Having wrapped up the series of harmony and counterpoint courses I’d planned out for 2013/14 I’m finally getting back to some regular composing related work (two afternoons a week to be exact, more if possible). I started on two separate compositions: one uses a melody from a blues tune I wrote as a starting point and the other a series of loops made during the creation of the Fat Controller electro tune. The sequence taken from the Fat Controller tune is fairly minimal but has lots of texture and works well with just the two chords (called ‘Static harmony’ or so been told). The other tune uses a short singable melody line which I’m going to work out fully on paper for four or five voices before I go anywhere near the orchestration. Together the two tracks take very different approaches, one traditionally, from melody to orchestra and the other in a sort of reverse engineering from orchestrated loops to new melodies. I still need alot of practice to create solid, industry grade, harmony but having the notes to go over from the courses definitely makes the work less daunting.
On the visual side of things I’m starting in on another month of Lynda.com subscriptions, I have enough courses picked out for three or four months of study but due to commission requirements I have to spread out the months over a few years. First up is some PHP foundations to sharpen up my custom WordPress themes followed by one or two CSS tutorials and a macro photography course I’m really looking forward to starting as indoor/studio lighting is something I really struggle with.
