A very short string quartet with a lot of polyrhythms

[herodotus]

You obviously spent more time writing this than you did listening to this piece, as it is 3:16 seconds long and you skipped through it.

No I didn't. I only stated that's how I test a piece of music if it starts to sound exactly the same after repeating itself a few times. When that happends, I'll skip ahead about 10 seconds at a time, stopping and listening for a few seconds. If it's still the same as before, then I skip another 10 seconds, and so on until I reach the end of the song. If a song sounds that repetitive with that little movement both horizontally and vertically in its composition and orchestration, then why would I want to give it more attention than I already gave it? And yes, I did listen to your track from beginning to end, and yes, my impression of it is the same as when I did the initial 10-second skip test.

Look, you can't please everyone everytime. There will always be people out there that might not like your work. It's just a fact of life. It's not an indication of whether you're any good either, as that is subjective. I've met plenty of people that didn't think very highly of acclaimed classical composers, yet they go on and rave about some garagage punk band that could barely keep time as they bash out the same three chords for 10 songs straight. It's all subjective.

Listen, I neither want to impress or argue here. Nor am I being 'defensive'. As long as we are being candid, I have listened to the music on your site and it did nothing for me, so we have different esthetic guidelines and that is what makes the world work.

You described how you 'listen' to music and I thought it odd is all.

And I do always wonder why anyone would go into public detail about why they don't like something. It's not the sort of thing that I can imagine doing myself.

Thanks for listening.

[respirator]

I liked your piece there, was it a canon?

Yup. The melody is a palindrome and the form is a (very freely interpretated fugue).

No dynamics really at all, save for the sparser instrumentation of the canonical sections. This was because the main influence on this was Balinese Gender Wajang, which emphasises contrapuntal interaction between tuned percussion instruments at a fairly constant dynamic and tempo.

Balinese Gender Wajang?! Sounds scary...

The harmony does change quite a bit though. Perhaps my use of one of Messiaen's modes of limited transposition creates the impression of harmonic stasis, but modulation is in fact quite frequent.

I've listened to a lot of Messian, esp. choir work, but I think (subjectively, no analyzing) that this seemed static?!

And I don't think there are any dotted notes in it at all. If you listen carefully, though you can hear lots of variety in the interaction between the individual lines. It doesn't help that I can't change the panning or anything about this. Perhaps when I finally rescue the .mid file off of my old p.c. I can give it too you in a form that allows these lines to shine out more obviously.

Maybe you're right, the sounds do blend to much and making it difficult to discern the individual lines. We need a KvR string quartet that will play our compositions! (I hate samples strings).[/quote]

[shamann]

Hey herodotus

I like this, sort of. I like the arrangement, there's a lot of little things going on that are intriguing, but I found the recording fatiguing after a while.

Perhaps it's hurt slightly by being both sequenced and artificial instruments. Would benefit by the looser mechanics of performance and real acoustic instruments. In terms of dynamics, while there is some respite when you break to just the cello, I felt a bit winded by the end, like a sprinting a mile.

Cheers,
Steve

[herodotus]

@ respirator: A Gender Wajang is a quartet of tuned percussion instruments. It is very different from the more well known Gamelan in that it employs no improvisation. It is frequently used as a soundtrack for shadow plays.

And yeah, a string quartet would be a great thing. I tried to hire one years ago and found out that they cost about 600$ us an hour, with no separate rehearsal rate.

[shamann]

@ respirator: A Gender Wajang is a quartet of tuned percussion instruments. It is very different from the more well known Gamelan in that it employs no improvisation. It is frequently used as a soundtrack for shadow plays.

And yeah, a string quartet would be a great thing. I tried to hire one years ago and found out that they cost about 600$ us an hour, with no separate rehearsal rate.

You could always try posting a collab notice at the nearest university music department. A quartet there might take it on just for fun.

[Markleford]

I agree with respirator about the lack of rhythmic diversity. I would've appreciated some long tones at some point, in at least one of the parts.

- m

[DaveL60]

Having recently tried to put a very teeny, simple bit of string quartet into a piece I'm working on, I think this is very cool. At ~3.25 minutes, it's not overlong, and I think it would be need to hear it as one movement in a somewhat longer piece with varying moods among the movements. Overall, though, I rather like it.

Thanks for posting.

DaveL

[maki]

I realy enjoyed this mp3.Congratulation!!! It is however sad that democracy has it`s price and we all have to look at that what Lunatique writes about this wonderfull little masterpiece.

[Lunatique]

And I do always wonder why anyone would go into public detail about why they don't like something. It's not the sort of thing that I can imagine doing myself.

Thanks for listening.

Why do you post music for public listening if you don't want to hear other people's opinion? Do you only want praises and have no interest in negative feedback? I post my paintings, music, photography, and writing on various creative online forums, and I do it to get feedback--to be able to see from the eyes of others instead of my own. This is what you do to grow as a creative person.

In art forums, many artists post their work and BEG for constructive criticism so they can learn and grow. No matter if they agree with the critique or not--it is still great to hear different voices and opinions--it helps you see your own work in a different light. Why are musicians so different in this regard?

[herodotus]

Sir, I do apologize for failing to take advantage of the wonderful growth opportunities afforded by your most penetrating and discerning critique.

Clearly your insight into musical matters is such that you can penetrate to the essence of a piece of music very, very quickly.

In the future I will make a point of paying closer attention.

[herodotus]

Having recently tried to put a very teeny, simple bit of string quartet into a piece I'm working on, I think this is very cool. At ~3.25 minutes, it's not overlong, and I think it would be need to hear it as one movement in a somewhat longer piece with varying moods among the movements. Overall, though, I rather like it.

Thanks for posting.

DaveL

It is, in fact, the first of three movements.

The second is quite slow, with none of the kinetic motion of the first. It explores the same polyrhythms, only articulated differently, using 'whole notes' as it were. The last, as one might guess, combines these two approaches.

Unfortunately, my drumming and my pop songs are much more popular than my weird chamber music projects, and these other things absorb my time.

Except, of course, the time I am wasting here.

Speaking of which....gotta go!

Thanks for listening.

[Lunatique]

Sir, I do apologize for failing to take advantage of the wonderful growth opportunities afforded by your most penetrating and discerning critique.

Clearly your insight into musical matters is such that you can penetrate to the essence of a piece of music very, very quickly.

In the future I will make a point of paying closer attention.

Let's not be sarcastic here. I never once said anyone's musical talent/skill is better or worse--I said everything's subjective. What IS precious is the fact that the internet allows you to hear very different opinions from around the world--something that wasn't widely available less than a decade ago. It is something that should be treasured. Negative opinions should not be dismissed easily because often they are more helpful to a creative person's growth than compliments. One should also never make the mistake of dismissing the opinons of people that he deems of lesser talent or skill, because even from people like that, there are still relevant and insightful information that could be gained. I've seen plenty of aspiring or beginning artists that give great feedback to artists that are far more experienced and skilled than they are. In fact, one of the most respected artists I know values his very unartistic father's opinion very much. He understands that the gut-reaction of another human being--regardless if he's knowledgeable or skilled in the discipline, is valuable feedback and should be regarded graciously.

[herodotus]

Goodness sir, you do like like to hear yourself talk.

I disagree with you sir.

This is what you seem not to understand.

I disagree with you.

You keep saying these things, for instance:

" He understands that the gut-reaction of another human being--regardless if he's knowledgeable or skilled in the discipline, is valuable feedback and should be regarded graciously"

or

"Negative opinions should not be dismissed easily because often they are more helpful to a creative person's growth than compliments"

or

"One should also never make the mistake of dismissing the opinons of people that he deems of lesser talent or skill, because even from people like that, there are still relevant and insightful information that could be gained"

These are all your opinions couched in language that presents them as facts. Furthermore they are presented in an extremely condescending tone, as if you are quite sure that these things could not possibly have occurred to me. This is especially egregious considering that you know nothing whatever about me.

This is not about aesthetics, its about social interaction.

You, sir, are rude.

You have, for some reason, kept this thread going by telling everyone what your particular view of artistic growth is. Does it not occur to you that others may have differing views of personal and artistic growth?

More importantly, do you not think that another thread would be a better place to discuss these things? Start your own. I'll meet you there and we can argue these matters on neutral ground, as it were.

In any case, I have said my piece.

Good day to you sir.

[Lunatique]

herodotus - I apologize if I came off that way. That was not what I intended. I think it's just that I get used to giving straightforward critiques to aspiring artists everyday in various internet forums, and also in emails. I get so many requests for critiques that I just go through them being as honest as I could, without giving too much thought about the tone--because I assume if they come to me for critique, they can handle it without any sugar-coating. However, you did not come to me asking for a critique, so I should've been more sensitive to this different circumstance. I do mean well, and if I sound condescending, it's unintentional--because like I said, I'm used to teaching and critiquing others on a daily basis--it kinda stays with you. Hell, you can probably compose circles around me, so who am I to sound condescending?