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 Getting back into it. 
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Post Getting back into it.
I used to play stick in Flagstaff AZ in the coffee shops. I worked towards a masters degree in music composition and as someone with little facility on the piano I'm sure the stick is going to help me test my ideas before committing them to recording projects. Next up, questions about pick-ups.

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Wed Sep 19, 2012 8:47 am
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Post Re: Getting back into it.
I have found that the only thing the Stick is good for composing for is... Stick! What instrument do you currently use for your composition studies?

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Wed Sep 19, 2012 2:21 pm
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Post Re: Getting back into it.
Really Gene

I find the stick as useful as any instrument in composition.

I tend to compose with pen and staff, but why not the stick?


Brett


Wed Sep 19, 2012 3:19 pm
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Post Re: Getting back into it.
Thats not true. All those keyboardists use piano to compose for orchestra. Stick can assist in the same thing. I also use pencil and paper. I'll post some of my work in the relevant discussion shortly.

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Wed Sep 19, 2012 5:16 pm
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Post Re: Getting back into it.
Let me preface this with, as a soloist, I am probably the worst person to ask though, but here it goes...

One can arrange from any instrument for any instrument, it's true. Consider this to start, 90% of all sheet music in the past two hundred years is written for piano - perhaps it is simply more well suited for composing from. Composing infers that someone else is going to read your work. Relative to the Stick, consider:

1. You do not have limitations with crossing hands (some people don't cross)
2. Every piano is tuned the same way (newer synths / keyboard can transpose, true)
3. The piano has a greater range of dynamics (one can emulate this with volume pedals, but apples to apples, the scope of dynamics is not as wide as the piano)

Also consider the notation debate. Ask 10 Stick players, what is your tuning? You are going to get at least 3 different answers, possibly 5 or 6. Capos are not an option and if you are a tab reader, which I am not, how are you going to write for that? Software maybe.

I am a Free Hands believer. One cannot simply say "it cannot be done" as much of it will depend on the situation - the instruments, the style, etc. I for one, am hard pressed to believe that the Stick, or any instrument for that matter is more well suited for arranging and composing for other instruments than a piano or conventional keyboard. Perhaps someone here will make a compelling argument against this?

There are some that can do it - I would not put it beyond you Brett as I have witnessed some of your ensemble work, and it's listenable for sure. Me? I suck at notation, sight reading, so again, perhaps my vote should count for half...

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Wed Sep 19, 2012 5:36 pm
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Post Re: Getting back into it.
Ah ok, I see you points.

I guess I really compose by ear. If I cant hear what a voicing might sound like I play it.

For me stick is a bit easier to find notes on than piano. But the piano's logic is hard to beat.

I really try to stay away from instruments when I write music. Finale is great because it will play it for you. I love finale :D But I can usually hear anything I write down in my head..so I don't like composing with an instrument around.



Good post Gene

Brett


Wed Sep 19, 2012 6:46 pm
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Post Re: Getting back into it.
This might seem odd but here is the approach I like to use.

For the music bed (or general support riff) I like to just play until something takes shape.

For melodies and other layered parts...I like to sing or hum my ideas while jamming to the music bed as I drive around...later, when I'm happy, I learn my vocal parts by ear onto...whatever instrument I need to play at the second (this has the nice benefit of breaking you out of fingering patterns that you might have become accustomed to).

For specific musical events...I bust out the theory (I want a german augmented sixth chord right HERE...or, I need to do a deceptive cadence here...or I want to write a two part invention...etc).

The following rule is the most important one...and it trumps ALL others:

"If it sounds good...it is good."

Do what works for you in the way that works for you...the people that listen will not know that you composed it while wearing socks that you soaked in beef stew with a rabid badger in your underpants (maybe they should though...I would probably buy a record that was composed under that specific set of circumstances on principal alone)...they will only know what they hear...and what they hear is what matters.

Good luck with your compositions sir.

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Sat Sep 29, 2012 6:32 pm
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Post Re: Getting back into it.
i used to need a cd player or cassette to learn anything ,one thing i really love about the stick is how easy it is to hear the notes ( i hope this doesnt sound weird but)what i mean is there is something that i cant put my finger on,that makes the notes stand alone on their own. like if i can hear it in my head i can play it without much difficulty (figure it out ) i havent been able to accomplish this with my guitars or basses as easily as with the stick .I do plan on getting back into sight reading but for the most part i do better if i listen and meditate and just patiently go through it


Wed Jan 09, 2013 10:37 pm
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Post Re: Getting back into it.
megatapper wrote:
i used to need a cd player or cassette to learn anything ,one thing i really love about the stick is how easy it is to hear the notes ( i hope this doesnt sound weird but)what i mean is there is something that i cant put my finger on,that makes the notes stand alone on their own. like if i can hear it in my head i can play it without much difficulty (figure it out ) i havent been able to accomplish this with my guitars or basses as easily as with the stick .I do plan on getting back into sight reading but for the most part i do better if i listen and meditate and just patiently go through it
The Stick's sound is unique. The attack is much more precise than a plucked string - it's more like a drum hit. Also, because we are tapping on the end of the string, the primary excursion is of the fundamental frequency, so there's a little less of the 2nd harmonic in the sound (the first octave). This makes the low end of things much less murky, especially when we get down into the lower end of things.

This might be why you are having this experience, but it's just a guess.

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Thu Jan 10, 2013 5:14 am
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