Categories
Music Technology

The Beatless – Part 2 Minimalisation & Non-quantization

TheBeatless

 For Part 2 of the Beatless series lets look at a Beatles rework by one Joe Connor. 

Here the motivic and harmonic elements of the piece are extracted and examined through repetition with gentle timbral variation – techniques borrowed from minimalist and process music.

This, together with non-quantisation rhythmic elements creates a compelling atmosphere. Electronic music has been refreshed of late with such artists as Mount Kimbie rejecting the dominance that strict grid-based (‘quantized’) time has had on the genre. ‘Loose’ (but not sloppy) timing has a huge effect on musical expression, and this latest trend in IDM is heartening.

Enjoy.

http://www.mediafire.com/?wnqnfrd12mqpzb9

Categories
Composition

The Beatless – Part 1 Remodalisation

TheBeatless

I thought I’d use this platform to share with you some of the great work my students are doing together with some commentary addressing compositional technique. Here’s the first of many to come.

As part of one of my coursework portfolios, I offered my talented and creative students at Surrey the option to rework a Beatles track. Beyond a cover or remix, the brief was to reinterpret and/or electronically deconstruct/reconstruct musical materials from any Beatles track. There was some great work such as Em Bollon’s modal reinterpretation of ‘Here Comes The Sun’ Remodalisation (invented term) is the technique of translating melodic and/or harmonic material into a parallel mode (set of notes or scale). The original track’s major tonality (with some modal interchange and secondary dominants) is really effectively (and intuitively) reinterpreted into mixolydian and dorian ideas, blended with electronic japery. Quite lovely.

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Concert Works Electronic Works Live Electronics Portfolio

The Escher Café

A rehearsal of the fab (& lovely) livingroominlondon ensemble playing my piece for quintet and electronics The Escher Café, A musical representation of a set of M.C. Escher engravings.

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Guitar Portfolio Stuff to Buy

Dress Down Friday – The Voodoo Trombone Quartet

The Voodoo Trombone Quartet’s latest album is OUT. Lovely, lovely post ska eclectica. http://open.spotify.com/album/3ViPhvhno2st63A6tSAVSn Personell:

Paul Thorpe – Keys, Vocals

Milton Mermikides – Guitars

Matt Duke – Bass

James ‘Frank Watkins’ – Drums

Liz Mitchell – Baritone Saz

Nathan Thomas -French Horn

Pat Symes – Trombone

Richard Watts – Trumpet

Categories
Jazz & Improvisation Lectures & Presentations Science

The Performing Brain

Here’s a video of the presentation at the British Library on March 12th 2012. In preparation for the lecture I was put in an MRI machine with a plastic fretboard (aka ruler) and improvised while UCL neuroscientist Dr. Joern Diedrichsen examined my brain’s working. For the event I performed to a video of my brain activity showing what bits lit up (technical) during improvisation.

On musical learning and Pat Martino.

And my brain on jazz.

Categories
Learning & Teaching Music Theory

A dozen of one, or not.

It’s tempting to think that it’s only the domain of modernist composers, theorists and ethnomusicologists to talk of anything but 12 notes in an octave. After all if it was good enough for Mozart and Beethoven it should be good for everyone, right? Well, as it happens, Mozart and Beethoven understood F# and G-flat as different notes. A manuscript survives for example of Mozart’s teaching notes to his English student Thomas Attwood showing the difference between a major semitone (e.g. E to F) and a minor semitone (Fb to F). Almost universally considered as identical today, in his they were pitched slightly differently.

Very few musicians are aware that even into the 19th century fingerboard diagrams and scale exercises existed with two types of accidental (e.g. g# as distinct from a-flat) as well as keyboards with split keys so that the player could choose between accidental types.

It’s remarkable how efficiently this has been filtered out of the system so that even professional classical musicians and teachers – let alone students – are unaware of our microtonal recent history.

 

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Humour Skepticism

Chuckle Brothers Ouija Board

ChuckleBrotherOuijaBoard.jpg

Categories
Learning & Teaching

Meta-meme

University Lecturer.png

Categories
Poetry

Annoyed (An ode)

Annoyed.jpg

Categories
Concerts & Gigs

Performer vs. Audience

Performer vs. Audience Vertical.jpg

Categories
Learning & Teaching Music Theory

A Glimpse At the Modal Universe

A diagram demonstrating a section of the huge modal universe. You may see how mirroring modes (turning them upside down) can organize them into levels of brightness. It can also identify those modes that are identical in mirror form. These include Dorian (used in a thousand tunes from Scarborough Fair, Shine on You Crazy Diamond, Brick House to The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy), Aeolian Dominant (Babooshka) and Double Harmonic (Miserlou from Pulp Fiction).

These are just 3 of the heptatonic even-tempered modes with mirror symmetry parents. There are many others, scales with 2-12 notes, as well as scales with ‘twin’ mode systems. Regardless this technique can be applied widely and is a rich resource for composers and improvisers alike.

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Categories
Composition

Composers and their critics

Today’s musical legends had their fair share of criticism. Match the composer to their bad review, and in the process don’t take any criticism of your own work too seriously, you’ll only avoid negative feedback if you don’t write anything.

Critics

Categories
Learning & Teaching Top Posts Writing

Spelling Guides. The polite edition for teachers.

 

 
Apostrophe's Polite 2 Effect or affect polite its your there polite to too two polite

 

Categories
Writing

Should I use an apostrophe? A friendly guide.

 

Apostrophe's

Yes, I know that this might be pedantic. And ‘correct use’ is an ultimately flawed concept given that our current usage is a collection of vestigial literary aberrations throughout the language’s history. And of course it is the ideas and passion behind a piece of writing rather than this surface crap that really matters. Nonetheless you must admit you do look like a bit of cock when you write banana’s. Unless you’re talking about something that the banana possesses of course. E.g. “If there’s any fruit’s skin most associated with physical comedy, it’s the banana’s”.

Categories
Writing

To, Too, 2 or Two?

to too two 2

Categories
Composition Learning & Teaching

MiltOnNotes Volume One

Here’s a compilation of several lectures on composition, 539 slides on many compositional aspects relevant to all styles.

If you don’t have time to read it all, simply type in a random page number and you should get a good stimulus for a composition.

 

Categories
Concert Works Electronic Works Jazz & Improvisation Music Technology

London Premiere of ‘The Escher Cafe’

Monday 23rd January 8pm, King’s Place. The fabulous Living Room In London Ensemble with Manu Delago of Björk fame, perform a great concert – including a London Premiere of new piece ‘The Escher Café’ blending classical, jazz and live electronics. http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/whats-on-book-tickets/music/manu-delago-living-room-in-london?tid=16

Categories
Top Posts Writing

They’re, their. Its you’re friendly guide to spelling.

 

there theyre its just your shit its effecting

Categories
Composition Learning & Teaching

Chords and Scales vs. Time-feel: A thought.

Chords and Scales vs. Time-feel: A thought..

Categories
Audio Production & Engineering Composition Data Sonification Portfolio Research Science Stuff to Buy

Hidden Music

For a dynamic list of Hidden Music projects click here.

Hidden Music:Sonic is a collection of electronic works using compositional systems to translate physical phenomena of the biological world into complex mesmeric soundscapes. Source material include the DNA, colour and shape of microbacterial colonies, the population of blood cells during leukaemia treatment, the shape of the coronal suture of the human skull, tree-rings, MRI scans of the human brain and the passage of molecules through the cell membrane.

Bonus material! Album purchase includes 6,000 word liner notes, detailing the philosophy and process behind these works.

[bandcamp album=2903564095  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=4285BB size=venti]
Categories
Portfolio Stuff to Buy TV & Media

The Theme Attic. Album now available!

A collection of Internet theme tunes (2008-2011) in glorious high quality (including themes to the Pod Delusion, Lady Geek, QED and GeekPop). Free to listen or pay little/what you like to own.

[bandcamp album=4023596385  bgcol=FFFFFF linkcol=c01619 size=venti]
Categories
Guitar Guitar Lessons Learning & Teaching

Harmonic Literacy for Guitar XI: Triskaidekaphilia! 13th Chords Everywhere!

Harmonic Literacy for Guitar XI: Triskaidekaphilia! 13th Chords Everywhere!.

Categories
Guitar Guitar Lessons Learning & Teaching

Harmonic Literacy for the Guitar IX – Endless Lines on Static Major Chords

In addition to playing over static minor and dominant chords, the ability to play over static major chords
in all positions of the fretboard is extremely useful. This have been kept fairly neutral. avoiding too much
differentiation between Ionian and Lydian so that these can be used on most instances of static major chords.
Learning and composing Major scale patterns like these (together with the Dominant and minor examples) will greatly
enhance the harmonic proficiency in your playing, and creative freedom in improvisation. Endless Lines III on Static Major Chords

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Guitar Guitar Lessons Learning & Teaching

Harmonic Literacy for Guitar VIII – Endless Lines on Static Minor Chords

Continuing from the last study, let’s take a CAGED approach to the minor or minor 7 chord. This will involve
Dorian, Melodic Minor, Aeolian, Dorian bebop, Minor blues and other bebop devices. A Dorian key signature
is given as this is a central modal component in a lot of static minor chord playing.
These have been written as continuous studies so repeat each section and move on at will for an epic workout.
Again we focus on a quaver feel,but remember that once absorbed these can be endlessly shuffled and lego-ed
in creative performance. Note also that these can work well on there related dominant chord (F7 in this case).
Be sure to visualise the underlying chord-shapes and arpeggios, practise in various keys, styles and tempos to
make them an intuitive part of your playing.
Endless Lines II on Static Minor Chords

Categories
Guitar Guitar Lessons Learning & Teaching

Harmonic Literacy for Guitar VII – Endless Lines on Static Dominant Chords.

A real challenge in playing jazz guitar lies in the performance of long seamless lines. This of course is only
a small component of improvisation, but it’s worth working on, as the sort of motor control and brain-finger
connection has to be really developed. Using the CAGED system established previously, we’ll look at playing
over static dominant chord. This will largely use dominant, bebop dominant, lydian dominant with typical
bebop devices. Rather than runing scales, these (somewhat abritrary but effective) 4-bar phrases cover much
of each position and require a comprehensive understanding of fretboard harmony. Of course these can be
edited, recomposed, transposed, and lego-ed endlessly.
Endless Lines I – Static Dominant Chord

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