Friday, July 27, 2012

6-part Invention

What? Not another one??

In a previous post I explained what technique I used to write a Canon in 5 parts without much sweating. I've been experimenting a bit more with the technique and here's the result of one of those newer experiments: a 6-part invention.

Structure

As it goes with such pieces it's interesting to highlight the structure of the piece. The piece starts with a theme. The theme is repeated at different starting pitches (basic fugal treatment), and counter-subjects are introduced which are really just the theme in canon to itself. The canon is left to play in 3 voices at a few different starting pitches, and then gradually morphs into a different canon with a different theme. The new canon is also given some basic fugal treatment, and finally both canons sound simultaneously forming a 6-part super-canon with two themes playing simultaneously in 3 different time-delayed versions each. The piece rests in peace after a soothing final chord.

How did you make this?

The piece is generated using the techniques explained in my tutorial on writing canons, with some cool twists. I intend to fully explain the creation of this piece including the full score and algorithms in a new tutorial that will appear in a separate post. Stay tuned :)

Enough already... let me hear what this is all about

Ok.. ok... Here it is:

And here it is as well:

2 comments:

  1. wow... stunningly amazing !
    I am quite stunned by what the overall things sounds considering the relatively poor quality of the soundfont.
    It may not reach the level of masters but I would be eager to know what it would sound with real musicians playing. I think it is at least on par with many popular pieces of classical music.
    Bravissimo !

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    1. Hello DoosC, thanks for stopping by and taking your time to comment. Before I'd hand it over to real musicians, I'd probably have to take some time to fix up the score (adding some dynamics, phrasing slurs,...). If you've read the explanation on how the piece is written, you will have noticed that there are also other aspects that could be improved upon. But all in all, I'm quite happy (secretly even astonished) myself at how well these things sound, given that it is really 5% composing and 95% algorithms.

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