Archive
Servings Of Sadness
Upon the conclusion of Numericoncerto, I could not decide what to do next. I was toying around with the idea of writing a symphony, but couldn’t really pull anything concrete together thematically. I had also toyed with the idea of two smaller projects, one focused on melodic songs, one focused on rock songs. That would have allowed me to release quicker.
Instead, I found I needed an outlet for some of the negative experiences of the last year, in our country and our society and our professional and personal relationships as a whole. And I found myself back in the 18 song album mode, but this time, I stripped away all the orchestral ornamentation, focusing on keyboard instruments, acoustic and electric guitars, and improving my piano composition.
Taking my research into extended chord voicings into account, I challenged myself to expand my harmonic vocabulary and Servings of Sadness is the result. The title comes from an iconic quote from a colleague of mine, “That’s two servings of sadness!” and adequately encompasses the tone I was striving for.
That said, I like how this turned out for the most part. Some of my strongest writing for piano is here, and there are some nuanced variations in the harmonies and chord structures as well as I leveraged what I learned online, sometimes taking specific chord transitions as inspirations, sometimes building whole songs on a single idea such as the use of 6th chords. It seems I always work better when I have at least one fixed conceptual target to drive for.
You can learn more about this album here.
Available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon Music.
Numericoncerto
If you like classical music, in particular using strings and harpsichords, you might want to check out my Numericoncerto. I wrote this over the course of a year from late 2023 to late 2024. I challenged myself to step out of my symphonic rock comfort zone as a composer and try to write a serviceable piece of classical music.
As my writing progressed, I settled on 4 different elements. One, a sonata, a three part classical piece using strings. Second, a counterpoint quartet, exploring the musical idea of counterpoint, also using strings. Third, I brought in a harpsichord as an additional instrument, and wrote a quintet centered on feelings brought about by relationships. And last, I wrote a sextet, taking inspiration from a video I watched outlining Baroque chord structures, and then melding that with my interest in science fiction and fantasy movies, such as Star Trek or the Avengers.
With those in progress, I was also experimenting with fugues and other shorter pieces, and decided I wanted to bring in transition pieces, which I called “Vignettes”, to bridge between each of the main pieces. I was actually very happy with the result, keeping track length to a minimum while not sacrificing the integrity of the piece.
Other experimentations included a track written in quartal harmony, and a variety of alternate time signatures and key changes.
You can learn more about the overall release here.
Available on Spotify, YouTube, and Amazon Music.
The Odeon
When I went to write my 4th album, I gave myself permission to not do another story driven or movie soundtrack style concept. Instead, I chose to compose homages, or odes, to various feelings or concepts or items in my life, allowing the emotional center that is me to drive the music rather than trying to tell a story.
I stripped away a lot of the musical complexity except where it made sense, such as in On A Failure To Dance, which is in the undanceable time signature of 33/8. I also stripped away the need for themes that carried over from song to song, or other connective tissue within the overall album.
The result is a dearly felt, but at times disconnected release that feels stronger overall than the Phoenix Diaries, but at times is almost too simple. That said, there are a lot of gems on this album and I’m happy with how it turned out.
You can learn more about The Odeon here.
Available on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon Music.
Be welcome and true.
Rob Hope 