More Music from Sped... now STREAMING

[spedblavio]

Ok, thanks to kirk I found a better place to upload some of my recordings so that I might share some tunes with my fellow Yesfans.

If you were put-off by the Amazon link, please check this out.
- No registration is required
- The MP3's are streamed, so there's no lengthy wait for download (though downloading is still an option, and still FREE)
- choice of audio quality for those with slower connections (I sure hope you can listen to the hi-fi version though).

I've put up a variety of styles (but just scratching the surface of the eclecticism of my archives).

upbgirl - check out "When Which Path Mattered Much" (flute parts)
Earl - there's goodies here you haven't heard (including the full version of "Zeno's Dilemma part 1"... sort of You and Me's "Tales", lol!

Enjoy!

http://www.ic-musicmedia.com/richard_dunlap

[Erdy1]

Very interesting music! I really like it.

You have inspired me - I'm setting up my own ic-musicmedia site now!

[spedblavio]

Originally posted by Erdy1
Very interesting music! I really like it.

You have inspired me - I'm setting up my own ic-musicmedia site now! Very cool, Erdy, looking forward to hearing your stuff!
It's an amazing thing, ain't it? I never realized how easy it was to do. We need to get Earl to put something up now, and some others around here too.

"Interesting"... yes, that seems to be a frequent response to my stuff. I'll accept that!

Thanks for listening!

[Erdy1]

I've been listening to your music, as well as kirk's, this morning at work. great stuff, still forming opinions. I'll post more detailed comments in a couple hours.

I managed to get some of my music posted at http://www.ic-musicmedia.com/flight (see my thread on the subject). It is, like you said, amazingly easy to set up there. I agree that we should encourage all musicians here at YesFans to post some of their music so we can all listen to each other.

[spedblavio]

Great! I'll be listening very soon.

[Erdy1]

I've been listening to a stream of all your tracks, I'm up through Variations in White. I REALLY like your music! Very free, imaginative, improvisational, jazzy, but still with structure and direction (although you have to really listen to find it sometimes, which is exactly what I like)! It really goes places.

[spedblavio]

Originally posted by Erdy1
Very free, imaginative, improvisational, jazzy, but still with structure and direction (although you have to really listen to find it sometimes, which is exactly what I like)! It really goes places. Yes, I often work with "hidden structure". I'm fascinated by fractal ideas, phased phrases, holistic schemes, unusual rythms, etc. And not having the musical theory background that you have, I've explored alternate routes so to speak.

"Land's End" for example is quite rigidly structured though it may not sound that way on casual listening. It's a holistic piece, with elements derived from eachother and specific schemes playing out over time. And in this case, the synth patch programming is integral to the composition, not just the midi data.

In some cases like "Land's End" I've done very premeditated composition, but usually improvisation plays an important role in my work and I delight in blurring the line between improv and composition. Often a piece will be based on an improvised seed, elaborated upon and mutated. Many times my compositional techniques themselves are improvisational, that is to say some of what I've done is more like sculpture in the midi realm than "writing" per se.

And of course there's other aspects of my work that are completely improvised live, for better or for worse! Synchronicity is another important principle for me.

I'm very pleased that you're enjoying it, all the more so knowing you have well-educated ears. I sometimes fret that my music falls short from a theory perspective, but I remind myself that that's just not where I'm coming from.

So tell me, how obvious is it to you where the title "Variations in White" comes from? ;)

[Erdy1]

COOL! I too am fascinated with music based on fractals and other mathematical concepts. I've downloaded a few fractal music programs, but haven't had a chance to play with them.

I've only listened to Variations in White once, listening to it again right now, I guess I'm missing something because I can't figure out where the title comes from!

As for theory, I'm not sure how qualified I am to critique the merits of any music based on it's application of music theory. However, I believe there are many approaches to music, and many "theories" about constructing it. Just because an approach isn't based in Western traditional music (or even it's 20th C. extentions) doesn't mean it isn't relying on some sort of music theory, as loosely defined as a systematic method for describing and directing auditory events and relationships.

Plus, being too tied to theory means there's no room for the music to breathe, to live. It is entirely constrained. Theory is like a scaffold - it can help you create an impressive work, but it only provides the framework, and is removed when the work is complete. Another analogy: have you ever seen a house built by an engineer versus a house built by an architect? There is more to music than theory.

For me, most of my music to this point has been rather tonal, with a strong basis in traditional harmony, counterpoint, etc. but there is so much more out there. I look forward to experimenting with alternative approaches.

[spedblavio]

Yes, I agree there is a lot more to music than theory.

As far as fractals and mathematical stuff, I employ these things but in a general sense. I have heard music based on logarithms and such, I'm not doing that exactly. The fractal influence is more conceptual, and the mathematical influence comes out mostly in construction of odd rhythmic combinations, phrase phasing and subtractive (sculpture-like, as with stone not clay) methods of constructing sequences. So these influences are techniques for me, not so much the basis of any pieces.

Actually, I'm glad you didn't catch on to where the title "Variations in White" came from! I'm not a very accomplished player (my "instrument" is the whole studio), so some of my most successful improvisational keyboard playing has been in good ol' C major... the white keys! LOL The piano melodies in "Variations" were improvisational and played live (with a little cleaning up done later in the midi sequence). The rest of the piece is derived from those improvisations and the initial piano chord sequence.

So, I'm glad it wasn't immediately obvious that I was just tinkling the white keys in that one!