It feels like I have been composing a lot this semester, but I actually haven't written that much. My bass trombone quartet commission is coming very slowly. I have this urge to finish it ASAP--don't know whether it's a good thing or not. Perhaps I am just anxious about commissions, that I want to see a finished product as quick as possible. I am, however, very satisfied with my recent completed piece Katachi IV for alto saxophone and live electronics. I can see my style slowly changing and evolving. Honestly, I would have never imagined it be like this, say, five years ago. I am excited, and anxious to see what's next.

More travels are ahead of me: Bowling Green, Hong Kong, Iowa... as much as I love traveling, I am broke.

Still contemplating on my idea of starting the ALEA series. Perhaps I should just embed this idea into my Katachi IV, which will be a commission for saxophone and live electronics. It might be hard to justify having the live electronics completely aleatoric, but I'm sure that makes it very comfortable for the performer. The patch would be very easy to make basing on all these templates that I have developed lately. I just need to map out the range of the effects and their relative amplitudes to the raw input level.

I have also been toying with this idea of compiling my patches into applications and make them available for download. Max/MSP, however, did not like this idea and crashed my laptop, so that I could NEVER use the program again... There, perhaps, is a better way to do it. But isn't it awesome that others can make cool sounds with my patches?

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Non-electronically, I am working on a commission for flute, cello, bass trombone and percussion , very slowly. Originally intended as a collection of five pieces, I might cut some and just make each one longer.

I think my composition style is constantly evolving. Since the composition of my Apparitions - a fantasy for chamber ensemble (2010-11), I have found a new style to work with. I personally see my Five Songs of the Von Seggerns (2010) as a sum of my early style, which is always harmonically exact, rhythmically defined and structurally strict. This set of songs also serves as a bridge to my more current style, which pays less attention to exactness and allows more aleatoric chance operations; pays more attention to instrumental timbre/color, building up of texture, achieving intensity through density of pitches, emphasizing on different sound properties and acoustic in general. This is fascinating--I can't wait to hear what I will come up with in the future!

There was this classic music technology panic tonight at the performance of my Awakening for trombone and live electronics (2010). Well, first of all, the freeverb~ object was not recognized at all. Then, there was this long sustained tone that wasn't supposed to be there. I was so glad that after two cues of events, it cut off... but nonetheless, I don't think anyone noticed, and that sustained tone actually fit the context. I was so afraid that it wouldn't cut off - in that case, I would have to "X" kill it... Anyways, it was a great concert, with the great trombonist - Kevin Fairbairn!

Having been so inspired, I just finished an electroacoustic piece: Katachi I for fixed media (2011). I have been processing these sounds, and now I finally get to use them! Guess what sounds I used? (Program notes will be posted soon!)

I finished my new interactive piece! I am very satisfied now; hopefully, it will work. My GUI interface is so colorful... it is tentative--subject to change of cos.

The last concert at the Arts Extravaganza made me think a little bit about my electroacoustic music language. I felt my pieces - Three Episodes (2010) were constantly too loud. I usually dither my track and maximize the volume to get the ideal signal-to-noise ratio, but then I had too many climaxes in these pieces, so it constantly stays at the louder range of dynamic level. I think I need many more quiet and concise sections. Anyways, it wasn't too bad because they were just one-minute pieces. I use 24-bit files, and I feel that I should use the advantages of that.

The development of human perception in music greatly interests me. For many centuries, it is the general consensus that music, as an expressive tool, is anything but noise or non-organized sounds. This established notion, however, has been challenged by artists such as John Cage (1912-92) and Pierre Schaeffer (1910-95) over the past few decades. Today, the boundary between music and noise is unclear. The inevitable questions thus arise, “What is Music, how do we perceive something as music?” To seek an answer, and to create a new way of musical expression that responds to humanity’s ever-changing musical perception, I have chosen to become a composer.

To me, producing music is an act through which a composer, or “music-maker,” communicates with a listener, or another "music-maker,” with means that express artistry and emotion. If “noise” is used in ways that serve this purpose, it can be regarded as music. Music is expressive because it subjectively transforms concrete ideas into meanings and emotions, hence enabling communications between two or more individuals and the audience. A composer conveys his ideas through specific notations before a performer analyzes and interprets his intentions. To add yet another layer of interpretation, the audience communicates with the music maker through listening to a work. When a recording is concerned, the audio engineer adds his layer of interpretation through mixing and mastering. It is central to my belief that music making is never a lonely process.

Different factors of time and space also contribute to varying one’s perception in music. Two performances of a same piece can never be identical. This notion relates to my own compositional philosophy: I believe in an ongoing process of composition and evolution in music making. No piece is truly “finished” because it will continue to evolve, through time, into something that is beyond the imagination of our generation. This idea of unpredictability in music has truly inspired and influenced my compositional concepts. I am motivated to immerse myself in an ongoing process of music making that can pertain to everyday life and stimulate human communication. The idea of music serving as a tool of communication is central to my belief, and this can be seen in my previous posts on "Composing."

The distinction between music and noise will continue to blur, as we keep exploring the possibilities of sound as a form of art. I feel, as an artist, responsible to help listeners improve their sense of hearing. Perception needs to be developed by conscious effort, by learning to anticipate, to analyze, as well as to listen. Hearing is something we all do unconsciously, like breathing. Everything we hear as is filtered through our experiences, emotional responses, our prejudices and preferences. I became a composer because I want to be perceptive to listen more attentively to music and sound in general, and be able to interpret music intellectually as well as to express my own emotions. I will continue to be a composer for as long as I can find ways to express myself through this medium, and that someone in this universe can perceive my music, or my noise, as music.

I sent out my UMKC application today. The score of my Fanfare for Brass and Percussion (2009) was way too big - I had to purchase this huge box (they ran out of big envelops) in FedEx Kinko's and stuff everything in including a crap load of recycled paper... I felt like sending out a huge Christmas present in Thanksgiving.

Actually, I would feel very happy to receive such a huge package. For me, receiving packages is exciting and satisfying - I like online shopping.

and...

I bought a gift for myself again...! It's Samson's Zoom H4n! I've been wanting it since last year. Now, I can use it to record my own sounds, so then I don't need to rely on the sound library anymore. But, the primary reason for buying it is that I need a convenient tool to write my new EA piece for trombone and live electronic, which will be performed on Dec. 15th.

I have my whole thesis piece palnned out in my head, and I am getting so anxious to getting it done. It is always this last part of composing that stresses me the most. All I have to do is simply develop previous materials in a convincing way, and there is just so much possibility and fun. I think I can actually finish this piece (which doesn't include program/performance notes, parts and other edittings) before the end of the semester! I have about 5:30" (some parts need to be reorchestrated...), and the goal is about 7:30".

I am already excited about writing my trombone/electronic piece for the upcoming performance on Dec. 15th (I have to write so fast...). What's my next project? Choir? Wind Ensemble? Pierrot Ensemble? Piano Solo?

I'm very excited about concert on Wednesday. I finally get to have my Saxophone Quartet (2009) performed!

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I'm gonna take the GRE this Friday. It's frightening because I still haven't started studying yet! I'll need a lot of luck... As for my thesis, I don't get how I have 40 pages but only five minutes of music... is it time for a big repeat sign?! ||:   :||