So, I'm having alot of trouble wrapping up the third movement of my Symphony, mostly becuase I can't think of a way to end it...at the next meeting would it be cool to show it to y'all and get some feedback/help?? That kinda restricts us to the midi lab, but I will bring cookies!! Homemade ones!!! With white and milk chocolate!!!

Anna

Hey guys, I love the site. It should make a great communication hub.

This post is just to let Christopher know that I should be able to play his piano Sonata. Christopher, I have noticed a few spots where accidentals may have been left out, so I'll mark those instances and run them by you on Tuesday.

Henry

When should our next official meeting be, and where? What about the week of Oct. 23? I'm free any afternoon/evening except tuesdays. Is there somewhere on campus that has cozy chairs and coffee? Or off-campus? I'm not that familiar with Cheney.

Who has music to perform for the Nov. 6 concert? I'm working on a piece that involves little notation (i.e. mostly improvised....within boundaries). I need people to play stones, simple percussion, violins, and flutes. I need to see if my idea works.....

I'm also interested in hearing feedback about all ya'll's* creative process. Do you compose on a computer? On the piano? On paper? With real instruments? With a candle burning? In the middle of the night? After drinking chocolate milk? Would you write comments or blog about this topic? I'd be very interested in knowing how you work. I'm trying to figure out my process, and what works best for me, and you might have some good ideas that we all can use.

*Footnote: don't you just love this Southern plural possessive (or whatever you call it)? It works so well and is ever so fun to say.....
--S

This is the first entry for the Composer's Forum!

We had a meeting today to discuss the upcoming Composer's concert on Monday, Nov. 6. Start thinking about pieces you'd like to have on the concert (2-6 minute pieces, or somewhere around there....). This year we will be having a rehearsal for the concert, which is happening Saturday, Nov. 4 at 6pm in the recital hall. If you're having members outside the composer's group play, could you tell them about this rehearsal so we can see/hear how it all will fit together and offer feedback?

Also, are there any ideas for collaborative projects? I've been thinking about surrealism lately, and there's this game they played called "The Exquisite Corpse." It's where one person writes a sentence or draws a part of the body, and then they fold down the piece of paper and pass it along to another person (who can't see what they just wrote/drew), who does the same. After everyone has had a chance to draw/write something, the paper is unfolded to reveal a surreal character or story. I've known other composers who've done projects like this. I think it would be fun to try---maybe everyone could write 2-4 bars of a melody on one piece of paper, and a 2-4 bar chord progression on another, and then we could throw them together to reveal amazing combinations (or ear-splitting ones)! What do you think? Do you have other ideas?

We also talked about how often we should meet and agreed that we could meet either once a month or twice monthly, at a place that has some character, like a coffee shop or lounge on campus/near campus-- somewhere other than the concrete fortress (music building). We could sip cappuccinos and discuss, a'la 19th century salon-style, philosophy, contemporary composers and composition, poetry, jazz.....while wearing smoking jackets and ascots, of course. What do you think?

If you have any ideas or comments, please post!