Melancholy

kristyjo

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Description

Here is a classical guitar solo, in the spirit of the piece I've posted lately. This is the 'slow' piece of a set of two, written in the key of D major, tuning the low E string down a step. It's in AABA form. I'm getting closer to a real guitar sound with my software, I think, now I'm still trying to figure out Logic Express, so I can get some rubato into my software pieces. I did try to add the ritardando in 'Finale' and then save the piece as a midi file, but it didn't seem to come through as a rit. by the time I got it to GarageBand. This is one of the saddest sounding pieces I've ever written in a major key- not sure why, but it always strikes me that way.

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Song Stats

Hits: 1943
Comments: 18
Fans: 7
Plays: 225
Downloads: 65
Votes: 10
Uploaded: Sep 16, 2006 - 03:46:30 PM
Last Updated: Sep 16, 2006 - 03:46:30 PM Last Played: Sep 29, 2009 - 08:50:04 PM

Song License

Creative Commons License:
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike

Song Actions

Keywords:

guitar (1071), classical guitar (105), downtempo (68), emo (77), sad (147), ()

Hardware:

PB G4

Software:

GarageBand, Finale

Comments

Schello	Schello said 1162 days ago (September 16th, 2006)
	,-) isnt no my genre__but so clean ur sound and tecniKe___congrat. Check out my latest song called Snozz'en (Cronik Mix)

kristyjo	kristyjo said 1162 days ago (September 16th, 2006)
	Thanks! It's good to listen to other genres, I think. Every weekend, I'm trying to pick out 2 songs in different genres, so I get to hear creative people in different ways. I'm glad you took the time to listen to this piece, too! Check out my latest song called What a Friend We Have in Jesus

drakonis

drakonis said 1162 days ago (September 16th, 2006)

pretty!
I like the melody, rather Renaissance-ish, sounds like something a
guitar would play, and nicely written to sound real. It does have a
rather contemplative, almost sad quality, maybe because of the slow
pace.

I don't know how a Rit. gets encoded into MIDI, but it may not actually
slow the notes down, but just be an extra command to tell MIDI to play
slower, and then the GB import may strip that extra command off,
effectively deleting the Rit. effect... hmm...

Anyway, this is very delicate and pretty, even if it is a little pouty :)
ttfn,
Drakonis

Check out my latest song called Lullaby for the Inner Child

kristyjo

kristyjo said 1162 days ago (September 16th, 2006)

Yeah - pouty
That's kind of the sound. There's a little bit of the 'pity me' in this song, isn't
there : )
For all of my moaning about lack of tempo controls in GarageBand, you'd think I
would finally learn Logic, already, but I'm still learning a lot about getting a good
sound with GB, and I love the way a midi file (well the notes, anyway) imports
into GB with tracks all set for tweaking.
I always appreciate your insights, Drak.

Check out my latest song called What a Friend We Have in Jesus

thetiler

thetiler said 1162 days ago (September 16th, 2006)

Really
Nice I can really envision this played on a classical guitar for sure. I think
it could be a real beauty on the nylon string. Love the lute feel of it. Really
a gem as for as I am concerned.

I can almost hear Peter Citara of Chicago singing parts of this, It really has
something special! Really like the cordal sequence 3/4 of the way through
before it gets into the theme. But the theme is superb. Hey, I like that
sqeak in the end. Sounds like a fingers goin up the frets!

Again, really, really nice. Throughly enjoyed and listened to it over and
over.

Check out my latest song called The Bluebird Cafe (with two other guest)

kristyjo	kristyjo said 1161 days ago (September 17th, 2006)
	It's great It's great when someone whose guitar playing I really admire hears potential in a guitar piece I've written. I truly appreciate your comments. And thanks for listening carefully enough to hear the finger squeak! Check out my latest song called What a Friend We Have in Jesus

Enrique Gil	Enrique Gil said 1162 days ago (September 17th, 2006)
	sweet very sweet and relaxing melody Check out my latest song called Simple Feelings

kristyjo	kristyjo said 1161 days ago (September 17th, 2006)
	Thanks for the comments I've also enjoyed many of your pieces in the classical genre. Check out my latest song called What a Friend We Have in Jesus

RickW	RickW said 1161 days ago (September 17th, 2006)
	Sad it may be, but it is also very beautiful Kristy. The sound is very authentic and the harmonies you create are superb. Thank you for this wonderful peace (sic) on a Sunday morning. God bless and keep you, Rick Check out my latest song called Picture of Perfection (MJRF)

jgurner	jgurner said 1161 days ago (September 17th, 2006)
	Beautiful and wistful A very lovely piece and you've gotten a great sound on it. The feeling of melancholy really comes across well. Has a very nice, simple, clean melody. Enjoyed it very much. Check out my latest song called Bourbon Street Dawn

thoddi

thoddi said 1161 days ago (September 17th, 2006)

wow
What a great composer you are. Getting such feelings through, played on a keyboard is well done. Like the tiler I would like to hear it played on a nylon stringed guitar, but there is something special with this 'synth' sound that makes it interesting and different. Normally I don't care much for midi sounds faking a real instrument like guitar or woodwinds and such, but this one made it through my filter:)

Check out my latest song called Don't tell me what I can't w/KTB and Ingve

kristyjo

kristyjo said 1161 days ago (September 17th, 2006)

Thanks, Thoddi!
I was a classical guitar major in college, so I have a pretty good idea of the
sound I'm going for. I graduated in 1981, and continued to stay 'in shape' until
about 1986 or 87. After that, it's been kind of downhill, and I'm embarrassed to
be heard playing anything but very basic classical repertoire and finger-style
accompaniments. I actually tried recording this on guitar, but ...

I'm pleased that you found the software tones decent and listenable. I'm glad
that you stopped by!

Check out my latest song called What a Friend We Have in Jesus

futzpucker	futzpucker said 1161 days ago (September 18th, 2006)
	A bit melancholy is right... This is lovely, Kristine - soothing and inviting. I enjoyed playing along with it on a soft electric piano sound - doing so might have given me a glimpse of the place you wrote it from. There is a very sweet mood created by this piece. Thank you for that. Check out my latest song called Just As It Is

kristyjo

kristyjo said 1160 days ago (September 18th, 2006)

Thanks for listening.
Your comment about playing along on keyboard reminded me that I had some ideas about adding a wash of strings behind the guitar, but then I did want to keep it a guitar solo, so I left it 'plain'.
This piece was written about 20 years ago, and although sometimes the songs I wrote long ago make me cringe, this set seems to have had enough depth to still be songs about which I'm happy to say 'I wrote those.'
I always appreciate your comments.

Check out my latest song called What a Friend We Have in Jesus

said 1158 days ago (September 20th, 2006)

You blow me away every time Kristy:)
...and wow you sure have had a lot of creative flow lately:)

I loved this .. reallly really loved this. It definitely has a sad feel about it
but there is also a temperance from pondering and maybe just maybe
finding a bit of hope there.

Lol.. I know Im useless to you in the tehcnical aspects but I can always try
and describe the feeling and this is something Id oil paint to or rather
will:)

	said 1049 days ago (January 7th, 2007)
	SSS stately, serene, with a touch of sad - just a gorgeous piece. you demonstrate that any 2 notes played together can create a huge variety of sonic relationships. wonderful job keeping it unembellished - your focus and simple path paid off for me. quiet kudos, anne

John Stebbe

John Stebbe said 770 days ago (October 13th, 2007)

Sad . .
Sad,but in a good way. Much like Scott Joplin's "Solace" is a melancholy piece, although written in a major key.

Reminds me a bit of a Bill Evans piano jazz CD I've been listening to lately. He had a way of even making an up-tempo song in a major key sound introspective and -- well, the word just fits -- melancholy. And your creation here has that same sort of spirit.

Yes, your software does sound really good. I have been thinking of getting Logic Express myself. Do you have LE8? Is there much learning curve, compared to GB? How are the notation functions? Comparable to Finale? Probably not, but I am curious.

Just a little quibble -- your strums do sound very realistic, but on the places where there are no strums, the attacks are a little too precise, with all the notes sounding at exactly the same time. I know guitarists do play that way at times, but in this track, that is a little bit of a giveaway that we're not hearing a 'real' guitar, because it's SO precise so much of the time.

That's a small quibble, though. Overall, the effect is very realistic. Especially the nature of the composition. It fits the classical guitar sound very well, and adds to the realism of the piece.

I have read about guitar software that even adds the string scraping sound, for extra realism. (The fingers sliding along the wound strings.) I don't know what software that is, but that would add a bit more realism, too.

Beautiful, reflective track, Kristine. Thanks.

Check out my latest song called NECAP Test song

slumbering	slumbering said 556 days ago (May 14th, 2008)
	So pretty... ... and the clarity you achieve is amazing, too. Check out my latest song called Over the Sea

Fan List

Artist Info

Name: Kristine Johanek

I've been performing, composing and teaching music for many years. I enjoy arranging traditional and classic pieces, and also enjoy composing original music. I'll write for whomever will perform my music, so I've written for children's choirs, co... [see more]

Check out some of my other songs:

Genre Info

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