Christos Barbas - Pavlos Spyropoulos- Vagelis Apostolou I Seminar of Composition, Arrangement & Production

Type of seminar: Open – Music Group

Level of participants:musicians and composers of all levels and backgrounds who have an interest in exploring composition in modal music

Sight Reading: necessary

Special requirements: necessary to bring a tablet or laptop

Partial Participation: it is possible to follow only the 1st seminar or the 2nd & the 3rd in case there is already a composition which could work. There is even the possibility for students who have participated in the seminar of Stelios Petrakis (The students compose) to follow the 2nd & 3rd part of the actual seminar 

Starting this year, the Labyrinth Music Workshop is organizing, in addition to the individual seminars with a specific theme, a continuous seminar that will last 3 weeks and that will focus on the whole process of composition, orchestration/ arrangement and finally the recording of the composition.
In the first week, under the guidance of Christos Barbas , the participants will work on a composition of their own.
In the second week, under the supervision and assistance of the maestro of the Labyrinth’s «Mitos" Orchestra, Pavlos Spyropoulos, there will be an orchestral arrangement of the pieces with the participation of members of the "Mitos" orchestra.
In the third week, the tracks will be recorded and edited by the sound engineer Vqngelis Apostolou.
In this way, students will have the opportunity to follow all the stages of the production of their own piece of music from start to finish with the help of experienced musicians and technicians.

1st part: Composition (Christos Barbas)

Christos Barbas will be teaching a workshop focused on Composition in Modal Music. Through guided exercises and group discussions, students will have the opportunity to delve into the rich repertory and stylistic features of different genres of modal music, while learning practical methods for crafting and developing their own pieces. Through in-depth analysis and hands-on exercises, participants will gain a deeper understanding of how different modal compositions function and how they can create evocative and meaningful compositions.

In addition, participants will have the opportunity to have their pieces rehearsed and recorded in the following seminars. This will provide an invaluable experience in hearing their compositions brought to life and will offer a chance for further exploration and refinement.

This workshop is suitable for musicians and composers of all levels and backgrounds who have an interest in exploring composition in modal music. Participants should have some prior experience with at least one modal musical tradition and the basics of music theory.

 2nd part: Arrangement (Pavlos Spyropoulos)

Music is one of the quintessential human group activities. Musical ensembles spring up in every corner, city or village,capturing the musical idiom of each region.
We, in Houdetsi (Crete), experience the peculiarity of a parallel dimension.
On the one hand we have the local music idiom & on the other hand, in the last decades another one is being created by the "Labyrinth Musical Workshop", exceptionally
multi-collector and rich in influences and styles. This second idiom justifies the name of the workshop. It is about a ‘Labyrinth’, in which one enters and exits at any time
that desire. For some, it turns out to be impressively long and mazy, while during the stay in it, arises musical ideas and music pieces.
The second part of this seminar will pick up the thread right from this point. The pieces that have been created during the first part, in the seminar composition with Christos Barbas, they will be ready to take
shape and form. Arrangement follows as a necessary link after the composition of a music piece. The members of the "Mitos" orchestra will help in this process, transmuting sheet music in sounds.
The style of each composition, its structure, its phrases, its beginning and end, its dynamics, the evolution of it over time, the way the musicians approach the music piece and the partition/sheet music.
All these parameters mentioned above determine the "final" version of a music piece. This final version remains as one of the many versions each music piece can have, on its own way, in its own labyrinth.

 3rd part: Production (Vangelis Apostolou)

The seminar will present all the stages of modal music production and specifically of all the pieces composed & arranged in the previous two parts of the seminar.
We will use basic music technology tools such as microphones, audio interface to demonstrate recording methods (live recording and overdub), recording techniques of various musical instruments and their processing and mixing using a PC and DAW.
We will cover topics such as:
* Placement of microphones on various instrument categories.
* Stereo recording
* Time and tone processing of recordings in daw (editing & tuning)
* Use of Eq, dynamic processors and fx (reverb, delays, etc)
* Mixing techniques depending on the desired aesthetic effect.
The purpose of the seminar is to cover the needs of a musician (emphasizing on the practical part of the process), so that one can record & edit personal compositions with basic equipment in a home studio.

Timetables:

Christos Barbas / CV & Contact Info

Pavlos Spyropoulos / CV & Contact Info

Vagelis Apostolou / CV & Contact Info

 *For information related to accommodation please click here