Oobleck for Orchestra

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

Hey @Eickso!

I like the complete version of this piece!  It definitely has a unique sound-world of its own, and the most noteworthy thing about it for me is the ending which to me resembles a slowly deflating balloon as it makes its annoying noise as it flies around the room LoL.  Or maybe it's more about the oobleck, which had thickened and solidified in the former portion of the piece, which then turns back into an amorphous slime when force stops being applied?  Nice job!  The microtonality used in this way, to create these kind of unique textures and orchestral effects is very effective and attractive even.  The only thing I miss in this piece is the exposition and development of themes, but that might be my own bias as a thematic composer.  And I did recognize the piece from before when you shared the incomplete version, so I think it did manage to leave a trace in my memory even without traditional themes.  Thanks for sharing!

Now that I listen more closely, there are in fact themes woven throughout this piece, they are just orchestrated and set in very belligerent and obnoxious ways LoL.

Edit:  Another something I forgot to add, is that the ending effect of the triumphant fanfare being contradicted by by the deflating of the balloon is especially hilarious!

9 minutes ago, PeterthePapercomPoser said:

Now that I listen more closely, there are in fact themes woven throughout this piece, they are just orchestrated and set in very belligerent and obnoxious ways LoL.

Edit:  Another something I forgot to add, is that the ending effect of the triumphant fanfare being contradicted by by the deflating of the balloon is especially hilarious!

 

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.

This is awesome! I really like the aesthetic and the unique harmonic textures. The climaxes on pg 8 and 10-11 are particularly enjoyable.

Out of curiosity, do you have some sort of framework for using the quarter tones? Like a set of chords you use, or certain rules of counterpoint? Or is it more or less freely based on what you thought sounds good?

On 9/14/2024 at 11:34 PM, gmm said:

This is awesome! I really like the aesthetic and the unique harmonic textures. The climaxes on pg 8 and 10-11 are particularly enjoyable.

Out of curiosity, do you have some sort of framework for using the quarter tones? Like a set of chords you use, or certain rules of counterpoint? Or is it more or less freely based on what you thought sounds good?

 

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.