Woodwind Quintet: Finished Product

This process of writing took about 8 years to complete. When I was studying Linguistics at UT Austin, I lived in West Campus for a while. This part of town didn't lack silence but made up for it in distance from the school. During my time on Leon Street, I began to develop my sound for writing. First, I began listening to the works of Bela Bartok, Arnold Schoenberg, Thelonious Monk, and John Coltrane. During this time, I tried my best to find a through-line between the various artist. Thankfully, I had the opportunity to trace this idea through at least two artist; Thelonious Monk and John Coltrane (1). 

The thought of having two of my heroes interact with each other was incredible and these interactions are some of my favorite albums (1). The second part of the study was finding the connection between polytonal music (2), serialist music (3), and functional harmonies of my jazz heroes. 

The interesting thing is that I was able to create an interface between what I was hearing from the different influences and what I was hearing in my head. The Mapping of Chords and Scales was very beneficial to my processing of the different influences. The theory helped me piece together different styles of music under one representation that wasn't standard notation, mathematical logic, or sine wave analysis. 

In developing that analytical process, I began to develop an ear for writing in a certain style that is reminiscent of my influences. The final piece of this 8 year process equals about 16 minutes of various short pieces stringed into one. The Mapping of Chords and Scales helped me bridge the different pieces together in rhythm and in harmony. Below are the final piece of the 8 year process; one for woodwind quintet and one for sting quintet. 

I hope you enjoy...