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The Good Life

Popular music has helped to keep composers in touch with their audience—that is, until the mid-twentieth century, when composers turned away from their audiences (and from popular music), with disastrous results....I am concerned with maintaining good relations with the audience; I see the composer as a moral force, as an instructor, and as an essential contributor to the good life. (William Russo, Composing Music, p.179)

Primo PDF

I highly recommend Primo PDF, an application that allows you to create PDFs for free. I've never used Adobe Acrobat or the like, so I can comment on the comparative quality. For the price, however, I think this is a great deal. I've used it to share sheet music that I prepared in my cheap notation program. Once it's installed, all you have to do is print your document, but select Primo PDF as your "printer."

Melodic Transformation

I've been working through a book called Composing Music: A New Approach by William Russo. This book is filled with exercises and I've assigned myself the task of doing two per day. I find that I just want to keep going, though, so in the space of five days I've done 44 exercises!

The third chapter deals with melodic transformation, which I decided to create my first podcast about. To listen, click on the play button below or click here to download the file.

Melodic Transformation [5:26]

Click here to view a PDF of the music.

Summer Goals

Today I mapped out my whole Summer. I'm going to be working on several musical goals 6 days a week:

1. Work through Composing Music by William Russo
2. Finish all of my projects for Professional Orchestration with Peter Alexander
3. Work through the online version of Principles of Orchestration by Rimsky-Korsakov
4. Improve on my familiarity with the work of classical composers.
5. Learn the basics of playing clarinet, flute, and trombone and get some of my trumpet chops back (in preparation for becoming an instrumental music teacher).

I have it all scheduled out on an Excel spreadsheet! I know...I'm a nerd, but it's got me excited about how much I can learn this Summer while I have some time off. I will probably tell you more about it as I go along. Will any of you be interested? Possibly not, but blogging about it is one way of keeping myself accountable!

New Directions

My temporary teaching job came to an end on Friday and I am currently looking for a new one. I have had three interviews so far and will have a fourth tomorrow. I have sent out about 30 resumes so hopefully there will be more to come!

When I first started on this teaching path, I saw it as something to do while I get my composing career going. Now, however, I am beginning to look at teaching as a career that will include composing. Having said that, I am currently working on a master plan to not only improve my composing skills, but to improve my knowledge about music in general. This blog will probably focus more on my progress in this regard than on the theological debates that filled its pages in the past. I am hoping that it will help to solidify the things that I'm learning. As always, it will also be a place where my readers can ask questions, share thoughts, etc.

I also want to announce that my wife, Valerie, will be starting her own blog. I will post the address as soon as she's up and running!

If

I just finished the latest assignment for the online orchestration class I've been taking. The assignment was to write something for solo trombone based on the poem If by Rudyard Kipling. This time I decided to go with a jazz sound.

Keep in mind that these are "sampled" instruments. It's never quite the same as the real thing! This becomes especially apparent when working with a solo instrument like the trombone.

If [2:48]

The Sea

This is my second assignment for the online orchestration class I'm taking. This piece features the oboe and is based on a poem called La Mer, by Oscar Wilde. The accompaniment is played by a standard string quartet, which is made up of two violins, a viola, and a cello.

The Sea [2:06]

Ponderous

This is a piece I wrote a while ago for a movie I was working on. I just recently got my cousin, Sarah Arnold, to come over and record the violin part for me. What a big difference from the sampled violin. Thanks, Sarah!

Ponderous [1:10]

Chasing the Shouting Wind

This piece was written for an online orchestration class I am taking through Alexander Publishing and V-I Control. The assignment was to write a 2 minute piece for solo flute based on High Flight, a poem by John Gillespie Magee. I made use of a technique called "fluttertongue" toward the beginning to represent the plane starting and taking off.

Chasing the Shouting Wind [2:08]

© 2007 by William Arnold

Weekend Report

My weekend in L.A. was absolutely wonderful. The orchestration seminar was awesome and increased my desire to devote my time and energy to film composing. Here are some of my favorite moments:

1. Talking with my friend Matt about the Bible's infallibility and eating porkshops cooked in Coke. (Matt, you need a blog.)
2. Meeting with Lauralee Farrer, who is producing a film called The Fair Trade.
3. Being handed 370 pages of music written and orchestrated by some of the finest minds in the film scoring world. These two books have now been dubbed my Music Bible One and Two!
4. Going out to Cheesecake Factory with the A-Town crew. (A-Town is slang for Allelous, which is the name of the intentional community we lived in while in Pasadena.)
5. Learning that various composers give "lessons." I had imagined such a thing, but didn't know it actually existed until I went out to lunch with a bunch of classmates.
6. Meeting Mervyn Warren, an original member of Take 6, who were my primary musical heroes as a teenager. Mervyn was so gracious in talking to me about my life, goals, etc. I'm looking forward to following his career.

You may be hearing less from me in future weeks, people. I have come away from this weekend with an even deeper desire to study and practice the art of film scoring!