Waltz for Esterka
Zápisník experimentátora
Hierarchy: MIDI
Our little Esterka likes music. That's why I am playing to her improvised simple melodies on the synthesizer occasionally. I'm using a small Korg Volca FM synthesizer. It's a practical solution, because if she does not like it and wants to play herself, she can immediately put her hands on the synthesizer and play on the touch keyboard or twist potentiometers and create her own sounds.
In one such improvised play, a melody was created that I liked and later modified the melody into a waltz. You will find the basic melody in the first three bars for the right hand. When combined with the typical waltz rhythm that plays the left hand, a nice melodic combination of tones is created. First I only composed the first version, which is repeated all the time. But then I talked to my mom about the melody and she wanted to add more bars to make the whole song a bit more varied and longer. This was the second version of the song.
Then I thought that this song in the three-quarter beat could also be a challenge for my electribe 2, which usually only plays in a four-quarter beat. I dived into exploring the possibilities of setting this synthesizer and after a few hours I managed to find a mode in which it can be sequenced in a satisfactory form. To begin with, I only sequenced the first two bars, and then I was dealing with drumming and various options for playing the synthesizer with the resulting sound. When I have time, I'll finish it for electribe 2.
And then I thought that this melody might be appropriate for my slowly making series of articles about Arduino and MIDI. Instead of some familiar melody I can play in my own melody. So I will use this melody later to be stored in Arduino and playing MIDI on some musical instrument.
Version 1
The melody has three bars. Then it is repeated and finally there are two bars that are used to connect to the beginning of the song to repeat it all. Right hand chords play in C major, G major and F major. For an untrained eye it may seem odd, but remember my article on chords and MIDI. For example, in the first bar, the left hand plays the chord C major, and the right plays all the three C, E and G notes from the chord. They do not play at the same time, but thanks to this, a richer melody arises. This principle is used throughout the song, with some seemingly unrelated notes being used in some places. But the music has no exact rule. By storing the notes in the right order and the rhythm you are trying to express something. So at the end of the second bar, for example, I used the B note to get an audible change in the melody.
Version 2
The second version adds a repeat of the first melody with the F/C major chord. That entry means that the chord does not play in the basic shape but uses its first inversion. As a result, the melody does not have a great shift in the tones used upwards, and yet it does sound different. So you still hear a similar melody.
At the end of the ninth bar, I again used multiple notes to distinguish, and the note added at the beginning of the eleventh bar has the same function. At the end of the fourteenth bar there is a repeat mark and two ending bars are on the end.
When it will be sequenced by electribe 2, the conclusion will probably be different. Just how it sounds like I'm going to decide during the sequencing, because it will take into account the possibilities of the musical instrument and the sequencer in it.
Sources
All sources are on GitHub. There are notes for MuseScore, MIDI files, MP3 files and PDF.
Video
The video is located on the YouTube server.
02.12.2018