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https://soundcloud.com/mark_hayes/the-unanswered-questionThe Unanswered Question (a Cosmic Landscape) Charles Ives Sequenced by Welton Barker https://www.kunstderfuge.com/classical/i.htm"The Silence of the Druids" section harmony-analyzed from MIDI and turned into a polka by BIAB. "The Perennial Question of Existence" and "The Fighting Answerers" added in Logic. The idea of using this Ives piece occurred to me as I went thinking about what kinds of classical material might work well with BIAB's harmony analysis. I remembered the Druids, and tried to transpose the dynamic ppp described below into a different kind of monotony, a fairly narcotic march. I'm pretty happy with this project. It sounds kind of Philip Glassy to me. And I confess to finding the "Question" theme quite beautiful. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unanswered_QuestionOriginal program notes (1906) "The strings play ppp throughout with no change in tempo. They are to represent The Silences of the Druids who Know, See and Hear Nothing. The trumpet intones The Perennial Question of Existence, and states it in the same tone of voice each time. But the hunt for The Invisible Answer undertaken by the flutes and other human beings becomes gradually more active. The Fighting Answerers, as the time goes on, and after a secret conference, seem to realize a futility, and begin to mock The Question. The strife is over for the moment. After they disappear, The Question is asked for the last time, and The Silences are heard beyond in Undisturbed Solitude." ****** [BIAB RealStyle] Song Summary ************* Style is _OLDWLD1.STY "Old World Polka With Horns" RealTracks in style: 2563:Baritone Horn, Rhythm OldWorld2Beat Ev16 140 RealTracks in style: 2560:Accordion, Rhythm OldWorld2Beat Ev16 140 RealTracks in style: 2562:Guitar, Acoustic, Rhythm OldWorld2Beat Ev16 140 RealTracks in style: 2566:Horn Section, Rhythm MelodicOldWorld2Beat2Part Ev16 140
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"The trumpet intones The Perennial Question of Existence, and states it in the same tone of voice each time." That'd be "asks" wouldn't it?
This is cinematic - well for a robe n sandal saga battle anyway.
The horns really work well and that accordion really hammers away.
The ending was cool too.
Cheers
rayc
"What's so funny about peace, love & understanding?" - N.Lowe
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"The trumpet intones The Perennial Question of Existence, and states it in the same tone of voice each time." That'd be "asks" wouldn't it? Only if it's doing that asking. I think it's just reporting what the Question is, for their consideration, like a philosophy professor, and can't be said to truly be asking, since no Answer is expected. Thanks for the listen, and giving me an excuse to write something like that! You might be amazed at how much editing it took to get it right. But I think I actually believe it, in the way that such things can be believed. Oh. Except at the end it says, "After they disappear, The Question is ASKED for the last time", which blows my theory out of Existence.
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Yes, Phillip Glass for sure. Man, I can only imagine the work that you put into this, and I'm sure glad you did. This is outstanding, Mark.
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Yes, Phillip Glass for sure. Man, I can only imagine the work that you put into this, and I'm sure glad you did. This is outstanding, Mark. Thank you, Marty! I was afraid at first this might be one of those "hmm, interesting concept" things I'd wind up apologizing for in these notes, but as I said I am happy with it. To be clear, I used a borrowed sequence, belatedly attributed up top. (I once created a MIDI of a piano piece by Aaron Copland, hand-entering the notes in Logic, and it took me months.) What WAS really difficult was getting the balance right, but here we go, I think it is OK. Thanks again, and please let me know if you find the Answer!
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That's a pretty amazing piece and is nothing like what I've heard using BIAB before. Great job.
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That's a pretty amazing piece and is nothing like what I've heard using BIAB before. Great job. That's what I love to hear thank you thank you thank you. I'm finding this technique – feed classical MIDI to BIAB and ask it to recognize chords – really rewarding. Most of the time the results are garbage, but sometimes the underlying harmonies work perfectly as a band, and I take it from there, layering the original parts on in Logic. So if I'm sitting around wanting to do something musical, but I'm not working on anything and I don't have any ideas, I just google up a MIDI or go here – https://www.kunstderfuge.com – grab a file, and have BIAB analyze it and give it a spin. It's super easy to do the first step, and might lead to goodness. If not, it's a great way to pass time at an airport!
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Interesting piece!! The dynamics and dissonance keep it quite interesting!! Could be a score piece for the right sequence! Enjoyed! Take care. Greg
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