Analyze this music if you will, play it on any instrument such as the piano, and you will still be perplexed in how this music works. On paper, the notes are bare, and the harmony simple. Masterful at the time, sure, but why, with my 21st century ears, do I feel deeply emotional upon hearing this recording today? And why when I replicate these sounds on my piano the music fails to move me as it does here? Perhaps it is in the harmonics of five voices together that makes it impossible to translate these sounds onto anything else. Perhaps it is in the rhythmic flow paired with how each seemingly independent voice becomes symbiotic. Truly this was near the birthplace of the musical musing we’ve since become acquainted with by later composers named counterpoint.
Listen to this on headphones so you can properly hear the weight of the bass singer juxtaposed with the reverberation produced by the others. Merely listening to it on your smartphone or laptop's speakers doesn’t quite have the same affect.
And why at 3:05, when the tenor hits that F, does it make me lose a sense of vocabulary to describe how I feel?
All it is on paper is a D minor chord going to an A minor chord along with a passing tone within the tenor's melodic line: F, E, C.
Trying to theorize the music through a 21st century lens fails me. Before scales were even taught as we know them today, this piece was composed. When I look at early compositional teachings during this time period, the focus were primarily on the relationship between musical intervals, and melodic writing on a mere cluster of 5 notes within a particular modus. The biggest jump, besides the occasional octave, is a fifth within a singular melodic contour. Although the writing appears to be relatively simple, it is very intentional. I cannot comprehend how the mind of a 15th century composer heard music, but I want to seek out music in a similar way. As students, we assume that when we are taught music theory of the western world, there is one way to view how music is done. My first mistake was assuming there was a right way to do it. I find early polyphonic music to be superior than much music I hear in the concert hall today that I suspect we lost something along the way in our musical journey. I suppose to ever think we could “get” music or understand it by hearing a lecture or reading it in a textbook reflects the hubristic nature of humans. As in nature, one cannot offer a part of which requires all to embody.
It doesn’t matter how I attempt to understand the 15th century composer's perspective or if I ever achieve some kind of accurate understanding. When we learn upon the past to incorporate that knowledge into the present, we can never completely capture the original genius. This is how Arvo Pärt discovered his Tintinnabuli technique. Through the study of this music, he interpreted his own way of polyphony. All we could ever hope for are sips of perception, but how can any of us share with each other with what little we have for ourselves?
Anyway, I don’t know what I’m doing, and I don’t even know if anyone else can relate with me on this. I sometimes feel drunk when I listen to music. As if I’m in the presence of an angelic vision, my knees become weak while the sounds begin to purify my unclean mind.
I’ve been excited to introduce this music with all of you for quite some time now. A while back, a friend approached me to partake in a dream of his.
My role was to come up with electric piano parts, and although it’s a smaller role than most projects I have released here on Newgrounds, I really enjoyed working on coming up with small motifs that complemented the art as opposed to being in the forefront. It certainly was a discipline to get into where less is more, and where the role of a writer/performer is to primarily serve the music.
Chase is a Chicago Union Laborer and a musician/writer, and while some people might distinguish their day time work between their passion as a way to meet their artistic means, Chase and Micah's music embodies their passion of the working class lifestyle. It’s a coming of age story blended with a nostalgia of neo-classic Americana.
“But is work something that we have a right to escape? And can we escape it with impunity? We are probably the first entire people ever to think so. All the ancient wisdom that has come down to us counsels otherwise. It tells us that work is necessary to us, as much a part of our condition as mortality; that good work is our salvation and our joy; that shoddy or dishonest or self-serving work is our curse and our doom. We have tried to escape the sweat and sorrow promised in Genesis—only to find that, in order to do so, we must forswear love and excellence, health and joy.” — Wendell Berry (The Unsettling of America).
I just wanted to give a small update with what's going on in case anyone wonders.
My baby girl was born last night, and it's so surreal! I'll never stop writing music, but this will certainly slow down anything I publish for a while. I'm currently working on a simple, piano track as a lullaby for her.
Now that the results of the 64 competitors are out and paired, there is a bit of fear and anxiety in the air. And I'd say a healthy fear at that. To bring out the best of you under pressure is what this competition is about. Can you find that inspiration or mental determination to write any music of worth on the fly? Is the music in your bones? Has your learning in the past been keeping up with your passion for all this time? One composer's survival skills pitted against another. The key in this contest is heart. A heart to endure the doubts, and a heart to stay true while creating something new.
I've lived by the rule that if you're not going to take the most out of a contest by writing a piece you want to write, then you're not going to get very far. Whether that is to learn how to improve or to actually compete, you need the integrity of a piece that has purpose. Music with pretense will soon make you past tense.
There is a legitimate fear to competing directly against another composer, and that comes from a sense of rejection. The problem comes from a misconception that if you are knocked out in a round that you're not any good as a composer, or at least it is from the idea that you're not as good as another. It could be compared to the fear that men have when it comes to being rejected by women. One would have to face the reality of one's own character traits upon rejection, or deny and make excuses by blaming the other person that did the rejecting. But man up! Just as men are called to be rejected from time to time, so too the composer. You'll have to keep on going if anyone is going to take you seriously as a composer.
I for one will enjoy this undertaking of competing against the 2014 champion, garlagan, in the first round. Although, I don't have any expectations other than to face defeat, I am just going to write music for music's sake. I intend to pour out my heart in this contest but whether it is enough to advance is irrelevant to me. I don't care what you think. I don't even care what I think. I care what the music thinks, and my God. I invite you to do the same. This is what excites me about Newgrounds: the community of musicians.
In regards to the stats and train of thought of grouping the competitors together, I think it's quite interesting to pair the highest scores of audition pieces together. For example, the top 4 highest average scorers in the audition phase will face each other while the 4 lowest average scored competitors and etc. will only have to face each other in the beginning of this contest. The tournament bracket that @ChronoNomad created makes this a contest that allows the underdogs to go far in this contest. The previous NGADM champions will get knocked out earlier on in the contest, and the Final round will most likely be a bit of a landslide victory for one opponent. It's a fun approach, but hopefully the contestants from seeds 33-64 will give the others a "run for their money."
I'll be sure to follow the results of this contest regardless if I'm participating in it or not.
I would just like to spread the love around about a tribute/collab/charity project of music from fellow Newground contributors:
Soundchris
Jacob Cadmus
Evilraccoon, a.k.a. Peter Satera
Enzo Satera
Mattashi
Real Faction
Larrynachos
Lucid Shadow Dreamer
ForgottenDawn
Most of these tracks if not all are under CopyLeft in the spirit of @MactaMendax, so free downloads for everyone.
Of course, though, please consider donating to the charitable link provided in ForgottenDawn’s post. More information provided in his post as well, so please check it out. http://forgottendawn.newgrounds.com
I'm ecstatic to announce that I made it to be part of the top 20 finalists for 8dio's latest Stand-Out Contest out of 338 participants.
I wanted to say thank you to Newgrounds for it is because of this community that has helped shape me into being the composer that I am today by all of your feedback and friendships. I wanted to share this with all of you. My goal was to at least make it into this group of talented composers, but I don't expect to place top 4. I had a lot of doubts that I would even get this far into the contest, and I'm very surprised and grateful.
Is it any wonder that when we shot out a spacecraft to reach potential extraterrestrials that we put a disc of music to convey what it is to be human? With classical, rock, pop, and blues accompanying nature sounds and different dialects of earth people, it is only fitting that if an alien from out of this world would intercept our message that they could only get a more accurate picture of the human experience by hearing music that we have created.
Music has a way to welcome a listener to someone else's heart and mind. Just like an astronaut exploring unknown frontiers, music can only allow us to observe and admire the experience. “For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him?” - 1 Corinthians 2:11
And the more I understand about music, the more I appreciate the math hidden in our natural world and universe.
Our duty as composers is to understand the patterns in sound so we can convey a story or play that hypnotic beat. Speak to a Mathematician and they would tell you that they thrive in seeing patterns in numbers. According to some Physicists, math makes up the universe. So it is logical to assume that as we come up with a technique to create music that the most pleasing music to our ears best follow mathematical formulas found in the environment that we live in.
The Golden Ratio and the Fibonacci numbers found in nature have been inspirational to humanity in proportion to their music and in the creation of the instruments that make the music.
Pythagoras of Samos (c. 570 – c. 495 BC), best remembered for the Pathagoras’ Theorem, discovered harmonic musical intervals by seeing its pattern through whole number ratios. He believed that the universe itself makes music, and oddly enough NASA may agree.
The theme of my piece is that humans are destined to look beyond themselves. Despite current affairs and how bleak a situation may seem, it is in the spirit of humanity that keeps us from constantly looking down and strive by looking up into the stars. It is the imagery of space that I used to describe our journeys here. I even added a sound from Saturn’s radio emissions for one of the musical breakdowns. And in case you're not already familiar with this concept, NASA records sounds from our galaxy through devices designed to transfer electromagnetic vibrations to audible frequencies for our ears.
"Music is the one incorporeal entrance into the higher world of knowledge which comprehends mankind but which mankind cannot comprehend." - Luwig van Beethoven
But even more fascinating than life itself, is the mystery of love, and thus why I dedicated this piece to my wife. Call me a hopeless romantic if you want, but it is love that makes this continual study worthwhile. And if Math makes up the universe, then it is only fair to say that music shall transcend the stars… figuratively and literally.
Stay inspired, romanticize the opportunity, and love one another.
"Happiness is beneficial for the body, but it is grief that develops the power of the mind." -Marcel Proust
"Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad." -Ecclesiastes 7:3
"For in much wisdom is much vexation, and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow." -Ecclesiastes 1:18
"I am caught by the morning, and I am a ghost!" from The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis
"Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." -Psalm 73:25-26
