Gooey's P-log Blog

Personal accountability to make sure I'm not doing absolutely nothing.

log 4: Working list of Mutations to Existing Material

March 07, 2022 — ~gooey

I, among some of my friends, am keeping a working list of possible mutations to existing compositional material (if nothing else than to prevent writers block). Every time I try to impliment one of the mutations from said list, I am overwhelmed by the feeling of fuck, I'm not even close to exhausting the potential of this which is enough motivation in itself to keep adding to it, and enough to break me out of my usual writing conventions (yikes). The goal of this is not to have it overtake creative decision making entirely (although, total serialism comes to mind), but to be supplimentary.

The Big Bad List so far is as follows, with the understanding that any existing phrase can be repeated with any inclusion of the following:

  1. Inversion, Retrograde, RI, Axis Flips and Fluctuations, and any dispersal of these methods in chunks (shuffled, ordered, patterned)
  2. Rhythmic Displacement
  3. Filters! (all of x becomes y; all pitches above E4 are displaced by x; all half notes become eighths; etc.)
  4. Augmentation/Diminution of either rhythmic or pitch material, or both
  5. Deriving longer forms from local rhythmic content, phrase structure, or harmonic progression, and vice versa
  6. Derive pitch from rhythm and rhythm from pitch
  7. Shuffle segments
  8. Remove and replace, or add a contrasting phrase
  9. Reduction or simplification
  10. Addition of pitches to build harmonic density, or emphasis of certain pitches in unision
  11. Addition of rhythms between existing spaces
  12. Tiling of rhytms offset by x bars
  13. Stretching of rhythms and/or phrase lengths by using ratios and informative bar lengths
  14. Retroactively apply microforms to existing phrases to inform new contiguous material
  15. Percieved Tempo Shifts, namely in the form of irrational meter, related to an adjacent rhythmic phrase
  16. Mapping (kind of like filters, but more as an additive than a replacement/displacement) (where x is, y is implimented, etc.)

tags: Composition, 2022

log 2: 2022 Undertakings

February 06, 2022 — ~gooey

After having recently released a new solo recording, Riverfawn I am reassessing what I want to complete by the end of 2022, or at least sometime in the near future.

Ravinia Bridges (due February 15th) will be a new composition for string quartet, alto saxophone, piano, bass, and drums. It must be 10 minutes long, and include a composer CV, program notes, and some form of recording.

Inker's Crying Again is the working title of a new quartet/quintet recording that will be produced with the help of a county grant. It will be ideally 7 or 8 tracks long, and recorded sometime in May, if all goes according to plan. I've written music with the group in mind-- myself on alto, MK on piano, MHJ on bass, and ES on drums-- but am willing to expand to a quintet with DP on vibraphone, DL on trumpet, EM on guitar, or JR on tenor. As of right now, the format of the record is as follows:

  1. Introduction (freely improvised) starting with solo saxophone.
  2. Bug Omen, ending with solo bass
  3. Pines Turn Their Backs, beginning from solo bass and ending with solo drums (maybe with added electronics or voice?)
  4. Blank Stare (and Not the Good Kind) starting with solo drums, ending with duo alto and piano
  5. Duo alto and piano freely improvised piece (title TBD)
  6. Freely Improvised piece (full group) starting with duo alto and piano, and ending with solo piano
  7. Last Written Piece (title TBD) ending with saxophone and drums
  8. Postlude solo saxophone and voice (MK)

Family Words is the working title of a Trio (perhaps quartet as the desired instrumentation becomes clear) recording inspired by Appalachian folk traditions, and various terms, names, and phrases that I frequently heard in my house growing up. As of right now, the options for intrumentation are: Alto, Banjo, Bass, Drums; Alto, Accoustic Guitar, Bass, Drums; or Alto, Banjo/AG, and piano. The working format of the record is as follows:

  1. Oy, If I Could Tell Ya
  2. Momma Bear Clause
  3. Dimension (Dimentia)
  4. Traveling Shit Show
  5. Odie, Odie, Odie
  6. It's Just No Good, That's All
  7. KONK!! Proppys Sop
  8. Trippy Loppies & Push-a-Doodies
  9. Obby Dunda
  10. Nun C'y (Everything's Broked)
More on this soon.

A new duo alto / bass recording is also in the works, but is still in the very beginning stages. That's all for now <3

tags: Composition, Recording, 2022