Structure Diagrams in Composition
“It would take another Earthling to explain it to you. Earthlings are the great explainers, explaining why this event is structured as it is, telling how other events might be achieved and avoided. I am a Tralfamadorian, seeing all time as you might see a stretch of the Rocky Mountains. All time is all time. It does not change. It does not lend itself to warnings or explanations. It simply is. Take it moment by moment and you will see that we are all, as I’ve said it before, bugs in amber.” - Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five
a sense of who (2015) for chamber ensemble and electronics
My very first diagram! I created this diagram at a moment in my compositional development when I was going through a lot of change and taking risks. The diagram helped me convince myself that the piece would work.
Top image: diagram sketch created about 2/3 of the way through the composition process
Bottom image: final waveform from recording session
Gaze (2018) for orchestra
Structure diagram for Gaze (2018) for orchestra, with color sketching corresponding to texture-timbre
My first diagram to use color.
I associate visual color with musical “color,” more precisely timbre, but also think of timbre as being very closely tied to texture. These colors really helped me capture the sonic identity of the piece at any given moment.
dust to dusk (2022) for choir and percussion quartet
Final composition form
Mid-composition process sketching
One wish, your honey lips (2017) for flute quartet
On the left: three images depicting the piece:
Top: first diagram sketch, created about 1/3 of the way through the composition process
Middle: second diagram sketch, created about 2/3 of the way the composition process
Bottom: final waveform from recording session with Emissary Quartet
to sing of sins (2021) for flute, clarinet, cello, piano, and electronics
Waveform for electronics for to sing of sins (2021), along with brainstorming comments about harmonic areas, textures, pacing, and sections
