Portfolio of Original Works and Projects
This page is a summary of assessed scores, reflections, and project descriptions from Semester 1 2023.
My focus this semester has been on reconnecting with music that I enjoy and personally connect with. In the last few years, I have found it difficult to find the time to explore anything beyond what was required as course "rep tunes" or concert repertoire. I made a point to listen to new music regularly, hence my website section "Song of the Month". I've also been trying to use these songs as influence in my own work, all of which are mentioned below. Some artists of note in my listening list are: The Westerlies (Brass Quartet), Sam Greenfield (funk sax), Remi Wolf (pop/indie), Vanessa Perica Orchestra (Contemporary Big Band), and Lynx (queer rap/electro punk). It's been a learning curve not being able to rely on improvised music or good ol' slash marks, while still trying to write loosely within the realm of "Jazz". This semester had quite a few firsts, including my first time writing for strings, saxophone quartet, and my first complete big band chart (another on the way). I have explored some new techniques for writing, mainly focusing on a tip from trombonist Shannon Barnett in which she picked an interval she didn't feel comfortable with and wrote a melody that relied on it. I have used this method with unfamiliar chords, scales, and thematic ideas in every one of my pieces. Due to a long-term illness, an exploding hard drive, and a jar's worth of pickles, I definitely didn't get to participate in as many opportunities as I would have liked. Next semester and onwards I will aim to apply for more competitions and inter-school collaborations. I did get the chance to workshop with a few percussionists, and with WAYJO, which helped me immensely. In the immediate future I have 2 commissioned projects: Wordsetting Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” to original music (Roleystone Theatre), and writing a theme song for a new stage play “Splash Zone”. |
Image by myself of me being the recording class vocal guinea pig
Honkin' - Solo Bari Sax/Bass Trombone
Love of Man - Duo Cello and Piano My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean - Saxophone Quartet Extracurriculars Composition Workshop |
Honkin'
Honkin' is a solo piece originally written for Baritone Saxophone, and later adapted to Bass Trombone for workshopping purposes. It loosely fits within “Grunge Funk”, taking inspiration from Rafa Rodrigues’ “Funck” and Sam Greenfield’s “Chips ‘n’ Dip” Thematically it reflects the duo of myself and Jess Skye Herbert (bari) in Artemis Orchestra, affectionately dubbed "Team Hefty". Technicality-wise, the piece is more focused on rhythm and beat than extensions and experimentalism. I wanted to establish a clear time-feel and groove that a player could lean in to. Artistically/Aesthetically I wasn’t explicitly looking to create a metaphor or invoke a deep meaning, as the style and intention were to groove as hard as possible without any supporting instruments or rhythm section.
The process for writing was pretty simple. I had had a section of “Funck” stuck in my head for a while, so I sat at in the MIDI lab with a synth keyboard and jammed. Writing the basis of the melody only took around an hour, the rest of the week being focused on refining the transitional bars and adding contrast in time, e.g the septuplet and ¾ bars. The structure is typical of a funk chart, with an intro that breaks down into a more spread out, but similar groove, a bridge, and outro. In mine, I opted to modulate up for the outro to add energy, ending in an interrupted phrase. While I didn’t use many extensions, I did choose to lean into the improvised/chaotic side of funk with the “Free Pitch” pause. This intends to give the player full control to let loose and express however they want to, as well as giving as much space between groove and smooth as possible. My initial concerns for this piece were that the jumps were too extreme for the tempo and that the polyrhythmic sections wouldn't fit into the time feel. Because of this I did reduce the tempo from the original, however this ended up improving for it was felt and made the various rhythms stand out more. After working with many sax players on other projects, I learnt that jumps, for the most part, are completely fine for wind instruments, however attempting 2 octaves on a bass trombone is very difficult, especially when sightreading. I was also advised that in a solo piece, time has a much less rigid meaning and not to worry about perfectly locking in. I received two major critiques for this piece. One was that there was little exploration of space, with a fairly constant note-stream throughout. The other was that I didn't use many extended techniques or uncommon notations. In later versions I am considering extending each theme and adding bars of complete rest with irregular times to break up the sound and intentionally throw off the groove. I am also planning on using slap-tounging and other pitchless sounds to emphasise notes outside of the blues scale. |
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Love of Man
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This piece is a romantic duet for Cello and Piano. It follows a very personal experience of love, frustration, and communication in a relationship. I based it on my own experiences, specifically in queer partnerships (platonic and romantic) and how the sense of self and togetherness is based heavily on how you are seen in public. I created a melody and chord progression that moves in and out of dissonance, both in time and tonality. While it is technically in C minor, I intentionally left many aspects open so that if the other part was missing, it would feel somewhat empty. Namely the arpeggio featured at the very beginning that could be one of many chords, both minor, major, and altered. This arpeggio is restated throughout the piece with the melody and bass giving it different contexts.
To a listener, the piece is meant to move in and out of comfort, not following a strict time, mode, or tonality. I felt I could have included more variation with darker sounds, which Stewart have some helpful insight into. I took the advice from the solo piece and tried to work more with space. Each section is extended and the transitions between melodies are reduced down to only the piano arpeggios. The writing process began out of spite to a passing tiktok video that claimed that a certain chord progression (that I have long since forgotten) was the most difficult and complex thing to exist. Playing it myself I decided that was wrong and improvised around it, eventually coming up with my own chords that became my piano part. As someone with a jazz vocal background, I used what I have learnt scatting to sing along and write down parts I liked. The cadenza is a transcription of some of this improvisation done in a practice room. The feedback I received was mostly constructive, and helped me to understand how the cello as an instrument works from the player's perspective. Because of this, in future versions I will likely extend the cadenza and drop what is already there down the octave for ease of playing, and use the higher register as a separate theme. I was told that nothing was un-payable, however these changes would smooth out the overall sound of the section. Hearing it in the workshop helped me to hear how the piano bass and cello worked together which I enjoyed, despite the timbre being somewhat unexpected. The piano attack with the cello’s sustain wored to create a sense of subtle growth and decay that lent itself to the thematic material. Stewart Smith (piano) had the suggestion of introducing the piece, and the post-cadenza recapitulation with dark, busy, and loud piano around the C minor chord. I used this in my improvised solo version at the Open Day event which I will be adding into the score. Unfortunately my laptop suffered an immediate harddrive crash after submission and the most up-to date sibelius backup was lost so edits may take some time. |
My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean
This arrangement for Saxophone Quartet moves through the growth from Traditional to Gospel to Blues. My Bonnie is a song I've known for longer than I can remember, however I have only ever heard it in Kodaly-style games. Taking my love of the Westerlies brass quartet and the way they layer voices, I decided to see what different ways the melody could be played and reharmonised within a loosely Gospel style.
I initially aimed to write for mixed wind ensemble including bass clarinet and flute, however I found that the timbres of these instruments was too soft for the blues section in the way I wanted it. I also got feedback from Alice Annetts (bass clari) who gave some pointers ad mentioned that bari sax would be better for the part. For cohesiveness I opted for a sax quartet, with Soprano, Alto, Tenor, and Baritone. For the introductory section and first melody, I wanted to avoid the pirate-esque vibe often given to the chart, often due to it being a classic in kodaly and solfa-based teaching. I began the piece with a rubato feel, giving an approximate tempo instead of a definitive count-in. Each statement of melody adds more intensity, beginning with simple chords, then a reharmonised cascade, then unison in div with altered chords, before returning to an unaccompanied melody. This melody does not resolve, leading into the bridge section that sets up the gospel feel. In an early version, practically every chord was altered to the point that the harmony was completely lost. I decided to reel ii back in so that when I did add complexity, there would be contrast without it becoming muddy or overly dissonant. Part of this was to use the B section melody as an instrumental bridge instead of as a traditional melody. I extended the chords and used various voicing to highlight the important notes, however I allowed some rhythmic aspects to be ignored as they either clashed with stylistic ideas, or felt somewhat forced. I took a lot of guidance from “Reharmonising Last Verses of Hymns” by Dr Steven Nisbet which looks into how chords and chordal passages are used in gospel and church based music. The piece moves into a more contemporary “gospel blues” style, similar to the Westerlies “Weeping Mary” or Sammy Miller and the Congregation’s name album. With the bari carrying an ongoing pedal, I made sure to include that breaths can be taking at any time as it’s not necessary for it to be a completely unbroken sound. I moved the melody to the tenor and extended it into longer phrases of 5 or 6 bars, with the soprano doing riff-style fills. Depending in how the phrases ended and how much contrast I needed them to have, I either kept or dropped the long-tone chords in the upper voices. As an ending, I followed the form of many church choir recordings by returning to a sparse, primarily unaccompanied melody (bari) before reintroducing the initial gospel feel with added body from the soprano. As always I refuse to end on the I chord so I pulled a cheeky shift to the Major III. Overall I really liked how it turned out. I will definitely be looking into getting better sound files for either sibelius or musescore as the base MIDI is quite grating and makes it difficult to hear. Because of this, I ended up writing a lot using a synth sound on my keyboard as it let me express rubato and hear the tone without losing the sustain and decay I needed. I’m aiming to get it recorded over the break as the arrangement relies of musicians interpretation in places. |
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Miscellaneous Extracurricular Activities
Paper Boat Races
Pebbles
Recording of Pebbles
Adeline and Edward - Leadsheets and Transcriptions
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Reliance
Recording of Reliance
Score of Reliance
Defiance
Score of Defiance
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Workshop
Comp workshop! What a great way to end a Thursday afternoon. There were three presentations that I found hit home, be it for inspiration, motivation, or just something very dang cool.
A bit of context: I have a long-haul project I’ve temporarily dubbed the “Childhood Suite”. Its intention is to become a mini animation series representing the various things that kids get up to through small ensemble percussion. Ideally I would like to work with a range of animators and film nerds to make each into short video with a variety of styles. Both “Pebbles” and “Paper Boat Races” are part of this project.
It’s because of this that the most prominent presentation for me was Matt Armstrong’s discussion of the music of cartoons. While it was more focused on story and character-based shows, I found it made a very clear point on the timing and ‘feel’ of animation scoring. Looking at the Bugs Bunny Barber if Seville scene showed how each movement can be made to match not just the rhythm but the energy and timbre of the score. Frog and Cat looks like a very entertaining show that I will absolutely binge when it is released. Afterwards I went through my score for “Pebbles” and planned out how each sound would be animated (as annotated above).
Jasper Preedy’s presentation on visualising sound hit a very similar vein. A huge part of my writing process is trying to “see” my music. I use this as a bit of a meditation, taking the time to listen, think and sometimes even draw. I found the “Micro Worlds” particularly interesting as I’ve never taken my drawing that in-depth. I will absolutely be doing that when I hand the aforementioned Childhood Suite to animators, not just to show them what I want, but to make sure I know myself. The Booba/Kiki shoutout was much appreciated.
Last but not least is Darcy Lewis’ Baroque Dance Notation. Darcy has been looking into ways to use the notation traditionally used for choreography as a form of instrumental notation. As someone who writes a primarily notated music, it was very interesting to see a new and experimental format, especially one based in movement. I’m considering using something similar in future works, specifically as a representation of youth and energy. Having worked with Issy Eagles before, I’m excited to see where the project goes, and how it will be adapted for potential electronics.
A bit of context: I have a long-haul project I’ve temporarily dubbed the “Childhood Suite”. Its intention is to become a mini animation series representing the various things that kids get up to through small ensemble percussion. Ideally I would like to work with a range of animators and film nerds to make each into short video with a variety of styles. Both “Pebbles” and “Paper Boat Races” are part of this project.
It’s because of this that the most prominent presentation for me was Matt Armstrong’s discussion of the music of cartoons. While it was more focused on story and character-based shows, I found it made a very clear point on the timing and ‘feel’ of animation scoring. Looking at the Bugs Bunny Barber if Seville scene showed how each movement can be made to match not just the rhythm but the energy and timbre of the score. Frog and Cat looks like a very entertaining show that I will absolutely binge when it is released. Afterwards I went through my score for “Pebbles” and planned out how each sound would be animated (as annotated above).
Jasper Preedy’s presentation on visualising sound hit a very similar vein. A huge part of my writing process is trying to “see” my music. I use this as a bit of a meditation, taking the time to listen, think and sometimes even draw. I found the “Micro Worlds” particularly interesting as I’ve never taken my drawing that in-depth. I will absolutely be doing that when I hand the aforementioned Childhood Suite to animators, not just to show them what I want, but to make sure I know myself. The Booba/Kiki shoutout was much appreciated.
Last but not least is Darcy Lewis’ Baroque Dance Notation. Darcy has been looking into ways to use the notation traditionally used for choreography as a form of instrumental notation. As someone who writes a primarily notated music, it was very interesting to see a new and experimental format, especially one based in movement. I’m considering using something similar in future works, specifically as a representation of youth and energy. Having worked with Issy Eagles before, I’m excited to see where the project goes, and how it will be adapted for potential electronics.