jcharney

I'm teaching a clinic to a high school AP music theory class on writing and engraving in Sibelius - it will be two sessions, one 50 minutes and one 90 minutes. Does anyone have any teaching resources/ideas for engaging a high school class with it? I'm thinking of making a general lesson plan of letting them compose something after a quick tutorial, and be there in the computer lab to answer questions. If they're not into that, I'll have some excerpts they can choose transcribe/arrange. I kind of want to make a handout with some shortcuts/basic functions, screenshots. Does anyone have a suitable resource? AFAIK, they have Sibelius 4 in the lab (since I have 6, I'm not going to get too specific because I don't know what details were added in later versions). Thanks!

I think this is my favorite of your pieces I have heard...I really like the textures/harmonies at the beginning and particularly your use of harp. I wish you had sustained the departure from tonality (speaking of which, in C major?? haha) to the end, I think the last system could be improved upon with just a few non-triad notes. Some spice. also, Iol'd at the "(1990- )" underneath your name.

cool, I will check those out pronto! Either way, it's a small world!

So absolutely wonderful. The 11/8 is not awkward at all, you make the time signature really work. This reminds me sooo much of Ravel's violin sonatas (which are just incredible as I'm sure you agree, in fact, there is a motive right out of Sonata Posthume to me) and I liked your harmonies. I would like to see a little more rhythmic variation in the piano though leading up to the climax, but I really like how you changed it up. Good synthesis of early 20th century French music (my personal favorite) but yet with a contemporary personal touch. Share a recording if you get a performance! I love this piece!

Thanks for the listen! I'm actually not familiar with Prokofiev's piano music at all (I should probably change this). When I clear some other projects in the pipeline, I'll write some more...they're really fun to write and one doesn't really have to worry about development or anything haha. Koos went to my high school in Kansas for a few years...we were next to each other in the trumpet section (he was an AMAZING player). I haven't talked to him in a long time though. How do you know him? I suppose Holland is a much smaller country :P

I genuinely like the second movement and the third is perfectly timed at the end for comedic effect (especially since they are just unimposing thirds and then a fifth :lol: )

Can you post an undistorted version??? It's much worse with the distortion :) but i'm just curious

This is excellent. I love the modality and the speed at which the piece unfolds. Perhaps it is because I was listening to it while gazing outside at the falling snow, but the way you treat silence is great and certainly heightens the effect. It's very Satie to me. Looking forward to hearing more of your work.

A collection of unrelated miniatures for solo piano, which I hope to keep updating. Miniatures

a Threnody for concert band on the for the unexpected death of a band parent/volunteer. This is not finished...I just need opinions of more experienced orchestrators. This is being performed and it is due 01/05 - I have a few days to make some changes. How do you think this works for a pretty good high school concert band? Score has not been proofread except as I went along drafting it...so I'm working on that now and already have a few changes to harmonies/instrumentations I will make (and clean it up!). The aleatoric figures that appear throughout, first in Clarinet 1 and 2 are intended to have the section alternate between the notes for the duration of the squiggle, all at different speeds. How should I note this (more eloquently and clear of course)? Should I do it on each part or in the score or both? Thanks everyone. As usual, percussion playback is a bit screwy Ascent

Hey everyone... I really want to do a summer festival but the one I wanted to apply to (the Bang on a Can festival in Boston) has an age limit for which I don't qualify. I'm also applying to The Cortona Sessions (a new festival) but it seems not worth the money as it's in Italy and one of the composers on the faculty is my teacher... ( http://www.cortonasessions.com/ ) Are there any good (AFFORDABLE, or with scholarships) summer workshops or festivals for young composers out there that anyone can personally recommend? I've done some googling but it's hard to figure out what's legit/worth it.

Question for the musicologically inclined out there: Is there an adjective that describes systems of notation like Western staff? A word that conveys the qualities of displaying pitch and/or rhythm on a linear timeline but not necessarily limited to the connotations of our modern notation system? I'm writing a paper and trying to make some generalizations about different notations. (I haven't been to the site since it converted...this is really strange to me but it looks good. How long ago did this happen?)

Ok, so I'm in this competition at my school. The "Iron Composer" competition. I was given criteria at 8 AM to write a one-minute piece in 24 hours to be performed on Friday at a concert, in which 2 finalists will write a piece in 15 minutes. So it had to be for violin and bassoon and use the "home on a range" motive as the first five notes. ("Oh give me a home...") I decided to use the whole melody...it's in four sections, all mirroring the rapidly changing Kansas weather. Attached is the first draft. Are there any issues with range/technique that stand out? Any suggestions? It's due at 8 am tomorrow! Thanks for the quick help! mp3: homeontherange.mp3 - File Shared from Box.net - Free Online File Storage homeontherange.pdf

I think this is something that the community is closed off from, name or not. There just really isn't a good place for intelligent discussion for composers of commercial (or any kind of non-art music). I think a "re-branding" would be key in encouraging this development. I think good progress is being made on this. The setup of this site has tremendous potential for realizing this even further. The key. The level of discourse here is what brings me back and reading. It's the strength of our senior, experienced members on which this depends. I'm for rebranding.

Have you written any more photons recently? I rediscovered this thread and am happily enjoying all of the music you posted in it.