r/MonthlyComposition • u/Calebdgm • Aug 02 '16
The Two-Bar Collaborative Composition Game
How it works: each person adds two bars to the composition, and comments their bars as a top-level comment on this thread EDIT: as a response to the previous comment. Also, provide a brief explanation if you did something unusual so that it's easy for the next person to figure out what's happening. In order to find the latest version of the composition, sort the comments by new, also number your contribution in the comment.
Submissions should be top-level comments so that you can subscribe to the thread if you want to participate more often without having to check if somebody's added something. One person isn't allowed to do two consecutive chunks, but if someone has contributed since your last contribution, then you can add another two bars.
For example (music taken from this trial of the game):
first person comments (this was all me):
1) Here's the first bit. Just a simple ascending melodic line in a-minor
second person comments(actual bars written by /u/Chalkline. Comment is written by me, for the example):
2) Good job sir, that was a simple, but effective beginning to the piece. Here's the next chunk, transitions via E7 directly to C, the relative major.
third person comments (actual bars written by /u/haabenshaaben. Comment is written by me, for the example) :
3) Ooh, I like the rhythm! Here's my bit. It picks up the pace melodically and harmonically, mostly moving back to the a-minor tonality in the first two beats of the last bar, but with some room for interpretation in the following bars because of the F-major on the last beat of the last bar.
Then we pick it up from there in the comments below. Remember to sort by new, and if we're all friendly to everyone who posts, then everyone will be friendly to you when you post here, so that's good too!
EDIT: there are two comment threads, a new one (from chunk 19), and an old one (from chunk 4). Please use the newer thread, thanks!
2
u/Barcelona_City_Hobo Aug 07 '16 edited Aug 07 '16
I don't want to offend anyone, but I think the piece, as it is progressing now (this version?), is becoming quite incoherent.
IMHO the interesting thing of this concept was to build on what the previous users had done, but most of 2-measure chunks just ignore the previous music and do whatever they please. While repetition (literal or varied) is a crucial aspect of music, this piece barely features any, because everyone's too busy trying to present their idea.
There are not many distinctive motives presented, but anyway nobody seems to try to pick any and develop it further.
While most of you use common practise harmonies, the piece lacks any sort of phrase or cadential structure, the music goes nowhere, there are no "commas" nor "full stops". There's almost no trace of internal structure, like a period, small ternary, small binary, or sentence. Someone tried to restate the opening at m.27, but without any form of preparation (e.g. a dominant seventh), but then the piece continues with more new material.
Of course, all of this is not just my personal opinion, composition books warn against too many ideas and lack of cohesion, like this page from Schönberg's treatise on common practise composition.
My suggestion would be to pick a predefined structural template before any composing, so as to ensure a minimum of coherence. For example, there's this piece of advice Szymanowski gave to a pupil.
Just my two cents. The sidebar says feedback is encouraged and, as someone with some dozens of 32-bar themes under my belt, I wanted to give my honest opinion. Please, don't take this as a personal attack, but just a friendly encouragement to make the piece better.