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!