Thursday, October 7, 2010

The Composer’s Notebook

Having just completed my first folio of compositions for publication, I thought that I would post some thoughts and reflections about the process, hoping that this is a good use of the medium and that it may be of some interest to someone somewhere.

Many of the pieces that I have included in this volume of 30 compositions were among the first that I composed upon my move to Sydney in the early 1990s. Some of these are still in my repertoire. Nevertheless, the process of preparing a final manuscript, ready for print was a long and sometimes arduous one.

Ultimately, it has been a valuable exercise re-visiting these early works. The fact that all but two of the pieces, have been recorded by various groups greatly assisted the process, providing, along with my original hand written charts, a point of reference.

There were numerous changes to melodies, rhythms, forms, harmonies, even titles. This was one of the many positives of the project as it revealed a clear path of development. Having to make definitive choices was a challenge and throughout I was often reminded of why I love to improvise. The ability to work through ideas in real time, manipulating rhythms and notes and never having to settle on a final solution to a musical dilemma – unless you want to. This approach is obviously tricky in printed form, so decisions had to be made.

After a lot of thought, I decided to select only alto pieces for this first volume. Mainly because the Alto is my main horn and the bulk of my compositional work has been for this instrument. It was difficult to leave out Bb compositions, the melodic ranges of which didn’t fit easily into the alto key. The soprano has been a feature of my trio and the Mara Ensemble and it is an instrument on which I am trying hard to achieve my own voice. But in terms of a coherent and concise volume of original pieces, it seemed that focusing on the alto was going to be the best solution. There are ways around the publication of multiple transpositions. Separate editions for each key, as in some Real Books and the Charlie Parker Omnibook or multiple keys in the same edition, as in the Jamie Abersold playalongs. In the future, I do hope to offer Bb, concert and bass clef editions for download, but this is still some way off.

The advent of powerful music software has been such a giant leap forward for musicians, that life before their introduction is almost unimaginable. I am in complete awe of the great composers of the past, dealing with the processes of composition and arrangement without the latest version of Sibelius or Finale. What would Mozart make of all this? I recently wrote an arrangement for a quartet of improvisers and string orchestra. The learning curve here was a straight line jutting straight up in the air and even with the assistance of Sibelius 6 I had my work cut out!

The double edge sword of technology is that for all its power, you still have to learn how to use it. Moreover, you have to learn how to use each new version of it, and God forbid that you make the jump from PC to Mac, but surely this is a topic is best left for another day!

In my case, I had a pretty good knowledge of how to prepare an arrangement with Sibelius. However combining 30 separate pieces into a single, printable form, complete with title page, index, appendix and page numbers, well this is a slightly different undertaking! Let’s just say that next time the procedure will be a much quicker one.

I have been through the process of preparing a CD for manufacture a number of times, and have always taken the view that because a small run, independent CD is going to be sitting next to the latest Blue Note or ECM titles, spend as much as you can and make yours look at least as good. A tall order indeed!

Inevitably, when stocked, my albums are to be found somewhere between Rollins, Sonny and Surman John. Not that I mind this, but they certainly a couple of heavyweights to be sitting beside.

For those interested enough to purchase a copy of my book, I would assume that you already play the saxophone and have got this far owing to an interest in my music. I dare say that the cover design will not be the most important consideration in your decision to buy. So provided the charts inside are correct and legible the cover artwork may not factor too highly.

The overall cost and size of the print run was also a consideration as was binding and the paper stock. As with most things, there are many ways to self publish and I have learnt from years of releasing independent CDs, it is easy to spend far more on a project than you could ever hope to recoup.

Many people seem generally surprised at the small scale at which the majority of artists operate. Most musicians I work with do everything themselves and by this I mean they are their own publicist, graphic designer, composer, producer, IT consultant, accountant, photographer and band leader. This is why it is so important that if you find an artist whose work you enjoy, support them and in the case of musicians, don’t illegally copy and distribute their music. My previous blog contains a few thoughts about this very subject.

I have titled this blog ”The Composer’s Notebook” because this, ultimately, is what my new collection of pieces is, just in a very refined form, but the phrase “Composers Notebook” is also an image that I find mysterious and romantic. For me it conjures up images of dusty rooms filled with books and manuscripts piled up in towers, old pianos, roll topped desks, music stands and ancient clockwork metronomes, collections antique instruments and gongs and cymbals. All this generated by two words. An amalgam of all the studios I have ever been in, from my first piano lessons to now.

I do have a notebook by the way and I do use it to store up ideas – some of the most seemingly insignificant scraps have metamorphosed over many years. I am in the process of writing new repertoire for a recording in December so will be revisiting the notebook once more…

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