Musical composition

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Scherzo in A flat by the Russian Romantic era composer Alexander Borodin (1833–1887) Playⓘ
Jazz, rock and pop songwriters typically write out newly composed songs in a lead sheet, which notates the melody, the chord progression and the tempo or style of the song (e.g., "slow blues").
Jazz and rock genre musicians may memorize the melodies for a new song, which means that they only need to provide a chord chart to guide improvising musicians. Playⓘ

Musical composition can refer to an

sound recordings by influential performers are given the weight that written or printed scores play in classical music
.

Although a musical composition often uses musical notation and has a single author, this is not always the case. A work of music can have multiple composers, which often occurs in popular music when all members of a band collaborate to write a song or in musical theatre, when one person writes the melodies, a second person writes the lyrics and a third person orchestrates the songs.

A piece of music can also be composed with words, images or, since the 20th century, with

wind chimes jingling in a breeze. The study of composition has traditionally been dominated by examination of methods and practice of Western classical music, but the definition of composition is broad enough to include the creation of popular music and traditional music songs and instrumental pieces, and to include spontaneously improvised works like those of free jazz performers and African percussionists such as Ewe drummers
.

In the 2000s, composition is considered to consist of the manipulation of each

aspect of music (harmony, melody, form, rhythm and timbre), according to Jean-Benjamin de Laborde (1780
, 2:12):

Composition consists in two things only. The first is the ordering and disposing of several sounds...in such a manner that their succession pleases the ear. This is what the Ancients called melody. The second is the rendering audible of two or more simultaneous sounds in such a manner that their combination is pleasant. This is what we call harmony and it alone merits the name of composition.[2]

Terminology

Since the invention of

electronic drums
.

Piece

Piece is a "general, non-technical term [that began to be] applied mainly to instrumental compositions from the 17th century onwards....other than when they are taken individually 'piece' and its equivalents are rarely used of movements in sonatas or symphonies....composers have used all these terms [in their different languages] frequently in compound forms [e.g. Klavierstück]....In vocal music...the term is most frequently used for operatic ensembles..."[3]

As a musical form

Main article: Musical form

Composition techniques draw parallels from visual art's

verse-chorus, and others. Some pieces are composed around a set scale, where the compositional technique might be considered the usage of a particular scale. Others are composed during performance (see improvisation), where a variety of techniques are also sometimes used. Some are used from particular songs which are familiar.[citation needed
]

The scale for the

notes used, including the mode and tonic note, is important in tonal musical composition. Similarly, music of the Middle East employs compositions that are rigidly based on a specific mode (maqam) often within improvisational contexts, as does Indian classical music in both the Hindustani and the Carnatic system.[4]

Methods

Computer methods

As technology has developed in the 20th and 21st century, new methods of music composition have come about.

EEG headsets have also been used to create music by interpreting the brainwaves of musicians.[5] This method has been used for Project Mindtunes,[6]
which involved collaborating disabled musicians with DJ Fresh, and also by artists Lisa Park and Masaki Batoh.

Structure

Main article: Musical form

Compositional instrumentation

Main articles:
Arrangement (music)

The task of adapting a composition for different musical ensembles is called arranging or orchestration, may be undertaken by the composer or separately by an arranger based on the composer's core composition. Based on such factors, composers, orchestrators, and arrangers must decide upon the instrumentation of the original work. In the 2010s, the contemporary composer can virtually write for almost any combination of instruments, ranging from a string section, wind and brass sections used in a standard orchestras to electronic instruments such as synthesizers. Some common group settings include music for full orchestra (consisting of strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion), concert band (which consists of larger sections and greater diversity of woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments than are usually found in the orchestra), or a chamber group (a small number of instruments, but at least two). The composer may also choose to write for only one instrument, in which case this is called a solo. Solos may be unaccompanied, as with works for solo piano or solo cello, or solos may be accompanied by another instrument or by an ensemble.

Composers are not limited to writing only for instruments, they may also decide to write for

electronic instruments. Alternatively, as is the case with musique concrète, the composer can work with many sounds often not associated with the creation of music, such as typewriters, sirens, and so forth.[7] In Elizabeth Swados' Listening Out Loud, she explains how a composer must know the full capabilities of each instrument and how they must complement each other, not compete. She gives an example of how in an earlier composition of hers, she had the tuba playing with the piccolo. This would clearly drown the piccolo out. Each instrument chosen to be in a piece must have a reason for being there that adds to what the composer is trying to convey within the work.[8]

Arranging

Main article: Arrangement

Arranging is composition which employs prior material so as to comment upon it such as in mash-ups and various contemporary classical works.[9]

Interpretation

Even when music is notated relatively precisely, as in Western classical music from the 1750s onwards, there are many decisions that a performer or conductor has to make, because notation does not specify all of the elements of musical performance. The process of deciding how to perform music that has been previously composed and notated is termed "interpretation". Different performers' or conductor's interpretations of the same work of music can vary widely, in terms of the tempos that are chosen and the playing or singing style or phrasing of the melodies. Composers and songwriters who present their own music in a concert are interpreting their songs, just as much as those who perform the music of others. The standard body of choices and techniques present at a given time and a given place is referred to as performance practice, whereas interpretation is generally used to mean the individual choices of a performer.[citation needed]

Copyright and legal status

royalties
.

The scope of copyright in general is defined by various international treaties and their implementations, which take the form of national

song lyrics and other performed words are considered part of the composition, even though they may have different authors and copyright owners than the non-lyrical elements. Many jurisdictions allow for compulsory licensing of certain uses of compositions. For example, copyright law may allow a record company to pay a modest fee to a copyright collective to which the composer or publisher belongs, in exchange for the right to make and distribute CDs containing a cover band
's performance of the composer or publisher's compositions. The license is "compulsory" because the copyright owner cannot refuse or set terms for the license. Copyright collectives also typically manage the licensing of public performances of compositions, whether by live musicians or by transmitting sound recordings over radio or the Internet.

In the U.S.

Even though the first US copyright laws did not include musical compositions, they were added as part of the Copyright Act of 1831. According to a circular issued by the United States Copyright Office on Copyright Registration of Musical Compositions and Sound Recordings, a musical composition is defined as "A musical composition consists of music, including any accompanying words, and is normally registered as a work of the performing arts. The author of a musical composition is generally the composer, and the lyricists if any. A musical composition may be in the form of a notated copy (for example sheet music) or in the form of a phonorecord (for example cassette tape, LP, or CD). Sending a musical composition in the form of a phonorecord does not necessarily mean that there is a claim to copyright in the sound recording."[10]

In the UK

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 defines a musical work to mean "a work consisting of music, exclusive of any words or action intended to be sung, spoken or performed with the music."[11]

In India

In India The Copy Right Act, 1957 prevailed for original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work until the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1984 was introduced. Under the amended act, a new definition has been provided for musical work which states "musical works means a work consisting of music and included any graphical notation of such work but does not included any words or any action intended to be sung, spoken or performed with the music."[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Musical Composition". www.copyright.gov. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  2. ISBN 0-03-020756-8
    .
  3. ISBN 1-56159-174-2
    .
  4. ISBN 9788186622612
    .
  5. ^ "Making Music With EEG Technology: Translate Brainwaves Into Sonic Soundscapes". FAMEMAGAZINE. 19 May 2015. Archived from the original on 23 May 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  6. ^ DJ Fresh & Mindtunes: A track created only by the mind (Documentary), retrieved 5 June 2015
  7. ^ June 2020, Future Music03. "Everything you need to know about: Musique concrète". MusicRadar. Retrieved 3 November 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ISBN 0-06-015992-8
    . Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  9. ^ BaileyShea, Matt (2007), "Filleted Mignon: A New Recipe for Analysis and Recomposition", Music Theory Online Volume 13, Number 4, December 2007.
  10. ^ "Copyright Registration of Musical Compositions and Sound Recordings. Circular 56A, number 56a.0509" (PDF). United States Copyright Office. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 October 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  11. ^ Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1988.
  12. ISBN 978-81-203-5090-8
    .

Sources

Further reading

  • Sorce Keller, Marcello [it; de]. 1998. "Siamo tutti compositori. Alcune riflessioni sulla distribuzione sociale del processo compositivo". Schweizer Jahrbuch für Musikwissenschaft, Neue Folge 18:259–330.
  • Sorce Keller, Marcello. 2019 “Composition”, Janet Sturman (ed.) The SAGE Encyclopedia of Music and Culture. Los Angeles: SAGE Reference, 2019, Vol. II, 618–623.

External links

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