I wanted to mirror the proportions of a haiku in my piece, so I chose to make part A 5 x 4 measures, B 7 x 4 measures and C again 5 x 4, which made for a nice length at 100 bpm. I wanted to start building the piece using chords; my main problem there is that I automatically resort to 4-bar chords when I start a project. I decided to force myself to use non-uniform chord lengths. I thought I would reduce the length of the chords as the section progressed.

As a happy coincidence, I realized that 4 + 2 x 3 + 3 x 2 + 4 x 1 = 20! I thought to reuse this framework in reverse, and so to use the same chord progression, backwards, for section C. Section B has mostly 2-bar chords but some are 1/2 bar. The beginning and ending chords are also symmetrical but not the middle ones.

I chose a shimmery pad for sections A & C (ice) and an organ-like pad for section B (cathedral). I wanted a tinkly sound to play against that, and sequenced a loose, meandering melody for section A. A flute-like patch plays almost throughout, usually reinforcing the highest chord tone. I added an arpeggiated patch for section B to increase contrast.

The haiku was too short for my initial plan to record myself reciting it, stretch the sound, and use that as background. I did record myself whispering into the mike (one take), split it into 3 parts, and processed each with different effects: echo & reverb, multitap delay, plain reverb. The snippets are repeated a few times but not too evenly.

A one-measure intro and one-measure outro serve to bracket the piece. Part of me just wants to keep piling on layers and effects in hopes of coming up with something dazzling, but don't haikus teach us that less is more?

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More on this 117th Disquiet Junto project — “Compose an original piece of music in response to a haiku” — at:

http://disquiet.com/2014/03/27/disquiet0117-naviarjunto/

More on the Disquiet Junto at:

http://disquiet.com/?p=16588

Join the Disquiet Junto at:

https://soundcloud.com/groups/disquiet-junto/

Join the Naviar Haiku Project at:

https://soundcloud.com/groups/naviar-laboratory

More on Naviar at:

http://naviarlab.tumblr.com/

Haiku by Nite Rote, more from whom at:

http://niterote.com/

Image associated with this Junto project is by William Warby, via a Creative Commons license:

https://flic.kr/p/8HqHv9


Cathedral At The End Of The World [disquiet0117-naviarjunto/Naviarhaiku012 – They encounter]

Working in mixed media...fieldrecordings, analog soundgenerators homemade "tossekasser" creating soundscapes, a,bi & non tonal pieces with or without instruments. Graduated with a degree in (electric) guitar from the Carl Nielsen Institute in Odense, Denmark in 2000.
Masters degree in Electronic Music Composition from DIEM, Aarhus Denmark
Work among others with Acustic Laptoist Tore Honore Boe - saxophonist Peter Brem, soprano Ge-Suk Yeo, poet Richard J. Rizzi, Thomas Jakobsen, drums






Cathedral At The End Of The World [disquiet0117-naviarjunto/Naviarhaiku012 – They encounter]

ymeynard