Blog Post 2- The Secret Language of Computer Music Composition
1. VST- VST is an acronym for Virtual Studio Technology, which means exactly what it sounds like. VSTs are tools used in electronic music composition software that allow you to either create or manipulate sound in a certain type of way. VSTs that create sound do so in multiple ways- either from an original audio sample or by creating a digital audio wave that can then be altered by other tools within the VST.
2. Slap- Slap is more of a term specific to the code used by my friends at home and I while discussing music, and it's a term that has evolved a lot over the past few years. Calling a beat or a song a slap originally meant that the drums were hitting in an optimal way, essentially slapping against your ears. However, slap has become a catchall term for me when it comes to describing progressive music- when a beat or song evolves in a way you couldn't have foreseen, or explores a texture you've never heard before that affects you, it's a slap.
3. Pocket- Pocket is a term I've most often and for the most time heard used by jazz musicians to describe the timing and collective rhythm of a group or individual part. Pocket means the same thing when it comes to computer music, the way of execution is just somewhat different. For the elements of your track to be in pocket the timings of the individual sounds need to be slightly off the perfect DAW grid, in order to emulate human error and establish a groove. Different pockets require different changes in the rhythm of different instruments, and there are technically an infinite number of pockets you could be playing in.
One pet peeve I have around my field that's pretty irrational and definitely not super important is when people call me a DJ- I can understand the misconception from an outsiders point of view but being a DJ and being a composer/producer are two different things in todays world. To be a DJ in 2017 is to play and combine other peoples music, while being a producer is writing and creating your own music. I think this misconception mainly comes from how prevalent sampling and remixing have become in todays music- non-producers could label that as DJing because of the known source material.
Saturday, September 16, 2017
The Secret Language of Bassoon and Classical Music
1. Multiphonic (more than one note simultaneously). This technique is very prominent in contemporary bassoon music. The is enabled to produced a wide array of multiphonics (literally hundreds) fairly easily, often by simply pressing a key. This is fairly unique to the bassoon as opposed to other wind instruments, in that they're easy to produce, greatly varied, and can sometimes have up 5 or 6 pitches present in one multiphonic.
2.Quarter Tones and Timbrel Trills. These techniques are present in more than just bassoon music. Quarter tones are the pitches the exist halfway between each half step. Quarter tone pitches are fairly easy to produce on any wind instrument (excluding the lowest register). They're notated using variations on the sharp and flat symbols. With these come timbrel trills. These are simply an alternation between two pitches that are only a few cents away from each other. This means they register as the same pitch on a tuner (more or less) but have different tone colors or are microtonally different from each other.
3. Reed adjustments. There's no need for me to delve into the details of reeds but just understand that as a double reed player, I'm constantly adjusting my reeds and may do so during a rehearsal. Also please understand that these adjustments make a difference to me even if it doesn't sound different to you.
I often am annoyed that because I play an instrument which exists almost exclusively in the classical music idiom, people assume I must only play Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms. I view classical music and bassoon as versatile disciplines and make an effort to diversify my art as much as I can. I don't really blame people who assume otherwise. After all, a lot of classical musicians and most bassoonists don't have a diverse approach to their musicianship. I simply wish my instrument didn't come with such conservative baggage.
1. Multiphonic (more than one note simultaneously). This technique is very prominent in contemporary bassoon music. The is enabled to produced a wide array of multiphonics (literally hundreds) fairly easily, often by simply pressing a key. This is fairly unique to the bassoon as opposed to other wind instruments, in that they're easy to produce, greatly varied, and can sometimes have up 5 or 6 pitches present in one multiphonic.
2.Quarter Tones and Timbrel Trills. These techniques are present in more than just bassoon music. Quarter tones are the pitches the exist halfway between each half step. Quarter tone pitches are fairly easy to produce on any wind instrument (excluding the lowest register). They're notated using variations on the sharp and flat symbols. With these come timbrel trills. These are simply an alternation between two pitches that are only a few cents away from each other. This means they register as the same pitch on a tuner (more or less) but have different tone colors or are microtonally different from each other.
3. Reed adjustments. There's no need for me to delve into the details of reeds but just understand that as a double reed player, I'm constantly adjusting my reeds and may do so during a rehearsal. Also please understand that these adjustments make a difference to me even if it doesn't sound different to you.
I often am annoyed that because I play an instrument which exists almost exclusively in the classical music idiom, people assume I must only play Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms. I view classical music and bassoon as versatile disciplines and make an effort to diversify my art as much as I can. I don't really blame people who assume otherwise. After all, a lot of classical musicians and most bassoonists don't have a diverse approach to their musicianship. I simply wish my instrument didn't come with such conservative baggage.
Friday, September 15, 2017
Blog #2 (and #1)
Blog 2
- Question 1
- DAW - This stands for Digital Audio Workstation. This is a piece of software that is usually used for recording, mixing, or producing. Some examples of DAWs are Logic, ProTools, Audacity, and Garageband. I’ve found that people who use DAWs usually have a favorite one that they use the majority of the time and are most comfortable with. Some DAWs are more geared towards a specific function. If I were to recommend a DAW to someone, I’d suggest Reaper. It’s essentially free and can be used on Mac or PC.
- EQ - EQ is short for equalization. It is when you make certain frequencies of a signal louder or quieter. This can be done with software or hardware. For example, I can EQ a recording of a bass drum by making all of the high frequencies quieter since they are typically not the frequencies that define a bass drum’s sound.
- Mastering - After a recording is mixed, it is often mastered. Mastering includes a few different tasks that help prepare a track or album for publication. Some of these tasks include EQing songs for an album so that they all have a common sonic texture, adding compression and limiting so that tracks sound louder, and preparing different versions of a track so that they sound good on different formats (radio vs. CD vs. streaming).
- Question 2
After recording a decent amount of musicians while at U of M, I’ve realized that a lot of them expect mixing to be a relatively quick process. A quality mix can take time. I could go ahead and mix someone’s recording session in a day or two, but I know I could create a much better mix if I had a week. I find it difficult to explain sometimes, because they might not be able to hear the room for improvement in a quick mix.
Blog 1
1. https://soundcloud.com/kyle_katynski/sup
My PAT 202 final project represents my interest in combining my two favorite genres: jazz and electronic.
I would like to do something creative that combines music and visuals. I am open to live action visuals or animation, like this inspiring Sesame Street segment animated by Cathryn Aison and scored by Philip Glass.
Blog Assignment #2: The 'Secret Language' of Sound Engineering
The ‘Secret Language’ of Sound Engineering
- Multi band compression - A compressor squashes (or lowers the volume) of a signal if the signal goes above a certain volume, also known as the ‘threshold’. Multi band compression is multiple compressors that are on different frequency ranges of an audio signal. This allows an audio signal to be compressed (or evened out) at different amounts depending on the frequency.
- Wavetable synthesis - Wavetable synthesis is a form of digital sound synthesis that can create very organic sounding tones. Each oscillator creates sound by registering “wavetables”, or multiple sections of an audio clip. A user can automate through different wavetables as a sound plays to create a changing but similar waveform that can create very organic tones.
- Serum - Serum is a wavetable synthesizer that has become incredibly popular for it’s capability to produce organic sounding synth patches as well as the simple layout that makes complex sound design quick and easy. This is personally my favorite VST synth and I reference it a fair amount because I use it for a lot of my sound design.
Blog Assignment #2 - The Secret Language of Percussion
1. Found Sounds - Found instruments refer to any commonplace object used as a percussion instrument. This term was first coined by composers John Cage and Lou Harrison in the 1960s. Acquiring found instruments often requires visiting scrap yards to find metals including brake drums from cars or railroad spikes. When asked to play on flower pots, wooden planks, or anything else that requires a trip to the hardware store, we often bring sticks and mallets to find the best sounding potential instruments. This often results in strange looks from employees and passerby as we inconspicuously tap on the store's sound offerings. Some of my favorite found instruments include cacti prepared with contact microphones, tin cans, and metal mixing bowls.
2. Idiophones - A classification referring to any instrument that produces sound from vibrating the whole instrument. This encompasses most percussion instruments, including cymbals, triangles, gongs and tam-tams, wood blocks and temple blocks, slapsticks, and Indonesian Gamelan instruments. Drums meanwhile are not idiophones, as they produce sounds by striking a dried skin stretched over a wooden shell and are referred to as membranophones.
3. Percussion theater - A sub-genre of percussion music involving staging, performers taking on the role of characters, and often times a running plotlines. Composers that champion this style include Mauricio Kagel, Georges Aperghis, and Vinko Globokar. These pieces are found in the solo repertoire and include Vinko Globokar's ?Corporel and George Aperghis' Le Corps à Corps. These pieces involve speaking and require the performer to communicate strong affectations. Aperghis' Le Corps à Corps recounts the story of a grisly and graphic racecar accident. Globokar's ?Corporel is much more open to interpretation, but many performances focus on communicating feelings of PTSD. Percussion theater chamber music involves a cast of characters all playing different instruments while acting out a narrative. Mauricio Kagel's Dressur is often thought of as the earliest canonic percussion ensemble theater piece. Links to all of these pieces are below!
A common misconception in the percussion world surrounds the topic of "world" percussion. This term exists in the American and European percussion communities as a way of classifying non-western instruments and playing styles. Blanket terms such as "Latin rhythms" show a lack of cultural sensitivity. This is a touchy subject as percussionists are often responsible for facility and backgrounds in Afro-Cuban, African, Middle-Eastern, East Asian, and Brazilian instruments. American and European percussionists can (often unknowingly) perpetuate cultural appropriation without the proper context and techniques surrounding these instruments. We as a percussion community are still trying to define the boundary between exchange and appropriation, but the term "world percussion" represents a form of Euro-centricity unfit for today's musical world.
2. Idiophones - A classification referring to any instrument that produces sound from vibrating the whole instrument. This encompasses most percussion instruments, including cymbals, triangles, gongs and tam-tams, wood blocks and temple blocks, slapsticks, and Indonesian Gamelan instruments. Drums meanwhile are not idiophones, as they produce sounds by striking a dried skin stretched over a wooden shell and are referred to as membranophones.
3. Percussion theater - A sub-genre of percussion music involving staging, performers taking on the role of characters, and often times a running plotlines. Composers that champion this style include Mauricio Kagel, Georges Aperghis, and Vinko Globokar. These pieces are found in the solo repertoire and include Vinko Globokar's ?Corporel and George Aperghis' Le Corps à Corps. These pieces involve speaking and require the performer to communicate strong affectations. Aperghis' Le Corps à Corps recounts the story of a grisly and graphic racecar accident. Globokar's ?Corporel is much more open to interpretation, but many performances focus on communicating feelings of PTSD. Percussion theater chamber music involves a cast of characters all playing different instruments while acting out a narrative. Mauricio Kagel's Dressur is often thought of as the earliest canonic percussion ensemble theater piece. Links to all of these pieces are below!
A common misconception in the percussion world surrounds the topic of "world" percussion. This term exists in the American and European percussion communities as a way of classifying non-western instruments and playing styles. Blanket terms such as "Latin rhythms" show a lack of cultural sensitivity. This is a touchy subject as percussionists are often responsible for facility and backgrounds in Afro-Cuban, African, Middle-Eastern, East Asian, and Brazilian instruments. American and European percussionists can (often unknowingly) perpetuate cultural appropriation without the proper context and techniques surrounding these instruments. We as a percussion community are still trying to define the boundary between exchange and appropriation, but the term "world percussion" represents a form of Euro-centricity unfit for today's musical world.
Blog Assignment 2 - The Secret Language of Computer Science
1)
SegFault: Segmentation Fault is a common reason why a computer program crashes. It typically occurs if the program tries to access a restricted area of the memory (Trying to read or write information that it is not supposed to touch).
Undefined Behavior: Sometimes, when we execute a computer program, there are components of the program that are not defined, meaning that we do not know what information the components store. If our program tries to use any of these components, we might observe an undefined behavior, which is the case where we simply can’t expect what is going to happen. The program might crash, show some weird behavior, or it might even work correctly and yield the correct answers.
IDE: Integrated Development Environment. These are programs (that partially look like text editors) in which we can write, test, and fix our code. IDEs can provide many tools that are helpful for software development.
2) When you say that you are a computer scientist, people often ask you about how they can fix something on their laptops. Computer scientists use math and engineering principles to develop algorithms and/or write computer programs that can execute them. Not all the computer programs work the same way, and computer scientists don’t have to know too much about the hardware and structure of computers. So, even though it’s possible that computer scientists might know more about computers, they often can’t help much with random computer problems.
Blog Post 2 - The Secret Language of Sound Engineering
1#
Distortion: This is a word that in my experience can scare some musicians, many times during recording or mixing situations I like to tell them some of the things I plan to do, and usually when I mention distortion (as in adding distortion to a drum track during recording, or to a voice during a mix) they freak out. They tend to think that distortion is just cranking up the sound through a distortion pedal, but there is a wide range of distortions or ways to saturate a signal to add richness in terms of harmonics. There is tube distortion, tape distortion, fuzz, different distortion plug-ins and techniques such as parallel distortion so that you can control how much you are distorting the signal. I like adding distortion to my tracks just to make it sound “bigger” or to add a certain “character” that differentiates it from a normal drum, guitar, or voice.
Sampling: This refers to re-using a portion (sample) of a sound recording for a different musical piece. This technique was developed by experimental musicians working on concrete music and electroacoustic music, they experimented with vynil records and tape loops on phonographs, since then this technique has been used in a broad range of musical styles and in very different ways. You can sample either a drum sound, a complete measure from a song, or spoken voice, anything really. What I like about sampling is that you can take something from a particular context and transform it into something completely different and it is also very fun to recognize a sample from a particular song you like in another context.
This is an example that is quite self explanatory (There is an infinite number of other sampling examples)
This is a song by Massive Attack
This is a song by Massive Attack
This is where they got the drum loop from
Double Tracking: It is a recording technique where a performer will record his instrument or voice on top of an already recorded performance. For example many guitars in rock music are double tracked, same as voices. This is used to “fatten” or make “bigger” the final sound of a particular instrument or voice. What I like about it is that even if the performer is extremely precise in his playing or singing, it is never exactly the same performance and this traduces in a richer sound where these small differences overlap in particular ways. There are also artificial ways of double tracking, which were introduced by The Beatles, where they used variable speed tape recorders to make recreate this small differences that occur while double tracking.
2#
Sound Effects: I’ve encountered some musicians and people from other art disciplines who refer to anything that sounds different from an acoustical instrument or that enhances an acoustical instrument as “sound effect” which is ok up to a certain point. It’s good to know the vast variety of sound effects out there, how they work and how different they are sonically. So I’d be more than happy to show and try different sound effects with anyone (and their instruments) who has doubts about what they do and how they sound.
I’m adding my first assignment in this post as well since I joined the class after the assignment was given.
Blog Post 1
This is a piece I made during my undergrad where I recorded different found objects, such as nails falling on a metallic stove, scratching metallic material and a cell phone vibrating inside a metallic stove, all of these sounds were processed with EQ, stretching, reversing, and rearranged into a composition.
https://soundcloud.com/matiasbungle/dibujo2
I found this video of an audiovisual performance (the video is the visuals only) and it represents what I would like to add in a live performance context.
Blog Post 2
1.
Signal - The concept of signal traveling through cables from instruments or microphones and coming out a loudspeaker or accomplishing any other task is fascinating to me. It took me a long time to really grasp how signal traveling along fixed paths worked because for some reason to me at first it seemed like a very abstract idea. The coolest part about signal for me, and the reason why I understand it now is the fact that it essentially travels in a straight line that connects many different components of a system that relies on some sort of electric current. This is at least how I conceptualize it. For a long time when people talked about "signal" to me, it seemed like this foreign, made up, intangible force. Now I feel like it is part of my "secret language" vocabulary from becoming familiar with it over the years.
Phasing - Phasing is a concept that every human interacts with and is an expert at discerning differences in. We all are able to detect tiny differences in timing of sounds (phase differences) due to the way our heads and ears are shaped and how sound is filtered by this anatomy. This is an odd concept to hear defined in words at first because we deal with it all day every day and do not necessarily meditate on it constantly.
Frequency - I use this term way too often and do not consider that it may be a part of a concept that is hard to grasp at first. In really pared down terms, frequency can describe the rate of vibration of things to produce pitch. Sounds that we hear are made up of many different frequencies. Frequency is important to me because it helps me describe the content of specific sounds
2.
Producer - This term holds way too much weight to me. In my mind it means many different things to many different people. I feel like some people when they hear the word "producer" think of a DJ, or of a person sitting in their bedroom in front of a computer, or of a ghost-writer. While these are not all false definitions of a modern-day music producer, the term means so much more to me. I think of a producer as being a composer, recording engineer, musician, technician, psychologist. A lot of people as me if I am studying in school to be a producer. While many of the definitions of a producer in my mind match what some of my interests are and what I am studying in school sometimes, the question makes me uncomfortable and I tend to redefine the term to whoever is asking. It is both a too broad and too limiting term at the same time.
Signal - The concept of signal traveling through cables from instruments or microphones and coming out a loudspeaker or accomplishing any other task is fascinating to me. It took me a long time to really grasp how signal traveling along fixed paths worked because for some reason to me at first it seemed like a very abstract idea. The coolest part about signal for me, and the reason why I understand it now is the fact that it essentially travels in a straight line that connects many different components of a system that relies on some sort of electric current. This is at least how I conceptualize it. For a long time when people talked about "signal" to me, it seemed like this foreign, made up, intangible force. Now I feel like it is part of my "secret language" vocabulary from becoming familiar with it over the years.
Phasing - Phasing is a concept that every human interacts with and is an expert at discerning differences in. We all are able to detect tiny differences in timing of sounds (phase differences) due to the way our heads and ears are shaped and how sound is filtered by this anatomy. This is an odd concept to hear defined in words at first because we deal with it all day every day and do not necessarily meditate on it constantly.
Frequency - I use this term way too often and do not consider that it may be a part of a concept that is hard to grasp at first. In really pared down terms, frequency can describe the rate of vibration of things to produce pitch. Sounds that we hear are made up of many different frequencies. Frequency is important to me because it helps me describe the content of specific sounds
2.
Producer - This term holds way too much weight to me. In my mind it means many different things to many different people. I feel like some people when they hear the word "producer" think of a DJ, or of a person sitting in their bedroom in front of a computer, or of a ghost-writer. While these are not all false definitions of a modern-day music producer, the term means so much more to me. I think of a producer as being a composer, recording engineer, musician, technician, psychologist. A lot of people as me if I am studying in school to be a producer. While many of the definitions of a producer in my mind match what some of my interests are and what I am studying in school sometimes, the question makes me uncomfortable and I tend to redefine the term to whoever is asking. It is both a too broad and too limiting term at the same time.
Shorthand Notation
Plenty of composers use shorthand notation to conceive of the structure, narrative, scope, etc. of a piece before they notate it. My shorthand notation (and several other composers) usually consists of a linear timeline on which I plot out the length of various sections or ideas and the overall development of the piece. Shorthand notation is a way of casually notating and becoming familiar with the big picture elements of the piece before you notate it more strictly.
Aleatoric If something in a piece is aleatoric, it means that it is left to chance or to the interpretation of the player. It usually involves some sort of improvisation. An entire piece could be aleatoric, or just one instrumental part in one section. For example, in a choir piece I composed, I gave the sopranos seven notes and instructed them to repeat the riff at their desired speed and frequency for a minute and a half. I like how this technique permits performers’ agency.
Voice Leading Voice leading involves making sure that the harmonic progression of a piece is smooth and free of awkward leaps, interrupted lines, etc.. It involves perceiving harmonies not just vertically but horizontally: thinking about how they lead into each other to and build to a particular moment, how they create and interact with melodies, etc. You can apply voice leading to conventional harmonic languages as well as super out there harmonic languages.
Something that is changing in composition is that more and more composers are engaged in, passionate about, and inspired by music other than Western classical music. One of the more recent developments is composers using elements from popular music forms (including myself). Genre is becoming a much more fluid concept in contemporary composition. A misconception might be that all composers wear powdered wigs and have every theme in every movement of every Beethoven string quartet memorized so that they can become the next transcendent white male composer. That musical hierarchy is still very present, and that sort of knowledge is still emphasized, but it is changing and is somewhat of an older generation. This creates an interesting tension for someone like me who prefers listening to experimental pop or progressive rock over Western classical music … but still appreciates Western classical music, is heavily influenced by it, and knows that there are several phenomenal pieces in the canon that are beneficial to know and study.
Aleatoric If something in a piece is aleatoric, it means that it is left to chance or to the interpretation of the player. It usually involves some sort of improvisation. An entire piece could be aleatoric, or just one instrumental part in one section. For example, in a choir piece I composed, I gave the sopranos seven notes and instructed them to repeat the riff at their desired speed and frequency for a minute and a half. I like how this technique permits performers’ agency.
Voice Leading Voice leading involves making sure that the harmonic progression of a piece is smooth and free of awkward leaps, interrupted lines, etc.. It involves perceiving harmonies not just vertically but horizontally: thinking about how they lead into each other to and build to a particular moment, how they create and interact with melodies, etc. You can apply voice leading to conventional harmonic languages as well as super out there harmonic languages.
Something that is changing in composition is that more and more composers are engaged in, passionate about, and inspired by music other than Western classical music. One of the more recent developments is composers using elements from popular music forms (including myself). Genre is becoming a much more fluid concept in contemporary composition. A misconception might be that all composers wear powdered wigs and have every theme in every movement of every Beethoven string quartet memorized so that they can become the next transcendent white male composer. That musical hierarchy is still very present, and that sort of knowledge is still emphasized, but it is changing and is somewhat of an older generation. This creates an interesting tension for someone like me who prefers listening to experimental pop or progressive rock over Western classical music … but still appreciates Western classical music, is heavily influenced by it, and knows that there are several phenomenal pieces in the canon that are beneficial to know and study.
Thursday, September 14, 2017
Blog Post #2 - The "secret language" of composition
#1. Terms relating to composition:
- Form refers to the overall structure of a piece. Generally, a piece's form is driven by its sense of direction (be it harmonic, melodic, textural, or emotional). In beginning theory classes we often talk about simpler forms, like rounded binary (ABA') etc, but forms can vary highly. If there is an emotional climax, it can be in different points in the piece (like the middle or even the ending). Some pieces (common among soundscapes) do not necessarily have a climax and instead focus on creating an overall sonic world to exist in. Form is essential to expressing the main point behind a piece clearly.
- Texture describes layers in the piece. It can refer to the activity level of a single layer or the relation between individual layers. Certain pieces may have sparse textures, perhaps by having few layers (e.g. by instrumentation) or with each line having more space or static notes. Other pieces may have thicker textures due to having more lines going on simultaneously or having more complex rhythms in each line that create a denser texture when overlapped.
- Counterpoint refers to the interaction of different lines played simultaneously. In everyday life, counterpoint occurs when two people talk over each other at the same time. In theory classes, we often think about rules of counterpoint, like voice leading or using contrary motion. Modern composition goes beyond that, though, and follows a general rule: when multiple lines are going on at the same time, it's important to make space for the other lines (e.g. by altering the rhythms in each line, dynamic variation, etc.) so that not every line is competing for the listeners' attention. This is essential in any kind of piece with some layers in the foreground and others in the background because it provides greater clarity to the listener so that they can more easily hear each line rather than a cacophony of sound.
#2. I think the biggest misconception of composers is that they only focus on craft rather than emotional content of their music. Composers may learn about harmony and counterpoint to help give them the tools to create a clearer product, but the overall goal among most composers is still the emotions expressed during the piece. (Composers are all quite different - I use the word "most" because there are still some composers who prefer to think of their music in an absolute sense rather than a more narrative or emotional one.) In the past, many composers employed serial or other kinds of process techniques to generate pitch material, which may have reinforced this stereotype. While there are still a few composers who continue to pursue these techniques, many composers focus more on the final sound rather than the process behind them, and many composers prioritize emotional clarity over music complexity.
I'll include another note about performing flute just because I perform too! A big misconception about flutes is that they can only be used to sound serene or to play long legato lines... or to sound like birds. Flutes can be quite percussive and shrill, especially in their high register. There are also many extended techniques on flute that produce a variety of sounds, including key clicks, tongue pizzicato, and jet whistles. They are quite versatile in terms of technique, so they can be used for anything you can imagine.
- Form refers to the overall structure of a piece. Generally, a piece's form is driven by its sense of direction (be it harmonic, melodic, textural, or emotional). In beginning theory classes we often talk about simpler forms, like rounded binary (ABA') etc, but forms can vary highly. If there is an emotional climax, it can be in different points in the piece (like the middle or even the ending). Some pieces (common among soundscapes) do not necessarily have a climax and instead focus on creating an overall sonic world to exist in. Form is essential to expressing the main point behind a piece clearly.
- Texture describes layers in the piece. It can refer to the activity level of a single layer or the relation between individual layers. Certain pieces may have sparse textures, perhaps by having few layers (e.g. by instrumentation) or with each line having more space or static notes. Other pieces may have thicker textures due to having more lines going on simultaneously or having more complex rhythms in each line that create a denser texture when overlapped.
- Counterpoint refers to the interaction of different lines played simultaneously. In everyday life, counterpoint occurs when two people talk over each other at the same time. In theory classes, we often think about rules of counterpoint, like voice leading or using contrary motion. Modern composition goes beyond that, though, and follows a general rule: when multiple lines are going on at the same time, it's important to make space for the other lines (e.g. by altering the rhythms in each line, dynamic variation, etc.) so that not every line is competing for the listeners' attention. This is essential in any kind of piece with some layers in the foreground and others in the background because it provides greater clarity to the listener so that they can more easily hear each line rather than a cacophony of sound.
#2. I think the biggest misconception of composers is that they only focus on craft rather than emotional content of their music. Composers may learn about harmony and counterpoint to help give them the tools to create a clearer product, but the overall goal among most composers is still the emotions expressed during the piece. (Composers are all quite different - I use the word "most" because there are still some composers who prefer to think of their music in an absolute sense rather than a more narrative or emotional one.) In the past, many composers employed serial or other kinds of process techniques to generate pitch material, which may have reinforced this stereotype. While there are still a few composers who continue to pursue these techniques, many composers focus more on the final sound rather than the process behind them, and many composers prioritize emotional clarity over music complexity.
I'll include another note about performing flute just because I perform too! A big misconception about flutes is that they can only be used to sound serene or to play long legato lines... or to sound like birds. Flutes can be quite percussive and shrill, especially in their high register. There are also many extended techniques on flute that produce a variety of sounds, including key clicks, tongue pizzicato, and jet whistles. They are quite versatile in terms of technique, so they can be used for anything you can imagine.
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