This is a link to the written component of my MMus (jazz performance) that I completed at the end of 2010. It basically details the creative process of the album ‘In Song’ recorded by the Ironic Trio last year.
MMus Written Component (10mb)
This is really for those of you interested in how these songs were composed, download if you are interested! An excerpt of some text is also included in this post below.
Thanks Mark
Introduction
The main objective of this MMus is to compose, arrange, perform, and record 40-60 minutes worth of improvised jazz music, then edit, order and compile the performances into album format to present to the university. In addition to the album, the degree requires the completion of two other components, these elements and their academic weighting are listed below: –
Composition / arrangement / and performance of jazz album 40%
Recital containing performance of album tracks 40%
Academic writing 20%
This document serves as the academic writing component of the degree and therefore represents 20% of the final MMus grade.
The purpose of this essay is to: –
1. Document the creative process
2. Analyse elements of composition, arrangement, performance and musical interpretation
3. Draw conclusions from the musical output
The album in discussion is entitled ‘In Song’ and is presented under the pseudonym of the ‘Ironic Trio’. This is the second independent release by the trio; their first release in 2009 is an EP entitled ‘In Colour’, a live recording of standard jazz compositions. The Ironic Trio currently consist of Mark Baynes (Piano and leader), Aaron Coddel (Upright bass) and Jason Orme (Drumset).
This document is divided into three separate parts, one documenting the creative process, the next presenting the analysis and the final part outlining conclusions. Due to the tight time constraints involved in composing, arranging and recording ‘In Song’ during the period of one academic year, I was careful to ensure that attention to detail was given to the planning process. I established the date that all work had to be submitted by, then worked backwards aiding creation of a study plan. I estimated I would need a month to complete the written element (due 15th December) so I requested that the live performance of the album to be early November. I also reserved a calendar month for editing, mixing, mastering and replication of the album. This meant of course that the best time for the recording session would probably be early September 2010, allowing me some leeway if there were complications. Also, I knew that I was going to be unavailable to work on this project during all of April / May as I was getting married in Europe. So the time left to compose, arrange and rehearse would be the four months of March, June, July and August. The chronology of the creative process is documented below and details, in several sections, the entire project from start to finish.
1. Sketches
Given the relatively short time to complete the degree I decided to employ a rapid and intuitive compositional approach. Basically I set myself the task of writing 40 musical ‘sketches’ during the month of March, this involved composing around 10 pieces a week to workshop with my supervisor, Kevin Field. These sketches took no longer than an hour each to compose and at the tutorial meetings we briefly analysed each one for harmonic, melodic and stylistic content. This analysis helped to formulate ideas for further composition; in other words I wanted to ensure there was as much stylistic diversity as possible so I used my compositional oeuvre as a measure and springboard when trying to conceptualise the remaining work. For example it was noted that none of my early compositions included standard jazz harmonic progressions such as II-V-I chord sequences. I used that knowledge and approached some later compositions with the inclusion of such chord sequences in mind, when it felt appropriate.
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