wanted to create something powerful, off the walls, anxiety-inducing, and constantly stressful. Within every idea I had, there was an opportunity to keep it digestible and normal. But, that was the challenge of this work, and the namesake to it. To take every idea I would normally write and express it differently. I have elements of minimalism all throughout, but I just layered, spliced, deleted, and transposed a bunch of it in a way old Evan would scoff at. Each idea is still wholly me, but I could not cave in to doing it the lazy way in this piece. And, about a month and a half into the process (and two years of composition lessons TRYING to accept this teaching), it finally clicked for me. I could naturally write out these ideas in a way that fit the growing narrative of the work, and I could arrange the notes on the page to create what my heart sought in a section. I have honestly been pleasantly surprised to see any positive feedback to what I have created. It means a lot to have people open to listening, and from that, finding things within that speak to them. That is always what my music has been about, regardless of the maturity of how I express an idea. Thanks for taking the time to listen and write to me. Hopefully this string of thoughts gives some context to the work.

Hey thanks for all of this. My teacher and I really threw out playability as a concern just because I ALWAYS try to write for the players. This was his teaching tool to get me composing differently and have nothing holding back my ideas. I kinda came to terms 1/2 through writing this was really hard and idk who would ever play it, but now I just want it to be a representation of me as a composer today. I can go fix enharmonics. Though, my goal was to make it easier to read note to note rather than having the chords match up between all instruments. This is what has been put into my head from what I’ve been taught. The violin 8va thing is weird, but okay. At the least, I’ll keep them in the score. Maybe for the next ACO Earshot I’ll spend a couple days adding /substituting parts to make it a more real “orchestra piece.” I justvhave no idea where this would get played except by some really niche, really tight contemporary group. And even then, there’s a lot of competition for easier music. I am just hoping this can be a stepping stone to lead to more opportunities being open. Thanks for your comments!

It is now linked.

Dropping my latest piece! It’s a big one for me, and a totally new flavor for me as a composer. Would love to hear thoughts score: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/zzflevf46gpyxbc2p6l12/You-Broke-Me-Score.pdf?rlkey=rlnn05xdt8iris14g7qgjlu3w&dl=0

Hey all, A really big premiere happened for me this week that I wanted to share. This is my solo sax piece I shared the midi of earlier this year, but now it was performed by my truly amazing bestie. Curious to hear your thoughts. The grit and energy put in by the performers was perfect and expresses this bridge piece between old tonal Evan and new weird Evan perfectly. Still lots of composing happening. My stuff is quite different these days. Will probably be back for advice next month on my next work.

Thanks for doing this and your support to both the forum + my own pursuits. I love seeing your name show up and it always means a lot that you take time to comment on my work. I wish I had time to be active here less selfishly, but I hope some of my other volunteer efforts morally make up or this… Regardless, please reach out by email or on my website any time you want my feedback on a work (or just a guaranteed listen)! Best, Evan