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Thank you for the feedback! I’ll go into the score and label them as you suggest. That’s a good idea! Should have thought to do that, but I get in a hurry to post sometimes and forget the obvious. The Lute is another character, a storyteller named Thom who carries a small harp around with him wherever he goes. I want it to sound more like a Lute, though the sound I get from Note Performer is actually a Mandolin... oh well. It’s not exactly the perfect sound I wanted, but it’ll have to do for now. Just try to imagine hearing softer attacks in the plucking of the strings, which a genuine lute sound would give me (something in between the stronger attack of the mandolin and the gentler attack of the harp string). I also thought about the Classical Guitar, but meh... I guess I’m torn. Seems like a classical guitar would be too much of an Old Western/Spanish vibe, like Desperado (Antonio Banderas) or something. I didn’t want to go there. The lute arpeggiation is representative, at least to me, of Thom telling his tales to the main protagonists of the book. He’s like a window (one of many) into the myth and lore of the world Jordan keeps building in the series, so the presence of the lute is significant in that sense. I have yet to finish the series (to even know what happens), but I’m just composing as I continue through the series as ideas strike me.

Hello all! Here's a relatively short piece for concert band that I wrote over the past month or so, inspired by the idea of a wondrous sea voyage to distant lands. I am hoping to submit this to a concert band composition competition by the end of the month, so I'm hoping for a bit of feedback if possible. It's not an ensemble that I typically compose for, so I'm a little bit "in the woods" here. Let me know what you think -- good or bad! Thanks for listening 😁 EDIT: I should note that one of the main ideas I try to get across in the piece is the shifting sense of rhythms (3 over 4, 4 over 3, etc.) reflecting the swaying, unpredictable movements of the sea.

Sure, nothing you wrote is rhythmically or melodically unplayable if it’s written in an appropriate range. I think you should get Finale, Sibelius, or Dorico, and buy Note Performer. You’ll be amazed by the sound difference. Send this piece to me in .mus or xml format. I can produce a higher quality audio for you that will give you a better sense of what the final product could sound like.

Hi Noah! I've listened to this piece and the Baron von Munchausen piece you linked me to. I have some ideas for you to consider. First, the range of this piece is much better than the range of the Baron, though there are some spots where I think you should consider range issues in both pieces. Why is range so important here? Because range impacts band sound. It's the first thing that can make an otherwise great composition sound like a train wreck in live performance. So I'm going to give you some parameters to consider in revising your work for live performance. Here are the parameters I'll insist on, and you can go back and see where these should apply to both pieces. Also, I highly recommend you review these in a TRANSPOSED SCORE, not a Concert Pitch score. The reason is that transpositions often show you where the most comfortable range is for wind instruments. I'll be referring to TRANSPOSED SCORE ranges, not concert pitch. 1. Flutes - Bottom Space F to F one octave above the staff (yes, Flutes can reach "super C" above that, but these parameters are for comfort of the players) 2. Piccolo - Middle staff line Bb to F one octave above the staff (yes, they can play lower and higher, but unless you know what you're doing, don't) 3. Oboe - Bottom Space F to Bb above the staff 4. Bassoon - Bb below the staff to F above the staff - all comfortable, very wide range 5. 1st Clarinet - G below the staff to C above the staff (anything above that C requires alternate fingerings some amateur players might not know) 6. 2nd Clarinet - G below the staff to G on top of the staff (less skilled players struggle with embouchure issues here) 7. 3rd Clarinet - G below the staff (they'll have to push the air for it, but they can do it) to G (they can reach it, though you may not want to tempt fate too much here) 8. Bass Clarinet - Low D one octave below the staff to second space A in the staff (if you go above this, it better be to feature a soloist) 9. 1st-2nd Alto Sax - Bottom space D up to D above the staff (all safe), though you can take your first alto to C# and C below the staff, as well as up to A above that high D if they're good. 10. Tenor Sax - Bottom space D up to G above the staff (yes, they can go lower and higher, but this is a comfortable range) 11. Bari Sax - C below the staff up to G above the staff (most Bari Saxes can go lower with extra keys, depending on how old the instrument is, but these notes are all available on every Bari.) 12. 1st Trumpet - G below the staff up to G on top of the staff (every first trumpet should have this range, guaranteed, A up to E above it is rare) 13. 2nd Trumpet - A below the staff up to top space E in the staff (I would avoid top space E as much as possible and stay under it) 14. 3rd Trumpet - C below the staff up to C in the staff (consider these are usually your newest, least experienced players in a band, so set them up for success since they pretty much have to know the concert Bb scale). 15. Horn - C below the staff to top line F on the staff (again, you can take them up to G or A, especially if you set them up with a horn "rip" or something, but they'll nail F every time as a high note) 16. 1st Trombone - F below the staff to F above the staff (this is your strongest set of players, virtuosic players can reach the Bb above that high F) 17. 2nd Trombone - F below the staff to D above the staff (this is your weakest set of players) 18. 3rd Trombone - Bb below the staff to D above the staff (they're stronger than 2nd trombone players but I wouldn't tempt fate) 19. Euphonium - Bottom line Bb in the staff to Bb above the staff (all comfortable) and up to F above that for a good section 20. Tuba - F one octave below the staff to top line F in the staff (good players can reach the Bb on top of the staff, anything above that is virtuosic) You'll find that a lot of your ranges for your 2nd and 3rd parts have a huge impact on the attainability of your pieces. Your horn parts in Baron are insane - no offense, they just are, and you need to spend a majority of your time on these. I have a good band with strong representation in every section, and they would harass me over the range issues in that piece if I programmed it. I say this to prepare you for putting one of these pieces in front of a band. You want your players to look at their parts and not experience stress or concern about what is expected of them as players - especially volunteers who enjoy playing comfortably and are willing to occasionally exert the effort to reach pitches outside of their comfort level on rare occasions. Baron is too demanding in terms of range for most bands, and the band sound will suffer as a result, meaning it wouldn't be programmed by as many groups. There are moments where you stretch the range in this piece as well, though not nearly as egregiously as in Baron. The lesson here is that just because an orchestration book or website says an instrument can reach a particular pitch doesn't mean every performer on that instrument has the skillset to reach it. Some players will never reach a virtuosic level of performance on their instrument. Some players will never even achieve a full range of the instrument either. There is a degree of compromise here that, if you're smart about it, will make your music more attainable for your band. The first priority, before your enjoyment or that of the audience, is that of the performer. That's always going to be a very important consideration of the band director as well. As far as the compositions themselves, I thoroughly enjoyed both and appreciate the ideas you're using and developing. My one hangup is how often you cadence with a fermata or long tone between sections. There are even times when you begin to fluidly transition into a new section, THEN you cadence on a fermata or long tone, which disrupts the momentum of the piece and gives us this "stop and start" sensation. Maybe less fermata / long-tone breaks and more fluid transitioning from one section to the next would help. I hope my feedback helps you. Cheers!