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  4. Sonata, Opus Something

  • Sonata, Opus Something

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    Hi all,

    I have just completed a work with deep personal meaning. Sonata, Opus Something (yes, I get the irony of my previous sentence vs. the title of the piece!) is a new clarinet and piano sonata, written for my beautiful wife, Rebecca. It's in 3 movements, and I've included a youtube link below to the whole work, which is 17 minutes. No, I haven't separated the movements with timecode, because I would much rather anyone that listens, give the whole piece a listen. I think it's worth it, but of course, I'm partial 😊

    Seriously, I contemplated not posting this, because it seems that there is less and less interest in listening and commenting on music shared via the forums, which of course, has the effect of demoralizing those that spend so much time (foolishly?) tweaking endless midi data.

    I'd love to be proven wrong in this case, and receive some "I listened to the whole thing while downing a box of Twinkies," or "I couldn't get through it without a six pack, but I finally did...get through the six pack," comments.

    Sonata, Opus Something for Clarinet and Piano

    Enjoy!

    Dave
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    That's an incredible piece!  Amazingly inventive.  And hard to play!    

    At the risk of being insufferably irritating (my specialty) I believe I detected the clarinet was MIDI even though you diabolically have the ability to use a masterful player's knowledge and skills to your MIDI advantage.  However I could hear the somewhat longer release times again on some runs with a tiny amount of blurring between notes (global rather than mono legato?) that if played live would be totally separate. Or am I having aural hallucinations as part of your attempt at gaslighting me - is it Becky, or MIDI?  Or Becky, on MIDI?  This is getting crazy...
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    Bill, you win. I was certain this was a recording of Becky playing the tune and complimented the Carovillanos as such on their YouTube page. Turns out you are correct; Dave assures me that this is a virtual recording! Wow. So congratulations to Dave and Becky for this masterful composition and MIDI realization and congratulations to you, Bill, for having the ear to spot it. I didn't.
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    Thanks to both of you, William and Tom!

    William:  Your ears don't deceive you.  You are the King of Detail when it comes to this stuff.  Yes, guilty as charged of forgetting the global legato setting :)  It is a midi performance, considering Becky's in the midst of some busy work that won't give her the time to learn the piece.  Of course, that's the end goal one day, with a suitable pianist...not me.  The fact that there was a time when certain composers on this forum felt it necessary to let me know how bad my music and/or mock-up skills were, and in consideration of the fact that they are highly respectful of your work...well, I guess I feel good getting your approval, William :)

    Tom:  Thanks again for your always kind and motivating words.  I believe one of the reasons William's production chops are so extraordinary, is his uncanny sensitivity to sound and how instruments work/behave.  He really is at the top of the heap of VSL masters, alongside the usual heroes, like Guy Bacos, of course!

    Cheers!

    Dave
  • Fabio BiolcatiF
    Fabio BiolcatiF

    Very well done, David.
    Hope you'll be able to have Becky perform it live soon.
    Cheers.

    VI Special Edition 1-3, Reaper, MuseScore 3, Notion 3 (collecting dust), vst flotsam and jetsam
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    Hi Fabio,

    Just saw your comment on youtube.  Thanks again for listening and yes, the goal will be a recording with Becky down the road.  We've got our hands full with a little toddler who doesn't let us do anything remotely related to performance at this time :)

    Cheers!

    Dave
  • Francesco PirroneF
    Francesco PirroneF
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    Hi Dave,

    it's a great piece, thanks for sharing it! 😊

    May I ask which piano library is it?

    All the best

    Francesco

    Francesco
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    Thanks for listening, Francesco!  PM'd you the info.
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    Hi Dave,

    A marvelous piece, Dave. You know, that most of the time I can't say so much about music, except one thing: I'm fascinated by it or not, I feel (or think I feel ;) ) the intention of the composer or not, and with this piece I hear definitly something that appeals to me in one way or the other. There is something very coherent in it, it tells me something musically, the last part with some humor in it (okay, that's what I hear...). From what I remember of your music, I shouldn't be supprised if this is one of your best pieces. And writing something for Becky is always special for you, I think. Congratulations!
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    Thank you MMKA.  Your comments are most appreciated.  Believe it or not, I struggle to comment on the music of others as well.  Music is so personal, and of course, there are myriad technical aspects which as a listener, one may or may not feel equipped to discuss.  This often leads to general silence on the forums, for fear of saying things that the "know it all" types will correct and/or dismiss.  There is also the desire to not offend the composer, if what we want to comment on might be received incorrectly.  We all love music, which is why we're here in the first place.  It's my hope that in the future, more people will feel safe to share, and also encourage the composers that already share.

    Cheers!

    Dave
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    I love it!  I'm hard pressed to give thoughtful, erudite feedback.  However, I can say that on an emotional level it appealed to me as a finely tuned mixture between spritely playfulness and sweet sentimentality.  It may be my penchant for klezmer-ish music, but I found myself enjoying the final movement the most.  It had an attitude that, to my ears, embodied the freedom from constrains and expectation you so eloquently write about in the video's description.  I also can't help but *love* the title.  Opus Something...just perfect.  I give it 9 out of 8 slices of pizza!
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    @William said:

    However I could hear the somewhat longer release times again on some runs with a tiny amount of blurring between notes (global rather than mono legato?) that if played live would be totally separate. 

    For my own learning purposes, I'd like to ask: what setting are you referring to when you mention "global rather than mono legato" and why is that creating the aforementioned blur?
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    Hi Sam,

    So glad you enjoyed it.  I really appreciate your enthusiasm and would love to replace star ratings with pizza ratings :)  

    Re. the global/mono legato settings, as far as I understand, the global legato affects the length/overlap of the notes, such that it can help smooth out a legato between two notes, but with too much overlap, will essentially allow both notes to play simultaneously, which obviously isn't possible with single voice instruments.  In my own experiences, there's always a trade off between "authenticity" and achieving a desired sound.  If you put the clarinet on mono, sure, the pitches won't overlap, but you may not achieve as smooth a legato sound as you might want for a particular passage.  It really is a matter of experimentation to find the sweet spot, which at times, I'm guilty of not finding :)

    Cheers!

    Dave
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    The "global" is the default setting for a legato articulation in "advanced settings" of VI.  It will create more than one note playing at once depending on how the note is overlapped.  It's not like the simple "mono" legato which always plays only a legato transition between notes and is always one note.  I've suggested that "mono" should be the default setting, since it is more characteristic legato for a single instrument.   

    I never use the "global" setting because  you have to play it just right (something I often have trouble with) to get accurate legato, whereas the "mono" is  perfect legato with any overlap of notes.  
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    Hey!  We were writing at the same moment!  Anyway Dave knows, we are just using paranormal legato right now. 
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    LOL!  Paranormal legato?  There's inspiration for your next work, William!  Add some overtone singing for that polyphonic voice performance, and you can have solo instruments and voice performing as "ensembles." 

    Dave
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    David and William,

    Thank you for the detailed and helpful explanation!  Your answers could not have come at a better time: I'm in the middle of going through my presets and updating various parameters.  I always wondered why the SYN libraries had legato on MONO by default (looks like they listened to your feedback, William), and now I know.  I also wondered why legato lines I played in with over-emphasized slurring sometimes had a strange "smearing" sound.  Now I know!

    Awesome!  Thanks so much.

    - Sam
  • PaulP Paul moved this topic from Orchestration & Composition on