Copyright © 1997 by Mad Teddy
Mozart with a touch of Scott Joplin - or vice versa? You decide...
Those three notes, hummed casually by a junior member of our household in
early 1997, provided the inspiration needed to allow me to create my first
full-blown musical composition. After a single-bar introduction, the first
two bars of the actual melody are as follows:
There are three parts: the melody is carried by a clarinet; a chord bass is
handled by something called "Pad 1 (new age)"; and there is a simple
accompanying part played on a vibraphone.
It's full of musical clichés, and now sounds a tad corny in retrospect. But,
as with any new endeavour, you have to start somewhere - and I don't think
it's all that bad for a first attempt.
Actually, I did try to soup it up a bit, by adding more parts (strings,
mainly) and putting lots of extra repeats into it - but now, with the
benefit of hindsight, I think it just became overblown and lost most of
whatever charm it may have had. So what's presented here is essentially
the original version (with a couple of small changes, just to tighten it
up). Short 'n' sweet's probably best, in the final analysis!
Towards the end, there is a silly bit where the clarinet gets a bit excited
and winds up playing a semitone sharper for four bars before getting control
of itself, while the other two parts continue to trundle happily along in C
major. (Just thought I'd better warn you - it's not a mistake; it's
totally deliberate, and included as a gag.)
Here's a link to the midi file, clas_rag.mid:
Classical Rag
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