Leaderboard

Please make sure you take the time to watch our 2024 Halloween Challenge video, featuring our 5 challengers! @AngelCityOutlaw @Layne @JohnElive1 @Jan-Frederik Carl @sned If you want to see more of these types of challenge videos in the future, help spread the word by subscribing, liking, commenting on the pieces, and sharing the video!

Hey man First off, I like this. The music is quite beautiful, and your orchestration is lush and cinematic. This could easily fill the background for some movie. The score is clean and professional looking (to me, a noob), and you give a lot of care to the engraving. A lot of people sifting through submissions of scores will not even take the time to even look at what key a piece is in if it looks like stock music notation software. It seems like you've done all you can for that, so kudos. Do you know Muse? The first movement reminds me of Exogenesis, a three part symphonic type of work they did some years back. Check it out if you haven't, it's pretty cool. The second movement kind of had Yiruma vibes to it, maybe some anime-type inspiration? Regardless, I think you have a talent for bringing out color in your writing. Just know, sometimes color is lost when lots of instruments are playing all the time. For instance, the breathiness of a flute can be hard to hear without subtle orchestration (or lack thereof). Not saying you did that per se, but there seemed to be a lot going on for most of the piece, and interesting color and variety can be found with extended sections of just winds, or just strings, etc. Just something to experiment with in future music. Like I said, this to me was cinematic, like it belonged in a movie or video game. Is that what you were going for? I only ask because the themes and motifs you used were more suited for the background. After a while, the themes got a bit stale to me. Sure, it's in 11/8 which is cool, but lengthening or shortening the 3 dotted quarters and quarter would be cool sometimes. Or breaking up that rhythm. Or giving that rhythm to a different section of the orchestra while new melodies soar over it. You get the idea. The lushness and overall texture was the highlight, but also think about the listener. When should there be a break? How long to make big tutti sections? How many themes do I have, and when/how should I repeat them, or change them, or whatever else? Think of something as simple as a song. Verse, prechorus, chorus, bridge, intro/outro. How many choruses or verses? Does it need a bridge? You mentioned how to lengthen or make changes to voices, and a lot of times just having a simple blueprint of your form does wonders for that issue. It doesn't have to be classical in form, it can be your own, but when writing for orchestra it really helps. I never pursued the path of getting music performed by ensembles... I'm just a simple guitarist, so I can't really help with what some concertmaster or whatever needs from you. But objectively, these are some ideas I had while listening with your question in mind. Good luck to you, and keep us updated on a possible performance. If you do get it performed, do everything in your power to get a recording, because it may never happen again. Cool music, cool pfp, and thanks for sharing

Hello people! I'm working on my next giant variations project. But, in the meantime Mike (@chopin) asked me to write an Arpeggio Etude for him for his upcoming Music Jotter Arpeggio feature exhibit. "Music Jotter just implemented arpeggios (for chords, or arpeggiated chords), and the video will explain the difference between an arpeggiated chord and non-chord arpeggios." The piece is short as I wrote it all completely in my small musical notepad that I carry around in my pocket everywhere I go. Let me know what you think if you have any suggestions, constructive comments or critiques! And thanks for listening. Edit: I'm including a 2nd rendition of the piece that Mike made for me using Music Jotter and 8DIO Steinway Grand 1969 sound samples. Thanks Mike! Edit no.2: Also, check out what I have to say about how I created this piece in Why I Compose Music on Paper. Arpeggio Etude.mid

I also liked it very much. I think it has quite a lot of harmonic richness and the central part, being less somber, is well connected with the rest.by the left hand pattern and some melodic gestures. The modulation is somewhat original (Cm -- B), and it is reached in a peculiar way (by voice leading or, as one would say now, following some neo-Riemannian patterns). In measure 30, the first note in the bass should already be an A#, perhaps

@PeterthePapercomPoser Hello Thank you. It makes sense what you are saying. Since an augmented 6th chord resolves well on the V, which would be F, over Bb. I think there are three points of view: Functionally, the solution you propose seems very possible to me. Structurally, it could be a Gbsus, or perhaps another nomenclature. But I think the key is that this bar runs through voice conduction, even if it cannot be clearly explained, or has more than one interpretation.

If I had the amount of followers on YouTube these audio engineers do, I'd honestly make my own video tearing these apart. The irony of these videos produced by audio engineers stating "the real reason today's music all sounds the same!" is that they are all saying the same things every other audio engineer is. and they're all wrong. This is a subject that really needs an experienced, old composer's perspective on. To his credit, Billy does passingly mention things like 120 bpm, loop packs and a lack of key changes, but his arguments are still mainly "Everyone is recording the same way." like what Rick Beato and Glen Fricker talk about. "No one is recording guitars with real mics! They're all using Superior Drummer! They're quantizing!" etc. Yet they cannot explain why so many different-sounding albums in popular music used and still use the Shure Sm57, Marshall JCM800, Celestion Speakers, 6L6 tubes, and a Gibson Les Paul or strat with DiMarzio super distortions. How come everyone who writes for an orchestra doesn't sound the same? It reminds me of how, back in my electronica phase, guys said not to use presets because "You'll sound like everyone else!", and then proceeded to plop down a four-on-the-floor (the only beat they know) with an offbeat or side chained, straight 16th note bassline just like everyone else. Guy...I don't think it's the patch you chose for the bass that is causing you to sound the same. Stuff sounds the same now because everyone is WRITING THE SAME MUSIC I don't know why this isn't obvious these guys; it should be obvious even to a layman. Like I said in the thread about "what makes a chord move poorly": This thinking in terms of "chord progressions" is one of the things making everything sound identical, as is the dominance of "ostinato". It's just crazy to me that someone out there is laying down "epic" drums and plunking in that "root-third" 8th note ostinato every trailer piece plays on the violas and thinks to himself "...I'll bet if I had my own string library, I'd sound unique!" Granted, I do think that it helps to an extent. I don't think anyone else's mockups sound quite like mine due to me having a rather unique collection, but this by itself would not be enough. I like to lean into genre tropes, but as @PeterthePapercomPoser accurately noticed in my latest cinematic-metal track, the guitar riff is a seamless mix of Phrygian and the diminished scale. Most metal bands today would stick to the Phrygian the whole way through the song. Curious to hear your thoughts. In my opinion, it is a more damning report on the current state of the music industry that everyone seems oblivious to the obvious decline in craftsmanship at the songwriting stage than it is that everyone is using Superior Drummer.

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!

A little miniature I wrote today.

Ah! Looking out over the veranda across the bay - while smoking a cigarette - perfect for a 1930's film score. Quite lovely ... kinda soft "romantic" feel ... for an intimate setting.

Me too! Thanks for your encouragement! Exactly. I had to move on to bigger and better things. I'm already brainstorming some ideas for my next piece. I would love to keep exploring "lush" harmony and chamber ensembles. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed writing for this ensemble. Umm b/c it's the BEST lol. I was originally going to start with just the tonic maj7 chord, but I felt like the dominant-suspended harmony just set the tone better for the rest of the piece. I'm open to receiving any feedback that anyone has - I want to keep improving my orchestration, harmony writing, form, etc. basically everything

Hello @UncleRed99 and welcome to the forum! I think, for a piece that's based almost exclusively on the Andalusian cadence, this isn't bad! You mix up the chord progression here and there to create some variation from the typical i bVII bVI V progression and you have a key change in the middle of the piece from E minor to F# minor which injects some novelty into the piece. I followed along with the score and I noticed multiple places where you have some incorrect enharmonic spellings. Most of the time you have the right idea in E minor having D#'s as the leading tone. But it seems like you forgot about some of those Eb's. Likewise, in F# minor, the leading tone should be E# rather than F natural. But that's just a nit-pick. You include a lot of variety in the individual parts that keep the piece fresh despite mostly following the same harmonic progressions. Great job and thanks for sharing!

I want to preface by saying that this sounds, and looks, very well done. Though, there are some areas of repetition, it's not too much and is pleasing to a listeners ear. The differences in mode without actually changing the mode, in some areas is also very cleverly done! Overall, the sound of it is pretty great, my friend! However (I know, I'm sorry. lol), In my personal opinion... Percussion parts being written in, such as Timpani, Sus. Cymb., Concert Bass, and/or Grand Staff Marimba, I think, could benefit the piece greatly. I kept hearing bits of percussion parts in my head that would've added much more emphasis on some of the phrasing you have here, and would've overall given it a more grandiose sound, all together. One thing I've noticed... (There's more than one phrase within the composition that does this, but this example is just the one that I see, most conveniently at the time of typing this) on page 27 of the score, in measure 197, for Violins 1 & 2, and Viola, the rhythm notation is incorrect for these passages. If you start a measure in 4/4 with an eighth note, it's typically seen as improper to immediately follow that eighth note with a quarter note. You're essentially notating a quarter note, starting on the up-beat of beat 1, and this is confusing to players, and to anyone reading along, since a quarter note will always start on a down beat, in any given score 😅.. Instead, replace each quarter note with 2 eighth notes tied together. It helps the player to subdivide the syncopation that you have, there. Secondly, a piece this long, really should have Rehearsal marks for when/if an ensemble may pick this piece up to perform at some point. Otherwise, the conductor and players will all have to look at each page, or, count bars to find a specific place in the music to go back and practice through. I usually break rehearsal marks up into sections/sub-sections. (When transitioning to a new phrase/variation of the motif, would be section A-Z, and subsections would be A1-10 - Z1-10 to mark areas of note that involve any variation OF the variation sections, if you understand what I mean by that. Take a look at my piece, here, for reference. Look for A, A1, A2 etc.. You'll see what I mean lol)The Long, Arctic Midnight.pdf Lastly, I observed that the Oboe and Horn parts have a lot of areas where a player may strain themselves early on in the piece, resulting in fatigued embouchure muscles before the piece has ended. This would make for a higher chance of players making a mistake in intonation, or even playing higher pitches with any sort of power or emphasis, nearing the end of the performance. There was also a moment there, in the first section of the piece, within the repeat bars, where the Horn has a very long set of tied whole notes. Players have to breathe! (Unless they learned how to circular breathe, but in my experience, as a trumpeter, most people aren't too privy to having any desire to learn that skill, so not a lot of wind instrument players can do that.) To conclude, the symphony you've written here has a very traditional sound to it, the writing is complex and for the most part, done really well. Honestly, the type of music written here isn't something that I'd ever pull off with any effectiveness... lol but Take what I say with a grain of salt... I'm also someone who's been out of the music game for a long time, and only within the last 6 months have I picked things up again. I'm not even back where I "left off" at. I dropped out of college pursuing a bachelors in Music Theory & Trumpet Performance, after the 1st year, and became a mechanic shortly after. So I'm still kicking the rust off my brain for my music theory knowledge. And have also never been "instructed" in composition methods, and I'm more of an autodidact who can read music well, and who likes to poke around on a score sometimes. Someone else here, with a high probability, would be able to give you even more to consider, than I will, certainly. Anyway. I like what you've done here, and just take my words into consideration at your own convenience. 🙂 Goojahb. 😉

Hi again @ComposedBySam! I usually try to stay away from the descriptor "jazzy" unless you're actually writing something along the lines of jazz (which some claim can't be done since jazz is supposed to include some semblance of improvisation). This is clearly a classical work with extended harmony but I wouldn't say that there's anything particularly "jazzy" about it. Lots of different types of music use extended harmony not just jazz (more notably neoromanticism). I like how I can hear your individual melodic voice in this piece - there's a sense of this music being a relative of your "Escapist" Dreamscapes contest entry, since you used a similar instrumentation of Piano and Cello. Btw - in chamber music the solo instruments go on top of the accompanying instrument. So, in this case, Clarinet and Cello should both be above the piano. Any particular reason you chose to process the audio the way you did? Are you aiming for this piece to be a lo-fi track? Thanks for sharing!

Notice that I said "I perceive this as a bit uninspired" and "I perceive this piece as a-thematic." I'm not accusing you of anything but simply trying to convey my experience of listening to the movement as a listener. I think my experience is valid and telling me that I've "missed the point" isn't going to change it. I offer up multiple theories and explanations as I search for a reason why this may be happening. I usually try to explain why I perceive the music a certain way by referring back to the music itself. But there are also internal reasons for why I perceive your symphony movement this way - that I am myself a very thematic composer. I usually find it difficult to justify the presence of sound in the absence of themes/melodies. I perceive the 3rd movement as definitely being more driven and motivically based. You repeat the motives more here, I think giving the movement more coherence for me. There are some very lyrical sections with long leading melodic lines in the middle slower part, with many contrapuntal lines interweaving. There is some beautiful interplay between the Strings, English Horn and French Horn. There is also some striking use of dissonance. On the whole I enjoyed this movement much more - great job! Edit: some of those really fast pizzicato passages near the end of the movement seem very unidiomatic and impossible to play!

Hi @GospelPiano12! I'm glad you finally decided to finish and submit this piece to the competition! I think it's important to move on in music sometimes. You might not even be aware of the things you've learned from this composition until you try your hand at your next big project. But if you had stayed in revision mode with this piece you'd never be able to leave this piece behind you and go on to something new and better. I love how you start the piece right away with your self-professed favorite chord - the Gmaj7add6 over A, creating that suspended dominant sonority you like so much. There's perhaps no particular problem with that choice, except that usually composers choose particular harmonies for their effect in relation to the theme or guided by the melodic necessity. If you don't guide yourself by your themes/motives then your piece might just be a collection of favorite harmonies without any semblance of logic. But the themes/motives can be the guideposts for your harmonies and rationalize them. Because otherwise the possibilities of the different extensions and alterations of the sonorities are so great that one can have a hard time picking them. Thanks for sharing and keep going! I'm stoked to hear your next piece!

Thank you so much! I enjoy focusing on storytelling as a key element when I compose. It's really one of my driving forces behind the pieces I make. I've considered trying out MuseScore. I currently use FL Studio. Rcently found out how to change the time signature for a project, which yielded my first experiment with a time signature other than 4/4 in the song in my comment replying to PeterthePaperComposer. But yes, it also doesn't allow a change in time signature within the workspace once the project is set. So instead it'd be using a workspace in 6/8 but placing notes as if it were 4/4 for example to "change time signatures". How was the transition from a DAW workflow into Musescore for you? I don't know how to write sheet music, so, that's always been one of my concerns. Most of what I do is instinctual based on what I've learned so far. But I am always looking for ways to better my composing and workflow!

I personally hear it as being in 6/4 throughout but I can see why you question if it might be in 6/8 sometimes, because your accompaniment figures and sometimes the stresses in the melody end up suggesting 6/8 instead (or 12/8). There is no problem with having a piece that constantly changes meter or uses hemiola prominently. With the concept of hemiola it becomes apparent that it's okay for the piece to even be in both meters at the same time. If you were making a score you could simply group the 8th notes according to which group of instruments is using which meter and which way makes the most sense for counting and displaying the rhythmic information. Some parts would be grouped in groups of three 8th notes and some other parts in groups of 2 and that would be totally fine. But I think for the conductor the piece should be in 6/4 as that is most likely how they would direct it. Btw - great, Halloween spooky music! I love the creepy vibe! It's just too bad that you didn't make it in time to be featured in the Halloween Event! Great job and thanks for sharing!

Gorgeous! You use the voices quite well here. I think this piece really shines in the parts that have rests. I think this is mostly because it feels like you are using the instruments the most you can, and if the harmony doesn't need more notes, you leave them out. You create some extraordinary beauty in those moments. I think your rests really allow the feeling of "Sentimentality" rise out. That along with your gorgeous harmony.

saw this a little late, but still managed to get it in a couple days with something im happy with. definitely leaned into more of a scary atmosphere rather than a lighthearted scare that halloween probably merits, but im not good at that sort of stuff, so i thought i would lean into using orchestrational-ostinato to create a brooding atmosphere. hope you guys like it!

Today I completed the 1st movement of my second symphony. Its my first time writing one in three years... I wish I could have written it a little bit earlier but unfortunately I was busy with some other projects. Please take a listen, and tell me what you think! I've provided two audios, one of them is perfmormed by musesounds, which sounds more realistic, but less precise and too muddy in fast passages. This is why I also included the older default Musescore midi.

Lamentation.pdf 20854795.mp3 Here's a piece that I wrote recently named "Lamentation". It features a Mixed group of instruments that include those found in Concert Bands commonly, a standard group of strings, limited percussionists, and a Piano. It was written to represent some of the feelings I've been dealing with in my life, through the last 4-5 years, given how roughly things have progressed in my recent life. Long story I won't bore you with. But nevertheless, this was, in my opinion, the best way to express those emotions and frustrations without using words, and I feel I hit the ball out of the park, in terms of encompassing that. I'd love to know what the community thinks. 🙂

Hello! This is the "vocal piece" that I was talking about! Its for soprano, string quartet, woodwind quintet and harp. Of course it's going to be a full song cycle in the future, but as of right now, this is the only one that is finished. For context, most of these songs are going to be from the series "Dark Dice" (by Fool and Scholar Production). However, I am planning to do original compositions on the texts from the series as well. As for this song, it is one which a character (Glom)'s mother used to sing when he was small. It is used in a scene where her sister (Gaelle) started to sing the song in his mind through a spell as he was starting to sleep. As always, I appreciate the feedbacks and hope you enjoy.

Travis really nails the theme here and I'm glad that I was able to expand and explore his theme(s) so that I can bring it/them to a much further potential. And I'm glad you like my orchestration too! Thanks for the feedback!

Kia Ora @Ferrum I love this! Like Peter I think the main theme of this song is awesome and I love how you treat it in so many different and interesting ways. I also love you're orchestration and how you share the theme around the instruments. Such a great piece! Nga mihi, Arjuna

Please forgive me for being a bit defensive! It can be difficult not to leap to die for my choices when I feel I’ve done something right, but like I said, there is different art for different people, and I greatly respect and appreciate your following up. This is my favorite movement in the piece! I’m so glad it came across well for you, I’ve had some very mixed reactions to that movement because of the rather unusual form. (Ternary and sonata form superimposed with the sonata form layer have a reversed recapitulation.) Yes they are! I’m aware and I need to fix them but I haven’t quite figured it out yet - if you have any suggestions I’d love to hear them.

Thank you for taking the time to listen and leave a comment! All I have to say about this is that I feel you’ve missed the point of the movement. Yes, it is rather abstract, and that is by design. This movement was originally written as a contrapuntal exercise which simply grew into something more. As such, it simply doesn’t rely on traditional melodic mechanisms or standard-fare romantic period harmonic structures. In many ways this piece has much more in common with renaissance counterpoint than most other symphonic music I’ve come across. If you’re looking for a “big tune” try listening to the finale, though if you consider this first movement incomprehensible then you may have a difficult time understanding the form of the finale. As for the accusation of, “indiscriminately entering notes into the sequencer,” I take some frustration. You do not know my process, so why insist on saying something so blatantly polemical? I fail to see the value in repeatedly saying things like that, as well as calling the music “a-thematic.” For your information, this movement took me nearly 8 months to complete, it was a tremendous amount of work, and I don’t take what seems to be largely unjustified criticism lightly. If you don’t like a piece of music, that’s fine! There’s plenty of music by very famous composers that simply doesn’t speak to me that I largely find no value in. Not all art is for everyone, we all have different things we prefer over others and I would hate to be someone that would force you to listen to something you don’t enjoy! But with that said, find something more grounded in the score to criticize than something along the lines of, ‘well, it’s not Tchaikovsky and there’s not a big obvious melodic gesture so the composer must not know what they’re doing.” (Yes I realize that’s not word for word what you said, but it’s not exactly far off either.) Again, thank you for taking the time to listen, as well as giving me the opportunity to spell out my feelings toward critics. 😉

Hi @olivercomposer! Great piece and tutorial! To clarify, I think that the part between 0:20 and 0:52 should be in 6/4. The reason for that is because the harmonic rhythm and phrasing seems to be encapsulated in 6 beats not 3. But the rest of the piece does work with 3/4. Thanks for sharing how you made this!

Hi @mercurypickles! 1st movement - I perceive this as a bit uninspired. Throughout the movement there is scarcely any chromatic inflection to the material. It's mostly diatonic and falls flat in sustaining melodic interest. I just finished listening to the movement and I can't whistle or hum a single theme. I think it's not very memorable because the pitches have been treated a bit indiscriminately. It lacks direction from the material itself. The crescendi and tutti sections aren't justified by the melodic material and instead serve to ornament a piece that lacks drive and direction. On 2nd listen I think that you start developing and over-complicating the orchestration and counterpoint before you allow the listener to really absorb the themes first. That might be why I perceive this piece as a-thematic. This might also arise out of just indiscriminately entering notes into the sequencer. It doesn't seem like you've streamlined this composition to really achieve its maximum effect with the notes you have. There is both not enough repetition and too much repetition. You repeat mundane and unimportant seeming ostinati while creating giant crescendi that don't really lead anywhere. But you don't seem to repeat (repetition with variation is very important in establishing the main themes) the themes enough for them to seem substantial and important enough to the listener to be remembered. It gives the movement a sort of sense of marking time. These are my thoughts about this movement. Thanks for sharing!

Awesome video @chopin

Thank you so much for all of the advice! I used to play cello, so did read sheet music for a while. But, fell off of learning it. So it's definitely been a while since I've had to read sheet music. I appreciate you taking the time to help! I definitely want to keep doing whatever I can to improve my skills to better tell the stories I want to convey. I definitely understand where learning to compose for an actual, live orchestra would be one of the more difficult parts. I've been trying to look at pieces as less "this is your part, and this is your part" individually and make them more whole where all parts work together. I'll definitely begin looking into resources to get reacquainted with sheet music and learning to write it.

Yeaa me too! When I heard the original song for the first time, I knew that I had to lean more on the mode. You might've also noticed that I was switching between Dorian and Melodic since they're so similar. I really love the main theme. So yes, you're correct! I'm glad that you feel the same way as I do because I plan to explore more of the other songs' themes in this way, each with a different twist of course. Appreciate the feedback and thanks for commenting!

I've been able to read music since early childhood: so switching to MuseScore wasn't such a big deal for me. The challenging part was learning to write for orchestra, when it's going to be played by actual musicians. I was much more familiar with piano scores; but for an orchestral score, you have to understand the nuances of all the different instruments. Otherwise your score may be unplayable, or very difficult to read. (E.g. Understanding which pitch slides can be played on a trombone, or how to notate different playing styles in the strings.) As a sheet music novice, you won't find it quick or easy to learn; but I would encourage you to do it. Like learning a second language, it's always going to be a useful skill. You can probably get everything you need from You Tube and Wikipedia; but it may take several years to become proficient. Since you obviously have a natural flair for composition, I would say it's worth the effort. Good luck! Alex

After a bit of a dry sepll, I finally finished this piano sonata which is intended to be in the Mozart/early Beethoven style (I'm a big fan of Beethoven's early sonatas). I had finished the first and third movements awhile ago and only recently finished a version of the second movement which I am still unsure about but welcome any impressions.

Thank you so much @Rich, I really appreciate the nice words! I was not considering expanding it (I am always reticent to expand works as I am afraid of making them worse). However, this is becoming my favorite piece the more I listen to it so I am considering turning it into a large ternary form. Adding a contrasting binary/ternary theme in the major mode or maybe the VIb and then repeating this section (but shorter). However, I feel it is still above my level so probably I will take it slow and try to come up with a continuation and compose it without rushing. I hope I can make it some day! I did not know Janacek but I listened to his "Idyll" while working today and I really enjoyed it! I will give it a listen again one of this days, it had quite some beautiful moments. I really like your suggestion and I agree it would probably sound better. That said, the midi file plays the accent too loud so in a real performance it would probably sound softer (but still loud, though). Maybe you are right and it is probably better having a softer more dissonant chord. I will give it a try in the future to see if I find something that I like and does not disrupt the lyrical flow. Thank you so much for your comment!

Thank you for the warm welcome and a response! I am currently playing in a jazz band and have taken inspiration from a few pieces already. I am just nervous that I'm going to take too much inspiration and end up accidentally stealing someone else's work. I'll definitely post any updates I have! Thanks!

Hi again @Ferrum! I love the Dorian flavor of this song! I think you really lean into the awesomeness of the main theme in this piece. The quiet portions of the piece (right before 3:00) really prepare the listener for the following excitement and intensity which you execute beautifully here. That middle portion after 3:00 is my favorite because you explore some more distant harmonic areas while still staying true to the original melody. Great job and thanks for sharing!

A beautiful piece---worthy of expansion. Somehow reminds me of Janacek's writing for string orchestra--the Idyll. Very nice. I am not a fan of the forte exclamation---perhaps a slightly lower volume long dissonant chord? --this seems to break a wonderful, enchanting mood that I would jeaolously guard.

It is my pleasure. Yes, always keep in mind what the titles of your music. Romance is more fitting than minute. On the note, I would also recommend, exploring basic hamony. Add 7ths and 9ths. Chromaticism. 😄

Thank you for your answer! Sometimes it's tricky to identify a time signature. I used 6/8 time signature in the project, because it was the most convenient to write the notes. I didn't think it could be 6/4... I composed this music piece for a video lesson on my channel. You know, a "how to compose Halloween music with spooky vibes" thing. I feel two beats each with three eighth notes, so I assumed it's in 6/8 time.

Musically it feels very episodic, with moments of high drama, and some vivid tone colours. The first movement brought to mind a battle on the high seas, perhaps due to its cinematic tropes. It starts with a sombre air of tragedy, then becomes more expansive, and morphs into a sort of action adventure movie soundtrack. I found the sudden changes in dynamics quite effective and evocative. It's well orchestrated (better than anything I could do), and I enjoyed your use of sul tasto, Bartok pizzicato, and handstopping in the horns. All these things add more colours and textures to the orchestra. Overall a well heard piece.

First, thank you so much for sharing this with us. Writing for a small an ensemble (a string quartet) is allows you focus harmony and melody and the elements of orchestration: foreground, middle ground, and background. Thus, that is how I will do review and critique of your piece. I appreciate how your passed around the theme between viola and violins: this creates a different timber in the section string. Although it is the foreground, the violins can soar higher than the violas and carry more when the melody becomes more dramatic. Maybe, the pizz with the accent is seem a bit odd.... It is too sudden.. If this suppose to be a minute, I would feel, that double and cello create figured bass line, perhaps.

It’s interesting you brought this up. In the original quartet version of this piece they are half notes (or semibreves) at half the tempo, but they were too difficult to count and always sounded rushed. One of the fascinating things I’ve started to notice now that I’ve had performances of some of my music is that notation can have a profound effect on how performers interpret sheet music. As such, I chose to put it in breves for a more expansive quality. As for the string tutti/unis. issue, I’ve heard it go either way and honestly don’t care terribly about that detail. It’s easy enough to fix, so if someone convinces me strongly enough in the future I may change it. What did you think of the music in and of itself?

It sounds quite nice!

I think it is a very enjoyable, balanced and well-written piece of work. The piano sounds good and the dynamics respond quite well. I liked the Allegro very much, it's lively, always interesting (I even didn't dislike the repetition of the first part, which often bores me. In the second part, the initial part is great, a bit “Bellinian” for the length of its phrases. The following part begins more unstable and takes on darker tints, a good contrast. The part from bar 35 surprises by its march-like character, which leaves a super-mozartian melody in bar 45. The final part also has memorable sequences and a satisfying closing character. I see that the movements are written quite some time apart. Nevertheless, the work seems very coherent to me, which I always like. Although it is not my preferred style, I enjoyed listening to it very much. Thank you.

I like this thought process - I tend to write horizontally and vertically, but a solid line is a solid line lol But that makes sense though, if each "harmonizing" voice is just a solid line that works well against the other voices, then really there's no need to think about chord structure. The harmony will just come from the counterpoint (or the contrapuntal style writing)

Exactly. In my own writing I honestly don't even think about "chord progressions" at all anymore. It is ultimately a very restrictive view on harmony. A more horizontal, contrapuntal way of thinking is almost always better. I just write a line and then thicken it in any number of ways. Sometimes it will be as simple as thirds and octaves, other times you could examine it as full triads or extended chords, sometimes it's contrary motion, sometimes just a weird cluster that worked at that moment. Then I often do the same to different melodies that may be occurring at the same time. I find the results much more musically, aesthetically and intellectually stimulating than just "chords + melody"

I have no criticism, I just wanted to say well done! It's such a simple piece, polished to perfection, and I love it!

Congratulations on completing such an epic and expansive work! I wonder why you chose to used breves (double whole notes)? I don't think these have been in common use for several hundred years, and some people may not realise what they mean. (That said, I have seen them used by Colin Matthews in his orchestrations of Debussy's Preludes.) You could perhaps have used semibreves instead, at half the tempo. In your strings, you have div. followed by tutti; but I think the correct way to cancel div. is with unis. (Tutti is used to cancel a solo, or 2 soli indication.) I'm really nitpicking here: so feel free to ignore me!

Hi Layne. I think you have a good facility with counterpoint in your works, and some interesting dissonant harmonies. You're also very good at creating an atmospheric soundscape, and musical storytelling that takes the listener on a journey. I've had a similar issue with lack of tempo variation, as I was using a DAW that didn't allow for any changes in time signature or tempo within the same project. More recently though, I've begun using MuseScore as a starting point for my composition, which has no such drawbacks.

@AngelCityOutlaw, I'm aiming for a week before Halloween. I'm almost done with the video, and when I am, I will send emails out.