Wim Dijkgraaf - music is the landscape of the soul: 2009

zaterdag 28 november 2009

Dear readers,

I've decided to stop with this blog. For some reasons, it just doesn't fit with my way of living. It seems like the digital expossure distracts to much from what I really want to do; composing and recording music besides having a simple and relaxed life.

So it was a nice experiment and wish you all a nice december and a great 2010.

Abraços,

Wim Dijkgraaf
jazz harmonica & composition

e-mail: info@wimdijkgraaf.com
website: www.wimdijkgraaf.com
watch: www.youtube.com/wimdijkgraaf
listen: www.myspace.com/wimdijkgraaf

zondag 8 november 2009

OURO - introduction

Dear subscribers,

I'm working on the OURO project on a daily basis. Had to do a lot of experiments to find the right production process. It seems that using the sequencer program (Logic Studio 9) too early in the process was a big mistake. It just makes it too hard to make compositional changes. So, the last two weeks I experimented with all the humanize functionality in Sibelius (music notation sofware) with wonderfull results. Actually, the music from "OURO - introduction" is the output from Sibelius, mixed with my harmonica playing. More on my studio setup in another article.

Listen for free
So, from a musical point of view, what's going on in "OURO - introduction" (version 0.5); you can listen to it for free at:
listen: www.myspace.com/wimdijkgraaf

inspirational context
The album OURO will be a very personal reflection of my life in Brasil since june 2008 (after visiting Brasil for about 8 years I decided to move to Ceará, the North East part of Brasil).

As I wrote in a previous article, the melodies and harmonies are based on the text "ordem e progresso" (just like the Miles Daves album "AURA" is based on the the name "Miles Davis"). "ordem e progresso" (order and progress) is the national motto of Brazil as written in it's flag. The motto Ordem e Progresso ("Order and Progress") is inspired by Auguste Comte's motto of positivism: L’amour pour principe et l’ordre pour base; le progrès pour but ("Love as a principle and order as the basis; progress as the goal"). It was inserted because several of the people involved in the military coup that deposed the monarchy and proclaimed Brazil a republic were followers of the ideas of Comte's thought.

How I transformed "ordem e progresso" into music?
There are many ways to transform words into musical elements. For the introduction, I used the circle of perfect fourth as a bases. There are actually 4 ways to organize the western 12 tone system with a 12 hour clock. 1) minor seconds, 2) major seventh (inversion of minor 2nd), 3) perfect fourths and 4) perfect fifths (inversion of perfect fourths).

I decided to start the album using the 3rd version; perfect fourths. So, the next step was to decide what alphabet to use. The Portugees alfabet doesn't include the letters "k", "w" and "y"; making it a 23 letter alphabet. Because the western tone systems concists of 12 notes, ideal would be to have a 24 letter alphabet; each tone representing 2 letters from the alphabet.

So, I decided to add the letter "w", to be able to use my first name in one of the other compositions for the album ... ;-)

In the included picture, you'll find the drawing I made as a result of these decisions.

In the next article, I'll explain how I distributed this material over the 6 minutes lasting composition "introduction".

Abraços,

Wim Dijkgraaf
composition & harmonica

e-mail: info@wimdijkgraaf.com
website: www.wimdijkgraaf.com
watch: www.youtube.com/wimdijkgraaf
listen: www.myspace.com/wimdijkgraaf

dinsdag 3 november 2009

Follow the "OURO" project here!!!

Yes, the "OURO" project is my current dream project. I was able to setup my small studio in Brazil, invested in a couple of computers with enough "horse power" to function as a symphonic orchestra at my finger tips. A dream that has come true.

The name "OURO" means "gold" in Portugees and is derived from the 1998 Miles Davis album "AURA". For now, it's only a project title; I expect the album will be named different.

Here a quote from www.allmusic.com about the album "AURA":

"iles' last recording for the Columbia label before heading for the financial allure of Warner Bros. in the mid-'80s was not released until 1989. This critic's guess is because largely they had no idea what to do with it. Unlike anything else in his catalog, Aura is a ten-part suite composed by Danish flügelhornist Palle Mikkelbourg as a tribute. Influenced deeply by serialism and the inspiration of Gil Evans, Mikkelbourg composed a theme from ten notes based on the letters of Davis' first and last names. The notes yielded a chord, which led him through the work. Employing a full orchestra and the guitar talents of former Davis collaborator John McLaughlin and famed European bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pederson, Aura's sections are named for the color spectrum, with the addition of white and "electric red." The music is an amalgam of classical impressionism, European new music, jazz, rock, electronic, and other genres. As a tribute and separate orchestral work, it's quite moving and beautiful, full of moody interludes and evocations of nuance, color, texture, and dynamic. With Davis added, soloing in his trademark muted, rounded warmth, the music becomes almost breathtaking."

So, in the next message on this block I'll explain the similarities between AURA and my OURO project.

Thanks for your interest in this unique dream poject where all of my 20 years experience in playing and composing seems to come together.

Abraços,

Wim Dijkgraaf
jazz harmonica & composition

e-mail: info@wimdijkgraaf.com
website: www.wimdijkgraaf.com
watch: www.youtube.com/wimdijkgraaf
listen: www.myspace.com/wimdijkgraaf
news: wimdijkgraaf.blogspot.com

dinsdag 13 oktober 2009

Mainstage 2

Today I had a first look at Mainstage version 2. This piece of software is part of Logic Studio Pro. It's funtionality is aimed at using the software instruments, effects and other plugins that come with Logic Pro (The sequencer) realtime on stage. I allready use version 1 for a while. Version 2 is a huge leap forward.

I hope to make a video this week to demonstrate to you the wonderful possibilities it offers for the harmonica player.

Abraço,

Wim Dijkgraaf
jazz harmonica & composition

www.wimdijkgraaf.com
www.myspace.com/wimdijkgraaf

zaterdag 10 oktober 2009

Great interview with Fred Hersch - featured artist on "Concerto Pour Harmonica"

Fred Hersch - Together with Toots Thielemans was featured artist for the production "Concerto Pour Harmonica", released in 1995. With many fine compositions by Christian Gavillet (also the bass player on this recording).

Here you'll find an interesting and very well done interview (published september 29 2009) with this fine piano player & composer.

Abraços,

Wim Dijkgraaf
jazz harmonica & composition

e-mail: info@wimdijkgraaf.com
website: www.wimdijkgraaf.com
watch: www.youtube.com/wimdijkgraaf
listen: www.myspace.com/wimdijkgraaf
news: wimdijkgraaf.blogspot.com

educational material: effortlessharmonica.blogspot.com

Next couple of months will be great!!!

Hi all there,

Next monday, I'll fly back home; Brazil. There I'll have 3 months to work on new compositions, online lessons and will publish some great recordings for you to listen to.

So, expect me to write on this blog on a regular bases for the next couple of months.

Thanks for your interest!

woensdag 18 maart 2009

Invitation Note - complete solo transcription

There it is for you to play-a-long, read-a-long and getting inspired.

Click the URL to download the transciption in .pdf format:

http://www.wimdijkgraaf.com/site/files/InvNoteSolo.pdf

The related video can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/wimdijkgraaf

I've planned to create another video with more information about how you can use this transcription as studying material as well as information about ways to approach this song.

Have fun!!

zondag 15 maart 2009

Invitation Note - transcription of intro & 2nd chorus

Use the following URL to download (.pdf format) a transcription of the intro and the 2nd chorus. Please let me know if you find any mistakes in this transcription.

Invitation Note - intro & 2nd chorus

A transcription of the 3rd and 4th chorus will be ready by the end of the week as well as the musical analysis.

Have fun reading, listening and playing a-long !!!!

New YouTube video: Invitation Note

Graças a Deus, I found a moment to setup my equipement to record a new video.

http://www.youtube.com/wimdijkgraaf

A bossa nova titled "Invitation Note" by Renato Vasconcellos recorded on volume 124 of the Jamey Aebersold play-a-long series. This volume has the name "Brazilian Jazz" and includes some fine contemporary tunes and arrangements in styles like samba, bossa-nova, baião, afoxé, partido-alto and maracatu. The theme includes quotations of songs like "desafinado" and "garota de Ipanema" and is mainly contructed from some pentatonic scales (Db, Bb and B). More on this in the next blog.

I will transcibe this solo so you can play-a-long with me. The transcription will include an analysis of the musical phrases and will be available through this blog by the end of the week.

In an additional video that will be published within a couple of weeks, I'll also explain where the ideas come from (as far as I know ;-) ) and how to derive excersizes from these ideas as well as how to study these excersizes.

Hope this will inspire other harmonica players out there.

Wim Dijkgraaf - music is the landscape of the soul