I chose a picture of a single dandelion in a large field as my source of inspiration for my soundscape composition. My objective for this piece is to convey the story of a dandelion using musical techniques, including when the dandelion seeds are blown away and replanted.

I envision a sunny, summer day in this photo, and to represent this, the general musical idea will be light and airy, like the seeds drifting through the air. With the story the picture communicates in mind, I will represent it using the structure of the music. The piece should start small, representing a small seed, and gradually build, demonstrating the growth of the small yellow dandelion. As the dandelion would then slowly turn into a small ball of seeds, and the music would represent this by decreasing in size and volume, however, not to its original size. After, the music would gradually build, illustrating the dandelion clock and development of a puff ball full of pappus, and the composition would end gradually and slowly, communicating how the dandelion seeds gracefully drift away.

Features I could add to demonstrate the idea of a dandelion’s life cycle include using musical techniques to make the end of the composition smoothly flow into the beginning again, the continuous repetition of the song representing the forever-lasting cycle of a dandelion. This being said, the size and tone of the introductory part of the song should have similar if not the exact same features as the concluding part.

More specifically, the composition should start in the octave above middle, using keys only in that octave, and making use of inversions to keep the notes close together. The introduction should also use only simple blocked chords. As the music progresses to reach the first “climax,” arpeggios and broken chords to create “fuller” sound should be used. Furthermore, as it grows, the music should have a larger range, however, staying only above middle C to ensure the larger climax of the composition is wider and more full. As the music decreases after the first climax, broken chords should be used to return to a higher octave. However, the range should be wider than the introduction, using base notes of the chord along with higher notes. As the music progresses to the final climax, the range of the notes should increase, making use of more lower chord tones. In this section, more ornaments, broken chords with more notes and arpeggios should be used. At the climax, the range should be very wide, making use of many different chord tones throughout the piano. Furthermore, no rests should be used in this section, and many broken chords should be used to fill the space. Finally, as the music comes back to the size it was at the beginning, decrescendos, ritardando and fermatas should be used to signify the ending. However, it should only return to its original size, in order for it to start over again from the beginning. The composition should also end in the same octave as the introduction, and with the same styles of music.

Instrument choices I believe would effectively convey this story include piccolos or flutes, high stringed instruments (violin, harps or lyres), pianos, bells, and bass or cello. Seeing that the mood of this piece would be light, “floaty” and airy, it should be in a major key, however, the piece could switch to a minor key to represent a different part of the story. The tempo should overall be somewhat fast and upbeat, however in many parts, like the drifting away of the seeds, it should gradually decrease in tempo.

Overall, through this soundscape, I hope to effectively portray the story of the dandelion represented in the picture above, and its “perspective” of each stage of its life. To be successful with this objective, I will incorporate the aforementioned musical techniques, and evaluate my success based on whether or not the soundscape reflects a beautiful, bright, field of dandelions.

In what ways does your soundscape composition successfully express the ideas outlined in your proposal? Explain using specific examples as evidence.

I think my soundscape composition successfully expresses the ideas outlined in the proposal; both technical details like use of instruments and structure, as well as the picture the piece paints to reflect my chosen image. When listening to my composition, it becomes evident that the different parts of the piece illustrate the life of a dandelion.

First of all, I primarily envisioned the introduction of my composition to have blocked chords with notes that are close together in order to be able to effectively grow the music. I also suggested the use of larger ranges, including both low and high notes leading up to and during the climax. In addition to this, I imagined the use of many decrescendos and some fermatas near the end, however, signifying only that the piece had returned to the same size as in the introduction. The overall structure I suggested was effectively followed while composing my soundscape.

Additionally, technical details like instrument choices and connecting the introduction and conclusion were also taken into consideration. For example, to illustrate the complete life cycle of a dandelion, the size and tone of the introductory and concluding bars were very similar – some being exactly the same. Furthermore, similar timbres of the instruments that were originally proposed, including the flute, violin and cello, were also followed. This allowed for the light and airy sound that I envisioned for the composition.

Apart from the technical aspects of my proposal, I also feel that my soundscape composition successfully illustrates the image of the selected photo of a dandelion as intended. For example, different parts of the growing music effectively demonstrate the growing dandelion, from the form of a seed to the two different stages in its life, represented by the two climaxes, and back to being a new seed. By using different musical techniques as well as instrument and rhythm choices, I was able to paint a picture of this dandelion on a bright, sunny day.

In conclusion, I believe that both the technical aspects as well as the image my composition illustrates outlined in my soundscape composition proposal were successfully expressed in my composition.

In what ways could your soundscape composition be improved to better express the ideas outlined in your proposal? Explain using specific examples as evidence.

As my intention for my composition was to illustrate the life cycle of a dandelion, I envisioned the music being very light and airy throughout the piece, even as it grows. I also hoped to reflect the different parts of a dandelion’s life by using different tempos. I feel that both of these aspects could have been improved to some extent to make my composition more in line with my proposal.

Like aforementioned, my original vision of my dandelion soundscape was a very light and “floaty” feel. Although this was effectively displayed throughout the piece by using the celesta and violin, I find that in some places, for example the concluding chords and after the climax, the piece began to feel heavier and less airy. This aspect of the piece could be improved by using higher chords at the end of the piece, similar to the introduction, as well as using fewer dotted rhythms as the climax started to develop. By changing these parts in a few places, I think the composition would have a simpler and lighter feel overall.

In addition, I definitely think I could have experimented more with different tempos of the piece, especially in order to contrast the beginning and ending with the climax. For example, accelerandos could have been used in one of the climaxes to communicate growth and development, and a ritardando could have been used to signify the end of the piece. Although these specific techniques were not implemented, varied rhythm, like using faster notes (sixteenth notes and eight notes) during the climax and slower notes (whole notes, half notes and quarter notes) were included.

Overall, by implementing aspects specific to the light and airy vision of the composition as well as contrasting tempos in some areas, I feel that my soundscape could have been improved to fit my proposal. However, I also believe that I learned my piece and vision better while composing, and that although it may not have exactly fit my original proposal, it still effectively expresses my ideas.

What are your thoughts on having a specific set of chord progressions for your entire music? Did you find it easy or difficult to work with only those four chords? What are some pros and cons of working with a set of chord progressions?

Although having only four chords for the entire soundscape was a huge change in comparison to previous compositions and other assignments, the chord progression-aspect of this piece was easier. It was definitely simpler in many ways, like avoiding the challenge of choosing specific chords and creating a melody that fits the chord progression, however, in some ways it was difficult, like trying to grow the music and express this growth with the same four chords.

First of all, from previous experiences, creating a chord progression is definitely one of the hardest parts of composing. Additionally, we usually add the chords after the main melody has been composed. For this soundscape composition, we first had to choose four specific chords, meaning we did not have to spend too much time creating the chord progression and that we could create our melodic ideas based on our chord progression. I believe that this made the composition process much easier, as well as gave the piece a solid, repetitive structure to convey my ideas.

Although I believe that the benefits definitely outweigh the disadvantages of only having four chords, especially for a soundscape composition, there were some challenges with this structure. Since the main goal of the project was to grow the music, it was difficult to grow the same chord progressions. For example, in moments of tension, one would usually use specific chord progressions in contrast to in moments of resolution. Although we were not able to do that in this composition, in some ways, the repeating structure was easier to build on once I became comfortable with it.

In conclusion, only having four repeating chords to work with was mostly easier than past compositions, but it also brought some challenges. Overall, I think that it is important to experiment with different types of structures in order to see what fits best with the ideas you are trying to convey.