Polar Opposition

[Allison Danielle]

This is a piece I posted a while back when I first started it. This is the finished version. Let me know what you think, all comments are welcome! Thanks!

[Clark Nichols]

Badass, as usual.

nice job :D! /jealous

Reminds me a bit of a march a less chromatic Shostakovich might write (if he were alive now, and wrote drumline music :P ) 

And that breakdown at the end is really awesome.

[Allison Danielle]

Thanks a lot, Clark! You're always so sweet. :)

[Spiros Makris]

So bad. I'm left wondering why you thought it was worth to put that on paper. and then share it too? May god have mercy on our ears.

Actually I'm kidding, I liked it.

[Tao Wen]

Good Job! Enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing...

[Charles Greco]

Very interesting work. Seems like kind of a loosely controlled percussive pyrotechnical display that stops just short of logical completion.

And yes, I did find the work quite enjoyable.

[Quinn Mason]

a lot of percussion use and some pop influence....i like it

[Allison Danielle]

Thank you so much for your advice Mr. Butterley! I would have to agree that my pieces can be pretty rhythmically bland most of the time. I kind of get stuck on certain ruts of rhythms and chord progressions. I've actually been thinking about studying African percussion for some time now since that's where most, if not all, of the instruments I write for originated. I'm glad you pointed out my flaw though. No one had really said anything about it until now so I was starting to think it was just me. Haha... But thanks again! :)

George Butterley said:

Hi Allison, Really nice piece with your usual flair for orchestration and attention to minute detail. Very accomplished indeed.

I want to somehow offer some positive comment that will be useful to you without in any way detracting from what you've achieved here . But I just wish that it surprised me a little more (rhythmically) than it does, and that you would break away from that square four feel a little more often? For a brief while around 1.44 you do, and you introduce a fluid idea that forces me gently away from the natural 4 count, I can hear endless possibilities for polyrhythm and illusion that could fly off at this point from this one simple idea. But you drop it fairly quickly... This is a personal opinion, but I think that if you were to look at how some of the simple Central African rhythms create energy and movement through the use of simple phrases, and also polyrhythmic relationships and dialogue, you could absorb some of those simple ideas into the layers within your orchestration, and you'd discover a whole other dimension of possibility for movement for yourself. Steve Reich uses some of these relationships within Music for 18 Musicians, and from a movement (Groove) perspective, particularly in some of his marimba patterns, it's a really useful reference piece. That said, it may not be your path (or wish) to impart this kind of dynamic or movement into your work, but I merely offer the suggestion that it could help you grow hugely as a rhythm player and composer to look at it. Rhythm can be full of illusion and surprise, I enjoy having my expectations wrong footed, and tripped up occasionally, and all this is possible without losing the consistency of the underlying pulse by exploring the very edges of what polyrhythm can produce. Something for you to ponder anyhow?