Technique in composing.

I've started this thread so as to not further derail Guy's thread re intuituve composing.

This post is a result of my and David's discussion about the use of technique whilst composing, i.e. using craft. I said I'd post some examples from how I use technique and this is the first of two examples. The second post will be about how I generate harmony, from the most dissonant to consonant using technique as a 'search engine' to find raw material to explore. It'd be nice if others can post about their methods as there are many approaches to be had. So to get the ball rolling and especially to fulfill a request from Teoh, here's some motivic analysis of the 1st mvt. from my violin concerto. The aim is to show how by retaining control of and applying invention and imagination to raw material, one can create the illusion of inevitability and at the same time maintain a musical focus and create a sense of purpose and impetus. The movement has two themes marked A+B but in reality it's more like one theme with two parts. I've only scribbled A's and B's on the score and have probably missed something but it should be obvious that motivic development is taking place.

I'm not posting this for the glory nor am I suggesting that what's demonstrated here is masterful or superior in any way. I post this merely to show a rather obvious and mundane technique I and many of us like to use to create a unified piece of music. Anyway I'll keep this short but should just add that the score and the audio don't match at letter J as I stupidly marked the wrong score. There may be other discrepancies but not enough to throw you off course. If you can, listen on headphones for the best sonic results.

Mike Hewer Violin concerto.1st analysis for CF.pdf

violin concerto 1st mvt

The comparison to the Walton is a fair one and that concerto is a favourite of mine.

Re process Teoh I'd say for me it is all of the above in any order and at any time during composing, even changing from bar to bar and note to note. Decisions are often made on the fly so to speak - in real time. I always listen for what the music wants to do next and that is often aided by trying out a few technical procedures to see if they produce a direction or an idea I like and can progress with. Other times I will improvise on some note formation or chord and extact more material from it by working it into a scale or rather mode. Then again I might work on a harmonic progression and rhythm that produces an emotional arc, a foundation or a formal function (or nall three), then work the surface features - lines,counterpoint, timbre, density, imagination and invention. When I find something that excites /intrigues me, I then work on instinct but also guided by craft. Honestly at times it's a hot mess but the training always supports the expression and imagination and makes me free to go anywhere my aesthetics and musicality are capable of headng to. For example, if I want quadruple stops for the strings, I know how to write them and that knowledge gives me countless options for what goes on the page. Or if I'm in a tonal mode and want a transition from one key to another, my knowledge of harmony will give me as many options as I need to try out. Likewise with counterpoint (not that I need to tell you), having studied the art of combining lines actually frees and fires the mind and gives it confidence to explore sensible and not so sensible options. Sometimes just good 'ol serendipity will make an apperance and save the day too. Like I said, a hot mess. It's a bit like quantum vacuum energy only here musical ideas fizzle in and out quickly and not so quickly. Some borrow more energy from me and consequently begin to stick whilst other ideas, unpredictably popping up as they do from processes known and sometimes unknown, are discarded and fizzle out in an instant.

I'll try to explain in more detail just one method I might use to find a harmonic system/language/unifying foundation/ with which to kickstart invention, imagination and hopefully music - ie what I call the search engine. I start with a mode. This mode can be synthetic or well-known, from a major scale to a more unusual made up order of tones and semitones, depending on the amount of consonance or dissonance I might need. I write the scale out in ascending order and then construct a vertical shape (or better, several different shapes/constructs), made of a mixture of different intervals. I would then plane the chord shape across the scale. ( I'll ignore some technical inconsistencies in doing this because of the scales order of intervals for the sake of brevity, but they don't matter anyway as this is pre-music). I then might mirror the chords for more harmonic variation.

The mirroring can be done anyway one might choose to - remember this is a search engine only, for raw material. I might use the bottom note of a chord and mirror downwards from there. If the mirroring is exact new notes may be added not in the original scale and one could view them as chromatic alterations. Or one can mirror within the scale instead, ie just use the notes of the original scale to mirror down with. to create a kind of inversion of the chord. The latter method necessarily has compromises as the nature of the scales intervallic ordering might necessitate vertical adjustments in the form of compromises to the distance between intervals - again, not really an issue. If the harmony found is unsatisfactory one could try the mirroring from another note in the original chord structure. Or for more variety one could mirror from a new note i.e. not an original chord/scale member which in effect will create a transposed scale. Even just creating one chord shape, planing it and then mirroring in a few ways produces a wealth of harmony with which to improvise and see if the musical invention and imagination gets fired up.

Moving on, one could apply common practice concepts to the harmony found above in order to explore possibilities further. For example there is no reason why any vertical construct can't be in inversion or any note chromatically altered to move elsewhere. So on that last, If I wished to move to a different scale or tonal area I could think about a note (or notes) in the vertical constructs as enharmonic and resolving accordingly. Assigning function like this to a note means it should ideally resolve by step but in the world of artificial scales it doesn't mean that the resolution note itself is also functional as would happen in common practice. The note resolved to could for example be interpreted as the 'tonic' of a new mode with a different intervallic structure. Or perhaps the note one resolves too could be the fourth note in the same or different vertical structure already used but now sounding in a transposed original scale. Once in the new mode one could repeat the vertical construction process either with a similar shape or perhaps a different one. Then plane and mirror as before. I could go on ad infinitum with many more twists and variations to common procedures to generate raw material but I trust you see how flexible and fruitful this can get with a lateral thinking approach to technique. On the ms you now have an incredible amount of material with which to play around. I might then spend time getting to know the material through improvisation- maybe just playing the chords in random order, or finding just a few that work nicely as a progression and then begin searching melodically/motivically with them to see what transpires. Whatever I do, what can eventually emerge is a unity and consistency in the music because it largely springs from the same or similar sourcs and in this regard is no different from common practice. I might eventually use whatever is found for a whole section in a piece or perhaps a transition or for that matter, anywhere it works. I guess the take away here is that lateral thinking in the form of imaginative and inventive 'what ifs' concerning the application of techniques is very fruitful but requires a paradigm shift away from the pedagogy one initially encounters whilst learning.

I suggest you try this. Make up an unusual scale. Try planing the scale with a vertical structure consisting of say a root, a fourth above, then a second and then a third (or better, any intervallic order you wish). You'll find that depending on the scale ordering, the intervallic integrity of the chord may have to be tweaked to taste. Then make up another chord with differing intervals but still using the same scale notes. Then underneath these chords mirror them in anyway you see fit, either staying within the scale or better still using exact mirroring to add new notes. Improvise with what you have and get a good feel for the sound world. If it's unsatisfactory or not what you are after, try tweaking the process in as many ways as you wish. Then consider a new 'tonic' only this time change the intervallic structure of the new scale and repeat all processes either with the same chord shape or a new one. Then freely improvise by mixing and matching chords, trying melodic fragments based on the scales you've used etc, to see if anything gets the creative juices flowing. At the end of the day, the final decisions that make the ms are based on music and its expressive intent. But equally important is the cogent, competent and controlled presentationof it. As someone once said, there's no point in having a good idea if you can't dress it up and present it appropriately.

Sorry this was long-winded but I hope it made some sense.

Replies

- Mike Hewer > Ollie King-Britton November 6, 2024 at 3:42am
  
  Yes Ollie, some good points imo. There is no correct way, only the way that works for you. The thrust of my argument is that one finds and hones a more profound musical self as one learns and integrates technique as the foundation for expressive creativity.
  
  I like the way you are willing to adapt and manipulate serialism to find solutions, using technique as a search engine - an attitude to techniques I use to break creative deadlocks and open up musical ideas. I bet at times you are spoilt for creative choice as I know I often am. Your point about the piece writing itself is ultra important too imo. This is the ideal state to be in, what's called 'flow'. and is one anyone, regardless of skill level, can experience. This state can be encouraged with dilligent systematic work that explores many options and familiarises one with ideas at a deeper level. Inventive and imaginative application of technique is a great way of searching beyond the notes and seeing what implications they could have for progressing a work.
HS Teoh November 6, 2024 at 5:32pm

Thanks for posting this, Mike. Sorry for not replying earlier; I was on the road with limited internet access until now.

Just listened to your violin concerto. It reminds me of Walton's viola concerto for some reason. I enjoyed the drama and thematic development that is typical of your work.

It was especially interesting to follow the score and observe how it's structured with your two themes. I feel like it's still missing something, though: while it was helpful to see where A and B were used, it would be even more helpful IMO to get a little example explanation of, say, one random instance where you used one or both themes, what kind of motivic development you used, and why. Was it just free-form imagination? Or did you go through a decision process where you considered different possibilities and eliminated them one by one until you arrived at a particular instance of motivic development that you chose to use? Or did you already have in mind where the music wants to go, and merely selected a particular permutation of the theme as a way of getting there?

IMO explaining one or two such decisions (among the hundreds that must have gone into producing this composition) would be a very helpful insight into how you employed theory/technique in a way that nevertheless allowed your creativity full rein over the resulting music.
- Mike Hewer > HS Teoh November 7, 2024 at 4:40am
  
  The comparison to the Walton is a fair one and that concerto is a favourite of mine.
  
  Re process Teoh I'd say for me it is all of the above in any order and at any time during composing, even changing from bar to bar and note to note. Decisions are often made on the fly so to speak - in real time. I always listen for what the music wants to do next and that is often aided by trying out a few technical procedures to see if they produce a direction or an idea I like and can progress with. Other times I will improvise on some note formation or chord and extact more material from it by working it into a scale or rather mode. Then again I might work on a harmonic progression and rhythm that produces an emotional arc, a foundation or a formal function (or nall three), then work the surface features - lines,counterpoint, timbre, density, imagination and invention. When I find something that excites /intrigues me, I then work on instinct but also guided by craft. Honestly at times it's a hot mess but the training always supports the expression and imagination and makes me free to go anywhere my aesthetics and musicality are capable of headng to. For example, if I want quadruple stops for the strings, I know how to write them and that knowledge gives me countless options for what goes on the page. Or if I'm in a tonal mode and want a transition from one key to another, my knowledge of harmony will give me as many options as I need to try out. Likewise with counterpoint (not that I need to tell you), having studied the art of combining lines actually frees and fires the mind and gives it confidence to explore sensible and not so sensible options. Sometimes just good 'ol serendipity will make an apperance and save the day too. Like I said, a hot mess. It's a bit like quantum vacuum energy only here musical ideas fizzle in and out quickly and not so quickly. Some borrow more energy from me and consequently begin to stick whilst other ideas, unpredictably popping up as they do from processes known and sometimes unknown, are discarded and fizzle out in an instant.
  
  I'll try to explain in more detail just one method I might use to find a harmonic system/language/unifying foundation/ with which to kickstart invention, imagination and hopefully music - ie what I call the search engine. I start with a mode. This mode can be synthetic or well-known, from a major scale to a more unusual made up order of tones and semitones, depending on the amount of consonance or dissonance I might need. I write the scale out in ascending order and then construct a vertical shape (or better, several different shapes/constructs), made of a mixture of different intervals. I would then plane the chord shape across the scale. ( I'll ignore some technical inconsistencies in doing this because of the scales order of intervals for the sake of brevity, but they don't matter anyway as this is pre-music). I then might mirror the chords for more harmonic variation.
  
  The mirroring can be done anyway one might choose to - remember this is a search engine only, for raw material. I might use the bottom note of a chord and mirror downwards from there. If the mirroring is exact new notes may be added not in the original scale and one could view them as chromatic alterations. Or one can mirror within the scale instead, ie just use the notes of the original scale to mirror down with. to create a kind of inversion of the chord. The latter method necessarily has compromises as the nature of the scales intervallic ordering might necessitate vertical adjustments in the form of compromises to the distance between intervals - again, not really an issue. If the harmony found is unsatisfactory one could try the mirroring from another note in the original chord structure. Or for more variety one could mirror from a new note i.e. not an original chord/scale member which in effect will create a transposed scale. Even just creating one chord shape, planing it and then mirroring in a few ways produces a wealth of harmony with which to improvise and see if the musical invention and imagination gets fired up.
  
  Moving on, one could apply common practice concepts to the harmony found above in order to explore possibilities further. For example there is no reason why any vertical construct can't be in inversion or any note chromatically altered to move elsewhere. So on that last, If I wished to move to a different scale or tonal area I could think about a note (or notes) in the vertical constructs as enharmonic and resolving accordingly. Assigning function like this to a note means it should ideally resolve by step but in the world of artificial scales it doesn't mean that the resolution note itself is also functional as would happen in common practice. The note resolved to could for example be interpreted as the 'tonic' of a new mode with a different intervallic structure. Or perhaps the note one resolves too could be the fourth note in the same or different vertical structure already used but now sounding in a transposed original scale. Once in the new mode one could repeat the vertical construction process either with a similar shape or perhaps a different one. Then plane and mirror as before. I could go on ad infinitum with many more twists and variations to common procedures to generate raw material but I trust you see how flexible and fruitful this can get with a lateral thinking approach to technique. On the ms you now have an incredible amount of material with which to play around. I might then spend time getting to know the material through improvisation- maybe just playing the chords in random order, or finding just a few that work nicely as a progression and then begin searching melodically/motivically with them to see what transpires. Whatever I do, what can eventually emerge is a unity and consistency in the music because it largely springs from the same or similar sourcs and in this regard is no different from common practice. I might eventually use whatever is found for a whole section in a piece or perhaps a transition or for that matter, anywhere it works. I guess the take away here is that lateral thinking in the form of imaginative and inventive 'what ifs' concerning the application of techniques is very fruitful but requires a paradigm shift away from the pedagogy one initially encounters whilst learning.
  
  I suggest you try this. Make up an unusual scale. Try planing the scale with a vertical structure consisting of say a root, a fourth above, then a second and then a third (or better, any intervallic order you wish). You'll find that depending on the scale ordering, the intervallic integrity of the chord may have to be tweaked to taste. Then make up another chord with differing intervals but still using the same scale notes. Then underneath these chords mirror them in anyway you see fit, either staying within the scale or better still using exact mirroring to add new notes. Improvise with what you have and get a good feel for the sound world. If it's unsatisfactory or not what you are after, try tweaking the process in as many ways as you wish. Then consider a new 'tonic' only this time change the intervallic structure of the new scale and repeat all processes either with the same chord shape or a new one. Then freely improvise by mixing and matching chords, trying melodic fragments based on the scales you've used etc, to see if anything gets the creative juices flowing. At the end of the day, the final decisions that make the ms are based on music and its expressive intent. But equally important is the cogent, competent and controlled presentationof it. As someone once said, there's no point in having a good idea if you can't dress it up and present it appropriately.
  
  Sorry this was long-winded but I hope it made some sense.

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