NOVEMBER 4
I decided, as a challenge for myself, to see if I could write the rest of the tune in just one day. Specifically, the Monday before I would have to present a final draft to the class (which, of course, was the day before). As such, most of the work done on this piece was done on this day, and therefore this entry will by necessity be rather long.
Firstly, you can find an annotated version of the score here. Most of the ideas present are highlighted in the annotated score and the score will be referenced extensively, however this post will discuss some of the inspirations and the thought processes that led to the creation of the tune as it is. Unfortunately I can't put the audio and score on this page as Wix does not allow me to do so.
Let's talk about the beginning of the tune. The tune begins with a gliss in the cello, with a double stopped perfect fourth from 7 to 1. This idea is inspired by both Bluegrass and Folk technique, as shown in both Alasdair Fraser and Natalie Haas' The Corrie Man (as discussed extensively through the past posts) as well as in Rhys Jones & Christina Wheeler's version of Jenny Run Away in the Mud in the Night (the video below). The long chords played by the cello at the start are again inspired by the way Natalie begins many reels, including those featuring on The Corrie Man.
The tune then builds toward the start of the tune proper. The long notes give way to pulsing quavers. These provide drive, and the score shows that these quavers should be smooth and not to heavy, rather a like breaking of the earlier long notes. Again, this is not an original idea, and can be seen in Alasdair and Natalie's Connie's Birthday.
For the whole first introduction section, the violin plays a skeleton version of the A section melody. This skeleton introduces the 3+3+3+3+2+2 pulse I learnt at Stringmania, and inspired by the piano work from class, became the introduction to the tune. The combination of these ideas was perfect, as it builds expectation in the listener, and the A theme feels relatively familiar when it is finally introduced in full.
It also worth taking a moment to highlight the chop. The chop is the horizontal movement of the bow that creates a percussive sound. You can see how chops works in the videos below; the first explains what a chop is, the second shows chopping in its natural environment (go to 00:40).
Ok, so now the tune proper. Rather than begin with the A section, I decided to instead start with the B section as the A section had sort of just happened in the introduction. The B section was created on this day also. I knew a few things when I went to write the B section: it needed to lead seamlessly from and into the A section, and it needed to contrast. I decided to use the oldest trick in the book and use the relative major of the key I used for the A section, thus the B section was now in G major. I also felt that the A section was rather dark, so I kept the melody of the B section higher in the instruments' registers to brighten it. Lastly, the A section is very straight with little ornamentation (at least the way I play it), so I put in some scotch snaps to spice up the B section and to give it that little bit of extra Scottish-ness.
Skipping forward a little, you will notice the A section melody looks a bit different to the way it looked in an earlier post. This is because bar 2 was identical to the second bar in The Corrie Man and I did not like that. I liked the general contour, so I moved a few notes around until I was happy with it.
After playing through the A section twice, the tune needed a chance to calm down. Luckily, because of the bright nature of the B section, it makes a great tension reliever when paired with long note accompaniment. This section is meant to feel very home-y and calm the energy a little so the tune can be built back up and explode once more.
The calm B section is followed by what is probably the hardest part of the tune to play. This section pairs the 3+3+3+3+2+2 groove against the B section melody, all completely pizzicato. I have always loved string music where every instrument is playing pizzicato, such as movement 3 of Tchaikovsky Symphony 4 or the start of Farley Bridge; I have even written a rondo where the main idea is played completely pizzicato. The groove creates a cool syncopation that allows the B section to shine in a different way, especially after the long note accompaniment that came just before.
At this point, I was a little stuck for ideas of how to develop the melody while still keeping the spirit of the tune intact. Thinking back to folk and medieval music I was reminded of the hocket technique, where the notes of a melody is shared between two instruments in such a way that one their own, they sound strange but when played together they create a melody of constantly changing timbres. Although not the strictest of hockets, the idea influenced the passing of the melody between instruments in this section. Personally, this is the section I am most proud of.
Lastly, I tried a technique that I had tried earlier in the process and I found worked really well with the A melody: inversion. Although, like hocket, I did not use this technique strictly, I did use the general idea to re-form the melody to provide the last push to the very end.
I finished the tune the same way that I started it, with a gliss from 7 to 1 in the cello and violin, alongside a massive crescendo to end the tune on a bang.
And thus, I wrote the rest of the tune in a day.
P.S. The name 'Maniac' was inspired by my time at Stringmania. It was at Stringmania I learnt everything I needed in order to write this tune, so it felt fitting I name it after that awesome experience.