Tumblr Composers

Fantasy Theme - Julia Hall

Sat, 18 Aug 2012 21:00:20 +0100

Today we have a submission from Julia at clarinethero.

This is for clarinet, bass clarinet, and bassoon. Personally I think this sounds like a song you would get in a Fantasy type video game. I composed this originally for my college composing class. I was studying music at Stevenson college in Edinburgh in Scotland. I’m really pleased with what I’ve composed. I originally wrote this for clarinet and bass clarinet but then added the bassoon for more support on the bass line. I play clarinet myself so I thought it would be appropriate to write music for it. You can find the score here and the rest of my compositions here on my soundcloud page.

Synapse - Trey Frey

Thu, 16 Aug 2012 05:04:48 +0100

Synapse - Trey Frey:

Today we have something a bit different from treyfrey.

Made using two 1989 nintendo gameboys running the program Little Sound Dj.

Daniel Gilliam - Nocturnes

Tue, 14 Aug 2012 01:27:24 +0100

Today we have one more submission from danielgilliam.

This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless, Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done, Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best. Night, sleep, and the stars. - Walt Whitman

this is the first movement of a three-song cycle. the other two songs: A Night Song and Sleeping.

Dylan Neely - Rat King

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 20:59:53 +0100

Today we have a submission from Dylan Neely at potentmedicines.

I’m submitting a multimedia piece entitled “Rat King.” It is a collaboration between myself, a violinist and composer, and the video artist Alex Nathanson.

Here is a direct link to the video: http://vimeo.com/43942454

Rat King is a darkly comic investigation of paranoia, inspired by the experience of sharing one’s living space with rats. Presenting its video using a four-way split screen, reminiscent of a security camera monitoring station, the audio correlates with a variety of soundsources - live contact noise, looped electric violin, prerecorded synthesizers, and processed sound.

Musically, the form of the piece was created in relation with the static and repetitive nature of the video. Transitions are intense or non-existent and thematic ideas return in chaotic guises. Absurdity and anxiety swirl around each other, though I do not know if their relationship is competitive or amiable.

The piece has been performed in a range of venues, including bars, experimental music spaces, squats, and art galleries. It’s been performed in cities including Berlin, Brno, Budapest, Ljubljana, Zagreb, and Vienna.

The Tunnel Project - Mollie Budiansky

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 06:59:31 +0100

Today’s submission comes from thetunnelproject.

A few years ago I wrote a series of short solo pieces to be performed in nearby tunnels. I think I had some lofty conceptual statement for it all, but really I just like the acoustics. Still, there is this idea that the main point a tunnel is to get from Point A to Point B, and how often does someone walking through one make a conscious effort to stop in the middle and listen (or just breathe)?

Only one of the pieces made it to performance in its designated tunnel before logistics and time got in the way of the others. It was a clarinet solo called “Child’s Discovery” for Cordonices Park in the Berkeley hills. As a kid I was briefly convinced that the tunnel had monsters in it. So the piece is sort of a dialogue between the excitement of being a kid on an adventure and the fear of getting eaten by a bear or something hiding in there.

http://thetunnelproject.blogspot.com/2011/01/tunnel-project-childs-discovery.html

Connor Chisholm - The Crow Today we have a jazz piece from...

Sun, 05 Aug 2012 22:54:48 +0100

Connor Chisholm - The Crow

Today we have a jazz piece from what-you-see-here.

This is a jazz piece I composed called “The Crow.” This particular composition will submitted to the Thelonious Monk Jazz Composer’s Competition. Enjoy!

http://soundcloud.com/connor-chisholm/the-crow

Sonnet - Daniel Gilliam

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 06:04:50 +0100

Today’s submission is from danielgilliam.

Here is one of my songs, “Sonnet” with text by Sharon Cumberland. Gilda Lyons, soprano and Robert Frankenberry, piano. http://soundcloud.com/danielgilliam/sonnet

A note on recent inactivity.

Sun, 15 Jul 2012 23:25:33 +0100

I feel I should apologize for the lack of posts. I’m currently on holiday and forgot to set up a queue, so you’ll have to forgive me.
A big hello and welcome to our new followers though, and to those of you who still haven’t seen their submissions featured, bear with me, I’ll make sure everything is posted as soon as I get back.
Much love,
-A.

We received this submission from wehaverainbows, but ran into...

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 20:52:32 +0100

We received this submission from wehaverainbows, but ran into some difficulties, so I’m reblogging this from her blog. Thanks you for your submission, Rosemary!

Title: Danger on the Ice

By: Rosemary O’Reilly

For: Viola, vibraphone and piano

Dedicated to: Gabrielle

Genesis: My third composition task for a module in my first year studying Music in Cardiff. The task was to compose a piece for a melody instrument, a percussion instrument and piano, using rhythmic and serial techniques.

Idea: In a land of snow and ice, a young man travels across a frozen sea patrolled by nefarious beings. He is attacked and flees, eventually escaping, but remains mindful of the dangers on the ice.

Run through: The first section makes use of glassy harmonics on the viola, twinkling runs in the vibraphone and polarised texture to create a sense of glittering ice and space. In the transition the entries grow closer together as the traveller becomes warier and on edge. He is alerted to the danger as the viola plays a violent snap pizzicato and he immediately flees, represented by the driving tempo; he stumbles in his haste to escape as the rhythm varies through accent and subtraction and entries stretto. With the dramatic change to 6/4 he manages to outmanoeuvre his pursuers, hiding briefly before running again to fully evade them, characterised in the ever-quietening repeated motif and the return to the pursuit music, undermined by a sneaky chromatic sequence in the viola. After a final fright, he determines that he is safe and continues on his way; the material of the first section returns, though in a different order, and with ominous dischords in the bass of the piano to represent his awareness of the danger.

Recorded via Sibelius 7
Music (c) me, Rosemary O’Reilly

Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? - B.P. Cook

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 20:58:04 +0100

Thanks to our friend bpcookmusic for today’s submission!

http://soundcloud.com/b-p-cook/is-it-nothing-to-you-all-you

“Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by?” is an electronic piece written specifically for listening while on a Long Island Railroad Train running between Jamaica, Queens and Penn Station, New York. It is somewhat of a personally experienced installation. It is recommended that the listener sit in a window seat and remain extremely observant. Awareness of external sounds and movement is also suggested, however, a more meditative approach may also be taken. At some points, the two may even go hand in hand. I suggest an express train. I also suggest reframing from listening to any other music before or after this piece, at least during this specific segment of ones journey.

All of these sounds come from a single short sound source of tapping on glass. We are often most intimate with glass when riding the train; we are protected in our own little world by this translucent liquid barrier. An imperfect palindromic form encompasses the piece and represents the glass. It also represents a round trip journey, where during the return everything is very different.

Although the title is taken from the bible, the piece is not necessarily intended to be religious. It is, however, intended to provoke thought and reflection.

I have not affiliation with the Long Island Rail Road or the MTA. I have no affiliation with any religious organization. I am not responsible for any injury or inconvenience that may be caused as an alleged result of listening to, or attempting to listen to this piece. I am not responsible for any injury or inconvenience that may be caused as an alleged result of following or attempting to follow this piece’s complementary instructions. Please listen responsibly.

Video version to hopefully come soon!

Please download and enjoy!

© 2012 by B.P. Cook

The queue is in danger of drying up,

Sat, 30 Jun 2012 02:14:00 +0100

so submit some music!

Also, to make the submissions we still have on queue last a bit longer, we’ll be posting twice a week, on Wednesdays and Sundays, so check back on Sunday for a submission from the always excellent bpcookmusic!

Sound may be the last sense to leave us - Kathy Corecig

Wed, 27 Jun 2012 21:25:19 +0100

Today we have a submission from Katy Corecig (corecig). Enjoy!

Here’s a video of a dance production I recently had the opportunity to compose for. Part of the Stretch Festival in Mandurah, Sound may be the last sense to leave us was directed by Helen Duncan and draws its name - and the spoken poems it comprises - from Annamarie Weldon’s suite of wetlands poetry. I was joined on viola by Didgeridoo player George Walley and cellist Tristen Parr. Sound may be the last sense to leave us was approximately 25 minutes in duration, and also featured excerpts from Ross Edwards’ Ecstatic Dance No.2 for viola and cello (not heard in this clip).

https://vimeo.com/41901439

Quartet No. 3 - Matthew Whiteside

Sun, 24 Jun 2012 20:57:40 +0100

Thanks to Matthew Whiteside for today’s submission!

Quartet No. 3 for string quartet and live electronics written for the third issue of CNCPTN e-zine (www.cncptn.com)

Recording: http://youtu.be/OUv1GPuGzkI

It is impossible to listen with someone else’s ears and reference’s. This is why I see my music as a blank canvas for people to project upon and my programme notes are short and noncommittal. This does not mean that there is no concept behind the work it just means that the work should stand on its own without prior knowledge of the concept. As this is not a programme note I am compelled to tell you the concept but please before you read on, listen. Listen to the piece and make up your own mind before I tell you mine.

All my music begins with an idea be it another piece, a note or a sound. In Quartet No. 3 it is the genre of glitch music. There is something fascinating to me about glitch music. Possibly because it was the era of the portable CD player when I began to get into music. The personal CD player I had did not have any anti-skip mechanism meaning it was almost impossible to walk and listen without the occasional glitch. With a piece of music that I knew well the silence enforced on the music by a skip created a sense of tension and annoyance until the music continued. These experiences disappeared through mini-disc players to mp3 players and so had slipped completely from my mind until I came across the music of Murcof. He takes predictable classical gestures, such as a string crescendo and diminuendo, and throws a glitch into the gesture. This upsets your subconscious prediction and creates a sense of tension. Admittedly all music works like this, playing with the evolutionary reward and punishment mechanism in your brain, but the overt nature of the effect of the glitch seems very attractive.

This was the starting point for Quartet No. 3 and it is throughout the piece in the use of delays, sample and reverse and comb filtering to try to emulate the distinctive sound of a CD skipping. This naturally effected the composed material where, for example, the whole middle section is a written out accelerando as if someone is winding up a gramophone to the required speed but somehow goes too fast.

This was my concept for Quartet No. 3 but it was only important in the writing of the piece not the listening. Listen with your own ears and your own references to make up your own mind.

Matthew Whiteside (www.matthewwhiteside.co.uk, http://soundcloud.com/matthew-whiteside) is a composer based in Glasgowww.matthewwhiteside.co.uk, http://soundcloud.com/matthew-whiteside) is a composer based in Glasgow who is interested in combing the acoustic and electronic domains.

Quartet No. 3 was premiered and recorded by The Gildas Quartet and Edit-Point (facebook.com/editpointscot) on the 23^rd of November in Glasgow City Halls Recital Room.

Welcome to all our new followers!

Sat, 23 Jun 2012 12:23:32 +0100

As you can see, we’re having a particularly fruitful time here at Tumblr Composers, with excellent new pieces being featured every week, and there’s still a lot more to come!

However, we do need to keep this thing active in order for it to work and to become the hub for the composers of Tumblr, so do remember to submit your music, we want to hear it!

String Quartet 01 - Andrew Taylor

Fri, 22 Jun 2012 21:02:41 +0100

Thanks to qkazoo for today’s submission!

String Quartet 01 was composed as part of a residency with the Momenta Quartet, offered through Temple University’s composition department. The quartet performed it on 1/28/12 at the HiArt! Gallery in New York, and this recording is taken from that performance.

LISTEN:

I.

II.

III.

This quartet is so titled in reference to both its status as my first piece for a string quartet and its dense focus on harmonic and melodic ideas structured around semitones. The piece develops on a couple different levels across its entire duration. The first is one of pitch selection - the first movement is fairly free from a pitch standpoint, though there is certainly a clear focus given to semitone structures, and this progresses to a much stricter pitch selection in the final movement. The second primary level of progression is textural - we move from a fairly dense texture in the first movement to a comparatively spare texture in the second to an almost stagnant texture in the third.

- Andrew Taylor (qkazoo)

Soliloquy No.4 for Clarinet - David Stowell

Thu, 21 Jun 2012 09:29:02 +0100

Thanks to davidstowell for today’s submission!

Soliloquy No. 4 for Clarinet (Soliloquies in a never-ending play)

Soliloquy No.1 for Trumpet - David Stowell

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 20:57:44 +0100

Thanks for davidstowell for today’s submission!

Soliloquy 1 for Trumpet (Soliloquies in a never-ending play)

The Return to Reason - Quinn Dougherty

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 21:05:01 +0100

Thanks to fal-parsi for today’s submission!

piano, alto sax, and electric guitar.

http://vimeo.com/32390014

after a film by Man Ray

Opening credits from a yet-to-be-realized film - Brooke DeRosa

Fri, 15 Jun 2012 21:02:48 +0100

A big thank you to brookederosa for today’s submission!

I was going for a pretty Danny Elfman-esque kind of thing. Hope you all like, please let me know what you think!

http://soundcloud.com/brookederosa/music-box-opening-credits

Black Light - Corey Smith

Thu, 14 Jun 2012 20:57:45 +0100

Thanks to thediscord for today’s submission!

blacklight by Corey_Smith

I wrote this piece a few summers ago, received a premiere from a string quartet, wasn’t entirely happy with it, revised it, and then re-premiered it last fall. In the process of this most recent premiere, however, I wasn’t able to find a first violinist and was forced to make some difficult decisions. Naturally, I did what any normal composer would do and swapped out the first violin part with an accordion part. I’m incredibly happy with the results.

The music itself takes a hefty influence from contemporary club music (albeit filtered through a post-tonal/octatonic lens). I’m a huge fan of this music, but not such a huge fan of the “forget tomorrow, let’s focus on tonight” culture that surrounds and inspires it. While a little escapism is great in small doses, that outlook is what creates some horrifying realities for too many people. In blacklight, I tried to show both my tremendous love for the music, and also provide a little bit of social commentary on the dangers of escapism. A love song to Lady Gaga meets social critique. I hope you enjoy!