Music theory, improvisation, and recording 🎵

Music
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:bookmark: ITT we will be applying concepts of music theory and open-source technology towards improvisational performance, recording, and broadcasting.

:books: Library

  • :sound: Audio recordings in .mp3 format are available on MinIO.
  • :movie_camera: Live streams are hosted on Owncast and archived on MinIO.
    • A schedule of upcoming streams is available on the Owncast homepage.
    • The music library broadcasts 24/7 between scheduled programming (coming soon).

:studio_microphone: Home studio specs

Hardware

  • :guitar: Gibson Les Paul Standard
  • :musical_keyboard: Roland FP-30
  • :microphone: Sterling Audio ST51
  • :record_button: AudioBox USB
  • :desktop_computer: Dell Inspiron 3670

Software

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Improvising with Basic Music Theory

:musical_keyboard: In this video I demonstrate how to apply basic concepts of music theory to improvisation on the keyboard. I am by no means an expert at this, and am more or less playing random notes within the confines of these theory concepts. I like to think of my technique here as “falling with style”.

:speech_balloon: Feedback on this video would be greatly appreciated! I am aware that the keyboard volume is too low, but I will also inform the content of subsequent lessons based on any questions or comments I receive.

:musical_score: Also, feel free to share techniques of your own for bridging the gap between theory and performance during improvisation. This thread can be a collaborative discussion for new and experienced musicians alike!

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Fundamentals of Musical Composition

Arnold Schoenberg

Arnold Schoenberg (1874 - 1951) was an Austrian and American music theorist and composer who was a central figure in the Second Viennese School along with his students, Alban Berg (1885 - 1935) and Anton Webern (1883 - 1945). Schoenberg is most recognized for developing the twelve-tone technique of atonal music.

Literature

Fundamentals of Musical Composition offers a clear description of musical form at a variety of scales that can be useful guides for improvisation. In short, simple ideas, or motifs, are expanded into themes and melodies, which are then juxtaposed with contrasting themes and melodies to develop larger, more complex forms. The book culminates in a description of sonata form which, along with other traditional musical forms, can be used as a guide for more complex works.

Repertoire

Schoenberg

Suite for Piano, Op.25

Completed in 1923, the Opus 25 Piano Suite is an early example of Schoenberg’s twelve-tone style, in which he utilized the row alongside free atonality.

Piano Concerto, Op. 42

Schoenberg’s later works, such as the 1942 Piano Concerto, Op. 42, demonstrate a more systematic approach to the twelve-tone technique.

Stravinsky

Canticum Sacrum

The second movement of Igor Stravinsky’s (1882 - 1971) Canticum Sacrum (1955) was his first piece entirely based on a twelve-tone row.

Boulez

Structures I

Pierre Boulez (1925 - 2016) expanded on the twelve-tone system through serialism, which used the ratios of the row to derive a matrix that determines all aspects of the composition.

Babbit

Composition for Synthesizer

Milton Babbit (1916-2011) utilized the same serial techniques to compose early electronic music, as exemplified in Composition for Synthesizer (1964).

Improvisation

Twelve-tone and serial music is, in contrast to improvisation, deterministic. As a result, twelve-tone composers often explored rhythm, dynamics, and form as the vehicles of artistic expression. Schoenberg provides an analysis of musical form in Fundamentals of Musical Composition that places less emphasis on harmonic structure and more on the development of motifs into phrases and forms. As a result, his presentation of musical form provides an effective framework for improvisation in the imprecise harmonic language discussed in the previous video.

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Rust

I wouldn’t necessarily call this a good performance. In fact, listening back I am almost embarrassed to share the recording. Even so, I want to demonstrate some of the concepts I have been outlining in this thread in a more practical sense, and I also want to begin iterating on an idea. One of the many utilities of a self-hosted live streaming platform is the ability to host live concerts. I’ll need to sharpen up my skills and work on the stream settings, but eventually I hope to be able to host high-quality musical broadcasts from my own servers. This stream is my first attempt at this, and I am noticeably rusty on my instruments. I will do this again in the near future, hopefully with improvements. Feedback would be very much appreciated!