Mar 01 2020
As mentioned in my last update, I’ve been starting to get farther and farther into DIY recording, and have been attempting that process with my Symphony No. 1 in C-Sharp Locrian, Op. 58 for string orchestra. Today, I have an initial taste of that to share–a score video with my current iteration of the 1st …
Feb 10 2020
Thus far, 2020 is shaping up to be a pretty busy year for my musical endeavors, so I thought I’d do a quick rundown of some of my upcoming events, current projects, and other happenings: Today (February 10th, 2020), I’ll be presenting at this month’s meeting of Cascadia Composers, the local Oregon/Northwest chapter of the …
Dec 16 2019
A Primer on Arabic Numeral Harmonic Analysis in Modern Modal Music Alexander LaFollett If you have encountered my theoretical work on the area of modal and non-tertian harmony, such as my exploration of harmonic syntax in the Locrian mode, you would have also run across my Arabic numeral analysis system, which I use to label …
Jan 25 2018
The Locrian Mode: No, It’s Not Unusable As a modal composer and theorist, known for geeking out about harmonic technique, I have always been fascinated by the way others perceive the Locrian mode. From my perspective, it is simply a mode, and one that I have been known to use on occasion in my own …
Jan 11 2016
I am pleased to announce that my brand-new Piano Trio No. 1 has just been selected by fEARnoMUSIC as the winner of their recent call for scores, and will be added to the program for their upcoming Locally Sourced Sounds concert, which will be taking place on January 22nd, 2016 at 7:30pm at The Old …
Oct 26 2015
After a successful premiere this Sunday in Corvallis at Oregon State University, violinist Wyatt True and pianist David Servias will be taking my Violin Sonata No. 1 and the Oregon Multimedia Project pieces of my fellow UO alums Ben Krause and J.M. Gerraughty to Beall Hall at the University of Oregon in less than 24 …
Jun 25 2015
Now that the academic year is over, I’ve had a chance to work a bit further with Modal Utilities, which is presently carrying the internal version number of 0.2.3. After an arduous battle with the UI, I believe I’ve gotten the main Mode Calculator module close to where I want it. That includes the implementation …
Feb 08 2015
I am pleased to announce that my latest theoretical paper, “Of Modes and Manifolds: The Landscape of Expanded Heptatonic Modal Pitch Space” has been accepted for the 2015 West Coast Conference of Music Theory and Analysis (WCCMTA). For those unfamiliar with the organization, the WCCMTA is a chapter of the larger Society of Music Theory …
Jan 22 2015
I’ve gotten back to working on Modal Utilities of late, and hit a milestone this evening. After cleaning up the GUI some from the previous cluttered mess, I started playing around with the JFugue library. Suffice to say, that “Play Mode” button actually works now, so it’s now possible to hear the modes in the …
May 19 2014
Over the past few months, I’ve had an ongoing side project. I have been developing a Java program called Modal Utilities, designed for the speedy identification of heptatonic modes. Upon entering the step formula or pitch class set of a mode, Modal Utilities will give you the catalog number and name for the mode out …