Interlude

[M G Jacobs (mgj32)]

I had wanted for some time to write a fairly simple piece for violin and piano, of 3-6 minutes in length. When the first beta of what will be Composer 2.0 came out and I wanted to try it out with something new, I decided to do the piece.

The Interlude was, then, done completely in the 2.0 betas, starting with the first one and finished (or got to a point I could say finished about) in 1.95.

It is fairly easy to play, technically, and the themes are, I think, quite simple. The first theme is really a patchwork of short phrases I like, stitched together, in what I hope is a coherent fashion. The purpose of the middle theme is mainly to provide agitation--er, make that contrast.

The piano is the GM acoustic grand, or piano 1. The violin is the Chaos solo violin, patch 41, which provides neither too much nor too little vibrato. The GM violin provides too little, and the Chaos instrument makes a big difference.

I will post the 1.17 version, since that can be opened either in 1.x or the betas.

<center><table border=1><tr><td>http://www.notation.com/discus/icons/attachment_icon.gifInterlude
Interlude for Violin and Piano 1.1.not (http://www.notation.com/discus/messages/35939/Interlude_for_Violin_and_Piano_1_1-28442.not) (175.9 k)</td></tr></table></center>

[Fred Winterling (harbor1)]

Hi MG,
Oh Yeah! I like that. If the first theme was short phrases stitched together, the seams don't show! I thought that was my forte, but I must bow to the "Master". It's definitely coherent and a perfect example of the 'keep it simple ' formula. Nice work!

Cheers,
Fred

[Sherry Crann (sherry)]

Howdy,

Provocative piece, there, MG - it's growing on me http://www.notation.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif

I've taken the liberty to record the performance (with a couple of tweaks to fit the library) with GPO, and I'll send you the mp3 via your Gmail account. If you'd like, I'd be glad to put it up on my SoundClick site, so that others can hear it with some nice instruments. This is a very inadequate compensation for my lack of having finished the recording of your Simple Gifts Fantasy, which I unfortunately haven't worked with in a while.

ttfn,
Sherry

[M G Jacobs (mgj32)]

Hi Sherry,

Thanks for the recording. It makes a nice performance. I think there is a problem at Gmail, though. It says its about 4.5MB but will send only about 3.5. I thought it was Firefox, at first, but also tried in Opera and got the same amount.

It does include the middle section, however. I had to slap myself because hearing it reminded me of something. The last thing I was going to do was select most of the violin part in this section and increase the volume to match the increases I'd made in the piano part, by bumping everything up with 8 l + up arrow hits, at least for a start. But I just plain forgot to do it.

Unfortunately, relative volume problems don't show up when playing a midi file. I didn't catch it when I played Interlude in that format. This is true of most anything I've thought was just as I wanted it, then found out it needed tweaked, often quite a bit, when I recorded it, and consequently I find myself making several recordings. (Incidentally, the playtime clock in Composer is quite valuable in quickly finding locations where listening to a recording indicates adjustments need to be made.)


The root of the problem seems to be that with midi the volume of all instruments is treated equally. That is, a celesta sounds as loud as a concert grand, unless you adjust the volume according to the power of the instrument. I did adjust the master volume a bit, but knew full well that the violin would have to be adjusted in this passage. There is absolutely nothing in the world like being absent minded. Not that it's good.

I'll post the corrected version here later.

The instruments you chose, by the way, are excellent.

all best,
mgj

[M G Jacobs (mgj32)]

This is the "corrected" version of Interlude, again in the 1.x format.

I have fiddled with the volume, especially of the violin. I have also changed the violin.

<center><table border=1><tr><td>http://www.notation.com/discus/icons/attachment_icon.gifcorrected Interlude
Interlude for Violin and Piano 1.1.not (http://www.notation.com/discus/messages/35939/Interlude_for_Violin_and_Piano_1_1-28465.not) (178.0 k)</td></tr></table></center>

[Sherry Crann (sherry)]

Howdy,

I'm privileged to be the hostess for a recording of MG's "Interlude for Violin and Piano". You can hear a recording of his composition, using Garritan Personal Orchestra instruments (Gagliani solo violin, Steinway piano) and posted as an mp3 on my site at www.soundclick.com/beanfield_castle (http://www.soundclick.com/beanfield_castle). It's available for on-line listening as well as free download.

Enjoy!
Sherry