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I'm working on a short soundtrack piece where two rival characters meet after a long period of time. It builds off of a rising tension between the characters, resulting in a dramatic clash between both of them and one character bitterly defeating the other. I'd appreciate any tips or criticism I can get, especially anything about the section I have done at the moment and what you think should come next. I've been stuck on this for a few days and will greatly appreciate any feedback given.

After this kind of religious period of barely two months of inactivity that seem to divide my calendar between a fugue either the next or the previous one, I have been able to finish another fugue. Even though harmonically it might not even barely match with the archetypically baroque school fugue, in terms of contrapunctal complexity it may indeed be my best so far (despite the yet pretty noticeable lack of augmentation, diminution or inversion, to name a few of the many contrapunctal strategies I have still to put to use). Please note that by saying my "best" I'm only and exclusively comparing upon previous fugues of mine, and not otherwise. I also finally got rid of the harpsichord soundfont I was currently using upon having got to a point where I began utterly disliking it for some reason, and so I returned to the original MuseScore soundfont which turned out to be quite a relief. So, in the realm of soundfonts and artificial soundbanks: Farewell, harpsichord, and welcome, "Mellow Grand Piano"! (...I guess?). I would kindly encourage anyone taking their time to listen to this fugue and thinking on replying with their opinions and objections (likely tons upon tons of forbidden parallels, potential contrapunctal "sacrilege" of sorts (?), etc.) to also include how this new soundbank I have lately started using sounds to them in contrast to the previous one (which you can discern upon by listening to any of my previous fugues, all using that harspichord soundbank I am mentioning here). Thanks to everyone in advance.

Hello all, I am new to this community that I just found! Here is a soundtrack I made to represent the coral reef and in general, the ocean, with the waves 🌊 played by the strings. It may be quite repetitive in the beginning and middle parts but towards the end I decided to experiment with newer and more interesting chords. All the VSTs I use are free (BBC Symphony Orchestra and Spitfire LABS). Any feedback or criticism would be much appreciated!

Wow, is that a koto you're using in this? It's a very high quality recording, I can't tell if it's VST's or real instruments. Makes me wish I knew more about foreign instruments. Also .. is that a bamboo flute sound you're using? A very nostalgic mood you've created here.

Ah yes, I meant to say 'sample libraries' but VSTs would have been clearer. Gattaca is one of my favourite scores and the film is also really good too.

Thank you so much for the insightful comment! Just one thing, I did not use samples to compose the piece they are free synth VSTs from Spitfire LABS and they do sound great. I did not know the piece by Micheal Nyman gonna give it a listen and maybe discover new music!

Hi James, I really liked this piece. It does have a very Japanese sound and I liked the melody you created with the piano. Regards, Alexis

Thanks for sharing this, it's really nice! I enjoyed how it transports you away so easily - I can definitely see how it represents the ocean. I can imagine this working well as a film score. It gives off the same kind of vibe (in my opinion) as the score to Gattaca, by Michael Nyman. You've done a good job of using those samples too, they sound realistic.

Hello everyone, I was a regular user back in the late 00's and got a big boost in my composition career as a teen from this site. Some people may remember me. In the years since I was active, I've done quite a lot. Some years I've been a composer and others I've been something totally different. I got my Composition degree from Memorial University in 2014 and performed in St. John's, Newfoundland for about a year before changing careers. I've done pretty much the same thing while neglecting my musical past for about 5 years, and now since the pandemic I've rediscovered my old projects and started practicing my instruments again. I want to show off some of my work! The first piece I'm going to present is Recoil for piano trio. I composed this during my downtime between semesters, without much guidance and following basically my own intuition with a lot of mixture, chromatic mediants, contemporary tropes. It turned out successful and I was very happy with the performances it got. Anybody who already knew my music will notice that I did not move away from my video game style - I embraced it for this project, while t's not quite so blatant in other works I've done. I composed this piece to have something I would love - and I hope that comes across. Here is the performance from my graduation recital - (it was a point of pride for me to feature a piece my teachers had not seen).

Hi All, Thought I'd share this work in progress in case anyone has any input. I have already completed the final movement and may add a third movement (minuetto). The last movement is currently in only 4 parts and I will add a horn at some point. Thanks

Just composed this piece "Come away, come away, death" for SATB choir, a really short piece so hope you guys can have a listen through.

Hi Barcarolle. What I noticed about your invention piece is that you sometimes unnecessarily use out-of-context accidentals (like the E natural in measure 4 beat 4 in the right hand) when you've already firmly established yourself to be in the key of B-flat. I know inventions are supposed to modulate to their dominant key but I don't think you should be forcing yourself to follow this tradition. Your invention just happens to really want to go to the sub-dominant which is fine also. You don't have to compose like Bach. This piece is proof that you can compose an invention that is more uniquely your own and you've proven that you can use secondary dominants to establish various different keys throughout it (like D minor and hints of C). I hope you keep studying and composing more like 'you'. 😃

I am not a counterpoint expert. but, at least initially, if you follows the rules set out by the likes of Bach you'll find yourself in a fantastic spot. Have you studied Chorales? they're a great part in being able to move your pieces forward as essentially any piece can be broken down to a chorale at it's simplest form. As such this will increase your harmonic ear. (which admittedly I need to broaden myself) But from what I've heard aside from some repetitiveness your counterpoint is technically correct. Of course there are stylistic changes you could make since it's very Bach like but that isnt a bad thing in the slightest. My knowledge on inventions is that they do use ternary form (A-B-A) but they change key somewhat freely at the end of a musical statement. this is where your chorales come into play. the theme may freely move between keys but for a B section you should firmly establish the key. usually by a V7 chord. this is a very classical way to do it which is more my area of expertise. Best of luck.

Thank you very much for your complete message, it will help me. I will begin another invention with a better structure. If I understand correctly, for an invention it could be good to use a A, B, A (A = main key, B = dominant key) ? And between A and B section I have to find a modulation chain ? I will also study Bach a lot. Technically is my counterpoint correct ? I learn by myself so I have no teacher to correct me.

Hi Mitchell. The pattern you have for the piano in measure 63 and onward gives me Chrono Trigger vibes! (which if you're unfamiliar is a really cool RPG for the SNES) I love it! I love it when composers take their video game music or rock music inspiration and translate that into classical music which is something I think you've done here. I love how you build ostinato figures - the only thing I miss is smooth transitions between those ostinati and the sections of music that follow them (like at measure 105 you just stop the ostinato instead of somehow transitioning into the next section). I like your idea at the end of restating the introduction - I just think the ending should be at 152 so that the piano and strings end together. But that's just my opinion. I really enjoyed the voicings and harmonies you employ. Great job!

Here are 5 pieces for a game I intend to score: Piece #1: Random batttle music. Piece #2: Victory music. Piece #3: Main character's theme. Piece #4: Dramatic scene music. Piece #5: Music for the final scenes. Thanks!