OCTOBER 7
To begin the process, I took out my viola and started experimenting with ideas. I started by playing the tunes I had learnt a few times to get the sound in my head, then turned on my phone recorder. I recorded about 20 minutes worth of experimentation, but it turns out the last 14 minutes or so were just the tunes I had learnt being played over as I tried to find possible new tunes. Luckily, however, when I went back to the recording and listened, the first 5-6 minutes were a rich gold mine of ideas. I have placed them in the order in which they occurred.
Audio of experimentation
First clip (First Attempt 1) – Loose experimentation. I had decided, as per my baby steps, that I would begin with either a major or minor pentatonic. This first attempt is simply playing around the pentatonic scale without any thought for style, just listening to melodic contours and possible motifs.
Second clip (First Attempt 2) – More loose experimentation. More stylistic than the example, but again still loosely experimenting within the pentatonic scale. This experiment was influenced by the strathspey tune of Alex Dan McIssac (from Alasdair and Natalie's The Corrie Man), with the repeated notes and the swing feel.
Third clip (Tonal Sound) – Finding the general sound of the tune. Although this mostly involved going up and down the pentatonic scale, I was starting to form in my head the sound I was looking for and building my ideas of where notes and melodies should head toward, and in what ways these melodies would reach their destination.
Fourth clip (Motif Creation) – Start playing around with the 1-5 motif. At this point, it is still in the swing feel from earlier experimentation, which I really liked, although it did feel a little strange to play.
Fifth clip (Contour Takes Shape) – Developing from 1-5 motif, but still with a swing feel. This experimentation is a bit slower as I am feeling out different note possibilities and the way the contour can move. The 1-5 motif is here to stay and with this experimentation I get a better idea of how the melody travels after the motif.
Sixth clip (Duple Time) – Motif has become duple. In fact, the whole feel has become duple. At this point, the final first ideas of the A section are beginning to form.
Seventh and Eighth clips (Mostly There + Mostly There 2) – Motif is present, and melody is almost fully formed.
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