Four Voice Canon #13 (“DIY Canon”)

(for Daniel Goode)

 

Date: 2002.

 

Place: New Hampshire.

 

Comments: A general recipe and theoretical description of the previous canons and ideas for future canons, for others to realize freely. FVC #13 was written initially for talks at Columbia University and Brooklyn College, and in preparation for work on the Cold Blue CD. It was distributed at those talks as an invitation for other composers to freely use those ideas and create their own works. To date, a number of composers have done so, including, George Zelenz, Bo Bell, Ross Craig, Kyoko Kobayashi, Bruno Ruviaro, Stefan Tomic, Christian Jaksjo, Rizwan Mahmud, Masaki Kubo, Nick Didkovsky, Daniel Goode, and Nathan Davis (the latter three are on the Cold Blue CD, the Bell and Zelenz pieces can be downloaded at http://eamusic.dartmouth.edu/~larry/demos.midifiles.html).

There is a new CD on Pogus called DIY Canons, which contains these pieces and others.

 

Text Box: DIY: How to make a four voice canon · Pick some some number of voices. · Pick a number of letters (4, 5, 6). · Pick tempo ratios for the voices. · Compose your own system for interpreting the letters.This should include some consideration of how the letters proliferate up the voices (Higher pitch for the faster sounds? Same letter interpreted as the same sounds? Overlapping pitches? Overlapping sounds). · Loudness trajectory? Accelerandi and decelerandi? · Interruptions? Deviations? Add some of your own ideas.

 

 


FVC#13 includes #14 (“Kid Canon”),#15 (“Shape Note Canon”), and #18 (“Trio Canon”) as examples.