Your controlled assessment will link your composition to TWO areas of study and the strand for this year - Music of the 20th and 21st Centuries.
You will research and prepare for this in class and for homework.
Below is a guide to writing your controlled assessment. In bold are the questions that you will need to answer and below them, advice on how to answer them.
Controlled Assessment Help!
What Areas of Study did you choose and what is the focus of your composition within the given strand?
You will need to make a simple statement as to which two Areas of Study were chosen and makes clear the focus within the given strand (Film Music). This focus might be a form (structure), a scale, an instrument or group of instruments, a characteristic rhythm or one of many other possibilities.
Why did you choose these Areas of Study and the particular focus within the given strand?
Reasons might include a preference for using these elements, your personal strengths linking with your composition (a drum piece by a drummer) or you have a personal interest in this area.
How did you go about composing your music and how was the final recording achieved?
Write this in the order you did it. It should be a record of how you have made your piece. State how you produced your recording of the finished composition. You should mention the following: positioning of microphones, adjustments to dynamics and/or placement of performers, how any matters of poor intonation were resolved, and so on. If your final recording is from logic, how did you change the dynamics and convert the file to an mp3.
What difficulties did you encounter during the task and how did you overcome them?
This might include difficulties using the software or recording studio or understanding the features of your chosen style. Discuss problems relating to harmony, melody, accompaniment, rhythm and anything else you can think of and state how you overcome them (do not write I asked the teacher!)
What makes your composition successful in relation to the Areas of Study and the focus chosen within the given strand?
You need to demonstrate how your piece relates to the areas of study successfully referring to specific sections of your piece (the clarinet part shows good melodic development in bars 49-51 because …) and also how it meets the strand of Pop music by referring to specific examples.
What is the relationship of your composition to its context?
How does your piece link with the genre you have chosen? What elements of it demonstrate these links? (walking bass in a blues composition/instrumentation etc). Wherever possible state examples of work that has influenced you and composers whose style has inspired you.
20 –16
Appraisals at this level demonstrate a thorough understanding of the success of the composition in relation to the Areas of Study and strand.
There is a detailed and accurate description of the composing process and a sound understanding of how the music has been developed. Problems and difficulties are readily acknowledged and solutions identified. These are clearly evidenced in the composition. Any weakness in the composition has been identified.
The candidate demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the essential musical elements, characteristics and conventions relating to the Areas of Study and strand.
The candidate uses a wide range of relevant musical vocabulary.
F-grade Example Appraisal
I have
chosen the two areas of study timbre and dynamics and structure and form. The
focus within the world music strand is through the use of the sitar, an indian
instrument.
I chose
these areas because I thought it would be good to write a piece of music which
used lots of different instruments and I was able to do this because I wrote
the piece on Sibelius 3. I decided to use
the sitar
as a link because I first heard the sound of the instrument when my teacher
played me a song by The Beatles and I thought then that I would like to write
some music for it.
I started
off by listening to that Beatles song again to remind me of the sound of the
sitar. I decided to use it right at the beginning and at the same time as the
harp, as they are both string instruments. I
then
thought of lots of other ideas and wrote them down before putting them into my
composition.
I didn’t
really have any big problems writing this but my teacher said that I should do
something called hide empty staves so that the score wasn’t mostly empty lines
and didn’t need as many pages. The trouble is that it looks like a really short
peace now and I spent a lot of time on it.
I think it
is successful because I have used different instruments. I have put in lots of
dynamics and the peace has a clear form, starting and ending with the same idea
and then having new ideas in the
middle. Although
it doesn’t really sound like the peace by the Beatles, I think it fits in well
with other pieces written for the sitar. I am really proud of it.
D-grade Example Appraisal
I chose
Area of Study 1: Rhythm and Metre and Area of Study 4: Timbre and Dynamics. The
given strand was The Western Classical Tradition and my composition links to it
by its use of different
western
classical instruments and, in the middle section, the idea of contrasting,
tiered dynamics which was a feature of music in the baroque period.
I chose
these Areas because I like the sounds of western classical instruments and
thought that contrasting dynamics would be quite effective.
I worked
out an opening idea based on a simple, repetitive idea and then gradually built
up the texture till I had all the instruments playing.
The middle
section – where the dynamics are contrasted – is
based on a
simple chord sequence and was something I wanted to try after we were played Zadok
the Priest by Handel.
The final
recording was done directly from Sibelius and so I had to make sure that
all dynamics and other performance details were included for every part. I also
had to check the balance using the
mixer in Sibelius.
I didn’t
really encounter any problems after I had worked out my main ideas and decided
on the form of my piece.
My
composition is successful because it uses western classical instruments and all
parts can be played by acoustic instruments. It is also effective in the way it
contrasts dynamics in the middle section.
My music
is in a traditional style with a start in C major and then a change to A major
after a silent bar for dramatic effect. The harmonies are quite simple and the
music is consonant.
C-Grade Example Appraisal
Taking
each of the questions in turn, my composition is based on Areas of Study 2
(Harmony & Tonality) and 3 (Texture & Timbre).
The strand
given was The Western Classical Tradition and my link to it is through the use
of traditional western harmony with a strong sense of key.
I chose
these Areas of Study and this type of link because I like writing music which
has a nice tune and is clearly in a key, using mainly primary chords. I chose
these instruments because I like their
sound and
thought they would combine well and would suit the type of tune I had written.
I worked
out the opening tune first aiming to write something which was simple and
gentle. I then worked out the chords which went with it best and from there I
went on to look at different ways of accompanying it and possibilities of
adding countermelodies. We had studied different ways of spreading a chord in
earlier lessons and I drew on this to work out how to spread the triads I was using.
Ideas for
contrasting sections – the episodes – took longer and I found these parts of
the composition the most difficult. Finally, I thought of ways of starting and
ending the piece.
Although I
was able to talk to friends in the class who played all the instruments I used
– except the harp – I knew that I would have to record my piece from Sibelius
software. We have Sibelius 3 in
school and
so I spent time adding details to the score to try and make it sound as close
as possible to a live performance, even though the soundcard would never be as
good as real instruments but I couldn’t of got hold of a harp player and so I
had to use the computer.
As well as
adding dynamics, phrasing and accents, I had to use the mixer to get the balance
better and this took quite a long time to get right.
I am very
pleased with the way my piece has worked out, especially the main theme, which
I really like still and I think it uses the Areas of Study well and fits the
link I chose. (continued…)
I have
written a piece which uses traditional western harmony and has a strong sense
of key and I think that, in this context, it is successful. It establishes D
major clearly at the beginning and uses the 3 primary chords of D, G and A. It
then moves to the relative minor, on to G major (the subdominant) and then
returns to D for the rest of the piece.
A-Grade Example Appraisal
I chose
AoS3 – Texture and Melody – along with AoS5 – Structure and Form. The link to
the Popular Music of the 20th & 21st centuries strand is through a piece of
mood music appropriate for a gentle
peaceful
interlude in a film or musical.
I chose
these Areas of Study because I play both the piano and the clarinet and
recently listened to Gymnopédie by
Erik Satie. I played them through and was really taken with the mood achieved
by the
use of
such interesting chords in the left hand. I thought I would like to try to
write a piece of music using this style and also being able to include the
clarinet in its lower registers – a sound I have always
liked
since hearing Prokofiev’s Peter and
the Wolf in Junior
School
As I had
chosen Area of Study 3 – Texture and Melody – it was a good idea to add in
other instruments to provide opportunities for contrast and variety. The flute
seemed to go well with both
the piano
and clarinet and the glockenspiel provided a really different sound.
I decided
to stick with a fairly simple form and go for binary, though I varied the
repeat by changing the instruments and adding in countermelodies. I also
altered the way the piano played the chords by using a pattern which was more
like that in Satie’s Gymnopédie.
Within the first main section, the main melody is played over the chords and a
short piano passage forms an interlude before the tune
comes
back, slightly altered to complete this first section. (continued…)
One of the
main difficulties was deciding which chords to use. I wanted to use the same
idea as Satie but I didn’t want it to sound as if I had just copied his chords.
To get round this, I wrote the main tune
first and
then worked out which chords sounded right with it. The main pattern relies a
lot on F major 7 (F A C E) and D minor 7 (D F A C). However, I decided to
experiment with a lot of different chords
while
still keeping a sense of using both F major and D minor, as these are closely
related keys (tonic and relative minor). This took a long time and I used the
piano a lot during this, playing different
chords and
sequences until it sounded just right.
The final
recording was made straight from Sibelius,
as this was the easiest route given that I had used Sibelius to produce a good, neat
score of my piece, showing all the dynamics and phrasing clearly.
I really
think that my piece is successful as it uses the elements within the chosen
strands well and clearly fits the link that I chose.
It
reflects the style of Satie’s music well and, therefore, fits the context of music
written in that period: it combines a flowing melody with some interesting and
often non-functional harmony, but it also has
an underlying sense of key and feels finished
when it comes to rest on F major, just as Satie’s Gymnopédie did, ending i