Primordial Sea

[macetheace]

Sci-Fi acapella piece for choir (SSATB).


soundcloud.com/mason-gregory-wright/primordial-sea


www.scoreexchange.com/scores/552669.html

Attachments:

Primordial Sea 2.sib (44.12 KB)

[mikelyons85]

Hi Mason.

Can you give me your thoughts on the voicing you have used? What exactly are you expecting to be understood by Soprano 1 and Soprano 2 as opposed to Solo Alto/Tenor and Bass?

Also, if this is for voices - or at least vocal sounds - they will need something to sing, even if it's only "Ah". Unlike a regular instrument, voices need to be told what actual sound to make and they wouldn't understand what you are asking them to do. (Some singers have enough trouble with regular choral music! )

[macetheace]

Hi Mike. The Sibelius sound for both Soprano 1 and 2 is actually a solo sound, I just left the written solo designation out because there are two parts in the score. "Solo sound" is what is heard in the recording for all instruments. Soprano 1 has a higher part, and comes in later than Soprano 2, which sings throughout most of the piece. I would say that Soprano 1 should dominate the second time through a little more than Soprano 2.

Ah, the "ah" situation. The piece does not have words as of yet, maybe it will someday. I don't think the subject matter requires words, but it is something to think about. I will give the voices an "ah" lyric, in case it was not clear.

Thanks for your insights.

Primordial Sea 2.sib (44.5 KB)

[mikelyons85]

Hi Mason.

I'm not suggesting you give them words at all. For something like this, ahs and/or oohs are probably better. You are - or seem to be - using the voices as instruments. Like they do in a lot of film scores. That's good. However, as I said before, singers need to know what sort of sound you want them to make. Unlike most instruments, voices have an almost infinite variety of sounds that they can make and giving the singers a starting point will help them to do their best with your music.

If you think about it, there are at least 12 different vowel sounds and many, many consonants of several different types, diphthongs and so on. If you want to hear an example of how many sounds can be made, listen to "Stimmung" by Karlheinz Stockhausen. It's a fascinating piece that's worth persevering with and might spark some ideas for the separate lines in your piece.

[macetheace]

"Stimmung" is a very interesting and unique vocal composition. I listened to the entire piece and was impressed by the nuances and vocal enunciations. It certainly made me more aware of what could be accomplished using voices alone.

In most of my pieces where I use vocals I treat the voice as an instrument, like you mentioned.

I have Sibelius 7.1.3 and "ah" seems to be the only sound available for the vocals.

[mikelyons85]

In the Sib 7 sounds, I think there is an Aah and an Ooh! Neither of which are terribly good. NotePerformer's versions are marginally better.

[macetheace]

The question is, "is the program bi-lingual or not?"

[mikelyons85]

I do actually have a French music program that sings with a French accent! I don't, however, use it at all often.

[macetheace]

Oh, okay! This is not on the same subject, but is a technical question...

I am composing a jazz bass piece and I am having some difficulty with the slap bass sound registering for every single note in Sibelius 7.1.3. I want the slap bass sound applied to the entire bass instrument part. I have already written "slap bass" at the beginning of the bass part. Right now, I am writing in "slap" for every single note, and in spite if this every note is still not striking during playback. How do I rectify this?

Thanks in advance for any help.

[mikelyons85]

Hi Mason.

You will need to create a new instrument based on whatever your bass guitar sound is and change the preferred sound to Slap bass. then put a (hidden) instrument change in the score for the sections where you want it to play with that effect. Here's a link to a file with the new instrument defined. app.box.com/s/l56voqnjg1camswr9zyq9m7hwfd0nb19

IIRC, you can just open the file and copy the instrument into your current score. This should define the instrument for you. If not, you can find its settings under the usual instrument place (Home-->Instruments).

Hope this helps.

[macetheace]

Hi Mike. I was unable to open that file.

I tried creating a new instrument that had slap bass sounds assigned and putting it in as a new instrument change, it had no effect upon the sounds, some strike without slap bass sound. Bars 22 and 23 are particularly blatant. If you could take a look at my score, I'd appreciate it.Multiplanetary Cowboy.sib (62.27 KB)

[mikelyons85]

Hi Mason.

It was definitely working for me. That file should also have worked as it's Sib 7.0! Did you download it or try to open it from the link? I think with box you have to download before you try to open it. I'll also put it up on dropbox, see if that is better.

www.dropbox.com/s/d1op27v94p4k7ko/changing%20bass%20sound%20s7.sib?dl=0

[mikelyons85]

TBH, Mason, I have absolutely no idea about this. I don't even know what slap bass is supposed to sound like. Does it sound different on open strings? I just watched a video, but I'm none-the-wiser. The slap seems to be done with the thumb, so all notes wouldn't be 'slapped'. Maybe Sibelius tries to emulate a real person?

Two other observations:

1. Turn off espressivo in Play-->Performance. The result is immediately better (more consistent).

2. Notes with articulations (tenutos and accents) lose the slap.

[macetheace]

Mike Lyons said : "Notes with articulations (tenutos and accents) lose the slap".

That's it. The articulations were inhibiting the striking sound. Once the articulations were removed the dampening effect was gone.

Thanks for your help.

[macetheace]

Here is the completed version...


soundcloud.com/mason-gregory-wright/multiplanetary-cowboy


www.scoreexchange.com/scores/554052.html

Attachments:

Multiplanetary Cowboy.sib (61.79 KB)

[macetheace]

A friend and I did an alternate version of Multiplanetary Cowboy, which can be found here...


soundcloud.com/mason-gregory-wright/multiplanetary-cowboy-collaboration-with-daniel-manahan

[mikelyons85]

I'm having issues with soundcloud at the moment; all sound burbles when playing. It ruins everything! I would suggest putting this audio on SE instead of the Sib sounds version because it sounds much, much better - even with the burbling.

[macetheace]

I suppose I could, although it was notated differently and not in Sibelius. The SE Score would be different from the audio file then. I put a link to the alternate audio file from Soundcloud on SE in the programme notes for "Multiplanetary Cowboy". Thanks for your comment about it being better, I thought it was an improvement as well.

[mikelyons85]

Mason, it's not just 'better' it is MUCH better.

[macetheace]

I changed it and notified the listeners that the playable audio file on SE is not the same as the score file.

[macetheace]

I've added some Crescendos/Decrescendos in the following file...


Primordial Sea 2 - Full Score.pdf (40.78 KB)Primordial Sea 2.sib (46.37 KB)




soundcloud.com/mason-gregory-wright/primordial-sea

[macetheace]

Do the crescendos/decrescendos sound okay? I'm considering "Primordial Sea" for a recorded performance with "Cellar Door Sounds". Any other advice on this piece?

[Kevin]

Primordial Sea 2kr.sib (111.9 KB)

Generally speaking dynamics go over the top of vocal music.
At least I think so!@

[macetheace]

Hi Kevin. Thanks for your reply. I was unable to open that Sib file. I'm on a new computer now, that transition may have something to do with it.

Were you talking about the dynamics (mezzo forte, forte) or the crescendos and decrescendos too? Should I put both on top?

[Kevin]

Both

[macetheace]

Hi Kevin. The score was changed. Is it generally the rule that one puts dynamic notations on top for voices, on the bottom for instruments?


I also added a final bar at the end, the decrescendo in the bass was not fully registering.Primordial Sea 2.sib (46.31 KB)

[Kevin]

Not sure about using voices as some of it is in extreme ranges. Here are the first 14 bars using strings.

Primordial Sea 2-2kr.sib (122.51 KB)

[macetheace]

I know the sopranos get up there kinda high. Do you think that Cellar Doors group will be able to perform the piece as it is written?

The piece was influenced by the soundtrack of 2001: a Space Odyssey, so I would like for it to remain vocal.

[Kevin]

I am afraid that I have never heard of Cellar Doors Mason.

[macetheace]

Cellar Doors Sounds is their official title I believe.