Big Shadows written for Piano Day 2023
inspired by "Go to the Limits of Your Longing" by Rainier Maria Rilke
read the poem here:  https://www.jeffchipman.com/allposts/2023/3/29/big-shadows 
www.jeffchipman.com

Big Shadows

If you use generative AI in any form to create "your music", don't bother with my profile, you are not welcome here.
AI music generation detector: https://www.submithub.com/ai-song-checker
I do not support the use of generative AI in music creation. I will not support people who use such technologies nor will I use them. The two songs I posted only serve to raise awareness of the existence of such technologies and as a warning.

At the beginning I would like to sincerely apologize that I am responding to comments late and I am sometimes unable to keep up with listening to your work, but I still work full-time in a profession that has absolutely nothing to do with music and I have my duties towards family and home.

To everyone who flew into my corner on SoundCloud: I am grateful for your support with likes, shares and thank you for the great comments. Please don't hesitate to suggest changes to my music in them. Thanks to this, the next songs will be better and better.

All my music is MIDI (except some drum loops), played/created by me and edited in Ableton Live.

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Born in 1970. Music fan since 1985. Now heaving fun with making music. I'm self-taught, playing everything by ear. Started in 1990's but due to certain circumstances left in 1998 until April 2022. My music is created in Ableton Live 11 Intro (until december 2022) and 11 Standard with mostly free plug-ins. Fan of soundtracks (my personal heros are John Williams, Clint Mansell, Philip Glass, Thomas Newman, Hybrid, Hans Zimmer and much more), world music (Dead Can Dance), chillout (Bent, Zero7, Groove Armada, St. Germain, Air, Röyksopp, Kosheen and more), trip-hop (Massive Attack, Portishead), acid jazz (Us 3), fusion (Pat Metheny Group, Dirty Loops), progressive rock (Porcupine Tree), classical (Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Debussy, Orff, Mussorgsky) electronica (Imogen Heap), IDM/House (Moderat, Apparat, Plaid) and electronic music (Vangelis, Kraftwerk, Isao Tomita, Marek Biliński, J.J. Jarre).

Still learning how to produce music.

FB https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61580446084765

To all members or supporters of the Republicans, AfD, FN, FPÖ or other Nazis. 
Go f**k yourselves! You are not welcome here. 

Hi, I'm a german musician (percussion) and composer.
This is my portfolio. The music here is for privat use only. Any commercial usage is forbidden.
I hope you enjoy listening to my works.
If you want play any of my concert pieces, please feel free to contact me via soundcloud-message.

Jokainen metsästäjä haluaa tietää, missä fasaani istuu...

Welcome friends!
Hope you find something you like here. I sing and play some guitar, piano, bass and drums (do not record my own drums due to lack of fitting recording environment-unfortunately). You'll find some collaborations with other SC artists too. I have a job in a totally different field (cardiology). I am not into AI generated music.
Let's keep this place peaceful, respectful and honest (like any place should be kept)!

“A painter paints pictures on canvas but musicians paint their pictures on silence.” -  Leopold Stokowski

A member of Cellar Door which you can find here: https://soundcloud.com/cdoor

"The most powerful and magical language is music. The reason for this is that music is the original language. Music is not ornamented poetry, and poetry is not ornamented prose. Poetry is fallen music, and prose is fallen poetry. Prose is not the original language; it is poetry made practical. Even poetry is not the original language; it is music made speakable, it is the words of music separated from their music. In the beginning was music." (Peter Kreeft, Philosophy of Tolkien)

* Please check out new songs "Down" and "With A Doctor's Note".

Thank you for stopping by for a listen! I hope you find something to enjoy and special thanks to my SC friends and collaborators.

All music and images protected by law.

I am a pianist and composer in Maine; USA

My album "The Bleak Midwinter" was released October 2016. "A Distant Arcade" was released July 2022.

Thank you for listening!

I am a composer and producer of instrumental music in several genres, including ambient soundscapes, electronica, orchestral and chamber music.  

Musical influences include John Coltrane, Igor Stravinsky, Gustav Holst, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Tangerine Dream, Robert Prince, Frank Zappa, Brian Eno, Heinrich Ignaz, Franz von Biber.

My Method of Composing and Producing
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I'm sharing my method of composing and producing music recordings in case other composer-producers like me might find ideas worth exploring in their own work. I use this method for Classical, Avant-Pop or Neo-Folk Instrumental genres, not for Ambient and Soundscape pieces. Non-composers might find this explanation interesting, but having a bit of music theory background will definitely help. I consider myself a humble learner when it comes to music theory. 

I owe a debt of gratitude to British musician and educator Gareth Green, whose Music Matters online courses and free YouTube lessons have taught me so much over the past few years. Thanks to his instruction, I’ve moved from struggling to compose music by trial and error to something more enjoyable and productive. The knowledge I've gained has taken my work in new and expanding directions. As the saying goes, “Theory is not a cage — it’s a map. It doesn’t make the journey for you, but it keeps you from getting lost.” 

When I start a new piece, I begin by choosing a key, and picking a scale drawn from one of these sources:
 
1) Western Tonal / Functional Harmony - major or minor chords I II III IV V VI VII
2) Modal Harmony - Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, etc.
3) Slonimsky's "Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns" 
4) Messiaen’s "Seven Modes of Limited Transposition" 

For many pieces, I also decide on a progression, one as a simple as I IV V, or something more elaborate.  

Next I create a "scales and progressions" piano track in my DAW (digital audio workstation software) and enter the chords I to VII in my chosen key. These harmonized scales serve as a basis for writing multipart harmonies and finding pivot chords for key modulations. 

At the start, I know what instruments I want to use, making adjustments along the way. I tend to write chord parts first, then melodies created through a mix of improvisation and direct input in the DAW. Sometimes I start with a melody.

I develop melodies and variations of a phrase by some combination of: a) passing it from one instrument to another, transposing it by an interval that sounds pleasing, b) reversing it, c) inverting it around the tonic (first) note of the scale. These are well-known methods. 

After completing a section, I choose another scale and maybe a new key and repeat the process until I have a draft of the entire piece. Then I export a recording and listen to it “offline”, take notes of errors and new ideas, and incorporate them back into the piece. Often this “compose / listen / compose” cycle is repeated many times. These iterative cycles include adding new ideas, polishing transitions between sections, changing the arrangement, and incorporating expressive details like accents, and articulations (staccato, sustain, portato etc.). I’m often working several different pieces at once. 

Last is mixing and mastering: balancing the loudness between instruments and adjusting elements like reverb, compression, and equalization. I tend to mix as I compose, even though many producers frown on that approach. I find mixing as I go helps me envision the completed piece and make adjustments to the choice of instruments; it self-inspires me when the piece is starting to sound good.  At the end I do a final mix, but as the saying goes, “A mix is never finished — it’s surrendered.”

In the end, this method gives me a basis for exploration and creativity and helps me stay focused. The goal is always to make a piece of music that feels expressive, cohesive, and emotionally resonant.

Big Shadows

Jeff Chipman