Malinowski, Fugue to Stanley Krebs, Vocoded String Quartet

A 4-voice fugue by Stephen Malinowski, dedicated to his composition teacher Stanley Dale Krebs, performed by the composer on a vocoded string quartet.

FAQ

Q: Where can I get the sheet music for this piece?
A: The scores for most of Stephen Malinowski's music can be downloaded from here:
http://www.musanim.com/scores/compositions.html

Q: Where can I learn more about this piece?
A: The Kunst der Fuge web site has Malinowski's description of this piece:
http://www.kunstderfuge.com/theory/malinowski.htm

Q: What are we hearing and how did you create it?
A: The string-like sounds you're hearing are made by me playing string instruments through the Roland VP-550 Vocal & Ensemble Keyboard (using the "VOCODER 2" setting). Here's an article on vocoders:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocoder
If you want to see what it looks like when a person is performing live with the VP-550, I recommend Don Lewis's wonderful performance of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TdQwOUGaFs
The main differences between what Don's doing and what I did are that I was playing the string instruments instead of singing, and I performed the four parts of the fugue separately.

Q: I thought you said you were going to do a vocoded harmonica next?
A: The first version I did of this was on vocoded harmonicas, but it sounded too much like screeching chipmunks, and I just couldn't bring myself to do a video with it. However, if you'd like to hear it, here's an MP3 (it's a little more up-tempo than the version used in the video):
http://www.musanim.com/mp3/MalinowskiKrebsFugue_harmonica.mp3

Q: Is there a way I could make the bar-graph scores myself?
A: The Music Animation Machine MIDI file player will generate this display; you can get the (Windows) software here:
http://www.musanim.com/player/
There are lots of places on the web where you can get MIDI files; I usually go to the Classical Archives site first:
http://www.classicalarchives.com/

Q: Could you please do a MAM video of _________?
A: First, check my "to do" list:
http://www.musanim.com/all/MAMToDoList.html ...
If the piece isn't listed, read the "Could you please do a MAM video of _________?" item on my main FAQ:
http://www.musanim.com/mam/mamfaq.html#copyright ...
and if you think I'd consider doing it, email me (stephen at musanim dot com).
.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• baroque
• VP-550
• roland
• vocoder
• counterpoint
• musanim
• score
• bar-graph

[fiandrhi]

This is a very fine composition, very fine. What is the quote at 3:05. It's the subject of a Bach fugue, right? But I can't remember which.

[smalin]

@fiandrhi That's right; it's the G minor fugue from the second book of the WTC.

[rogerstill71]

...and in 5/4 time, no less!

[smalin]

@rogerstill71 Just for one measure.

[gngeannakakes]

How do you do the rolling in introduction and the rolling out ending of the video? What video software package do you use?

[smalin]

I assemble the video in Adobe Premiere Pro.

[ICosmoI]

I like the syncopation.

[MultiFailBot]

The violin part at 2:10 is completely playable. >_>

[RoxxorzYourBoxxorz]

I absolutely adore this piece. Thank you - a thousand times, thank you.

[jedbeetle]

@MultiFailBot A lot of players lose their ears at that range...

[Wagnerlover777]

@bennyK95 Well, to answer your question, it is more like an equilibrium of several ideas, in other words, a triple fuge, and the canonical idea can't be right because the three themes are not all in D minor, yes?

[smalin]

I'm sorry, I don't understand either of your questions.