Rethinking dubstep

Lots has happened since I last posted.

Specifically, in composition, my first assignment was completed and performed. And I've begun another project!

Playing the piece for people was nerve-wracking for sure, but exciting. All the pieces sounded great and it was really cool having a legitimate audience for the pieces. More showed than I had expected!
At times I definitely feel that composition, as a practical type degree could be warranted. But maybe it's just because I have so much going on outside school in my life, but I find it hard to dedicate large enough amounts of focused time on these type of projects between everything. I mean, I technically have 3 part-time jobs (restaurant, climbing gym, and mucep) and am in a play (which has turned out to be a lot more work than expected, I've never researched characters like this before--but completely necessary for what I'm doing), and in school full time. Aside from all this I try to balance going to the gym, sport climbing, running three times a week, writing my own music, maintaining a half-legitimate social life and all this still getting proper sleep... am I crazy?

Now, in composition land... the next project is recontextualization of a genre of music. I've chosen dubstep (mostly focusing on the idea of the "break").  The break happens just before the 'drop', and is a part where the percussion stops playing and there is usually a dynamic and melodic build to the 'drop', which reintroduces the bass end quite intensely. I want to take this idea (because I love it a, and b, because it's so epic in dubstep I'd like to see if an awesome drop could be done in a classical setting) and apply it in a classical atmosphere. Strings, Piano, Flute, Percussion. This is what I'm thinking currently. Though for the percussion I'm thinking of just using a brake drum, and vibes. Cello would satisfy the string portion, because of it's awesomeness mainly. The flute for it's percussive possibilities, and the piano because I play it and because there are some cool things I think I can get out of it.

I'm still working through not writing something too gimmicky or lame. I want to do it well because I think the idea has a certain potential. I hope I can live up to it...

All for now,

-Brad