We just completed session three of “Speed Composing” in my advanced class. This is going really great! It’s very interesting to hear what they consider a particular genre. Yesterday was “Classic Rock” and today was”Industrial”. For more information, see my first blog on Speed Composing.
Here are some pieces from today’s competition:
THIS MUSIC IS NOT PART OF THE CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE. ALL MUSIC IS PROPERTY OF THE COMPOSER AND SUBJECT TO ALL APPLICABLE LAWS. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO USE IT ALL OR IN PART, PLEASE CONTACT ME SO I CAN PUT YOU IN TOUCH WITH THE COMPOSER.Common! Add a comment and let me know
which one you liked the best!
I decided to slip some authenticity into our next contest. The kids wanted to add “Latin” as a genre for the competition. I just can’t have them add a shaker and a timbale solo and let them call that “Latin” (I studied congas in Spanish Harlem with Frank Malabe)! Do you think at this point in the semester they want me to teach a lesson on the different styles of Latin music? So,I decided to trick them into doing a little research and learning something on their own. To prepare for our next class, “Speed Composing: Latin”, we listed a whole bunch of “Latin” styles on the board; Mambo, Samba, Rhumba, Tango, Cumbia, etc. and the kids have a couple of days to research the style of their choice and have some idea of what they might compose when they get here. The parameters are that they can’t bring in a file composed outside of class, they MUST use authentic rhythms of the genre they choose but they can “update” the style with contemporary instruments available in Logic Pro (we use version 8/Studio). In other words, it must be authentic in the rhythms used for the specific genre but it doesn’t have to sound like Rick Ricardo’s band is playing it! To sweeten the pot (to encourage them to actually do the research), I am throwing in a $10 iTunes gift card to the winner! I can’t wait to see what they come up with.