{"id":3801,"date":"2018-03-15T16:29:52","date_gmt":"2018-03-15T16:29:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.centre.edu\/cento\/?p=3801"},"modified":"2018-03-15T16:29:52","modified_gmt":"2018-03-15T16:29:52","slug":"student-profile-sebastian-duncan-offers-an-original-perspective-on-an-enduring-genre","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2018\/03\/15\/student-profile-sebastian-duncan-offers-an-original-perspective-on-an-enduring-genre\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Profile: Sebastian Duncan Offers an Original Perspective on an Enduring Genre"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BY KIT HAIST – STAFF WRITER<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the first word you think of when you hear the term \u201cclassical music?\u201d Boring? Esoteric? Snobbish? Or do you think first of names of composers like Beethoven and Bach? A discussion with junior Sebastian Duncan \u201919, provides a new perspective on the genre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duncan\u2019s beginning in music immediately discourages any generalizations about composers. \u201cI started off doing covers of Lincoln Park Songs,” Duncan said about how he began to learn music. \u201cThat type of playing taught me a lot about chords and song progressions and also about how to create my own songs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The public might believe artists craft compositions after laborious meditation over an instrument. Duncan finds the exact opposite. \u201cI never have ideas when I\u2019m trying to force an idea,\u201d he remarked. \u201cI usually don\u2019t come up with something if I\u2019m in the practice room.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Others might think music arrives to composers as a shock of harmonic insight at some poetic moment. While Duncan enjoys hiking and finding inspiration in nature, his ideas sometimes come at random, simple moments. \u201cI also wrote a piece that started off because I was harmonizing to the sound of my electric toothbrush.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The American String Quartet recently workshopped one of Duncan\u2019s pieces in development since last September. \u201cIt gave me a chance to think about what kind of techniques I want to change in this piece. Is it too long? what\u2019s its structure like? After that, I changed a lot about the quartet because of the feedback I got,\u201d Duncan said, describing the workshop\u2019s purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most importantly, Duncan was excited about finally getting to hear the piece live. \u201cWhat this workshop was, was an opportunity for me to hear it live, and not only live but hear it by incredibly talented and experienced musicians,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duncan has been involved with music on campus in a variety of ways. He studied orchestration and film scoring at Centre last summer, receiving an honorary mention at the Indie Gathering International Film Festival. He has completed arrangements for Centre Singers, the Wind Ensemble, and is \u201cworking on things for orchestra at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Duncan is productive, he finds overworking can cause writer\u2019s block: \u201cA challenge I have with it sometimes is that I can get a little too lost in it and become unproductive.\u201d He found a solution in \u201ccomposing less and doing other things more.\u201d He added that it is extremely useful to maintain \u201ca varied lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Variety also extends to Duncan\u2019s musical tastes. \u201cPop and Rock music has a lot more complex properties behind it than people generally describe them with,\u201d Duncan said. \u201cAlthough a lot of what I\u2019m doing is rooted in classical music, I find that the things I discover through other types of music are just as important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duncan explained how the contemporary classical world is not isolated from other forms of music and media. \u201cWith a lot of modern composers, you see a huge number of jazz, electronic,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

pop and rock influences,\u201d he explained. \u201cI think one of the best ways that composers reach wider audiences, is by writing music for other types of media, like film.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a listener new to classical music, Duncan advised against \u201ctrying to force yourself to like something just because you\u2019ve heard that it\u2019s sophisticated or that it\u2019s good.\u201d Duncan explained how the \u201cclassics\u201d of classical music may be great, \u201clike Beethoven, Bach, and Brahms,\u201d\u2014but \u201cif that isn\u2019t for you, so be it. Find something you enjoy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duncan also has advice for aspiring composers. \u201cJust get started. Don\u2019t be intimidated by anything.\u201d While the statement is simple, it\u2019s advice anyone hesitant to begin something they aspire toward should follow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY KIT HAIST – STAFF WRITER What\u2019s the first word you think of when you hear the term \u201cclassical music?\u201d Boring? Esoteric? Snobbish? Or do you think first of names of composers like Beethoven and Bach? A discussion with junior Sebastian Duncan \u201919, provides a new perspective on the genre. Duncan\u2019s beginning in music immediately […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3802,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-leisure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}