Most of my music composition these days is focused on electronic music created with my software synthesizer, BasicSynth. Using a synthesizer, especially one that I have complete control over, means I can design the sounds, determine the style, compose the piece, perform the music, render the sound, and produce the final recording without having to rely on other musicians. It is, in effect, a solo creation. But sometimes I want to create music that is not electronic and uses traditional music instruments. I can use a sampled set of instruments and get close to human performers. Yet it just isn’t the same. Relying on other musicians has advantages, not the least of which is the shared experience and social interaction when musicians work together. Each performer adds an individual interpretation and personality to the performance. Vocal music is even more suited to a live, shared event. Synthesized voices sound really artificial, and singing can’t be duplicated except by a live, human singer.
My current project is to set some poems of Emily Dickinson to music. Dickinson’s poetry is often short, comprised of one to four stanzas, has a regular meter and structure, and in general is well suited to song form. But the thing that really attracts me to her poetry is the imagery, the metaphors and paradoxes that are core to her unique style. Most of her poems don’t have titles and are listed by the first line. For example:
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
I like that and I want to use it.
Why set poems to music at all? Because a good musical setting can add a dimension to a poem. That is not to suggest that the poem needs the musical treatment. But because different composers can interpret the poem differently their input adds another dimension for the listener.
To honor the poet’s effort, I first have to think about the emotion produced by the poem and how that is expressed. Is it serious? Is it humorous? Is it sarcastic? This poem reflects the human desire to live a fulfilling life, a serious effort. But what is necessary to live a life that is not in vain? The poet’s answer is through helping others in need, using a helpless robin as a metaphor for someone who has fallen away from where he should be. In so doing there is triumph, not waste, in life. The music should reflect, in some way, that joy of helping others in need.
Because the poem has an existing structure, meter, and rhyming scheme, these provide a framework for me to start with. Longer and higher pitched sounds create more emphasis and lend themselves to words in the poem that seem to need emphasis. Shorter, or connecting, words need less emphasis, and have an appropriate duration and pitch. This can provide a speech-like quality to the melody, but I may interpret a poem in such a way that creates a melody that contrasts normal speech. For example, in English we tend to speak with a descending pitch at the end of sentences and a rising pitch at the end of questions. However, the poem may need to emphasize the end of a sentence, and I can create a rising melodic pitch to create that emphasis. Likewise, dynamics can be used to add or subtract emphasis. An increase in volume (like a shout) adds emphasis, even if the pitch is descending, and a decrease in volume (a whisper) lowers emphasis even if the pitch is ascending. In this poem, I interpret the phrase “I shall not live in vain” as expressing triumph and have the melody rise in pitch and increase in volume.
In addition to all of this, I want to create a melody that is singable with an appropriate accompaniment. In general, the voice should dominate in importance, and not have large intervals. Large intervals between pitches in a melody are difficult to sing but do have uses in creating dramatic, attention-grabbing effects. For this poem, I wanted to create a sense of energy by controlling the slow rising and descending melody without large jumps. I also wanted every syllable to have its own pitch in the melody. Often for a short poem it is useful to have a single word extend over several pitches in a melody, or to repeat sections of the text with several musical phrases. I could also repeat the entire poem, with different music for each repetition. The setting I did makes for a very short song, but that’s what I wanted.
The accompaniment uses a repeating pattern that lasts throughout the short song. For longer songs, I prefer to have an accompaniment that varies in complexity, even varying in style, as the poem proceeds. In this case I created attention by using sudden modulations to set off development of ideas in the poem. In thinking about the music for the poem I used a piano and bass for the accompaniment. I could have also added percussion, guitar, and other wind instruments to create a jazz combo, and that could be added by an arranger or producer for a specific performance if desired, but I like this due to its simplicity. A longer poem, or a different style, might use a larger set of instruments, even up to a large orchestra. In any case, the composer needs to think what orchestration is suitable.
Other elements of music need to be considered as well. Tempo needs to be appropriate to the sense of the poem. A slow tempo typically works for more contemplative settings, with faster tempos for more dramatic, even comical, effects. Key needs to be chosen to fit the range of the melody, but this can be transposed based on the singer’s vocal range. It’s good to decide on the vocal range you expect. A professional singer can easily handle one-and-half octaves (or even two octaves in the case of some), but untrained or younger voices will require a more limited range. Style and genre can vary as well and need to be considered for each poet. Dickinson’s poetry seems to call out for simple, more traditional harmonic chords, rather than a dissonant, contrapuntal style. But that’s my interpretation so that’s what I did.
BasicSynth 