Excellence in Music and Worship
Original Musical Compositions and Thoughts on Worship
This is a piece I wrote for my father’s Memorial Concert, using the text from his aunt’s book of poetry, “A Garden of Memories.” “I Want My Flowers Now” was a particularly meaningful poem to my father, as it contained an admonition to give thanks to those we love while they live, not waiting till it’s no longer possible to share our feelings of love and gratitude.
This is a piece I wrote for a friend for his wedding, performed by his brother, Nathaniel Carter and the Lone Star Brass Quintet. It combines the simple melody of a contemporary pop song with a Renaissance-like accompaniment of the brass, with linear diatonicism.
This was one of my first acapella choir carol arrangements, written for my church’s annual Christmas service.
This was an experiment in classically-chromatic lines in the context of a ‘new age’ jazz setting. It was recorded live at a ‘Night of Music’ at our church, as people gathered for some entertainment from our worship team in various genres.
String Quartet #4 is written in four movements. Throughout the work, I utilize the octatonic scale, highlighting its features in a pseudo-jazz framework. The first and fourth movements are thematically related. The second movement is lyrical, and the third movement was written to be a sort of scherzo.
The third movement was premiered at the Seal Bay Music Festival in Maine
Débandade, for string quartet, was written to commemorate the transfer of the Tom Lea painting, ‘Stampede’ to the Ellen Noel Art Museum in Odessa, Texas.
This work extends the story of a cowboy’s journey to rustle his cattle in the midst of a West Texas thunderstorm.
The original work, Débandade, for string quartet, was written to commemorate the transfer of the Tom Lea painting, ‘Stampede’ to the Ellen Noel Art Museum in Odessa, Texas.
The piece was extended to include two more movements, written for triple string quartet and string orchestra, depicting the cowboy’s long walk home and fiddle dance as he shares his story with his friends and family that evening around the campfire.
I. Débandade
II. Périple
III. Danse
This is an arrangement, or, as I like to call an essay, using the theme of this famous hymn.
(Click here to purchase the string quartet score, the string orchestra score, or the MP3.)
This is an arrangement, or, as I like to call it, an essay, using the theme of the famous hymn to create this short composition.
(Click here to purchase the string quartet score, string orchestra score, or MP3.)
Through-composed
Now that I have conducted several looping experiments with the Integrated Frequency system, this is a short through-composed (non-looping) composition.
The first section is in R20 (essentially the key of E), using the full spectrum of the 30-note scale. The middle section is in R30 (the key of B), again using the full scale-range. The final section returns to R20, however, the ending chord cadences on B Major, while the ending low note is E.
The first and last sections are in 75BPM, congruent with the R20 scale, while the middle section is in 56.25BPM, congruent with the R30 scale.
I endeavored to use interesting aspects of the overtone scale, such as melodic microtonal gestures, contrapuntal chromaticism and harmonic motion.
(For more information, please see my article Integrated Frequency)
Fullrange
This is an experiment using the various parts of the overtone scale in combination in the single R20 scale. Using rhythm, a bass-line, a harmonic ‘comping’ pattern, harmonic counterpoint, chromatic and microtonal patterns, along with a diatonic melody, all ‘sections’ of the overtone scale are utilized.
(For more information, please see my article Integrated Frequency)
Using loop-based composition, an extended form emerges from layering of the various elements.
Microtonal 2
In this experiment I used the same ascending and descending scaler pattern in multiple related overtone scales. In each 30-node scale, I used the upper partials to create the microtonality.
In the R5 family, I used R5, R10, R20, R40, R80, and R120 in 75BPM and 150BPM, from their respective tempo family. The root tempo of this family is whole-note = 18.75 (.3125Hz).
In a related branch from that group, I used R30 in 112.5BPM and 225BPM, its respective tempo family. This family is derived by multiplying the above 18.75 x 3.
I also used R35 and R70, another branch from the R5 family in 131.25BPM, its tempo family. This family is derived by multiplying the above 18.75 x 7.
I hoped to create a ‘whirring’ of scales against each other, all related, yet in their own distinct families, like branches off the trunk of a tree.
Polyrhythms and polytonalities are created by the scaler interactions.
(For more information, please see my article Integrated Frequency)
Microtonal Melody - Microtonal 1
This experiment was designed to showcase microtonality as ornamentation. In traditional performance, we use vibrato, portamento/shifting, and even intonation differences to shape a diatonic or chromatic line. These are all uses of microtonality in our traditional Western tradition.
I wanted to take that concept one step further, using the upper partials of the microtonal scale, R20 in ornamentation and melody.
Underneath the melody, using harmonies derived from the central nodes of the R20 scale, I created a progression to accompany the melody.
Aesthetically, I attempted to give some ‘personality’ to the melody by manipulating the attack time of the synth’s ADSR remotely. The melody declares, ‘I’m weird, but I have something important I want to say.’
I also, with a controller, manipulated the first partial of the additive synth I built, to create vibrato (LFO) in the voice, for the accompanying harmony part.
(For more information, see my article Integrated Frequency)
Diatonic, Chromatic, Microtonal Serial
This experiment deals with the same 10-note pattern used in the Chromatic/Serial example above, in three sections of the overtone scale: 1) the lowest ten nodes [diatonic/harmonic], 2) the middle ten nodes [chromatic], and 3) the highest ten nodes [microtonal]. Using the same pattern in each of the sections created the same contour of the theme, but not the same intervals, since the intervallic differences of the lowest ten notes are wide and the intervallic differences of the highest ten are much smaller.
What I found interesting is that the motif could be recognizable, even feeling like an exact reflection, when comparing it against each of the three ranges. The intervallic differences between each of the ranges of the scale didn’t seem to alter the recognizability of the pattern.
From this experiment, perhaps a new way of dealing with motivic development can be obtained: what I call ‘motive ballooning.’ Consider drawing a motif on the outside of a balloon with a marker. Then blow the balloon full of air, and the written motif expands. Let the air out a little, and the motif shrinks, etc. The motif is still recognizable, even though the size of the intervals change.
In this piece, I used two different tempos in the family of R20, 75BPM and 120BPM, so each of the three parts of the R20 scale had eight versions of the motif: Prime, Inversion, Retrograde, Retrograde/Inversion in 75BPM and 150BPM. This, all in all, gave me a total of 24 different versions of the motif, each of them only used once, in the traditional serialist ethos.
Even though serialism is employed, each of the three sections of the overtone scale are harmonically and tonally congruent, as all notes exist inside the same overtone scale. Harmony and Melody or, one could say, Vertical and Horizontal properties are one and the same.
(For more information, please see my article Integrated Frequency)
Chromatic Serial
This experiment plays with the possibility of serialism in the context of the chromatic scale which resides inside of the overtone series, nodes 13-24. I used a 10-note pattern, providing Prime, Retrograde, Inversion, and Retrograde/Inversion of the theme in the overtone scales of R20, R40, and R60.
(For more information, please see my article Integrated Frequency)
Melody
This is a single melodic line, stretching over the span of a several-octave overtone scale. Using the melody canonically in R40, R60, R120, R160, and R200, the lines create counterpoint against each other.
R60 and R40 are related. R40, in this instance represents tonic and R60 represents Dominant.
(For more information, please see my article, Integrated Frequency)
Harmony
In this experiment I took a traditional harmonic progression derived from a single overtone scale, in an arpeggiated pattern, and distributed it to other related overtone scales, in their corresponding tempo families.
I used R40, R120, R160, and R200 in their tempo family of 75BPM and 150BMP. I used R60 and R120 in their tempo family of 112.5BPM.
The corresponding relationships created by the harmonic progression in multiple overtone scales and corresponding tempos creates polytonality and polytempo.
I kept R60 in 75BPM to experiment with a Tonic/Dominant relationship between the two instances of R40, then R60. R60 is derived from the 3rd overtone of the root frequency of .3125Hz. The third overtone is the ‘fifth’ scale degree. So, the chord progression was played in R40 (Tonic), then it was played in R60 (Dominant) in the same tempo, then finally back to R40 (Tonic).
Rhythm/Bass
This was an experiment in two different overtone scale/rhythms: R5/R10 against R30/R60. The familiar rock style is challenged by the convergence of the two tempos and scales, creating polytonal and polytempo moments.
Only two compositional components were used to create this piece: a bass pattern and a rhythm pattern.
(For more information, please see my article, Integrated Frequency)
Rhythm
Beginning with the lowest fundamentals, here is an experiment in polyrhythms. Using the root frequencies of R5, R10, R20, R40, R80, and R120 at 75BPM as one rhythmic block, R30 at 112.5BPM and 225BPM as another rhythmic block, and R35 and R70 at 131.25BPM and 525BPM as the last rhythmic block, many polyrhythms are created. At one point there is a ratio of 12:28:11.
The pitches were created by making a short note on each fundamental using the additive Max synth that I made, so the tempos and pitches of each rhythmic block are in the same family. There are three main rhythmic families against each other in polyrhythms. All of these families are related to each other, as branches of the same tree, the foundation being 18.75BPM (or .3125Hz).
(For more information, please see my article: Integrated Frequency)
String Quartet #2
I wrote this when I was about eighteen years old, while still living in New York City, working on my Bachelor’s degree from Juilliard. The many string quartet performances I had attended in the New York area, as well as at Meadowmount Summer Music camp, put a desire in me to stretch forth and write for the medium.
I was elated to have it recorded a couple years later by the Thouvenel String Quartet. In 1985, it was choreographed by Anthony Ferro, named “Novella Blanc.”