Creating Motives from Sounds of the Environment
Environmental sounds are not music, but embedded within these sounds are motives that can serve as the foundations for compositions. Wind, rain, birds, dogs, cats, squealing brakes, grinding gears, the whir of a gas pump, a crackling neon sign, a diesel truck...... every sound in our lives has a bit of music within it. That means the supply of motives for our music is infinite. All that is required is careful, analytical listening.
Music should not attempt to exactly replicate the sonic environment. The point is to let environmental sound trigger creativity.
This section will follow the creation of a complete melody from the capture of a bird song to the final production of a track on a CD.
Music should not attempt to exactly replicate the sonic environment. The point is to let environmental sound trigger creativity.
This section will follow the creation of a complete melody from the capture of a bird song to the final production of a track on a CD.
The bird song of Chuck Will's Widow
This bird is member of the nightjar family. As the name implies, these birds are creatures of the night. I heard this call while standing at the edge of a large tidal pond on Chincoteague Island at sunset. It was this call that inspired my composition of Sunset on Big Gut.
This bird is member of the nightjar family. As the name implies, these birds are creatures of the night. I heard this call while standing at the edge of a large tidal pond on Chincoteague Island at sunset. It was this call that inspired my composition of Sunset on Big Gut.
The motive of Chuck Will's Widow's song. score
The motive is NOT the melody. Not yet. Once the pitch relationships of the motive are defined, the next step is to make decisions about structure. Will the final melody be a reel, a jig, a ballad, electronic dance music, a string quartet? This is the moment when creativity takes hold of the process of composing. Below are three possible settings for the motive of Chuck Will's Widow's bird song and the final melody, structure and production I created from the bird song.
Chuck Will's Widow's Jig score
Chuck Will's Widow's string quartet score
Chuck Will's Widow's Waltz become Sunset on Big Gut
The motive of Chuck Will's Widow offered several good compositional options. In the end, I wanted a lyrical melody. So, I chose the form to be a waltz. I wanted to retain the feeling of a bird call and make the piece float or lilt. The bird call motive became an up-tempo waltz. Score ABC notation
The motive of Chuck Will's Widow offered several good compositional options. In the end, I wanted a lyrical melody. So, I chose the form to be a waltz. I wanted to retain the feeling of a bird call and make the piece float or lilt. The bird call motive became an up-tempo waltz. Score ABC notation
- After the important decisions of defining the motive and the setting for the tune are made, the next step in composing a melody is to extend the motive into a phrase. In this part of the process of composing, the musical idea suggested by the motive is extended by adding one or more tones. These new tones are selected to create either a feeling of suspense or a feeling of conclusion. A motive is a suggestion. A phrase is a complete musical idea that can stand alone. That stand-alone idea may make a statement, draw a conclusion, ask a question or may create tension to hold the listener in suspense.
At least ten techniques are routinely employed to extend a motive into a melody. Each of these will be covered in the Tuesday session. However, don’t let the technical terms get in the way of creativity. Let your creativity step up to the task. The key point is to keep the newly formed phrase SIMPLE and SHORT. At this point the job is to create at least two phrases out of the original motive. More phrases may be needed. But, two are essential to make a melody.
For Sunset on Big Gut I used the Chuck Will’s Widow Motive to generate seven phrases. Each of these phrases contains either the original motive or the reverse of the original motive. That means the motive was created from either or “Will’s Widow” or “dow Wid Will’s”. A new rhythmic pattern is generated by reversing the words. Throughout the creation of these new phrases the starting pitch is changed. But the rhythmic motive remains either that of the original motive or the reversed motive.
Click on the link to see the score or the original motive and the eight phrases it generated.
- ABC Notation
- Standard Notation
- Listen to the phrases [NOTE: slow tempo and all eight phrases follow one after the other in one file]
Listen to the completed composition. You should be able to recognize:
- Chuck Will's Widow motive - especially as the introduction played on low whistle
- The eight phrases created from the motive
- Short connective material that ties together the phrases
- Part A that opens the piece and a Part B that serves as a contrast
- Some of the notes in the phrases are held for a long time in order to allow movement of chords
