I wrote these short pieces to practice different Contemporary styles. The following tracks are MIDI demos made in Sibelius.
"Meditations 1" is a minimalist piece inspired by Steve Reich's "Music for Pieces of Wood." A chorus of mismatched instruments strays from simple pulse minimalism in the second half when it slips into a melody.
To match the other pieces in this series, this demo is played by four piano synthesizers, but it can be played by any four pitched percussion or keyboard instruments.
As an indeterminate piece, it is unlikely to ever be performed the same way twice.
Player 1 plays an ostinato, but the following 3 players choose from a bank of four-bar phrases in whatever order they choose. Player 4 does not repeat phrases consecutively, but Player 3 must play each phrase twice before moving on, and Player 2 must play each phrase three times before moving on. The players begin four bars after the previous player, and stop in the opposite order (Player 4 decides when to stop).
This piece is inspired by Bartok's "Six Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm," and borrows its 4+2+3 rhythmic pattern.
This one is an exercise in 12-Tone Serialism using C, F, E, D, A, G, B, A#, G#, C#, D#, F# as my prime row. As the tempo and dynamics change wildly, each measure loses or gains an eighth beat to build and release tension.
Using the same row matrix from my 12-Tone Serialism exercise, I automated register, rhythm, and pitch to create a spooky piano soundscape that is only semi-random.
