Music Midterm Writing

Introduction

The world of the music industry is mostly a story of origination that has its roots in the 18th century. The creation of Music is as old as the existence of human beings; however, the determination to arcade and market the music industry has a history of only a few centuries. In the 18^th century, musicians like Amadeus Mozart started searching for more methods to sell their music and shows to the people of his community. Handwritten and printed music was introduced in the 19^th century and later became the core of the music industry. However, music has particular limitations and only addresses and targets a particular place and audience, as well as people who have notions related to music. This paper will discuss the personal understanding of three prompts related to the music production chain.

Prompt 1: Music Production Chain

One can cultivate his/her inspired skills in composition and study to produce music for a variety of mass media before offering the work as a connection of both the video and audio assets. The very first step in the music production chain could be to make the installation with the help of a personalized rig by using audio or video equipment and then develop and design the overall program notes to upkeep and endorse an installation process. Produce a sound design arrangement for the music, which consumes sound effects, music, and recorded sound. Lastly, design a prearranged list of all the audio assets that are used in the music.

Every single music creator has his own specific music production chain. However, one could discover comparable procedures or chain music producers go towards the finished tracks. In my personal understanding, the creation of music includes both technical and creative tactics. And every one of them has a different approach. With proper training and practice, one could acquire how to pass amongst the technical and creative approaches through the music production chain. The aptitude to highlight the two approaches will assist the work more proficiently without mislaying the overall momentum.

John Cage, Imaginary Landscape No. 4 (1951) track 3&7

Being written in 1951, “Imag­i­nary Land­scape No. 4” has scored for 12 radios. The two per­form­ers played each radio, one of them setting up the fre­quency while the other one chang­ing the tone and vol­ume making the music more charming and pleasant. Track 3&7 is composed in a con­ven­tion collaborator, i.e. With the notes that express­es dura­tion placed on the five-line staff, and was instrumented with the help of chance oper­a­tions, as compared with that of Cage’s Music of Changes, both of them were writ­ten with same notions. Although their com­po­sing tactics were similar, “Imag­i­nary Land­scape No. 4” works very differently in one key esteem that gives the environment of the music that they have employed – “the piano in the for­mer case and the radio in the lat­ter” – track 3&7 is indeterminate with the rest of the tracks.

The inde­ter­mi­nacy twigs from the element that the sound produced by the radio changes its frequency, location, and time at definite intervals, and these sounds from track 3&7 cannot be determined, and hence each and every performance will differ in such a way that cannot be predicted. The practice of indeterminacy is the main motivation behind tracks 3 and 7. After vigilant listening to the music, it is pretty clear that modest recurring pulses are being used all over the music. Additionally, a syllabic text background is engaged. However, the shifting lines of bar and indiscretion in the music cause tautness and creatively undermine the prospects of a listener or spectator.

The main purpose of tracking 3&7 was not to shock the listener or surprise him/her but to raise the unpre­dictabil­ity that has already been added in the sit­u­a­tion by the previous tracks over the toss­ing of coins. In pre­cise, track 3&7 is a leap that gives a reach of one’s own clutch of one­self. The “leap out of reach of one’s own grasp of one­self” that Cage mentions in the track was to develop a notion of becoming a guid­ing morals; the main goal was to eradicate the will of an individual, partiality, and wishes in the word, to give away the control. In the Western musical tradition, there is always stress on uniqueness and originality, not to discuss the disciplined, categorized nature of the ensemble, certainly of the diatonic accord itself, which had turned out to be a suspect for the Cage.

Amores (1943) by John Cage

The second piece of music in the text is Amores (1943) by John Cage. Cage is mainly accredited with the creation of experimentalism as elegance in the late 1950s. Though he was a prodigious encouragement for conceptualist musicians in the era of the 1960s, his harmony and instructive approaches were dominant to the appearance of simplicity at the start of the 1960s and afterwards. The importance of Cage extends beyond the music industry, and musicians nowadays perform in the theatre, dance, movie, literature, and the opinion of the visual and performance-art field about Cage as the most determinative personality of their time. His influence is moderately due to his partnership with powerful personalities in these numerous fields and partly due to his prominence as a poet, writer, and musician, along with his importance as a visual composer.

Music of Change by John Cage

The third piece of music in the text will be Music of Change by John Cage. Cage created “Music of Changes” in 1951, and David Tudor gave his performance the premiere in 1952 at the “Living Theatre in New York”(Pritchett, J.1996). This music is recorded for an unaccompanied pianist and prescribed in more than four books without any headings or standard tempo markings.

In this music, it is important to note how Cage tries to escape from the outmoded Western tactics. He avoids the stringent Western design of defeating the time. Each of the books discloses spans of time ruled by the advancement of rhythms. Cage witnessed the configuration of a certain pattern as the number of events achieved at every type of tempo.

Cage further tries to escape from the outmoded resonance of the piano. He attains the ringing tones as well as the characteristically percussive type of the piano. The pianist should dampen the keys at a definite point without truly letting them make a sound, thus letting those threads shake spontaneously without making any strike of the hammer. The pianist could affect the deterioration of a piano sound by functioning one of three gearsticks, as stated by the musician: the damper-pedal lets the threads shake easily till they certainly come back to the rest position, whereas the sostenuto-pedal lets only threads of blue notes to shake easily, and the Una Corda-pedal lets the hammer to hit only one thread for each key, in its place of creating a completer sound by hitting two or three threads per key.

Prompt 2: “Music for Strings, Percussion and Celeste” (1936) by Bela Bartok:

“The Music of Percussion and Celesta” is deliberated as the most astonishing creation by the Hungarian musician Bartok Bela. The melody comprises the most comforting music that I have ever paid attention to. Paul Sacher designed it, and it was predestined to rejoice on the 10^th birthday of the chamber group. In 1937, the work premiered in Basel in the Swiss city of Basel by the chamber orchestra led by Sacher, and after a few months, it was released in the universal version.

“The Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta” is a very well-ordered and accurately planned work—an exceptional mixture of cool exactness and dramatic fullness. For instance, one could say that, without the threat of exaggeration, the music rises spontaneously from the inaugural material. The 1^st intact undertaking is a very lean, untainted, and monothematic amnesia: each letter in its 88 events could be sketched back towards the early theme—a twisting notion presented by the violas that the scrambles by the half phases from A towards E and back to A. The figure of the fugue intensifies that elementary form of an arch, growing in one massive crescendo to another peak and then gradually dwindling off. Thus does the texture of the melody, waving out from a harmony A to an impenetrable intertwining of numerous lines at the top—sparingly gestured by a hit of the deep drum—and then returning towards single A from where it has started. Accurately at the peak, Bartók upsets the fugue subject and all its succeeding reverberations as if he had walked over the considering glass at that instant. (This occurs when the fugue extents a higher E-flat, the arena furthest from the A.)

The music surprises with a relaxing fugue and with a progressively changing time autograph. The gesture of the melodic instrumentals is designed very deliberately to create a pleasant tonal familiarity. The melody’s gesture is built on note A, which involves the commencement and finishing of the program. The music surprises on a subdued thread, and with further singings integrated, the trace and the feel of the melody become congeals, and the music upsurges and becomes louder and louder till it reaches peaks at point E, which is farthest from that of A. The thread’s muting is then detached, and the melody slowly and moderately becomes softer than the mild celesta harmonies. The undertaking of the music and the muting appurtenances with the following stage of the fugue state helps in recreating more gently over the inversion.

Music is prearranged in four different measures. The measures are taken in such a way that the first and third motions are slow, whereas the third and fourth motions are fast. The measure is emblazoned, excluding the key autographs of Adagio, Tranquillo, Andante, and Allegro Molto.

The second movement of the music is designed as quick and contains the theme of 2/4 times, and while approaching the end, it reaches 3/8. This movement is designed with a loud syncopated percussion accent and the help of a piano. This progresses in a protracted pizzicato part, with a piano concerto-like ending. The overall music is an enchanted piece that gives a perfect feeling and gratification of the high standard. When one pays attention to the melody, he can hear the 3rd measure, which is relatively slow and tends to vanish into a reedy line of tune. It is an example of what is acknowledged as Bartok’s “night music,” which is deliberated as an exceptional tactic of composition. The momentous part of the “percussion in Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta” of 1936 was a nationwide forerunner to the likewise stimulating part of the tapping in the Masterpiece for two pianos and percussion.

The overall production and development of the melody are delightful; the procedure, as per the mind’s eye, was very extensive. Numerous preparations were placed in one place to make sure of the final touch, which is just like a fairy tale. The tonal-based differences, the cadence, and the feel of the melody are away from imagining. The creator has taken a significant amount of time to design the composition, organize the instruments, and a complete music production chain to give it a final touch. The tune portion’s production was well planned and executed, and the complete procedure was finished successfully. Heeding to the music gives a feeling of gratification, and one can enjoy and feel every tune of the music.

“The Music string, celesta, and percussion” are widely validated in the use of such types of music in movies and films. Numerous directors select a “string, celesta, and percussion” type in order to have an emotive association or link with a film or movie. Many directors have applied string, percussion, and celesta in their horror, emotional and romantic movies. The success of music for strings, percussion, and Celesta has allowed Bela to freely choose his own medium for the 2^nd commission.

Prompt 3: Violin Concerto World Premiere

There are many world premiums held across the globe. One of the most unbelievable world premieres was Violin Concerto. The premium was completely filled with spectators who were very excited to be entertained by the beautiful piece of music and melody of the violin concerto.

Britten’s melodic linguistics is notable for his habit of musical features. In Britten’s melody, the thematic notions that carry several entities or appeals are mostly recurrences. These thematic facts are linked with a precise charisma through recurring, vocal, and musical decoration in his masques and in the film music. In the instance of the violin concerto, there were basically three key melodic features found that seem over the 1^st movement. Every one of them can be frolicked by different tools, is set with different keys, and could be frolicked alone or in amalgamation with the others. The first obvious element is the “five-note timpani rhythmic figure” that unlocks the entirely new piece. This five-note component is conceded firstly by timpani and then delivered to other gadgets (such as bassoons and threads) as the poetic theme is proclaimed by the solo violin.

I think this characteristic recurring fragment helps not only as a motor that provides an overall movement to the 1^st movement but also as a component that unites the timbre. The Musical element is canned as a fundamental supplement to Theme 1. In the first part of the very 1st movement (starting from the rehearsal), I found that the melodic structure comprises two main components: lyric and rhythm, with chromatic changeovers in the solo violin. I think that Britten’s behaviour of the two components is unpretentious: the two continuously seem with each other, with thin instrumentation letting the “hidden” five-note musical fragment make out.

I think Britten was continuously mindful of the violin touch. So, when the violin is provided with a dramatic singing tune, it is constantly on the most valuable list, which is present in the E string. Furthermore, the secondary rhythm and harmony are kept candid, permanently beneath the tune. The harmonic supplement interchanges gradually with long harmonies that offer a complete sound deprived of overwhelming the artiste. Although the march-like musical element is collected through the work, the excellence of the touch remains very clear. This makes sure that it helps only as beautification for the song instead of an opposing musical awareness.

In “Britten’s Violin Concerto”, with a virtuoso like Brosa, he places no chance to bighead his respected violinist. The first use of poignant octaves is exposed to two events before practice six. The descendant chromatic octaves are not too problematic to produce. As the way changes from one thread to another thread, musicians are obligated to have a strong grasp of the poignant octaves. When stirring from higher locations to lower locations, even with a similar intermission, the contour would change consequently.

Another instance exemplifies numerous progressive fast, fast-moving intermissions on one page. Ways from practice 15 to 18 express a mixture of climbing 3^rd, 6^th, 8^th, and 10^th. I think one illustration is the 8^th statement from rehearsal fifteen to sixteen (Laki, P.2012). The solo violin is given an octave feature with big leaps frequently bounding from the lower point toward the high. When implementing upholding octaves in a firm beat, there are two pointing choices for actors to select from. One of them is the finger-octave, and the other one is just using similar digits to slide up.

I think music creation is different in the world today; music is mostly used for entertainment sources, and it is further used to permit vibrant evidence to the people of society. One of the sole uses of melody is to carry comfort and a feeling of gratification to the people; it can be deliberated that the music gives relief. Music has a noteworthy role nowadays, and that is the reason why a majority of instrumentalists are esteemed and loved by most people. Harmony is further used as a method of communication; numerous times, when somebody has affection for another person, music has a crucial role in linking the two and carrying out gratification. The “violin concerto world premiere” was a perfect place for entertainment and a place to acquire and gain the ability and aptitude to come closer to other people.

In conclusion, music presentation and creation are the methods that necessitate extensive planning and preparation. The numerous musical forms or kinds necessitate numerous kinds of research to attain a faultless final touch. There are many famous and well-known composers and musicians available who have to bring the music industry to new heights of entertainment with their talent and performance. The creation and production of music is a challenging process that requires uniqueness.

References

Pritchett, J. (1996). The Music of John Cage (Vol. 5). Cambridge University Press.

Laki, P. (2012). Performance practice and philology in Bartók’s Violin Concerto (1938). Studia Musicologica, 53(1-3), 153-160.