I am your density

Two things that surprised me about the Khajiit piece was how well the instruments worked together, and how few parts I actually needed. The first shouldn't be that great a surprise. Musical instruments have been under evolutionary pressure for centuries to get along with each other. They represent a very narrow band of all possible sounds, being sounds that are generally harmonious, of a compressed dynamic range, and generally close to the tonal range of the human voice.

The small number of parts should also not have been surprising. I had a pretty big clue from my experience with Agamemnon.  When I had composed for virtual instruments (aka "MIDI") it required a fair number of parts -- of instrumental lines -- to fill up the sonic space. I wrote more sparingly for Agamemnon; what filled up the sonic space there was the stacks of noise and distortion effects.

Which physical instruments have. I forget the writer who, speaking of the difference between synthesized and "real" instruments, used the phrase "sweat and spit." The sound of a physical instrument is nuanced and ever-changing; even as not all those nuances are intentional by the performer. You hear noise. The bow squeaks, the fingers slide along strings and slap down frets and clatter on valves.

Even the massed forces of the symphony orchestra show their humanity in bits of what the creators of Garritan Personal Orchestra (a lovely collection of virtual symphonic instruments) refer to as "scoring noise." Chair move, papers rustle, people breathe. All of this added complexity adds to the interest and sonic density of the instrumental line (as well as adding to the humanity; of that special thrill of witnessing a human carrying off a difficult task.)

I grew up around keyboards. Now, I'm not going to claim all pianos sound alike, all keys sound alike, all ways of striking them sound alike. But the big thing is that piano keys are largely uncoupled from the physical actions that produce the sound. The individual notes are more alike than not. So the keyboardist works for harmonic and rhythmic complexity, for polyphonic lines, for cascades and glissandos and arpeggios; in short, for multiplicity.

A monophonic instrument like violin or trumpet (ignore double stops and multiphonics for this point) puts all the performer's nuance into a -- for lack of a better word -- vocal approach to the single melodic line. The variety of attacks, the evolutions of tone color, the options to slur or detaché or slide, are all applied to articulate the part in a way not dissimilar to how a singer forms words.




I knew all this in theory but it surprised me that it was sonically satisfying with just a recorder and a bodhran in the space. Some of this is range; the bodhran appears more limited than a rock drum kit but it still fills out many of the same frequency bands. You've got your bass hits, your tom fills, and scratching and brushing not unlike the brush and/or sizzle of a snare. Where it really lacks is in the high tones that in a kit are filled with the white-noise wash of cymbals and hat. But a recorder fits that niche nicely.

Two recorders -- soprano and alto -- fill up not just the higher tones but the vocal range. Add the wash of reverb coming back in glistening highs and a little friendly low-end mud to glue things together, and it is enough.

And that's something I really want to think about more. About how the proper selection of a relatively small number of instruments can fill up the sonic plate as effectively as the massed forces of a (synthesized) symphony orchestra.





So what next?

Obviously I need to work on my chops. Since I've gone 180' from the idea of hiding my performance deficiencies behind layers of synthesized symphonic cover to actually planning multiple exposed solo lines, I really need to become a better player than I am.

At this stage, though, performance is the best tutor. I learned so much trying to play to metronome, playing along with previously recorded tracks. And so much about where I could cover and fake and where I needed to be able to do better.

A few random ideas have appeared. The "Bardic Cover" is amusing and I know how to work those particular instruments. Not saying I'm not wishing for a tenor recorder and a guitar-like instrument with deeper tones available than the ukulele offers. (Perhaps even a baroque-lele -- they look really cool, but reviews are mixed).

It occurred to me that "NYC," of all things -- the pean to New York from the musical Annie -- might fit that instrumentation. At least it would an excuse to really try for the recorder polyphony I bowed out of on the last piece. Even filk up the lyrics..."Sol-i-tude...there's something about you..."

I'll hold on to that thought and see if the video I posted on YouTube gets any hits.

A while back the thought occurred to try to cover the original series Battlestar Galactica theme in the style of Chuck Mangione. Don't ask me why.

I found sheet music recently for the lyrical "Fire Treasure" from the long-running Lupin series of manga, anime, and movies. I bet a flugelhorn could handle the melodic line. I'd be a little surprised if my hundred-dollar trumpet could.

And close to the top of my chart at the moment, a salsa take on "Still Alive" from the game Portal. Which is trumpet, bass, keyboard, and the only part I'm sure I have the performance chops for is clave. But if I could carry it off...well, there's real temptation for another video...