Late-Night Blues (Urban Dance Music, #1)

composerclark

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Duration: 5:00

This is the first of three pieces collectively called Urban Dance Music, for live sax and virtual (i.e., MIDI) ensemble, commissioned by a local ballet company. Each has a different character. The second piece is called "Industrial Park Stomp", and has also been posted here at MacJams.

This version uses a MIDI sax, whereas when it is played live, a live sax player is used. I realize that a live sax sounds better, and if any alto sax players out there are good readers and want to do a collaboration, let me know.

This was sequenced using Digital Performer, and all sounds are from a Korg Trinity keyboard.

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Lyrics

Instrumental

Song Stats

Hits: 1762
Comments: 22
Fans: 7
Plays: 389
Downloads: 121
Votes: 10
Uploaded: Dec 28, 2005 - 05:44:54 PM
Last Updated: May 16, 2009 - 12:48:41 PM Last Played: Nov 19, 2009 - 09:17:11 AM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial

Song Actions

Hardware:

Mac G4, Korg Trinity

Software:

Digital Performer

Comments

Tadashi Togawa

Tadashi Togawa said 1424 days ago (December 28th, 2005)

Jewels other than pleasantness
Enthusiastic, emotional attempt.
Music of very able composer.
A very unstable composition is good.
Melody of saxophone and comparison relation of other musical
instruments.
The percussion instrument, the piano, and the base are the expression
of feelings.
What should we find from this song?
You did not want to tell the melody of the saxophone.
What did you express by uniting with musical instruments in the back?

Is it a joy?
Is it peaceful?
Is it repose?
Is it uneasy?

avant-garde music. Classics. Basis.
Uniting of classics music and jazz.
Anyway, the music composition is very wonderful.

Check out my latest song called Mexican taste

composerclark

composerclark said 1424 days ago (December 29th, 2005)

Jewels other than pleasantness
Thanks very much for your comments, Tagashi!

You asked, "What should we find from this song?
(snip)
Is it a joy?
Is it peaceful?
Is it repose?
Is it uneasy?"

The great thing about music is that it is non-verbal, so it expresses different
meanings to different people; no one person has the "right" insight into its
meaning, not even the composer.

Having said that, I see this piece as sensual, maybe even seductive, a little
dark, but nothing too heavy. Perhaps a bit uneasy, to use one of the
adjectives you suggested, and dramatic, which is a word JMT uses.

It was written for a ballet company, and the the choreography was very
sensual and dramatic, but I'm sure someone else could have choreographed it
very differently.

Thanks again. Your comments are very much appreciated, and very kind.

Cheers.

Check out my latest song called Scarlet Nightfall

composerclark	composerclark said 1424 days ago (December 29th, 2005)
	Jewels other than pleasantness Oops! I just realized that I mis-spelled your name! Very sorry about that, Tadashi! Check out my latest song called Scarlet Nightfall

Tadashi Togawa	Tadashi Togawa said 1424 days ago (December 29th, 2005)
	Jewels other than pleasantness Clark, You are very polite one. I am honored to meet a composer able like you. Thank you very much. Check out my latest song called Mexican taste

jmt	jmt said 1424 days ago (December 28th, 2005)
	cut it. A An enjoyable listen, very dramatic. I really like the composition, but the midi sax just doesn't cut it. A real sax, or even an oboe (!) maybe... Check out my latest song called mARINERS lULLABY

composerclark

composerclark said 1424 days ago (December 29th, 2005)

cut it. A
Thanks, JMT.

You're right that the MIDI sax is the least realistic part of this composition,
but you have to remember that I was writing it for live sax plus the virtual
ensemble that you hear (i.e., one live sax player accompanied by a CD of this
piece with everything but the sax, kind of like "music minus one"), so
audiences don't actually hear the MIDI sax part.

Having said that, I tried to make the MIDI sax as realistic as I could, and you
might notice the use of occasional "buzzes" or "growls," and some vibrato, all
done with MIDI controllers, all of which is written in to the score for the live
player as well.

But yeah, it would be nice to have a more realistic sax sample. Thanks for the
comment.

Check out my latest song called Scarlet Nightfall

Aaron David

Aaron David said 1418 days ago (January 3rd, 2006)

Very Different
But I like it. You have a lot going on in the back, but ti works. I will have to say that the midi sax doesn't work though. I've found thateven in GB, the sax doesn't cut it. I usuall y substitude with an irish whistle i got from an add on pack (all GB midi sounds are sampled). Anyway, try mixing that instruments... even laying two identical tracks, using a different instrument for each. Just play around with it.

Check out my latest song called Hearts Alive

composerclark

composerclark said 1403 days ago (January 18th, 2006)

Very Different
Thanks Aaron. This has been one of my most popular pieces when played
live (live sax player plus CD with virtual ensemble), so I've been a little
surprised that it didn't do very well on MacJams. Maybe it's the lack of a live
sax player; who knows. Mind you, I shouldn't read too much into the score; it
only got 4 votes.

I actually have a live recording of this that I never listened to, and maybe I will
give it a listen to see if it can be used or not. It was a generic recording, just
using a ceiling mike that records everything in one of our concert halls.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by and giving it a listen!

All the best,
Clark

---
Last upload: <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/17091">Julia's Prelude</a>. Visit <a href="http://www.clarkross.ca">my website</a> for lots more free music.

Check out my latest song called Scarlet Nightfall

Cori Ander	Cori Ander said 1416 days ago (January 6th, 2006)
	Would Would have loved hearing this with a live orchestra! It is sad but computer saxophones are so far away from the real thing. This is a really nice compostion! Check out my latest song called Guitar test — Martin CSN (Gerry Tolman Tribute)

composerclark

composerclark said 1403 days ago (January 18th, 2006)

Would
Thanks as always, sir! It would be great to hear a live ensemble doing this, but
it would be a lot of work to figure out who would play what, and
make parts. It was conceived as a piece for live sax and MIDI, and that's how it's
usually played. I've got to get a studio recording made of this!

Thanks again, and I appreciate the comment. I also have been enjoying your
guitar playing very much!

Cheers,
Clark

---
Last upload: <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/17091">Julia's Prelude</a>. Visit <a href="http://www.clarkross.ca">my website</a> for lots more free music.

Check out my latest song called Scarlet Nightfall

screamalexz	screamalexz said 1411 days ago (January 10th, 2006)
	haunted mansion almost has a video game sound to it, for a haunted mansion or something. it reminds me of some game in my past that i can't remember. Check out my latest song called Die (Album Version)

Tom Atwood

Tom Atwood said 1400 days ago (January 22nd, 2006)

Cool, dark piece
Having heard "would love to hear a real orchestra play this" myself a
few times, I will not make that comment here. In fact, I can hear the
real ensemble, see the dancers and imagine the real alto wailing on
this. I can see why this is a crowd-pleaser performed live. It has a great
build and tension and sensuality to it. I see red!

10-9-10-10

Check out my latest song called Keep Looking for Jesus (MJRF)

composerclark

composerclark said 1400 days ago (January 22nd, 2006)

Cool, dark piece
Thanks very much Tom! I appreciate your stopping by and commenting.
This was one of three pieces (all from the same set, called "Urban Dance
Music") that I uploaded as soon as I was able to upload music to MJs, and I
was REALLY curious to know if a general audience with widely divergent
musical tastes would be into this kind of music or not.

Unfortunately, being brand new, the three pieces slipped under most people's
radars, although a few nice comments were certainly make, so I still don't
really have a good read on whether this music is "general audience-friendly"
or not.

The thing I ought to do is to find a saxophonist to record these pieces for me,
then upload them again, and see if they fare any better the second time
around.

Anyway, I'm prattling on, but mainly, I wanted to thank you for the comments
and vote.

Cheers, Clark

---
Last upload: <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/17301">Late-Night Music</a>. Visit <a href="http://www.clarkross.ca">my website</a> for lots more music.

Check out my latest song called Scarlet Nightfall

screaming.org

screaming.org said 1386 days ago (February 5th, 2006)

...
I enjoy a wide variety of music, and different music seems to
appeal to different parts of me.

This is music for my head first and foremost (the inner cerebral
part, not the noggin itself), followed closely by a very subtle sway
in my shoulders.

What you are doing here with rhythm is responsible for both
responses. I'm fascinated by how each and every instrument
in the percussion section seems to strike on a beat that is both
expected and surprising at the same time. It rides on that edge
between the two really well. I don't understand how that's
done.

The melodic line that the sax has some of that character too
("what note will it leap to next? (pregnant pause) Ah, of course!")

One of the interesting things about your music is the duality of
classical and jazz. It leaves me wondering, when listening to
one of your pieces, how much was composed in advance and
how much was improvised. I can see the sax being either
in this piece.

I think the MIDI performance stands in the way of letting this
piece reach its full potential. If you could somehow rope enough
graduate students into learning this, you could push it up to
the next level.

Check out my latest song called Bleed (alley-oop)

composerclark

composerclark said 1378 days ago (February 12th, 2006)

...
Wow! Great comments; very thoughtful...

Regarding percussion, my approach is (a) not to use loops ever, and (b) tweak
obsessively 'till it sounds reasonably realistic. ("tweak" = fool around with
velocities, placement within the bar, and experimenting with different
sounds.)

Glad you like those pregnant pauses in the melody. It's supposed to sound
like the player is making it up as s/he goes.

The classical/jazz duality in my music is probably because for a brief period I
wanted to be a jazz musician and studied jazz guitar, but for mostly random
reasons I ended up in classical music school. I still love and play both kinds
of music. Actually I love lots of different kinds of music. I started out as a
rock/pop musician, so maybe I should upload some other types of songs
too...

Thanks again for your very thoughtful comments.

Clark

Check out my latest song called Scarlet Nightfall

	said 1331 days ago (March 31st, 2006)
	Pardon my intrusion... Enjoyed this sweet reed. I must apologize, got here via Ikhabod%u2122 mistreatment. What a fine treat, thank you! Sunday afternoon music here for me. My late father played such a wide variety of music, I enjoy most of it including this style. Can't comment on the virtues of your publication here, except to say I like it very much, Thanks! . - Harold

composerclark

composerclark said 1331 days ago (April 1st, 2006)

Pardon my intrusion...
Thanks very much for the comment, Harold; it's always great to have someone
comment on the song's page. I'm glad you liked it; basically, some day I've got
to find an alto saxophonist to record this, and then maybe people will be able to
get past the MIDI sax issue and enjoy it more. Thanks for stopping by!

Clark

---
<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/18317">Jennifer's Tune</a>

Check out my latest song called Scarlet Nightfall

Doadars Uncle	Doadars Uncle said 580 days ago (April 21st, 2008)
	Hey Clark I like the breadth of ideas, here! Wide and expressive. Each voice is apparent and discernible. Nice ambling feel. Casual yet deliberate direction. Check out my latest song called Capitalist's Drag

composerclark	composerclark said 580 days ago (April 21st, 2008)
	Thanks Woo hoo! FIrst comment in over two years! I am thrilled! Thanks for this Doug, and I'm glad you liked it. CHeers! Check out my latest song called Scarlet Nightfall

stooey	stooey said 579 days ago (April 21st, 2008)
	Wow! Spooky I'm glad I was listening with the lights on! A very spooky feel to it, yet, somehow very compelling, and intriguing. Thanks! Check out my latest song called Loop It Oldfieldlian

Daugrin	Daugrin said 190 days ago (May 16th, 2009)
	Late NIght Blues Downloaded for study. I am so impressed with the voicings and clusters you are using. The length of your ideas gives my ADD trouble but I'm think that is just me, focus has always been a problem. Thank you for sharing your art. I appreciate the work you have shared here. Daugrin Check out my latest song called Daphne w/ Andy Wigzell

composerclark	composerclark said 179 days ago (May 27th, 2009)
	Thanks Thanks very much Daugrin! Sorry not to have replied sooner, but I'm just now seeing your comments. Much appreciated. Check out my latest song called Scarlet Nightfall

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Artist Info

Name: Composition Blog

I've been teaching composition, theory, and classical guitar at an east-coast university for the past 17 years, and I've been writing music for over 30 years. My wife (for whom Jennifer's Tune is named) is also a professor (religion and culture), a... [see more]

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