Looking for some music tools to try

I am looking for a music production/DAW tool. I have done some playing around with the Web Audio API (see my series of articles on Theresa’s Sound World, and exploration of the Tone.js library), but found it difficult to use those tools for music composition. Some apps I am going to review (Windows versions) are:

My main interest is in algorithmic composition, so I am hoping to find a tool that can be scripted or programmed, or accept input files generated by a script or program. A tool I once looked at was Pyknon, a Python library for generating MIDI files, in conjunction with the book Music for Geeks and Nerds. If any of my three readers has any suggestions, let me know!

Read: Leon Redbone has died

Read Leon Redbone, An Unusual Singer From A Bygone Era, Has Died

Redbone’s career was defined by biographical mystery and a musical ear obsessed with the sounds of yesteryear. He also sang the theme to Mr. Belvedere.

I remember the first time I saw Leon Redbone, it was on Saturday Night Live, playing “Champagne Charlie”.

In honor of Memorial Day, a performance by the The U.S. Navy Band Sea Chanters of “Eternal Father, Strong to Save,” the Navy hymn, July 27, 2012.

Check out these videos of the theme songs for “The Jeffersons” and “All In The Family” from the ABC special on Wednesday, May 22!

Check out these videos of the theme songs for “The Jeffersons” and “All In The Family”!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDixKh3Zhu0

Love this song as well!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QTiAmvygC4

I love this song!

Read: Open Music Theory

Read Open Music Theory – Open Music Theory

This is a pretty neat site, should explore it more…

Open Music Theory is an open-source, interactive, online “text”book for college-level music theory courses. OMT was built on resources authored by Kris Shaffer, Bryn Hughes, and Brian Moseley. It is edited by Kris Shaffer and Robin Wharton, and is published by Hybrid Pedagogy Publishing.

Sights and sounds of the Christmas season

The choir at my church, Resurrection Catholic Parish in Tualatin, Oregon, sang last week at The Festival of Lights in Portland, Oregon, hosted at The Grotto, a religious community and gardens. We performed a half hour of sacred vocal music at the Grotto Chapel, and it was a wonderful performance!

During the Festival of Lights, the grounds of the Grotto are filled with Christmas lights:

Finally, the choir my wife and I sing in performed at the 5pm Mass on Christmas eve. It is a contemporary group, and I made a recording of one of the prelude songs (What Child is This) performed in a jazz style by a quartet. Enjoy!

Leonard Bernstein at 100

Yesterday, I listened to a terrific episode of Radio Open Source, Christopher Lydon’s wide-ranging podcast, on the 100th anniversary of the birth of composer/conductor Leonard Bernstein. The show focused on his popular musical, West Side Story. I have played several arrangements of West Side Story and other Bernstein works in concert band and marching band, and they have been some of my favortite band pieces. The conversation between Lydon and Nigel Simeone is a fascinating analysis of many of the songs in the show and looking at the influences of classical, jazz, and Latin music on Bernstein’s creative process. Check it out!