Persistence for Flute, Bassoon, and Piano

[Acclarion]

HI all, Please take a listen if you are so inclined and read on below if you'd like some info on the piece. [url=http://www.maestroscorner.com/persistence.html]Persistence for Flute, Bassoon, and Piano[/url] I recently completed a short 3 minute piece for flute, bassoon, and piano, called Persistence. Normally, I compose classical pieces (or pieces intended for human performance, as distinct from my "film works/virtual orchestrations") in Finale and then import in to Cubase for midi editing. In this case, I sequenced everything in Cubase, starting with an improvised piano part which I did in 4 bar phrases. As I cycled through patterns and chord progressions, I imagined the flute and bassoon parts over top of the piano, but forced myself to do everything in "one take." In other words, each 4 bars of piano were recorded and never adjusted, so I could see if I could actually create a decent "musical" piece without any revisions. Following the piano, I went back and played in the flute and bassoon parts (a couple of times I did "undo" a phrase and try something else). I only used the sustain key switch during entry, and then changed a few keyswitches afterwards (such as adding flutter tonguing and/or staccato, etc.) Nowhere near the usual number of key switches, but since the piece was played in, a lot of the expression comes from the touch/velocity and natural human phrasing. Finally, no tempo track adjustments were implemented. The entire piece is at one consistent tempo. What I (and my wife, Becky) found fascinating is how much the phrasing still sounds pretty natural, as opposed to overly mechanical and robotic, like when we import Finale files pre-tempo adjustment. It must owe to all the other aspects of performing in the parts as opposed to simply importing midi notes. All the best, Dave

[Fabio Biolcati]

Interesting piece and working technique.

[Acclarion]

Thank you, Fabio. I got a chuckle reading your comment, because I couldn't help but wonder if the word "interesting" was a polite way of saying "weird" or "not good." Me and a friend once agreed that "wonderful" would be our code word to express dissatisfaction with something. We would go to dinner and at the end of the meal, if we liked the food, we'd say something like, "that was fabulous" or "terrific". If we didn't, we'd say, "mmm, what a wonderful meal!" Lol Dave

[Fabio Biolcati]

@Acclarion said:

I got a chuckle reading your comment, because I couldn't help but wonder if the word "interesting" was a polite way of saying "weird" or "not good."

Ah ah Dave!
Though I'm known for my English flavoured humor, in this case interesting is just meant to mean interesting, and let me openly say with a fair amount of inclination to good.
All the best

[WPeppercorn]

Good job Dave, very realistic sounding. However, I really enjoyed the composition! It kept me engaged throughout the entire work. Well done!

[Acclarion]

Thanks, Fabio, and thank you Wayne for your music as well...always lifts my spirits when I get a chance to listen to it :)

Dave