Brandon Nelson
IMAGO DEI
Category: Ideas
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Well, maybe not quite Stockhausen-y things here, but definitely not the strict serialistic procedures of Schoenberg et al… Composition methods, generally speaking, are as “simple” or “complex” as you choose to make them. If you want non-tonal methods of composing that don’t rely on a 12-tone row and its basic operations, I have a few…
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It shouldn’t surprise you that there exist literally thousands upon thousands of examples of this traditional American-style march. This march type used to be considered the popular music of its heyday (late 19th century into the early 20th century) and composers cashed in big time. Sousa, Fillmore, and King are the big names but there…
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Thinking about ways to go with my alto flute trio…
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Composers nearly always have some self-limiting parameters in place before diving into a new project. In traditional tonality, composers would restrict themselves to diatonic tones of a particular key and a few chromatic alterations (provided they eventually lead back to the core diatonic tones in some way). Rhythm and form were often determined by stylistic…
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I was lurking around one of the composers’ groups on Facebook recently, when I saw that someone had posted about the omnibus progression. It piqued my attention. The term sounded like one I’d come across in my studies, but I’d gotten hazy on the particulars. So, as I normally do when I come across a…
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Many people still harbor romantic notions of composers. I often get the impression that they think we drift from project to project on the wings of some mysterious force called “inspiration,” perhaps while hunched over a piece of manuscript parchment, ink quill in hand and scowling at a stingy muse. In reality, the question of…
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From a practical standpoint, the field of composition is not well-defined. There is no formal path laid out for the practitioner. Seniority isn’t necessarily rewarded, and neither, for that matter, merit. (Indeed, who would define “merit” and how would they do it?) There is no predetermined ladder for one to climb once one graduates from…
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In a recent Composer’s Digest entry, I outlined several changes I wanted to make to enhance my professional productivity. A short while after publishing that, I hit upon the idea of creating for myself an annual production schedule (that is, mapping out all the projects I would complete during the course of the year and an…
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There’s no worse feeling for a composer than looking down at the blank page and getting an overwhelming feeling of “now what?” It’s in trying to conquer that feeling that this project came into being. Perhaps you’ve seen those little trays at convenience stores that say “Need a Penny? Take a Penny. Have a Penny?…
Brandon Nelson 