oldnapcomposing
On Composing…
I like music. A lot. A lot a lot. If you want content that obsesses over music on a studious level while still being completely unhinged and also gay and neurodivergent, you’re in the right place.
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God, I love French horn. That’s all.
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Ever listen to something and it just changes your life?
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First Whiplash post, oh lord…
So obviously the soundtrack and score are incredible. For the last few days it’s pretty much been exclusively what I listen to, and God, I have to give it to Justin Hurwitz for just how well he did with this. Most fans are probably familiar with Whiplash and Caravan (not by Hurwitz, for clarification), but I implore you to listen to the other pieces featured in the movie, like Too Hip To Retire and Upswingin’ (both by Tim Simonec, but also Intoit by Stan Getz).
OKAY ABOUT THE ACTUAL SCORE BY HURWITZ + SYMBOLISM WITH ANDREW AND FLETCHER
Alright listen to the whole album, please. Just… just do that for yourself.
Hurwitz uses drumset as the primary instrument for most of the score (the score, not the soundtrack). While there are a few tracks that aren’t built off drumset, more importantly, there are only two that are built instead on piano.
1. The first is Fletcher’s Song In Club. Fletcher plays the piano. I don’t think it’s a stretch to consider it his thematic instrument, not so much because Fletcher’s character reminds us of piano—definitely not—but because it’s associated with him.
2. The only other piece in the score that uses piano so prominently—actually in this case it’s the only instrument used— is Hug From Dad. This is the track that plays when Andrew is at his lowest. It’s so interesting to me that Hurwitz made this compositional decision, especially because it totally wasn’t necessary; he didn’t pick piano because piano is commonly used to portray “melancholy”. There are other tracks that accomplish the same mood/tone that don’t use piano at all. But he chose for Andrew’s lowest moment to be accompanied exclusively by Fletcher’s instrument: the piano.
Doesn’t that make you want to scream?
3. Okay there’s technically a third track that I forgot about—Dismissed—that uses piano but it’s just a copy of Hug From Dad. Same melody, same purpose/similar context. So. Yeah.
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Some snippets of my discussion post on Milton Babbitt and Lou Harrison’s interviews from “Talking Music” by William Duckworth
I do not intend to make this blog like an educational thing. Most of it is definitely gonna be incoherent rambling and obsessing over stuff, but I really want to share this.
Firstly, the stuff for my imaginary therapist:
I was really shocked at how specifically relatable these points were to me. Especially Harrison with the “mindlessness”. Babbitt struck me as well, but I imagine that writing solely for oneself isn’t quite as rare to find in composers, especially neurodivergent ones. Harrison actually also touches on the kind of feverishness of needing to create:
Lastly, some general observations:
Really good read. Highly recommend this book. I’ll probably put a few more of my discussion posts in here as the semester goes on.
Yeah… definitely don’t expect this composure to last…
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Hello all. My name is Nalah Aiden Palmer and I’m an African-American composer and violinist. I’m 20 years old and am currently in my 3rd year of undergrad studying music composition.
I have… so many thoughts and feelings about music, as most people do. I need to put them somewhere, so here we are.
Some additional stuff about me that may draw you to this blog is that I’m gender-fluid and aroace, the latter of which playing a pretty large role in my media consumption and creation. I’m a writer and an artist, although, both take a backseat to music. I have ADHD and am semi-actively pursuing an autism diagnosis, but am finally getting to a point in my life where I feel kind of okay. I don’t have a therapist, but I know I need one. This blog will suffice for now, lol.
Well, let’s get into it.
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