Music Composition Resources

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Fifth House Ensemble – Young Composer Competition

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The Fifth House Ensemble announces its first annual Young Composer Competition:

Deadline: Postmarked by May 1, 2008
Application Fee: $40

Prize: The grand prize winner will have his/her piece programmed and performed on our 2008-2009 subscription series in downtown Chicago, and will receive a professional recording of the live performance. A special prize will be awarded to an outstanding local applicant (from IL, WI, or IN), and his/her piece will be programmed and performed on a non-series Fifth House concert in the Chicago area.

Requirements: Submissions must be under 10 minutes long, and can be written for a minimum of four players from the Fifth House roster (string quartet, wind quintet, bass, piano). Auxiliary instruments such as piccolo, alto flute, English horn, E-flat and bass clarinet are also available. The piece may have been previously performed but must not be published. Special consideration will be given to pieces with mixed wind and string instrumentation.

Please submit a completed application form with full score and a set of parts by mail or email in PDF format. Please note that materials will not be returned without a self-addressed envelope with full postage. In addition to score and parts, please submit a brief paragraph linking the work to Fifth House’s 2008-2009 season theme, Commedia dell’Arte. Winners will be notified by e-mail on or before June 15, 2008. Application forms and more information are available at www.fifth-house.com/ycc.html.

(We would like to thank Melissa Snoza for informing us about this competition)

Doggiebox: New Beta Release

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Zygoat has recently released a new beta version of their drum machine application, Doggiebox. Ben Kennedy developer of Doggiebox made the announcement some days ago through the Zygoat Doggiebox discussion list.

Changes in this build (1F2) since version 1.3.1 (1E15):

  • Now a Universal Binary (will run natively on Intel-based Macs).
  • Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) is now required.
  • The framework for loading and saving sound file on disk has been replaced with entirely new code.

Known issues:

  • Sound playback is inconsistent under Mac OS 10.5 (Leopard).
  • Exporting to some file types (e.g. MP3) does not work properly.

Areas for testing:

Make backup copies of your song and drum kit files before re-saving them with this version of Doggiebox, particularly if running on an Intel-based Mac. With this in mind, test to make sure that files you create with this build still open and work properly in Doggiebox 1.3.1. Also verify sound file importing and exporting and note any problems with compatibility of output files or the user interface.

This Beta version of Doggiebox is only available to registered users. If you would like to subscribe to Doggiebox’s mailing list, you can do so either via this web-based form or by sending an empty message to doggiebox-subscribe@lists.zygoat.ca.

Other comments:

The move to Univeral Binary has meant increasing the minimum supported Mac OS version from 10.3 (Panther) to 10.4 (Tiger). This is a side effect of portability; put simply, the routines that Doggiebox has used since 1.0 for handling sound files (a library called libsndfile by Erik de Castro Lopo) is hard to build for both PowerPC and Intel without involving two physically different computers. Fortunately, starting in 10.4, the Mac OS has provided similar sound-file services. Thus the decision has been made to retire libsndfile in favour of the OS-provided code. Aside from the Universal Binary build, this is the new major change in this build.

The playback problems under Leopard still persist for the moment, but this issues
will be addressed soon.

The 2008 Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award

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(We would like to thank Mr. Zack Browning for letting us know about this)

“The Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award is an international composers’ competition held annually in memory of Mr. Martirano who was a faculty member at the University of Illinois from 1963 to 1995. Since its inception in 1996, the competition has attracted over 1,000 entries from over 30 countries. The first place prize consists of $1000.00 and a performance of the winning composition by the University of Illinois New Music Ensemble at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Zack Browning who is an Associate Professor of Music at the University of Illinois directs the competition.” You can read more about Salvatore Martirano here.

The University of Illinois School of Music presents.
The 2008 Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award.

Eligibility: Any composer, regardless of age or nationality.

Awards: First Prize cash award of $1000 and second prize cash award of $500 plus performances by the University of Illinois New Music Ensemble in the fall of 2008 at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Additional awards and performances may be given at the discretion of the judges.

Judges: A panel of judges consisting of University of Illinois music composition faculty members will select the winning compositions. The winning composers are expected to attend the award concert/reception and will be responsible for their transportation costs (the competition will provide a stipend for lodging). The winning composers will assume full responsibility for providing adequate performance materials upon request.

Guidelines:
1. Medium: Full scores of any style or aesthetic direction for one to fifteen performers (including vocalists) may be submitted. Works for tape, electronics and/or mixed media with or without instruments/voices are eligible.
2. Duration: 20 minutes maximum
3. Limit: One entry per composer
4. Entry fee: A non-refundable entry fee of fifteen U.S. dollars ($15.00) in the form of a check must be included with each submission. All checks must be payable to the University of Illinois, and must be an international money order or drawn on a U.S. bank.
5. Anonymous Submission: The composer’s name must not appear on the score itself or on any item (tape, CD, etc.) submitted in supplement to the application. A sealed envelope must accompany the score and contain the composer’s name, address, telephone number/e-mail (if applicable) and a brief biographical sketch. If a recording of the work is available, it should accompany the score and be identified only by the title of the composition.
6. Return of Materials: Scores will not be returned unless a self-addressed, stamped envelope of the proper size is enclosed.

Send submissions to:
2008 Martirano Composition Award
Attn: Zack Browning, Director, Martirano Award
2136 Music Building
University of Illinois
1114 West Nevada
Urbana, IL 61801 USA
zbrownin@uiuc.edu
http://www-camil.music.uiuc.edu:16080/comptheory/Awards/Martirano.html
All submissions must be postmarked by February 29, 2008.

Karlheinz Stockhausen dies at 79

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An icon of contemporary classical music, Karlheinz Stockhausen passed away on December 5th 2007 at his home in Kuerten-Kettenberg. Stockhausen and his music have been both controversial and influential. He composed a total 362 works, including the world’s longest opera, Licht, a sequence of seven pieces – one for every day of the week. The whole piece lasts 29 hours and composed over a 25 years period, beginning in 1977. Licht is due to be performed in full for the first time next year at The European Centre for the Arts Hellerau in Dresden, Germany. His early pieces remain significant and influential steps in the development of of postwar music. Stockhausen was also a crucial figure in the history of electronic music and remains one of its most accomplished exponents. The works which were composed until 1969 are published by Universal Edition in Vienna, and all works since then are published by the Stockhausen-Verlag. Numerous texts by Stockhausen and about his works have been published by the Stockhausen Foundation for Music. He was 79 years old.

Feed Your Doggiebox

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I had heard about Doggiebox some months ago from a friend, and at the time I had the intention of finding more about it, but after a couple of days, I forgot to do so. Until a week ago…

Doggiebox is a drum machine application for Mac OS X that lets you create and manipulate percussion-based songs. What I really like about it is that all sounds are fully customizable. This means that you can create or record your own kits. For example, you can record your friend’s drumset (or your own if you have one) and create a kit with each of those sounds in Doggiebox. You can even create kits of “non-instrument” sounds (for example kits created with your voice, your kitchen pots, etc.). There are three things that make Doggiebox to me a very successful drum machine application. One (in no particular order), it’s only $39 dollars. Two, its ease of use. I was able to create a simple beat after minutes of installation. And three, you can create drum parts that sound pretty real.

This last thing is done by having different versions of the same instrument or variants within a kit:

“Some instruments in a drum kit can be played in several ways, or have their characteristics altered by the drummer, in order to produce different sounds. For example, a hi-hat can be played open or closed; a ride cymbal may be hit on the edge, or on the bell, or stricken like a crash; a snare drum might be hit with a rimshot. Such distinct sounds associated with the same instrument are referred to as variants.”

And by being able to change drum velocity:

“To give texture and realism to your percussion it is usually desirable to perform hits at different volume levels, as a human player would do in real life. Fortunately this is easy to control on a sound-by-sound basis.”

Doggiebox is a MAC only application. Songs of unlimited length can be edited in any number of tempos and time signatures. When you feel the drum part is ready, you can export it to one of a dozen file formats including AIFF and WAV, for use in other audio programs, or play back in realtime to a MIDI device. I’ve had Doggiebox for a week, so I’m sure I’m missing other features (so feel free to comment about your experience with it, good or bad). I still believe there is nothing like having a good drummer available to record your songs. Unfortunately and for various reasons, this is not always possible. Feed your Doggiebox when you can’t get one.

[audio:doggiebag.mp3]

(I called that one “Doggie Bag”, a short beat I created with Doggiebox so you can get an idea of what you can do. I used GarageBand afterwards to add a little reverb and a bit of echo).

The Orchestra: An Online User’s Manual

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One of the many positive aspects of the internet, is having so much information readily available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and reachable from any part of the world. If you are always on the look for orchestration or instrumentation information, you are definitely going to like the following website. “The Orchestra: A User’s Manual“, is a powerful online resource for composers, orchestrators, students, useful to anyone with an interest in orchestras and orchestral music or anyone learning to play an instrument. It was conceived and written by Andrew Hugill in 2002-3 and the project was commissioned by the Philharmonia Orchestra.

On the site, players from the Philharmonia Orchestra explain the nature and technical limitations of their instruments with the intention to represent a realistic picture of the orchestra. The great thing about the site, is the use of video clips for explanations. The manual includes information about instrument construction, ranges, techniques, effects, and extended player’s tips and tricks, as well as resources, historical information and pointing to other helpful links.

The following paragraph is a description taken from the site:

“The aim of the user’s manual is to provide information about the orchestra, orchestration, composition and instruments, for the benefit of anybody with an interest in the subject. Unlike conventional text-based orchestration manuals, this features movies of players explaining relevant aspects of their instruments and technique, audio clips and samples of the instruments, and illustrative music from the repertoire drawn from the Philharmonia’s postwar recorded archive. The Philharmonia is the most recorded orchestra in history and from its birth in 1945 has been associated with new technologies. This use of the internet to convey information is entirely consistent with its desire to open up access to all areas of orchestral life and music-making.”

The Orchestra: A User’s Manual is one element of ‘The Sound Exchange‘, a site that provides opportunities for people to learn about the orchestra, about music and exploit the internet to help widen access to the orchestra.

Music Composition Directory

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We are very excited to introduce Composersnewpencil’s music composition link directory. If you are a composer, songwriter, etc., please feel free to submit your site(s) or your favorite music composition related website(s). Our intention is to build a targeted and quality content directory. All links will be personally reviewed for consideration. The main categories include: classical composition, electronic art music, film scoring, jazz composition & arranging, songwriting, experimental pop & rock, music technology and finally stores & products. Subcategories include: composer and artist sites, resources, communities and organizations among others. New categories can also be suggested.

The directory is brand new, so some categories do not contain links yet. All feedback is welcome.

John Tusa Interview with Elliott Carter

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“Elliott Carter is America’s leading composer, though as he insists, he is a composer who happens to be American. Born in 1908 Carter has been increasingly recognised as a master of closely worked, disciplined, often passionate, sometimes violent music which he is now composing with a growing facility. As a figure who spans the century he has known all the great leaders of contemporary music, from Stravinsky to Charles Ives, Edgar Varese and Aaron Copland and many, many others.”

This is the introduction to John Tusa’s interview with Elliott Carter aired in 2000 by BBC’s Radio 3, where Carter shares his view on various topics such as Charles Ives, Minimalism, John Cage, contemporary music, being a composer, music composition today, among other things.

Elliott Carter is now 98 years old and still composing. Even if you don’t like his music, it’s worth listening to the interview just to hear him talk about important historical events and some of the great figures of the 20th-century.

Listen to the 44 minute interview with Elliott Carter here (you’ll need Real Player) or read the transcript available on the BBC website.

Create Digital Music Giveaway

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The guys at Create Digital Music (a great blog and community site on digital music making) are having a big giveaway with over US$4,000 of hardware and software. All you have to do is fill out an online form with your information for a chance to win (unfortunately only US residents are eligible to win, but international folks can also enter to get other stuff as well).

These are some of the things they are giving away:

  • Akai MPC500 mobile music workstation
  • Ableton Live 6 music production software
  • Alesis ControlPad drum pad controller
  • Glyph GT 050Q 250GB eSATA/USB/FW400/FW800 hard drive
  • Moog Music Moogerfooger FreqBox VCO effects box
  • Native Instruments Absynth 4 soft synth
  • Native Instruments Elektrik Piano soft synth
  • Numark Total Control DJ control surface
  • PreSonus FaderPort

Sounds great right? The contest ends Monday, June 11, 11:59 P.M. NYC (US-Eastern) time. Enter here. Check out and bookmark their site while you are there, “Create Digital Music” provides great information on digital technology.

New Music Radio

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I found a new music radio station online the other day, and I thought some of you would be interested in having the link:

Hear and Now

Quoting from the BBC website:

“Hear and Now is the main contemporary music programme on Radio 3. It features live concerts and studio sessions from the best new music groups, and premieres of BBC commissioned works.”

You can listen to their programs online. Some of the previous programs have been:

  • 19 May 07 The Dutch school 1/2
  • 12 May 07 Simon Bainbridge
  • 05 May 07 Geoffrey Poole
  • 28 Apr 07 British composers
  • 21 Apr 07 Ligeti Remembered
  • 14 Apr 07 Plus Minus
  • 07 Apr 07 Music & Politics

When: Saturdays 22:30 – 24:00. I will definitely be tunning in everytime I can. If you now of any other stations please feel free to post a link on the comments section.