Category: Barry’s Projects

My amazing daughter Maya is currently in her second year at Boston Conservatory at Berklee studying Viola Performance.  When she came home for Thanksgiving break, she mentioned the Improvisation Workshop class she's been taking this semester.  This inspired me to play something with her.  I got my soprano sax out and we started improvising together in front of Noah in the living room.  I was so impressed with how great she was playing that I decided we should make some recordings of improvised music.  Among other things, I thought it would be interesting to have her play along with a bunch of Reaktor sound generators and synthesizers.  I went through my collection and settled on seven experimental sound generators (that randomly 'improvise' on their own) from the Reaktor User Library…

"Two Minute Catharsis" is an exploration of how "outside" notes can fit naturally "into" a jazz composition. The listener, even without a formal understanding of jazz, should feel which phrases don’t fit in, and experience a renewed sense of balance when the harmonies return to stability. The saxophone “sings” a melody in haiku form.Keep reading for the original blog.Full story:Two Minute Catharsis is a composition for Soprano Saxophone and Omnisphere drone.The drone consists of two sounds from Spectrasonics Omnisphere 2: Dawning and Distant Dreams. I simply held a C for around two minutes. These sounds have more than one note though; an ethereal, suspended chord sounds from them.The melodies are mostly in the C aeolian mode and since the soprano sax is a Bb instrument I had to play in D…

“Resurgence” is a ten-minute master’s thesis compiled from a long list of unfinished ideas. Over the years, themes stacked up inspired by everyday events like a cat visiting, and running away. This post-tonal piece is currently a MIDI realization, and includes a score to follow along, if the listener chooses. Score: Resurgence (for Orchestra) Keep reading for the original blog. Full story: Twenty five years after I graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelor of Music in Music Engineering Technology, I decided it was time for another degree! In 2013, I started Graduate Studies in Composition at CUNY Hunter College and received a Master of Arts in Music (composition) in 2015. This was something I always wanted to do since graduating from University of Miami, but first I…

Batik is an eclectic jazz/world/fusion group featuring Dave Anthony, Tom Nazziola, Tim Ouimette, John Roggie and Barry Hartglass. “Vudu” features udu fills throughout the recording. This piece is an example of modal jazz, with six modes that repeat throughout, a 7/4 time signature and a very mysterious mood. "Vudu" was composed by Barry Hartglass.Keep reading for the original blog.Full story:The sixth track on my SoundCloud Playlist is "Vudu" by Batik.As mentioned in my last blog about John Roggie's "Lizarb," Batik is an eclectic jazz/world/fusion group featuring Dave Anthony, Tom Nazziola, Tim Ouimette, John Roggie and myself.  "Vudu" was composed by me, and is the title track on Batik's debut CD, "Vudu" released in 2009. "Vudu" is spelled the way it is, instead of "Voodoo," because my original intention was to…