vogelscheiss: chuck graef’s sonic blog

Click the image at left to access the Symphony at the iTunes store.

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… an unbelievably huge project.  Took some time out to work on some short pieces, mess about with new plugins, transcribe a John Williams score by ear, work on a couple of commercial things, convert some sample libraries to Kontakt, and really organize my computer world with redundant backups, etc.  But the symphony is parked where I left it, ready to delve back in.  All those little black dots.

It’s been interesting to rub up against the classical music world, where the bias against symphonic mockups is strong and seemingly nearly implacable — which I think is an entirely valid position for a serious classical musician to take, but one that ironically runs completely counter to the situation of the composer, who, though worshipful and very solicitous of these amazing musicians with all their training and capacity for rich, beautiful tone and beautiful expression, must also view them as a means to an end, the medium through which his/her music is or may one day be played.  And it’s not the only possible way anymore, at least to a certain extent.  So while the composer would like musicians to be interested in his/her piece from the mockup, s/he’s also obliged to accept the fact that to many musicians, music in the form of a mockup recording is almost not music at all … even if the mockup may be so good that if the musician weren’t tipped off that samples were used, s/he might not realize it.  (Not that anyone would mistake a mockup for the NY Phil.)

So in a sense, many musicians aren’t able to see past themselves, but hear music produced without live musicians as something like a book full of blank pages, which of course it isn’t.  It’s in the musician’s nature to define music as something requiring a live musician’s participation.  Which traditionally is true.

Nor by the same token can composers who rely on mockups see past themselves and their own need simply to hear their music performed, by hook or by crook.  It’s in the composer’s interest to think of his/her music as something that exists the moment they write it down, play it on a piano, hum it, or mock it up using samples.  Which is literally true.  But if a composer wants people to hear his/her mockup, s/he finds a much more receptive audience with non-musicians than with the musicians who’ve actually committed themselves and their careers to the genre of music the piece represents.  And you can’t blame them.

It’s all in the interrelationship.

It’s amazing to see how much more excited musicians get when the see the notes on the page.  Suddenly it’s become music, as if emerging from the outer fog.  And so it goes, this huge process of getting it all down on paper.  Seemngly endless, but completely necessary, and the first big step toward getting the piece played.  Quite a thing.  And that’s the big goal, because I know it’s going to sound amazing when a conductor and real musicians get involved with it.  I honestly can’t imagine anything more exciting.  And at that point, facing facts, it’ll be like the piece has suddenly emerged from the outer fog for me as well.  Full circle.

A short little prelude track I put together as a recreation in different instruments of an electronica piece I made a couple of days previous.  Vienna Solo Strings and Orchestral Strings, EWQL Symphonic Orchestral Gold Pro XP, EWQL StormDrum.

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Currently in the middle of a major part-writing fiesta with the strings in the 5th Movt. of the symphony.
And so it goes …

Alexander Borodin

Had my symphony described to me as being “like Borodin on acid.”  “What was that?  It was like Borodin on acid.” I like that.  Who wouldn’t like that?

A chemical which, if ingested by Borodin's music, could conceivably alter said music in such a manner that it thereafter sounded something like my symphony, according to the referenced source.

Here’s an excerpt from Symphony #1, Movt. 5.  This excerpt begins about 13 minutes into the movement.

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Here’s an excerpt from Symphony #1, Movt. 3.  This excerpt begins about 4 minutes into the movement.

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Plugging away at notating an hour’s worth of some pretty layered and complex orchestration.  Quite the project, moving along.  To think this ball started rolling in July ‘07.

Strongly emotive full-scale symphonic work in 5 movements, 61 mins.:

1. Movt. 1: Largo lacrimoso
2. Movt. 2: Scherzando - Presto agitato con fuoco
3. Movt. 3: Andante cantibile - Allegro
4. Movt. 4: Scherzo
5. Movt 5: Adagio grandioso - Andante luttoso - Allegro con brio

The symphony is on a grand scale, more than leaning toward the heroic, featuring enlarged percussion and brass sections and piano.

The Scherzo is the symphony’s light comic relief, and can function by itself as a standalone piece.  Hear it below (two other clips can be heard here and here):

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