It's Sunday morning, with...and thoughts turn to composing

[MarkB]

Good Morning All

It's overcast and raining, visibility is about one mile on the river, two miles from were I live, twenty stories up looking across the Detroit River at fog shrouded Detroit.

I just watched a 1,000 foot lake freighter turn mid river, down bound from where ever, and dock on the Detroit side, as sailboat with sails furled motored past, and an early morning kayaker slipped silently down the Windsor side.

I have lived with this view for twelve years now and never ever get tired of it. Which leads to thoughts of composing something for the River.

I have done extensive searching for any pieces of music that deals with the Detroit river and found a fiddle tune by Buddy McMaster "Trip through the Tunnel" and no others.

My question how does one start composing a piece of music ( I won't use the "t" and "s" words).

In the image I have now, is that it will be multi instrumental, whistles,(low & high)
flute, representing the different types of vessels on the river, and the atmospheric mood at the same time.

If there are any suggestions, I would be greatful.

Mark

[ErikT]

Wow! Mark. Talk about an open ended question. From the looks of the imagery in the first few lines of your post, you're well on your way as far as translating the observed environment into a different medium. I don't have the skill to offer any advice, except to say, that when you can reverse that translation in the mind of the listener, then you have achieved a supreme (classical) composition.

Peace,
Erik

[MarkB]

Thanks for your thoughts Eric. Sometimes I think I am cursed because I think visually and musically, one at time or both at the same time.

I was raised in a family of professional visual artists who loved music with just as much passion as they loved their art and the arts. So visual expression is nothing new for me, but is neither is music. My mom also played piano, my dad had a lovely voice but wouldn't sing in public.

When in art school years ago, my fourth year thesis (painting/printmaking) was based on the music of the Brendan Voyage. I took the tracks put them on a loop. Each track was the title for the work of art, and suggested the work before you.With each work representing a particular part of the voyage.

So imagery and music go hand and hand for me. But not composing. Just after I started into Irish traditional music I did a series of lithographs based on the movements of set dancing, The Lancers, for example.

Now I think that I am ready to compose something, I have the imagery, I just don't know how one starts.

Mark

[Whistlepeg]

Start with a melody......improvise for a while until you get something you like (keep a small tape recorder running so you don't have to work at remembering what you liked. Then add some chords (piano, guitar)- if you don't have/play accompaniments, get a friend over who does...somebody who plays well but also who will listen to your input..you can tell them if the chords they play are to your liking. Tape the whole thing, then play it back and add harmony lines. If you know notation write it down, or give it to somebody (friend, music student etc.) to write it out for you. As Erik said, you already have a great start. Good luck,
Sue

[WyoBadger]

Mark, I think Sue's right. I've made up several tunes, usually about specific events/places/times. Wait until the mood hits you again, have your whistles on hand, and just start playing what you feel. Don't try to get fancy and complex right off the bat. It's true--the heart of celtic music is melody. When the melody itself captures the scene, then the instrumentation, harmony, and so on will take care of itself.

One other thing: Don't get in a hurry. I believe it was Aaron Copeland (composor, not whistlesmith) who said "Never compose something until it becomes an absolute nuicance not to."

Good luck! I look forward to hearing it!

Tom

[MarkB]

Thank you Sue and Tom for your kind advice, it is a place to start.

As yesterday progressed and while practicing the whistle/flute and bodhran, I wrote down my impressions of the sound (in words) and drew some thumbnail sketches with them (story board).

It is going to take some time, but I think I found my winter project.

And Eric thank you for your encouragemt

Cheers

Mark

[Mark_J]

By all means, KEEP A RECORDER HANDY! Tape recorder, minidisc recorder, whatever. Don't let paper get in the way. Write dots later.

When you get the inspriation, play. Work with it. Play it and try to make variations. You may come upon a variation that ends up being the real tune.

I composed a jig last week. I have yet to work out which variation is the tune and which are just variations. It may take some while.

I've done a half dozen other works (some unfinished), but I don't play them well enough to do much with them. I've only played one publicly. I got some real positive feedback that they sounded very traditional.

Ed Reavy said about composing that after starting, the tunes just about write themselves. I feel that happens with me, too. I just wish it happened as well and as often as it did with Ed.

Cheers.

[jbgibson]

If you're twenty stories up, you're probably looking through plate glass, not something you can open, but however you do it, *listen* to the river. See if there's anything about its sounds that suggest a tune, or a theme, or even just a riff. Or maybe a possible instrument. Foghorn ... digiridoo? Big-boat horn ... Low D? Bird cries? Slap-slap of a wake against a wharf suggest a rhythm? Fog dropping in suggest dropping the reverb from a mix? Even if none of the sounds feels right incorporated in your piece, maybe indulging in 'em and exploring them will trigger a tune.

-- Jake

[MarkB]

Hi Jake

Actually I'm sitting on the balcony and on a still night you can hear the engines from the lake freighters, and all their whistles. And it is only a two block walk to the river, which has 7 kilometers of green space and trails along it. There are a ton of sounds. I even thought of doing a sound scape of the river in a 24 hour period at different seasons of the year.

There are no lack of ideas, or sounds but thanks for the ideas. I already have an idea for a multi whistle piece with flute, guitar and bodhran added. And I never wrote a piece of music in my life ---and I want to try something like this--what am I--nuts.

That has never stopped me from trying anything.

Mark

[TonyHiggins]

I saw Kevin Crehan play at a local venue a few months ago. He was mainly presenting his grandfather's tunes. Junior Crehan wrote a ton of dance tunes. One he mentioned was Hole in the Boat, a jig. He took the slow air, Eanach Dhuin, (aka Eanach Cuin) and changed it to a jig. (I think this is the same Hole in the Boat on L Nugent's Windy Gap. Anyway, compare the two tunes to see what he did.

So the opposite idea occurs to me. Take a dance tune and drastically alter the timing/rhythm as a starting point. I imagine it will take you off in another direction, all together. I'll have to try it myself.
Tony

[jomac]

Mess around, on the instruments of your choice, while watching the river you were talking about, with a tape recorder running. Do it a lot, repeated times. If something comes to mind that you cannot capture on the instrument, hum or sing it on the tape. Don't be afraid to add verbal descriptions of what you have in mind: "Ok, this melody .." (play it) .."with a rhythmic drone like this: taa te taa ta doodle de dumb (gawd I feel dumb) ..." Then after you get about 10 hours (or 20, or 2, or 1/2, or whenever you feel like it), start distilling it.

I get almost all of my ideas on my drive home. I always have a small recorder going in my car.

Joe