Draft 8: DO A LOT OF WORK

Most of my friends are like me, putting off a worthwhile project because we just can't find time for it. It's tough being an artist and teacher and performing musician.  Just recently, with effort, I've found a way to get a little bit of work in each day.  It takes some new habit-building but even on a busy day I can usually clear some time and head space to work.  The usual problem isn't finding time, it's finding a clear state of mind.  And I have to give myself permission to work small.  It's like eating frequent snacks instead of a meal.  It's a different approach to a big project.  "Swiss Cheese" approach: drill lots of small holes and eventually the whole block of cheese will be gone.

Here is my work for the past week...
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO DRAFT 8

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE MUSIC FOR DRAFT 8

There is this gap between whan I envisioned and what this draft sounds like. It gives me no rest! It needs so much work!

A Bird in the Bush!  (Beverly Gaddy)

 So we must do a lot of work!  The only way out is THROUGH.

Carolina Wren (Beverly Gaddy)

Music Thoughts for the Work: 
I already have a harmonic sequence (shown in previous work).  It's starting to work.  Here I wanted to hear the whole harmonic sequence through.   Each Carolina Wren song I recorded (5 variations) has its own implied harmony. I like hearing the changes, but my ear tires of the strings.  I need to work on their texture next.  (Maybe I'll try to give a sample of texture changes as a sketch.)

I like the female bird chirps, entering after the first minute.  I picked a few choice notes from Stravinsky's "Le Rossignol" as my model.

Questions I ask myself:
What if in addition to this sequence, there's a transposition sequence that matches the three-note song? Can I do it here? Maybe in my next draft, DRAFT 9.  Do I need more harmonic interest?

What if it needs more counterpoint?  Is the overall texture too simple? What if I include all the CW songs in counterpoint, adding them in after they are introduced?  Why not use artistic licence and invert and reverse the birdcalls?  If I do this, I have more material than I can handle! But this could be the best approach.  This is why so many people love Barber's "Adagio for Strings"--the harmony is born out of the counterpoint. I could do this.

What is the sound of air?  Of forest? of a large space?  a large space with lots of activity? When I listen to air outside, I can tell the size of the space I'm in by the ambient sound.  How do i recreate this? I think the strings have a good effect because of the chorusing (multiple iterations of the same note). I think the horns have a good effect because of hte open vowel tone. When I listen to air I hear hiss, sh sustained, long notes, Ahh, with color changes in the sound, only slight pitch changes (chorusing) but the vowels keep changing and this sometimes affects the pitch.  So what I really need to do is find a way to recolor the strings while they sustain the large space.  This is a worthy pursuit! This will be my focus in the next draft.

Also, by now I'm worried I'm going to eat through the chops of the horn and trumpet players if I give all the Carolina Wren melodies to the trumpets.  Am I holding the horns too long, too high?  I need to check with my trumpet-playing friend, Billy Howe, if I can get on his calendar next week.

I have so many questions about Carolina Wren (CW).

• What is each saying? "I am HERE"
• And if so, then spread about the area, they say to me, "We are all HERE" and
• Because they are all up and about, there must be enough good conditions for all of them and that means, ultimately, "It's gonna be ALRIGHT for all of us."

I think this is a pretty cool message. I hope this is the message of the music, too.
Do a lot of work, Dede!

Draft 7: Giving Up to Go Forward

Thanks for all my friends who wrote and basically said, "keep going" and "put all the birdsong variations together one after the other."  They're absolutely right...so I press forward:

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO DRAFT 7.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MUSIC NOTATION FOR DRAFT 7.

CLICK HERE to see HOW I MIX SYMPHONY AND BIRDSONG RECORDINGS.

3-15-2012. Well, finally I have let go of the CornellLab birdsong in my musical work.  (CLICK HERE TO SEE THE MUSIC FOR MY COLLECTION OF CAROLINA WREN BIRDSONGS.) I read over their copyright page (CLICK HERE TO READ TERMS OF USE ) and decided that even if I wrote and got permission to use their recording in this work, it would PROBABLY have to be so constrained as to deny me to make any money, or to need to check with them whenever it was recorded, performed, etc. ... If I wrote them they might give me permission to use it as long as my work were not-for-profit.  This is OK if I wanted to use it for teaching, or here in this blog for educational purposes. 

I've had bad experience with copyright laws in my past works. One of my favorite works, "Cover Us With Song" for Sax & Tape, has not been recorded because while I thought that Robert Frost's verse were in public domain, I was wrong. When I wrote to the publisher, I was told the family now owns the copyright and do not give permission for his poetry to be used in other art forms: Frost's poems stand on their own. Sigh. To me, a work of music might bring further exposure to lesser known works of his and thereby enlarging the community of Frost patrons to the (financial) benefit of the family. But it's not my property so I can't use it.

Carolina Wren (Beverly Gaddy)

My purpose is to create a work of art that will live on its own, unconstrained.  So, I have let go of my need for this recording, even though I really wanted to include it for these reasons:

1. because I like the inherent harmony and found it pivotal in my harmonic plan (CLICK HERE TO SEE HARMONIC PLAN FROM MAR 6., where the label "O" stands for "Official Birdsong") and
2. for the sake of EXTERNAL VALIDATION, a point of scientific measurement or clarification. In letting go, instead I must self-reference, which is more artistically important for one thing. Scientifically, it's important, especially in regards to my desire for this work to be authentic and accurate as far as I can make it with nature. This work seeks to reveal the beauty of the birds here in the lowcountry, not the textbook birdsong.  The fact is, I have not yet recorded here in the lowcountry any Carolina Wren that sounds like the official birdsong recorded by Cornell!  So for both artistic and scientific validation, I must let it go. Let it go!

So, more questions arise:

• are they all different? (Indeed, do I even have any recorded birdsongs that are identical when recorded in two locations (with two different birds)?),
• are the birds up north faster and louder than the birds in the south (as are the people!)?
• are the birds intending differences in order to promote strength and diversity in their breed? 
• do the females here listen to the variations I've recorded and like it (select to mate)?, or what if the opposite---the birds that stay here all winter are unmated males who have been left behind by the females who do not like their work?  and,
• musically, what if their songs are more alike than different? (structurally, as in harmonic implication or set class)  

 Too many questions!  ...in case you're getting curious about some of these questions, I refer you to an excellent book, The Singing Life of Birds by Donald Kroodsma. He has a great way of raising questions and finding answers out in the fields of New England (and travels abroad).  I got into reading this book while I was trying to decode the musicianship of the Nightingale's birdsong in my first symphony.

Carolina Wren Preparing to Fly (Beverly Gaddy)

 So now I need to take a leap into a new harmonic structure.  sigh.  no problem--I went to college!  (This is my "you can do it!" self-talk.)  Just look at that beautiful launch, will you!

In Draft 7 I replace the planned "Official" CornellLab birdsong with a variation on Song A, (labeled A') recorded Jan 16th. CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO ORIGINAL.  CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO NOISE REMOVED....I eliminated a lot of the noise. I couldn't eliminate the bumps.  These are probably the result of my holding the recorder in my hand, as I had just stepped out of my car...I was trying to get another bird that flew off just as I started to record. But on repeat hearings with the symphony tracks, I now I realize I have to let go of this recording., too.  It's just too noisy.

sigh.

Letting Go!  Letting Go! Letting Go!

What are you saying Carolina Wren?! Working notes for Draft 6

Carolina Wren (Beverly Gaddy)

Carolina Wren starts the morning with certainty!  This is his message to all who can hear: "Do it NOW!" Or is it "Here I AM!"  Or "I am HERE!" Click here to play one of his songs. What do you think he says? (Birding books usually refer to his song as "tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle.")

He sings LOUD, with zip and gusto, an accent on the last syllable.  This will not be a symphony to put on in the background. This is a edge-of-your-seat symphony movement!

So here is my work after the end of this week:
PLAY DRAFT 6          LOOK AT MUSIC FOR DRAFT 6

And here are the thoughts that led me to this draft:
Now that I have identifed the four variations of Carolina Wren's song, I'm ready to work with them symphonically.  I still like Draft Five, as do most of the friends who sent me feedback on my earlier drafts--THANK YOU!  Also, while I'm at it, I thank my readers for putting up with all the details in this process. Usually I take detailed notes for myself as I work so I can return to it after I'm interrupted for days.  This blog is serving as working notes for me in this work. This is the first time I've written public notes as I work.  Turns out, this has been a good thing because I had to take almost the whole month of February off while things at work (school and church) got busy!


To summarize, the Official (Cornell University Lab) and my four songs are shown here (click if you want to read music).  To listen to these birdsongs click on each sample: Official,  Carolina Wren A,  Carolina Wren B (sorry it's so noisy), Carolina Wren C and Carolina Wren D.

Ondishko recording at HHI ORA.

The tone of the bird is noisy--you could describe it as shrill--but not to the point where you can't hear musical notes; they're clear enough!  Unfortunately, I've proven that musical ear is filtering the sounds into notes that make sense to me, as you can see in my first notation of Song A (click here) as compared to what I now have notated. (Click here to see the music notation for all my recorded variations.) What I found is that upon returning after a break, I would hear new tones!  So,  in order to be sure of the bird's choices (and not mine!), I used the ANALYZE function in my Audacity soundfile editor to help me determine the prominent pitches.  Click here to see a frequency spectrum plot for Carolina Wren Song A (my recording).  This tells me exactly which frequencies (pitches/notes) are distinctly present; including any motor noises or other sounds.

Ondishko recording (and experimenting with parabolic bowls)
at Yemassee Nature Preserve.

The form of this movement will be to have the actual birdsong intermingled with each variation. I'll have to use one of my percussion players to play the recorded birdsong (tape) on cue.  I plan to use each variation and I've ordered them according to the harmony they cover, so their appearance will have a sense of progress to our musical brains.  (Or at least my musical brain.)

So if you're still reading, congratulations!  I don't know what I've shared that might be of interest to you, but I thank you for your curiosity.

Mostly, for my readers, I hope they are inspired to be creators, to learn about things you love and to share them with others!