Posted
Suitable for the coming springtime, I have here a piece for flute, piano and string orchestra, which I created with Harmony Navigator:
"Frühlingsfantasie - für Flöten, Klavier und Steichorchester"
(http://www.box.com/s/yoltvs9c82qlodod8pq8)
© Jürgen Kraus 2011
This was my very first project with HN last year and I did it as an exercise project to get used to the program. I know that the sound of the instruments is not so good. It would need a complete re-recording, but I did not take the time yet. So please consider it just as a demonstration.
Mon, 2012-02-27 - 19:14 Permalink
Now I describe how the piece I posted above was created:
Since working with Harmony Navigator requires the use of a linear arrangement structure (there are usually songsections like intro, verse, chorus and so on) this piece has a structure divided into "sections". You will easily hear where a section ends and a new one starts. Most of the sections were created separately and fit together in the DAW since the transitions between the sections needed some manual editings.
The piece is largely based on the figures played by the flute and the piano which you hear at the beginning. They are quite simple figures created with an arpeggiator. At 00:50 min I added some strings, played on a keyboard.
After that I imported the whole thing (flute, piano, strings) into HN and played around with the accompaniment function (between 01:20 and 01:50 min). This was my first “Ooh-Wow-experience” with the program. I noticed that the program makes really smooth transitions between the chords and even seems to create passing notes and auxiliary notes.
At 01:50 I muted the violins and continued with a different progression. Nothing else was changed, you hear this section just how it came out from HN.
At 02:30 you can hear how I tried out the phrase stretching function of HN. I stretched the piano phrase x3. I liked the effect so maybe I have let HN play it a bit too long (it takes up to 04:55). The figure played by the cellos between 02:30 and 04:55 is from a preset phrase of HN (the lowest notes were accidentally cut by the instrument range but I liked it how it was so I didn't change it). The short strings insertion at 03:17 was added later.
The progression between 02:30 and 04:55 is a chord sequence that is repeated three times. Notice that HN do not play the same on every repetition, but makes some variations. I think these variations come from the voice leading interactions between flute and piano (the setting “interactive” at the parameter “Interpretation” was switched) and from the different length of the phrases for flute and piano after streching the piano phrase.
To create a transition to the following part I did set the speed of the piano phrase back to the original speed at 04:48 and played around with the “variation” parameter (clicking several times at “medium variation” and/or “strong variation”, I don’t remember exactly).
The strings part that enters at 04:55 was created with another tool. This tool also played the following progression up to 06:05. At 06:05 HN takes over again. At this point you can hear that the voice leading of the flute becomes much more complex than before, although it's still the same phrase. To me it sounds almost as if Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) himself plays the flute (okay, forget the comparison). I'd say that this again comes from the voice leading interactions between the flute and the strings.
The harmonic progression of the piece started at the A minor key. From about 05:35 the progression was sent across the harmonic space. It reaches the keys Eb minor and Bb minor and then comes back to C major. Finding the right chords was quite easy with the help of HN. I just tried out several variations by playing at the palettes. Partly I followed the suggestions of the coloring scheme "Continuation". At 08:21 the progression "landed" at the C major chord. Then, up to 09:02, I didn't have to do anything. What I mean is that I stopped clicking at the palettes and have let HN just keep playing the phrases on and on at the C major chord. All I had to do was to watch out for a right moment to stop it (at 09:02).
The end of the piece (starts at 09:05) consists of three sections (1. only flute - 2. flute, piano, strings - 3. only flute again ) which were played by HN in one go, i.e. they were not fit together in the DAW like the other sections. Pay attention at the transition to the 2nd section at 09:23 where the strings and the piano come back again. You will notice that the second violins play three notes shortly before the rest of the strings starts. They belong to a figure segment in the 2nd section but are played at the end of the 1st section. This demonstrates that HN (and Synfire) plays figure segments alway as a whole and do not cut them at segment boundaries. This feature can give very interesting transitions between the sections.
Thanks for listening and reading.
Jürgen
