A recent exchange with fellow composer John Mackey on Facebook about saxophone samples (he uses the Vienna Symphonic Library series, and I’m currently using the built-in General MIDI samples, which possess the subtlety of a chainsaw) reminded me that I’ve long wanted to do a post comparing MIDI and live versions of a few of my pieces.
I would venture to say that most composers working today (at least those under the age of, say, 40-45) use a computer and MIDI playback at some stage in the creative process. Some, such as John, do most of their composing directly in a notation program such as Finale or Sibelius, while others, such as Eric Whitacre and Jonathan Newman, tend to write with old-fashioned pencil and paper and then enter it into the notation program, or go back and forth between the two. (Aside: around 10 years ago, Eric had a sketch of the opening two minutes or so of Equus sequenced, but was considering throwing it out. I happened to be visiting him at the time, and threatened to steal it if he insisted on trashing it.) My own approach shifts from piece to piece: I sometimes use pencil, paper, and a piano (Alchemy in Silent Spaces, A Millions Suns at Midnight), but nearly all of my composing now happens in MOTU’s Digital Performer (Ecstatic Waters, Axis Mundi, Radiant Joy, Bloom, Dusk, The Marbled Midnight Mile) or directly in Finale (Chester Leaps In, ImPercynations, Suite Dreams, Stampede, First Light, and Mvt. I of my in-progress Concerto for Wind Ensemble*). I do, however, do quite a bit of brainstorming before beginning work, and often write quite a bit of prose describing what will happen in the piece before I fire up the music software.
The great advantages of using MIDI playback during the composition process is that it gives the composer an immediate sense of the timing of a piece. In my early compositions (all written with pencil and paper, hunched over an upright piano in a practice room only slightly larger than said piano), I would only discover architectural imbalances after it was too late (i.e. after the premiere performance). For me, this is MIDI’s greatest strength – I can sit safely ensconced in my studio and tweak the timing so that it’s much, much closer to my ideal before the first reading. I still revise new works during rehearsals and after the first performance, but the changes rarely have to do with architecture, instead being of the errata and orchestrational variety. So, MIDI playback allows me to get closer to my goal, sooner.
Now for the disadvantages: In addition to being incredibly deceptive in terms of balance and orchestration, the computer never has to breathe, has (all-too-) perfect rhythm, and is lifeless. I’ve found I tend to miscalculate tempos because of this ultra-precise, effortless quality to the sound, and have to guard against cranking the tempo up too high trying to compensate for a lack of human energy. Perhaps even more importantly, the samples can, if they sound awful (Saxophones!) discourage you from writing for a particular instrument, or, if they sound fantastic (Hans Zimmer film score Horns!) give you unrealistic expectations.
Given all this, I thought it might be instructive to give some side-by-side comparisons of MIDI and live performances from some of my own works. You’ll notice I don’t go to a lot of trouble to make my MIDI mockups sound good – it can become very time consuming to enter all the volume and expression changes (this was especially true 5-10 years ago, but I still find it tedious and disruptive to the creative process). More importantly, I feel leaving the MIDI sounding “rough” forces me to use my imagination more, and not get suckered into the good sounds, though that still happens sometimes, anyway (I love an epic Horn patch).
1) Stampede (2003)
Finale 2003, Roland JV-1080 synth module, Mac G3 Blue&White 450MHz
EXAMPLE 1:
SCORE (PDF, mm. 1-35, pp. 1-5)
Mm. 1-35, MIDI
Mm. 1- 35, University of North Texas Wind Symphony, Eugene Corporon, conductor, Poetics
Note how long the MIDI note durations are compared to the actual band.
EXAMPLE 2:
SCORE (PDF, mm. 88-126, pp. 17-22)
Mm. 88-126, MIDI
Mm. 88-126, UNT Wind Symphony
Bonus: Here’s what the score looked like on the first day I started work on the piece. It appears I wrote the “intro” that day, but hadn’t yet come up with the Trumpet solo melody:
Stampede score, September 2, 2003 (first day of composing)
2) Loose Id for Brass Quintet and Percussion (1995)
Studio Vision sequencer, Proteus Orchestral synth module (I think), Mac Quadra 630
This sounds pretty ridiculous in retrospect, but it was my very first MIDI mockup, as far as I can recall.
SCORE (PDF, mm. 1-64, pp. 1-7)
Mm. 1-64, MIDI
Mm. 1-64, Humans (list of players is on the Loose Id page)
3) Ecstatic Waters (2008)
Digital Performer sequencer, MachFive software sampler (instrument samples from many different sources), MacBook Pro 2.16GHz Core 2 Duo
Ecstatic Waters presented a special challenge. When I do “electronic” music (such as Hummingbrrd, Veo Hex, etc.), I tweak the sounds and the mix endlessly. This is a very different manner of working from when I make mockups of acoustic music. Ecstatic Waters required that I mix these two working methods, putting acoustic samples of questionable expressiveness next to the electronics tracks, which would indeed be exactly what the audience would hear. The good thing was that I could use subwoofers.
EXAMPLE 1:
SCORE (PDF, mm. 166-394, pp. 21-51) – in particular, note the difference in saxophone sounds between MIDI and live versions, beginning in m. 253.
Mm. 166-394, MIDI
Mm. 166-394, University of Texas Austin Wind Ensemble, Jerry Junkin, conductor, Live at CBDNA, March, 2009
EXAMPLE 2:
SCORE (PDF, mm. 408-474, pp. 53-63)
Mm. 408-474, MIDI
Mm. 408-474, University of Texas Austin Wind Ensemble, Jerry Junkin, conductor, Live at CBDNA, March, 2009
Hope these examples are enlightening for some of the young composers out there. My advice is to not get too obsessed with making the MIDI sound good, and don’t necessarily believe your ears when it does sound good. You’re not truly finished with the piece until you’ve heard real human beings bring your music to life!
*For more on the Concerto for Wind Ensemble, and how I’m using Digital Performer to compose Mvts. II – V, check out my video series.
Ecstatic Waters review
A review of Ecstatic Waters: “The score could benefit from judicious editing.”
My “wry impishness” compels me to point out to the reviewer that crystal water glasses are not “electronic,” Mvt. III has nothing to do with serialism, and the clarinet solo is not a blues.
I just posted Episode 5 in my ongoing video series. This one deals with Movement III (which I’m currently in the middle of), and shows examples from my sequencing software, Digital Performer. It also showcases my entirely fantastic General MIDI saxophone sound library.
Also, that harp ostinato is on an “F,” not an “E” like I say in the video. Oops.
I suggest you watch it in high definition – the DP screen details are a bit small.
BCM on the radio – Wind & Rhythm
BCM will be on the radio this weekend. Full info below from the Wind&Rhythm website:
Episode 79: Rivers, Pools, Storms, and Fountains
A recent article in “Listen, Life with Classical Music” quoted a friend of mine, Mark Morette proclaiming his Roman Trilogy is the best band CD ever! I know and trust him and so we’ll hear from him and from the album this week. Also we finally find a way to get all of the BCM composers into one show; Whitacre, Bryant, Newman, and Boney. This show might be a perfect one if it chooses to rain while you listen.
We hope you can join us this week.
By the Rivers of Babylon: Ed Huckeby
Washington Winds, Edward Peterson – Walking Frog WFR199
The Rivers of the Bowery: Jonathan Newman
Rutgers Wind Ensemble, William Berz – Mark 6199MCD
Reflections in a Tidal Pool: James Boney
UNLV Wind Orchestra, Thomas Leslie – Mark 4393-MCD
Ecstatic Waters (Ceremony of Innocence): Steven Bryant
North Texas Wind Symphony, Eugene Migliaro Corporon – Mark 8471-MCD
Cloudburst: Eric Whitacre
UNLV Wind Orchestra, Eric Whitacre – Mark 4393-MCD
The Fountains of Rome: Ottorino Respighi
US Air Force Band, Lowell Graham – Mark 4363-MCD
Gulf Breezes, Kt 14/2: Christopher Tucker
Rutgers Wind Ensemble, William Berz – Mark 7522-MCD
Ye Banks and Braes o’ Bonnie Doon: Percy Grainger
Dallas Wind Symphony, Frederick Fennell – Reference Recordings RR-62CD
The program is available on the KCCU Network on Friday at 11am, on KCSC/KBCW on Saturday at 5pm, and on KWTU Classical 88.7 in Tulsa at 7pm on Sunday
And, if you’re out of the listening area, you can listen to the broadcast on the internet. Just go to our website
www.windandrhythm.com
and click on the “listen live” button on the front page. It will open the Public Radio Tulsa site where you can choose from the second group (KWGS is listed first) but the correct choices are listed as Classical 88.7, KWTU. There are three choices depending on your computer and software preference.
The first full episode of my new video series documenting the creation of my Concerto for Wind Ensemble. It covers the creation of mvt. II, including a look at how I compose in Digital Performer.
More information about the piece, including a recording of the first movement (which is finished).
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The blog takes a back seat…
Since I’m not particularly consistent at actual blogging, and in recent times posts have dwindled to simple “here’s what I’m up to” (and not even that, in the last two months I’ve had two premieres and nary a word here!!), I’ve restructured the front page of my site to pull together my Twitter feed, upcoming performances, and a random photo from my Flickr page, and relegated the actual Blog to a secondary page.
And just to officially catch up:
Oklahoma State was great – the horns made me giggle with joy, and the performance was spectacular. Huge thanks to unsung hero Hunter Lewis for slogging through the unfamiliar world of Ableton Live, Joe Missal for being a great host, and of course the band, who just about blew the doors off of the hall. Which is exactly what I want. 
Univ. Nebraska Lincoln – went straight from Stillwater to Lincoln, where Carolyn Barber and the UNL Wind Ensemble premiered The Marbled Midnight Mile at NMEA. This was a consortium commission organized by Phi Beta Mu and administered by Jay Gilbert at Doane College, consisting of somewhere around 30 schools from across Nebraska, ranging from very small High Schools all the way up to some college groups (including UNL). As I’ve mentioned before, composing works for younger, less-experienced musicians, is in itself a daunting challenge, and doing so while still trying to keep it challenging for college-level performers makes it all the more difficult. I think it worked, though! It certainly was well-received, and I was struck by how meditative the music was – even moreso than I had expected. More on the piece coming soon. A big “thank you” to Carolyn and the UNL group for the lovely performance, and to Jay Gilbert, Phi Beta Mu, and the participating commissioners for making the project happen!
UNC Greensboro – it’s always wonderful to go to a performance and NOT have to get on an airplane. After this Fall’s crazy schedule, I appreciate it even more. So it was a delight to drive the hour over to Greensboro for John Locke and the UNCG Wind Ensemble’s performance of Ecstatic Waters. The group was fantastic, and also rocked out on some Chester Leaps In and Radiant Joy. It was sort of a career-spanning concert: Chester Leaps In is my oldest piece (that I’ll let anyone hear), dating from 1995 (the band version was created in 1997 at the urging of Eric Whitacre).
Williams College – this was a very cool, completely atypical concert. Steve Bodner has a unique program up there, and I must say, I really liked the whole program and his approach to programming. This wasn’t a “band” concert, or even a “new music” concert – it was simply a great, creative evening of music (how often will I be programmed with Andriessen, Adams, Lang, van der Aa, and Debussy all in one?!?), in a cool space (Mass MoCa). The brand new Ecstatic Moments I created for the event worked wonderfully, and I plan to release them for others to use shortly. Williamstown is also a beautiful town in one of my favorite areas of the country, so I hope I get a chance to return there…
Michigan State – it’s always great to visit old friends, and working with Kevin Sedatole and the MSU Wind Symphony was a fitting finish to the semester’s travel schedule. The performance was, as always, truly excellent, and the Mahler Hammer was ridiculous. This must be the biggest Mahler Hammer ever created. I only managed to get a shot with my iPhone, but I hear there’s actual video out there of this in action…
Anyone from MSU want to hook me up?
That wraps up the Fall series of performances. The Spring looks to be even crazier – 26 scheduled performances of Ecstatic Waters so far, including the US Marine Band…
From Michigan to Miami
Catching up…
Had a great trip to Michigan for the Univ. Michigan Symphony Band’s performance of Ecstatic Waters. Hill Auditorium makes the electronics crystal clear – it was easy (to my ears) to pick out the acoustic vs. the electronics elements, which made the blending more difficult than usual. The band did a great job, made all the more astonishing by conductor Michael Haithcock doing the entire piece without a click track! Not intentionally, of course – for some reason the wireless unit didn’t work in performance (could’ve been as simple as the earpiece not being plugged in all the way – we have no idea what really went wrong), but he got to Mvt. II where the first electronics cue comes, in, and he had no click. Despite this, he held the piece together by simply relying on listening to the speakers. Lesson for everyone else doing the piece – make sure you check that your click track works immediately before the piece begins.
Also gave an in-depth talk about the piece during a seminar at Michigan – 2 hours solid of me talking about this one piece of music. It felt incredibly self-indulgent, but no one fell asleep, so that’s a good sign. A little nerve-wracking that Bob Reynolds was there and asking questions (and in fact we may have worked out a persistent orchestrational problem I’ve had in Mvt. IV!).
After the performance, Verena and I spent the weekend in East Lansing, and got to go to the MSU/Michigan game on Saturday, followed by Kevin Sedatole’s post-game party at his house (featuring Salt Lick BBQ shipped up from Austin for this occasion). Great weekend seeing old friends and revisiting V’s old stomping grounds for the first time since we left over two years ago.
After a brief return home, I’m now in Miami, where Gary Green and the Univ. of Miami Wind Symphony will perform Ecstatic Waters on Wednesday night. We had a rehearsal yesterday, and everything worked great (including the click track!). This is my first time in Miami, and of course we had some excellent Cuban cuisine today at Versailles, and some unbelievably good seafood last night on the water at The Chart House (the Apple Jack Seabass…hooboy was that some good eats). So, things are good here. If you’re in Miami, come to the concert Wednesday night on the Univ. Miami campus – the concert also features the premiere of Gary’s transcription of Frank Ticheli’s Symphony No. 1, with tenor John Bragle singing the final movement – should prove to be a great concert!
Must sleep – have to talk to the conducting students here in the morning…
If you’re in The Triangle (that’d be Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill for you non-locals), you should check out the Duke University Wind Symphony‘s first concert of the year tonight at 8pm in Baldwin Auditorium (East Campus). Verena has done a fantastic job with the group, and when I heard the dress rehearsal on Tues. night, it was evident they’ve worked really hard on this concert. Verena is an extraordinarily musical conductor, and the concert will be worth your time.
The program includes Susato’s Danserye, Grantham’s Southern Harmony, Vaughan WIlliams English Folk Song Suite, Hindemith’s March from Symphonic Metamorphosis, and more!
In Ann Arbor
Arrived in Ann Arbor, MI today for the Univ. Michigan’s upcoming performance of Ecstatic Waters. Tomorrow I give a seminar, then we do the dress rehearsal in the evening. The group will sound fantastic – can’t wait to hear them in Hill Auditorium: Friday night (8pm; pre-concert lecture at 7:15).
Saturday, we’re off to the Mich./MSU game. And lest a week go by without BBQ, I hear Kevin Sedatole is having Salt Lick shipped up fresh from Austin for the post-game party on Saturday. I think that’s what the kids these days call an “Epic Win.”