Amado Ohland

Just a little chorale. But what happens when you split the [S] out as a lead, the [B] out as a bass, and make the inner voices a comping instrument? Cute. Starting from the part-writing rules of the Common Practice Period, I added N.C.T.s to minimize the presence of the leading tone (not entirely), then to add as many 7ths as I could (not many), then include as many 4-3 suspensions as I could. Her...

Now here's thgat same "allergic to leading tones" track as four voices (mine, badly rendered). The illustration here is that the voice leading rules of the Common Practice Period may not seem relevant to today's music, but it's all in what you do with them. I didn't even break any "rules." Imagine what you can make if you selectively adapt the rules to your harmonic language.

Three notes, three instruments, three minutes. One key change permitted, and one return to the original key. At least one slow section and one fast section. Go!

it got edited. Now I need to sing more parts to fill in these obvious gaps. But now it is done...

A new composition. As in, finished yesterday (unless my professor wants me to edit it).

A new studio recording of the first song I composed for study at Radford University. Adapting Circlesinging textures to something planned-out in advance. This is quite closer to my vision for the song... the groove could be tighter in places, but the performance is overall cleaner,

Still in the working stages, but I've decided (I'm pretty sure) that the end of the song I'm working on is going to sound mostly like this (but with a real Alto and Soprano, instead of my awful warblings).

Alright, this doesn't suck. But, is it the close voicings, the 7th chords, or the chromaticism that's doing it? I don't think it's the close voicings. I tried that on something entirely diatonic and mostly free of 7th chords, and it didn't make it. Come to think of it, in the example prior to this one, there were non-diatonic notes in all the same places as this one. And that one sounded "sometime...

And here we are again. I think this is still Jazz Choir. It sounds different though, I think. I was able to use the same Bass track, and the old Mezzo track became the new Alto track. The Tenor needed just a note or two changed, so that was sung fresh; the new Mezzo and Soprano needed to be sung. Don't ask how I got the Soprano. You would not want to know how much these exploratory tracks are the...

And here you go. Combine the three, because why not. It's fun, you can hear the contrasts in the sounds, and I save the coda for the last time through. Enjoy. This might even be listenable.

I fibbed. One more today, then I step away from the mic. This is a version of the very same thing, but with the chord progression changed so that there are no chromatic notes AT ALL—but every chord still has a 7th, or a 6th, and some have extended harmonies like 9ths or 13ths. The voicing goes back and forth between closed and open. IF this is still Jazz, then notice: it aint the chromaticism that...

Friends! I need to know. Does this sound like Jazz Choir voicings, or am I still stuck in Church Chorale mode? There's another step I want to take, but with this step I'm testing close voicings and non-chord tones. I don't think it's there yet. There's like 1 moment that it takes a turn that's not conventional for a chorale in your Gray Hymnal. We'll see what happens when I go to a 5-voice choir a...

same deal. An oldie that came up in my "Facebook Memories" lately that needed a trim at the end, so I slapped some mastering on it so you could enjoy it fer reelz.

A remaster of a good old one.

I asked the Theory II class for which I'm a GTA for a poem, phrase, word, or topic for today's song. The first one I heard clearly was "cats." What is it about asking for Prompts that sometimes gets me ones that are... outside of what I think I'll be able to do? But that was the challenge, to find the place of truth that this had for me. I wasn't going to channel Queen's "Delilah," nor do I want t...

It doesn't thrill me, it doesn't. The song. It has issues. What DOES thrill me is that I did it from my tiny office at school, that my Composition prof thinks that I should keep this up, and that I'm staying on top of it. Enjoy.

I didn't name the track until after I listened back to it. And then, I discovered that there's only one name that this song could possibly go by. Enjoy. Oh, enjoy!

The joy of getting back to what you're supposed to be doing. Might be same key and same tempo as a song I did called "Kidding Around" or "Just Kidding" or something. This is almost as playful and a little less kid-stuff. Not much.

's'funny how I never seem to notice when it's a Friday the 13th. Two challenges I'm addressing today and for the nonce. First, what kind of chromaticism and "non-vocal friendly" things can I pull off with my voice alone? Is my mental model of the music strong enough that I can do non-diatonic things? Second, once the musical material has been made, do I come to a full enough grasp of "what's it fo...

Play on words. Let's find out what, if anything, atrophied from neglect of this daily process. Let's re-discover lost things. Play onward.

My task this week: to make sure that my return to academia is a step forward, not a regression to 20 years ago. To make sure it is a step toward what I want, and not merely a step away from things I don't like.

The title—and the image—are much darker than the song. "Move chords," I'm told, "a piece of music is an event that flows, and without harmonic motion it doesn't seem to go anywhere." Okay, I see that, as far as it goes. But I went to a weird other chord this time. Because all the other ones were taken. I did, though, remember my guiding edict for the month: "do it because it's fun!"

This bit where I sing exactly what I want to—and tell the voices in my head that are telling me how to be—this is turning out to be fun.

Something about them Major7 chords seems to frequently take me to the water. Floating or sinking or dancing on the beach.

"Remember, sing what you want to! Remember, sing for fun!" How strange that that's what I have to try to remember. Not that hard though, really.