This is the first assignment that was able to express my full creativity.
I had to create an original musical work with parameters left open-ended. The genre and/or style was selected based on my personal preferences.
Technical Parameters:
- You may write this piece using any combination of (a) GarageBand for iPad (b) GarageBand for Mac, and/or (c) Logic Pro X.
- All content will consist of MIDI regions (i.e. all software instruments)
- NO prepackaged Apple loops allowed
- NO use of Smart Instruments allowed (including Smart Drummer)
- Arpeggiator IS ok.
- Sample (iPad) is OK.
- Audio may be used IF recording of YOU…
Musical Parameters:
- Your music should have a sense of ‘beginning/ middle/end’ (think arc or pacing as well as repetition and contrast)
- Strive to compose this piece as a ‘concert piece’ where the music stands alone (active listening) rather than ‘music to dance to’ or ‘music to help me relax’ (passive listening). Engage the listener throughout the piece.
- Looking and listening for musical element(s) used in expressive ways.
*USE HEADPHONES*
My Piece:
I named my piece, “How I Came to Love My Monster”.
I wanted this piece to represent the essence of Peter and The Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood, but put my own spin on it. It is about a little boy, who is walking to school one day. It is a beautiful sunny day, and as he is enjoying this walk, he feels someone following him. He gets scared and tumbles down into a forest like area. He thinks that a monster is following him, so he runs to the school. He feels like hours have passed (in reality it was around 5 minutes). As soon as he gets to the school, he runs into a teacher and tries to explain to her what was going on. She realizes that all along the monster was his shadow and explains to him what a shadow is. He realizes that he was foolish and heads inside to class.
Children’s imaginations are so wild, it is easy for them to come up with stories and make a situation scarier than it really is. So the idea that a child, not knowing what a shadow is and thinking that it is a monster, makes it funny due to the fact that they are so young.
What I Did:
-The mixed choir acts like the lead violin warming up the other instruments.
-I wanted the presence of a heartbeat to be at main points in the piece. The heartbeat increases rapidly as the story continues until the end when the boy finds out that it was just his shadow all along.
-The warm flute acts as the boy waking up, the sunrise illuminating the room, and him getting ready to head to school.
-The clarinet and horn section tracks act as the boy walking to school, but he starts to feel like someone is following him so it gets faster as his pace does, and at the end of those tracks the reason it gets all distorted is because he tumbles down a hill into a forest like area. The horns are representing the monster/shadow.
-The Steinway Grand Piano towards the end is the teacher and it is supposed to sound calming yet at the same time a little funny because of the little boy is afraid of his shadow.
-The last tracks show the little boy accepting his shadow and is proud to walk with it on a sunny day.
-No loops were used
Logic Pro X Video (no audio):
Software:
- Logic Pro X
- Midi Yamaha Piano
Haley Marie 