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It's time for the annual Young Composers Christmas Music Event! The Brief Same as ever year - write anything inspired by a winter celebration (e.g. Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa) or just Winter in general (or Summer for those of us in the Southern Hemisphere). If you want to participate, pop a comment below! You could have a look at last year's competition for inspiration if you like: As usual there are no prizes and everyone's a winner. You will however, be rewarded with a beautiful badge designed by our very own @PeterthePapercomPoser. Submissions are open now (8th December). Submissions will be included in this thread. There is no deadline, though preferably your piece should be done before Christmas or at least before the end of December. What are you waiting for? Get composing!

Hey @Thatguy v2.0! A lucid, absorbing piece of orchestral music! The introduction of the melodic material is cleverly interwoven with counterpoint from multiple different solo instruments. And there's also some blues elements in the use of the b3 in a mostly major context. I love the effect at 2:40 and 6:26 where the trombones very slowly glissando up to the next chord. It really makes the harmonic changes so apprehensive. The piece is thematic and motivically driven. Only after multiple listens can I now really appreciate all the thematic and motivic elements and how they're developed. I like how the Piccolo brings back the main theme near the end at the 14 minute mark. The flourishing and cycling through various keys before the end is also very effective at bringing the piece to a satisfactory conclusion. Perhaps my favorite part is around 4:40. I also really like the pizzicato part at 8:38. Throughout the piece you overlap the entrances of various motifs in the different instruments. And they're all nonetheless clearly related to each other and to the main theme of the piece. It took a lot of work and dedication to write this 16+ minute orchestral piece and you should feel satisfied with your accomplishment! Congratulations and thanks for sharing!

Hello everyone, Here is my last little composition, this time for piano and singing. Text full of bitterness by Jules Laforgue, whom I love so much, for this very particular language, a mixture of strangeness and almost ridiculous simplicity. Do not hesitate for any remarks or criticisms. I know I'm not very in tune with my time... And that I still cultivate the impressionist nostalgia somewhat... But well... ok.

It's been a few months since i uploaded this prelude, and it finally has a fugue. Not much to say here, other than that I felt like using a few more fourths, sevenths, and ninths than you'd normally see in a three part fugue.

@piajo @PeterthePapercomPoser @MJFOBOE @MantisToboggan, thanks for listening, it really means a lot to share a thought or two! Your words mean a lot, thank you 🙂 Suffering and death were what inspired this, and I don't know why this music full of optimism came out. Maybe it was my escape from it. Maybe it was a refusal to believe what was happening. Regardless, it's a part of all our lives, and although sad in the moment, it's as natural as breathing. There are some moments that felt incomplete to me. I could have tinkered with the percussion and harp all damn day, but in the end, I'm happy with how it turned out. Maybe I'll revise it at some point, and comments like yours will help when the time comes. But for now, I like how you commented as if reading a story, marking the highs and lows as you typed. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. This would have sat on my computer for years without you urging me to post. This was a lot of work that would have gone to waste if it weren't for you; you're a good man and good friend. Thanks Peter. Thanks for referencing a composer I didn't know! I love the piece you recommended, and thanks for listening to my music, I can for sure hear similarities with what I wrote. 🙂 My man, thanks brother

I don't really have any criticism. I just wanted to share my thoughts as I listened the second time, because to me, this piece simultaneously plays contrasting elements really well! I get a similar feeling quite often (which I refer to as a "sinusoidal mood with varying frequency"). Though I generally don't listen to symphonies much (which is why I can't offer useful feedback), I liked this quite a lot! I really like the introduction. Starts off a little ominous or uncertain, and then seemlessly transforms into something ethereal and happy (which to me reminds me of music that could accompany a character's first few of a destination in a fantasy story), and back again! The grace notes did feel a little odd to me, like a jazzy or humorous element, but that might be a repercussion of system-generated sound more than anything else. Those contrasting elements continue in the next lighter section, and they still go together so well! The happier elements almost feel waltz-like, and the minor tones like a stumble or a hesitant step, if that makes sense. The Tutti(?) at 3:20 reminded me of a scene from HTTYD 2, again with that feeling of our character seeing a new and otherworldly destination for the first time. And then again at 7:04! I thought around 7:50 it would fall into a despairing mood for a bit, but no, that optimistic voice is there again! I really like that because I'm particularly fond of pieces of art that aren't pessimistic (assuming my interpretation is somewhat right). That bit of percussion around 8:35 felt incomplete though, which I think could be developed more as it sound a bit like a metronome, though it also works to give a "pausing" or trailing off effect. 9:20 onwards finally started to feel tumultuous, as if the emotions our character has bottled up are starting to leak out, and yet the optimistic voice comes again. In general, I really like the melody of the woodwinds at 10:42 and the strings at 11:36, and every repetition or variation of it is like a spark of joy or some form of comforting epiphany. I think around 12:50 onwards feels incomplete, as if it's either missing elements or is like a placeholder (relative to the rest of the piece), but the shift in the mood until 14:00 is a nice change! The melody I like comes again at 14:42 with its uncertain partner, nice, hehe. The ending is strong and turns sweet (I love the piano and the harp(?)), though it feels incomplete, as if something is unsaid. Overall, it's a lovely and interesting piece. Thanks for sharing!

Hello This is a very simple piece. I want to express how I think these weeks are going to be for me. Greetings.

Since I have recently delved into this topic, I want to share my blog posts (Spanish/English) about this fascinating method developed by Ärvo Pärt. I always try to write these posts from a simple and practical point of view. In English there are some videos available on you tube, and also the text by Paul Hillier, but in Spanish there is nothing. Tintinnabuli. (I): Essentials Tintinnabuli (II): T voice Tintinnabuli (III): M voice Tintinnabuli (IV): Adding T voices Tintinnabuli (V): Adding M voices Tintinnabuli (VI): Adding complexity Tintinnabuli (VII): Addendum Example:

Hey @Luis Hernández, I love how meditative the music sound. I like it. It sounds simple but very soothing. And I love the meterless meter like Medeival music as I always love Gregorian Chants to be honest. I love the term Peter LoL. I like using a complicated term to describe simple music style like academics who use the term postmodern for every empty arts LoL. Thx for sharing! Henry

This is something I decided to work on for a very limited amount of time over the past two days for the Christmas Event this year! It's a variations piece on the famous Polish Christmas Carol "Gloria in excelsis Deo". Those eponymous words are actually in Latin, but the rest of the carol is in Polish, and I made sure to go in and include all the proper accent marks and special characters which is actually a little tricky to enter into Musescore. This is one of those rare pieces that I wish I had Cantamus for, since it would increase the realism of the piece to have the actual words sung, especially when the Tenors and Basses are in canonic imitation with the Sopranos and Altos. I would really appreciate any comments, critiques, feedback or even just observations that you may have. Thanks for listening and Merry Christmas!

Hello! Here is a short track I recorded for a chapter of my story about three years ago; I thought I’d share it here once I’ve made the score but that hasn’t happened yet, so it might not happen soon, hehe. Track on YouTube. Any comments are appreciated! Unfortunately, I do not know anyone who plays the oboe, nor can I play it myself, so I used the built-in sound in my piano. Let me know if the oboe sounds playable! Edits: 1. I forgot to add that I am mostly happy with this because my priority is how it sounds with the scene it was composed for. However, I think I will change the oboe part from 1:33 to 1:53, because it doesn't highlight the piano and takes away from it instead. 2. If anyone is curious, here is a piano only version.

The harmony and dynamics are really awesome. The harmony starts off pretty tame but I really enjoy how it deviates from the norm, and gets adventurous. I think the choir samples don't really do you justice though about halfway through. And Cantamus may be better for vocalization and accuracy, but most likely wouldn't come close to sounding as good as some higher quality choir samples that can sound out specific vowel sounds. As far as the lyrics, a minor critique (and I only know this because I am in the process of creating lyrics in Music Jotter). When you split a word between beats, the hyphen is used for this split, rather than the space. 1:20, are these parallel 4ths or 5ths? If so, was this intentional? And I really love the part at 0:50. You were able to get this part sounding pretty realistic especially with the crescendo!

I can't tell if you're a troll or not. If you aren't, then hi. If you are, then nice, I approve. Music sounds like a young guitar student being attacked by bees. 😛 You saved me

Here's a one movement symphonic overture, pseudo sonata form. I'll post the score when it becomes legible. I won't pretend, I haven't written for orchestra in a long time, and previous attempts were futile. Any of this is subject to change, so any recommendations from all ages are welcome. I wrote this off and on for months, and honestly haven't touched it in a while since the subject matter was pretty personal and heavy. But, I guess it's time to share the progress. I hope you enjoy

@Henry Ng Tsz Kiu Your words always mean a lot to me. I feel lucky that you stumbled upon this site and that you're always willing to share so much with so many. There are probably few members here that haven't heard some critique or advice from you, and you freely share without ever asking for anything in return. You first posted your giant clarinet piece here, and you had to wait months for anyone to say anything about your music until Daniel finally gave you perhaps the most in depth review anyone's ever written (I still remember him mentioning he needed a dinner break halfway through haha). And while you waited for even the smallest response, you gave your thoughts to damn near everyone. This place needed you, and even though it's traffic comes and goes, you were a fire when it was in a slower season. I noticed you've regained some vigor in your reviewing here lately, and I'm happy for that. I know your personal life was draining, and that caused a brief absence from me seeing your name scattered all throughout the forum. I'm very happy you're entering a new chapter with your career, and even more happy that your composing and performance goals have reignited. Your presence is cherished and admired here, even when we don't always show you how much you're appreciated. I'm very excited to hear your completed sextet, or new recordings of the piano music you work hard to perfect. It's always a pleasure to hear from you. Ah I stupidly forgot to give credit where credit is due! Here's the snap pizz in the score. Thanks, buddy 💋

Hey my buddy, Sorry for being late. I have to my 100% concentration for your massive work before reviewing it haha. It's my third listening before daring to review anything. The opening melody by woodwinds is already very captivating for me. It's in my favourite C# minor!!!!!!!!! I love all those pentatonics used! And then the development with blue notes followed by the strings is very nice too. Then at 1:30 I love your usage of brass. I love your orchestration in 1:40, sounds so magical there with the harp, and then you take a huge turn to the tritone G minor, and then modulate to E minor! Very effective there. I love the more raw sound here, especially those annoying low bass strings. Sounds like Western films to me! And then in 2:52 nice texture with the woodwind playing the themes, harp accompaniment and the bass. 3:17 sounds so nice with the brass! I feel like in 3:40 the strings can join a bit earlier but the development is very nice, probably one of favourite section. I fxxingly love the theme here as it did make cry literally. Sounds like walking through an adventure with those pentatonics. The string melody sounds so marvellous here. Then again the contrasting theme in G minor enters. Affter some depressive lingerings in 7:10 that grand E minor theme enters again. 7:50 sounds so mysterious. Even though I know it's from the opening theme, it sounds so different here!! It's so beautiful and I cried a 2nd time. Like @piajo's great saying: That's the ultimate reason why I don't really like Tchaikovsky haha. The 8:50 theme sounds fresh to me with a bit detached touch, then it starts gaining energy for the next blowup in 9:50. I love the tutti here and also the contrast! The woodwind theme is so nice here, and the B major optimistic theme sounds nice. Then the opening theme returns with variations which I love it as usual. Then that surprising C major chord in 11:25 with the snap pizz LoL! I literally laugh out loud hahahahahaha! It sounds very very familiar but I don't know where the inspiration comes from . Like @piajoit does sound optimistic even though I kind of know the inspiration behind this piece. I don't feel like from 12:50 onwards it feels incomplete. I just feel like the intensity lowers after the great adventure before, just like human being towards death. The 14:00 theme sounds nice in Db pentatonic. The materials sound fresh in a different key there. I absolutely love your ending starting from 15:25! I am shame faced enough to say that the woodwind accompaniment there sounds like the opening of my Sextet😝. The ending is so nice!! I feel like it is indeed a life walkthrough and our mind is loading is rewinding on what our life has done in a lapse of seconds. The only thing I'm not satisfied with is that the piece is too short!!! Well, Beethoven wrote his optimistic 2nd Symphony during one of his most painful period, while Tchaikovsky wrote his Pathetique when he was having one of his happiest period. I can say I feel the sadness in your music and your confrontation with it in the middle and the acceptance at the end. I enjoy it thoroughly. Thx for sharing us such a wonderful piece and journey. Really hope you would compose more pieces like this in the future haha!! Henry

Hi @Aw Ke Shen, Again as a late reviewer (and copycat) I agree with everything @PeterthePapercomPoser and @Awsumerguysaid. The melody in the first section is not interesting enough as in Rach's G minor Prelude. I love your care on both the transition to the middle section and returning to the C minor March. that can be remembered Don't be too worry on that, I literally borrowed and stole from Beethoven in all of my early "works" (and still so!). Thx for sharing! Henry

I haven't posted anything new in ages: I've been busy with school work, so I haven't had as much time to dedicate to composing as before. That being said, that doesn't mean I haven't composed at all. I finished this piece just yesterday, and I felt like sharing it with everyone here. Let me know what you think! 😃

You should see the garbage Christmas music I've submitted lol. Anything you want is fine, this is lighthearted and fun.

This is something I've been working on off and on for the past three years. I still have three scenes for Act 2 to finish, but decided to share Act 1 for now. The original idea was for this to be a ballet, as I wanted the challenge to tell a long story only though music. I included a breakdown for each scene to know what is happening. It is based off of a Norwegian fairytale, with a few modifications here and there. East of the Sun, West of the Moon ACT 1 Scene 1: During a great famine, a peasant (Åge), is searching through the woods, looking for food. Suddenly a great white bear (Bjørn) appears before him. The bear offers to give him all the wealth and food he could ever need, in return for his only daughter. Although troubled at the thought of what the bear will do to her, he accepts, knowing that his wife and other children will starve if not. Scene 2: Upon returning home, the peasant tells his family of the bears offer of wealth and food. His wife (Liv) and sons are shocked that he has traded away his only daughter. His daughter (Tove) is horrified that her father has given her away to this magical bear, but accepts her fate, knowing that it will save her family from starvation. Bjørn comes to collect his payment and bestow upon the family what he has promised. Before their eyes, their shack is transformed into a mansion, filled with gold and endless food. Tove reluctantly follows Bjørn into the forest. Scene 3: The Bjørn and the Tove travel through the woods, with few words spoken. A pack of wolves attack, but are driven off by Bjørn. As they reach the edge of the woods, Tove suddenly sees a magnificent castle. Bjørn informs her that this will be her new home. Bjørn tells her that the only rule she must follow, is to never light a candle during the night. Scene 4: As night falls Tove prepares for bed and puts out all of the candles in her room. She climbs into bed in the darkened room and begins to drift to sleep. She is startled by someone entering the room, she calls out, but no one responds. She goes to light a candle, but then hears the voice of Bjørn, reminding her that she must never light a candle during the night. After awhile she also drifts to sleep. Scene 5: Almost a year has passed and Tove has discovered that Bjørn isn’t the monster she first thought him to be. She finds herself beginning to feel a deep affection for him, just as she notices that he also is falling in love with her. Scene 6: One day Tove asks Bjœrn if she may visit her family, as she is missing them. He grants her wish, but makes her promise that she will not speak to anyone about her life at the castle. Tove returns to her family and they throw a celebration in honor of her visit. During the celebration, her mother continually tries to ask her about what goes on at the castle, but she manages to avoid the questions. After the party has finished, Liv corners her and demands answers to all of her questions. Tove reluctantly tells her mother about the mysterious man who enters her bed each night. Her mother tells her that after the man has fallen to sleep, she should light a candle so she can see who it is. She tells her mother that she is forbidden to do that, but her mother tells her that no one will ever know. Scene 7: Back at the castle, the pattern of events continues as before. During the night the mystery man enters her room, climbs into bed and falls asleep. After a few nights, she decides to do as her mother has said. She waits a long time after he has fallen asleep and then lights a candle. She leans over his body to see the face of a beautiful young prince. She is so captivated by his face, that she doesn’t realize that melted wax starts to drip from the candle. It lands on the sleeping man, the heat waking him from his slumber. He sees her looking at him with the candle and jumps from the bed. He explains that he is Bjørn, and a witch (Revna) had transformed him into a bear, because he refused to marry her. Under the curse, he must spend each day as a bear, only becoming a human at night. The only way to break the curse, was for a woman to fall in love with him, without ever looking at his true face. Only by earning her trust could the curse be broken. After apologizing for having failed her and himself. He must now marry Revna and be imprisoned in the house that is east of the sun and west of the moon for the rest of his life. The room suddenly goes dark, as light reappears, Tove finds herself in the forest, alone.

Dude, this is cool! I'm loving the Afro-American Jazz era-style chord voicings here. The use of Grace notes to accentuate the melody and countermelodies beneath it works well. Creative chord progressions, and powerful transition choices. I also heard you've got good skill with balancing and giving each section of the orchestra a "featured" moment within the work. Which is always appreciated by live orchestral groups, for sure. (I'd know! I used to play in one! Loved getting me a Trumpet solo that ended on a high D6 or D#6. Those notes, specifically, when played well by a trumpeter will just ring out and resonate well after the player cuts off. Love those moments, in my previous experiences. anyway, I got off track. ADHD brain.) Overall, I don't think you've done a bad job here at all man. Props to you for getting out of your comfort zone to try doing orchestra work again. You have a knack for it, like many others on this platform do! 🙂 You fit right in, brother.

Hey there, @Aw Ke Shen! Thank you for giving us this new work. Congratulations on publishing your first work, by the way! I'm sure it is an exhilarating thing (speaking as somebody who has never published anything before 😅). Speaking as somebody playing Rachmaninoff's prelude for an upcoming recital, I have to say it is... well, a little reminiscent, to say the least. I would have to agree with what @PeterthePapercomPoser said: it feels like your work borrows too heavily from Rachmaninoff's, while simultaneously offering only a handful of its own memorable musical moments. Just on a whim, I gave your other works a listen, and they seem to have a more developed and interesting harmonic characteristic that I feel is much more 'you', in a way. Because you were trying to 'thread' that proverbial needle, all of those little 'you' moments were swept away in this piece. That being said, I don't want to be a complete downer: it's an interesting work overall, and you took it differently in the B section and the repeated A section. That change to the original music was a breath of fresh air, and I didn't mind listening to it. But then again, we're just the critics: you shouldn't feel too bad about constructive feedback! It's always good to learn from your mistakes. Thank you for sharing anyway! It was worth my time listening to your work 😊

I think the smaller the ensemble the more challenging it is to create a homogeneous sound, especially with winds. In a regular concert band I'd imagine that (I haven't actually written anything for concert band mind you) what would facilitate a fuller ensemble sound is having multiple instruments per part, and multiple parts per section of the ensemble (Clarinet 1, Clarinet 2, Clarinet 3, Bass Clarinet). Without either of those you have to write knowing the blending capabilities of the different instruments that are doubling each other. I mention Clarinets because I consider them to be the mid-range all-purpose blending instruments in the ensemble, although the Saxophones can also do this, albeit they're a bit brighter. You might get away with using the one Clarinet you've got with the Saxophones to do this, especially since you've got a couple of different kinds of Saxophone which can cover a wider range. It's also important to know the skill of the players in each section. Are the 3 Flute players that you have skilled enough to be able to stand alone on a part? If so, you might be able to get away with writing 3 different Flute parts for more variety in how the piece of music you're writing is arranged both in color and function of the instruments in the music. If the Flute players are at a beginners level then I'd advise to only write one Flute part. That's about as much as I can say on the matter. Thanks for asking!

Hi, the symphony has a definite "Americana" feel to it ... with a touch of Afro-american influences. It reminds of Florence Price's Symphony No.1. It's an interesting work by a African American Woman. I enjoyed performing it a few years back. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._1_(Price)

Hello there! Think of this track a journey through space gone wrong. Let me know what you think!

Hi @NicholasG! When I first played this mp3 I turned my head away from the computer for a second and I thought a police officer was somewhere out on the street blowing his whistle at some traffic situation or something LoL! You've got a great idea and thematic content to build the rest of the piece on. Keep going! I would start by writing as many variations on the main theme as I can come up with and using that to develop the piece. But that's coming from someone who has never written a marching show. Thanks for sharing!

When we would take walks at night, she would always run her hands through the lavender bushes and inhale them deeply. Her face always lit up with bliss from the aroma. I don't see her anymore, but it's a memory I'll never forget. Hope you enjoy!

Hey, thanks a lot for your analysis! It's amazing that you can pick up on these things! I've also listened to a lot of Mahler (favorite being the 4th movement of his 9th) and I even have the scores of all of his symphonies in my bookshelf. I used to read these in the breaks between classes at university.

Hello Thank you for listening. The tintinnabuli technique (by Ärvo Pärt) usually develops the ENTIRE work on a triad and scale basis. Of course, you can do whatever you want and change the chord-scale. But as I am learning as deeply as possible this technique, I am following it ...

Hello @PeterthePapercomPoser Thank you so much for your feedback! Of course, I had no intention to lie to anyone, lol, but it was my first time posting a topic here and I'm not quite experienced, so I may have made a mistake. Thank you for your words, I appreciate it very much. Such comments help me to compose better, and at the same time give me the enthusiasm and zeal to continue!

Hi @Luis Hernández! It's an interesting technique always having to have at least one voice having to use only chord factors. Can you change the chord that you're arpeggiating midway through the piece or are you stuck in B minor? It does make for melancholy and affecting music. Thanks for sharing!

Hello @Vavrinec and welcome back to the forum! I first followed this thread and closed the window and came back to the site later to find that your composition still seemed to be in the "unread" state in the activity list. But I guess that is because you made the title of the thread bold? You fooled me! And because you did I was tricked into clicking on the topic again and listening to this wonderful composition again. LoL I love what you're doing with the orchestration and the inversions of the chords that you're using in the harmony to create a nice bass line for the melody and smooth voice leading. I love how it starts so bittersweet and serene and grows to be very passionate and intense. The effect is especially great with the horn glissando/rip near the end of the excerpt. It would be really fun to play! Thanks for sharing this beautiful and reverential piece.

I personally like to recive any comment either negative or positiveI and it dont have to be elaborate. Simple is good or bad will do. It lets me know that somebody actually listened to my song and it makes me happy😄 NGL harsh comment can sting sometime, but i fell like i can draw usefull conclusions from them. i very rarely comment on other people work tho, and its because of that exact reason u mentioned. I dont feel competent enough to give any input except "i like it" or " i dont like it". Kinda weird now that i think about it. Maybe i shall start posting more of my non constructive criticism... 🤔

Thanks. Yes, unfortunately, I don't know how to make the ritardando effective after the section repeat only. And you're right, the repeats are unnecessary.

This is really nice! Listening to both versions makes me curious about what this would sound like if it's sped up a little bit, played mostly in pianissimo, and completely enveloped in pedals—a bit Ravel-esque. I am tempted to try it out myself now...

Thanks for the feedback! This in particular is helpful to me because I am not really a piano/drum player (I can improvise and mess around on them, but when it comes to sheet music, espeically in the jazz scene, I am useless). I will attempt to play around with the piano more and maybe have a specific section feautring the piano. As for the drums, there is a "solo" section right before the d.s. that I intended for the drums to go nuts through, I just don't have the notation expertise for that. Thank you for your valuable input!

thanks for listening, it means a lot!

As other have mentioned, it's a clearly well written. Interplay with the boucy reeds makes a fun piece. bravo.

I love it!, as you say its baroque, but not quite. Either way, i really love it! Great work! 🙂

Thank you so much feedback! Thanks for the positive feedback about in A section. Yes, I had harmonic planned out ahead time with melodic sketch before I wrote it. In the B section, my melodic plan was to have the cello carry the melody and the middle and upper strings provide middle and back ground material. I was inspired by meldshson. Oops! I just noticed about the f# now. Silly me. I remember this next time.

Hello again @Markus Boyd! I really enjoyed the music! The only thing that bothers me is the default repeats of each of the sections of the piece. I think this is especially unnecessary at the very end of the piece where the listener is fooled into believing the piece is over only to be rewound back to the development section. For me, the piece should only end once. Overall though, a very enjoyable piece! Thanks for sharing.

Hey @Mooravioli! I like this concept! And I could easily hear the original melodies in the rendition! I like the jazz trio idea of a jam improvisational jam session based on classical melodies. Although I think it would be much better executed if you could get an actual jazz trio to play it live. It's so hard to make jazz sound natural if you have to write out all the notes LoL. Great job nonetheless! Thanks for sharing.

Hey there! The playback is a bit funky and I'm not sure how to fix it on Musescore, but I'm not too concerned because I'm hoping for a live performance/recording. My musescore file was fine with the score, so i wonder why it did that on the pdf. As for the shout chorus I did notate it. It's on page 8 of the score! Thank you for the response!

soundcloud.com/user-461764443/sets/the-wacky-adventures-of After escaping from Baroness Desire Organa sadomasochist lair while she was delivering a weird speech, Inspector Looso spent a week trying to understand what seemed to be at first glance a load of pornophonic gibberish words. Thinking that his brain had the power of the Enigma encrypting machine his understanding was that Baroness Desiré Organa provided him the route to the Phantom’s Holy Grail. Since his Citroën 2CV engine was dead, he decided to take his father’s Helicron car build in 1932. However, The Phantom hired the famous private investigator Mr. Peebody to ensure that Looso would not be after him anymore. According to the decryption of the Baroness speech the route should start at Anus in the commune of Fouronnes. Then he had to go to Sainte-Reine in France at the intersection of La Chatte and Le Fion. Then to Montcuq in the commune of Montcuq-en-Quercy-Blanc. Then to Monteton in the department of Lot-et-Garonne to finally arrive at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Porc close to the Spanish border. However, Mr. Peebody’s goal was to throw Looso out of the road in the twisty roads between Monteton and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Porc. Looso resists Mr. Peebody’s assaults and went full throttle thinking that his father’s Helicron was a flying car. He indeed went air born for a while after leaving the road in a curve but ended his flight in a pond as ungracefully as Orville Wright crashing the Flyer in 1908. Will Looso survive to this wacky adventure? “This story is a work of fiction. Any similarity to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events, is purely coincidental. However, The route in France described above is true and can be done using Google Map.” Music: Syrel Photography: Syrel, 1932 Helicron shot at the Museo Automovilístico de Málaga 2024 Musical Notes: I mostly borrowed the orchestral texture and rhythmic from Prokofiev again but probably others. Let me know who.

Thank you for your detailed responses, Peter. I enjoy this forum very much for your presence within it! 🙂

Writer's Block Fanfare.pdfHere's another one for y'all. I wrote this one earlier this year, while I was getting my bearings with composing again. I started with Brass Quintets and other small ensembles, just to get the hang of it, and because c'mon.. Who doesn't like a brass quintet?! As the name implies, I ran out of ideas much earlier than I wanted to. The music on the page was demanding to be what it wanted to be, so, I caved in and just slapped in a resolution to what was already there, and this was the results. Let me know what you guys think 🙂 @PeterthePapercomPoser I fixed the issue with that triplet! Turns out the last muse update fixed whatever was wrong there, because I would've expected the program to flag the score as "corrupt" whenever this was an issue, given that technically, with the eighth triplets, the measure only had 3 beats in 4/4 time... but eh. it's resolved, now! WB Fanfare.mp3

My entry for the Halloween challenge. Hope you guys like it.

I wanted to add that I have recently experienced this phenomenon where I wanted to reject a piece of music that I had already finished on paper while I was entering it into the computer. Because it was sounding so horrible and bad I thought that my composition was just a dud and that sometimes things just don't work out the way I intend them, musically speaking. I was ready to trash the composition but instead decided to just finish entering it into the computer to see what it would sound like in its entirety. It turned out much better than I thought and now I enjoy it immensely! I think I just had to get used to the weirdness of the piece. It was good that I didn't write the piece in the sequencer/notation program/DAW because the immediate feedback of the process of writing it would have severely discouraged me from continuing it. I am glad that I was able to delay judging it until it was finished and not being able to hear it helped me in this process. (In case someone is interested the piece I am talking about is my Arpeggio Etude for Piano). I thought I would share this anecdote in case it might help someone who is suffering from writer's block or finds themselves prematurely rejecting everything they come up with as I have sometimes done. Thanks for reading!

Hello Among the survey options, I prefer to receive constructive criticism. The truth is that this space is very peculiar. On the one hand it is about something specialized such as composition. On the other hand, it accommodates all kinds of levels, from the amateur beginner to the more or less professional. This is good, although on the other hand it can create imbalances. However, it all coexists very well. Also the people who comment the most, have very different backgrounds and points of view, which I think is perfect. What always strikes me is why people, in general, are not encouraged to comment more. Yes, there is the excuse that “I don't have enough knowledge, etc...” It doesn't work for me. Simply commenting I like this or I don't like that is positive. Besides, to reach something as a composer, even as an amateur, you have to listen and analyze many works, of all kinds. That is what this forum gives me the most, to know the work of others.