August 04, 2010

Remember that motet I was working on?

So I was working on a motet, right?  And I was really jazzed about writing my first motet, but when it was all done, I couldn't shake the feeling that it sounded....off.  It sounded good, just....wrong.  I'd paid attention to form, and I thought I was being so clever with the chords, keeping them period, not resolving on thirds and stuff.  And for all that, it still came out sounding like a freaking act closer to a Boublil and Schönberg musical.  Aaaaaaaand, here's why:



That's right, I wrote a freaking 4-chord motet!  The chords themselves are all plausibly period, it's the chord progression that's completely absurd.  My motet has the same chord progression as freaking Lady Gaga - and eleventy-billion other songs, none of which were written when people were actually like, writing motets all the time for serious.  GARGH!!!

Anyway, this is where I need help from you friendly folks out in internet world, and if you're reading, I really hope you'll chime in.  For a person who's unapologetically focused on authenticity in her bardic work, would performing this in the SCA be completely laughable or what?  I really am smack on the fence about this.  Part of me thinks it was a good first shot at a motet and I should go for it, but part of me is like, "Really?  A 4-chord motet? Really?"

Y'know, if it were someone else asking my opinion, I'd wholeheartedly encourage them to sing it and be proud of the effort, the lesson learned and the sound of the final product.  All of my songs have anachronisms that I only learned about after writing them - that's unavoidable.  You can get more and more authentic with each song and each lesson learned, but there will always be something new to learn that exposes a mistake in your previous work.  That doesn't mean your previous work is bad or shouldn't be performed.

But dude, this is a smack-your-audience-in-the-face kind of mistake.  It's like shredding on a lute.  And I really don't want to be all, "This is a motet!" to people who don't know any better and then sing a FREAKING 4-CHORD ATROCITY!!!  Even (perhaps especially?) if it sounds good.

Anyway, it's all a wash unless I can find a really strong tenor to sing it with, so it may be a non-issue.  The best tenor I know lives in Northshield, and I don't know anyone here in Ealdormere.  Yet....

3 comments:

  1. You can take the girl out of the modern, but you can't take the modern out of the girl.

    BTW, your brother has decided that he's a tenor. And he's a kick-ass singer. Maybe you can import him for a weekend.

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  2. Michael is fooling himself, he's a baritone and always will be. He may be a rangy baritone, but still.

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  3. I think he was basing that on the tonal quality of his voice. He does know a lot about music.

    You could always get a girl to dress as a man and be a countertenor... or get a girl to sing the female part and you could be the countertenor. Good disguise for the composer of the 4-chorder.

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