All music and noises © Copyright Paul A. Williams aka Elwood Herring - Please read these notes before downloading
Right-click on the links and select "Save" (MIDI files play immediately)
EXPLORING NEW DIRECTIONS AND NEW POSSIBILITIES IN MUSIC COMPOSITION.
LOTS OF DIFFERENT STYLES AND APPROACHES, EVERY PIECE A MUSICAL EXPLORATION. GIVE YOUR EARS A TREAT!
= Full MP3, 
= short MP3 clip, 
= MIDI file (Instant music!)NOTE ON PLAYING MIDI FILES: All my MIDI works are meant to be played using the standard Microsoft GS Wavetable. Usage of any other wavetable will give unintended results. By all means experiment if you have the capability, but please be aware that what you end up with will not be what I intended!
Also, some MIDI files played on Winamp before version 5.3 will not play correctly. If you use Winamp, please upgrade to the latest version (5.3 or above.
 |
Play | Mins | Piano Sonata no.1 op.33 (2002) |
| Complete piece | |
13:00 | When I set up this website in January 2000 it was initially just a poetry site. Then I started thinking about my old musical experiments and decided to include them on the site too. This (plus my initial experiments with modern MIDI programs such as Cakewalk) prompted me to revive my interest in composition. This piece is the first music I composed since 1986 - originally in just three movements, I extended it in May 2003 and added what is now the third "scherzo" movement. This is seriously strange music - a totally new direction and style for me too. Play it through a few times to get the feel of it - it sounds all wrong at first. You have to train your ears to accept the odd intervals. |
| 1st movement | |
03:28 | The first movement is rhythmless and atonal, but nevertheless there is plenty of structure here; it's just not immediately obvious. There is a first section which is repeated note for note, then there is a short development and finally a "deep and meaningless" but mainly satisfying coda. |
| 2nd movement | |
05:10 | The second movement is slow and introspective; also apparently formless on the surface. There are a lot of extremely low notes which are off the scale of a conventional piano. There is a faster central section which introduces some snippets of themes which will crop up again in the next movement. It ends with Shostakovich's famous DSCH motto, but with a fifth note added. This piece was also used as the basis of my electronic piece To Touch the Silver Butterfly. |
| 3rd movement | |
02:15 | The third movement is comprised almost entirely of sequences from the first two movements - some even played backwards. Just as the 2nd movement had a faster central section, so this movement has a slower one - still comprised of previous quotes. Also, since this movement involves a great deal of repetition it is the easiest to "get into", and is basically the key to the whole sonata. After hearing this movement the first two will make much more sense when replayed. |
| 4th movement | |
02:11 | The finale is in complete contrast to the first two movements; it is highly rhythmic and consists of repeating patterns in an ostinato fashion, some in opposing time signatures. It all ends in an unexpected flourish and totally tonal cadence. |
| Sonata for Percussion op.33b | Well, why not? It's actually a cut-down MIDI of the sonata played on percussion instruments instead. Good fun! | ||
| 1st movement | |
02:00 | |
| 2nd movement | |
02:20 | |
| 3rd movement | |
02:10 | |
| Sonata for Piano and Percussion op.33c | |
13:00 | And for even more fun, why not combine the two? Every note played by the piano is echoed on the percussion. This one is in a single MIDI file. I liked the sound of percussion enhanced piano music, and took the idea to its ultimate conclusion in Morphic Resonance |
View my complete music catalog here