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The allegro below was an earlier movement for a wind quartet (back in 2019) that now contains lots of revisions. At the time, I thought it was 'perfect' but almost 10 years later, evidently it was not! 😬 Second movement recycled from another standalone piece I had made for wind quintet originally. The Rondo is a work in progress. Currently working on the C section (minor). I quite like the theme... think it is catchy. String Quartet in C (Allegro).mp3 String Quartet in C (Second Movement).mp3 String Quartet in C (Rondo Idea).mp3 String Quartet in C (Allegro).pdf String Quartet in C (Second Movement).pdf String Quartet in C (Rondo Idea).pdf

@Henry Ng Tsz Kiu, your composing story is lovely - I feel your deep care for your compositions, I can say that taking such a long time to compose certainly paid off :) Well, as of yet, I've never taken time to compose over one week and a half per work. The reason is that if I take a lot of time, I can't complete them, or rather, I move on to another project. Taking a lot of time for composing brings about failure. It turns out recently that my composing style is like "on the spot of imagination", I mean composing if I have a clear vision. This style enables me to create pieces without losing my passion and complete them. Oh, if you consider mixing as compositional time, it would be more than that time because I usually revise mixing after I make a track. Good and curious topic, Grant, thank you. Best, Lithl.

Hi, thanks for listening and commenting. Well, I’ve actually finished the project now. For one thing, I currently prefer to compose short pieces that express exactly what I want and nothing more; I’m not interested in writing extended works or anything like that. It’s just a personal preference right now. The Cantai app has evolved a lot during this time. They introduced what you mentioned: choral masses. And also other languages (Latin, English, and Spanish for Dorico). Although I had to uninstall the update and reinstall the previous version because the new version wouldn’t let me mix English and Latin. Once I finished this project, I installed the latest versions. In the end, there were about seven pieces: prelude, introit, Kyrie/Tuba Mirum, Lacrimosa, Sacrifice, Sanctus, and Libera Me. The texts are taken from classical Latin and all those Romantic poets, Joni Mitchell, and a poem by a dear friend.

Thank you Lithl! They are all good :)

Hi Wieland, This mix of fugal and dissonances is quite unusual (to my ears), but really enjoyable. As already mentioned by others, the contrapuntal material is really interesting, well done! The end in particular (starting from bar 91), I really found profound and full of emotion. And after 3 listenings, I found the orchestrated version: WOW !!! The only criticism there is that I find it a little "too diverse" in instrumentation (if that makes sense). But really: well done, and I liked the Parisian feeling (I really felt I was in Montmartre), which is in line with Paul Verlaine's theme! Did you get any prize for it in the end ;-) ? Cheers, Julien

Score:

I get what you mean :), I made this version of the "score" for myself so I already know how to interpret it but if I wanted someone else to do it I would tell them to interpret freely! I think same goes for the poem, it doesn't mean anything clear and different people will interpret (or recite if we want to compare to playing) it in different ways.

Oh, all right. I also see graphic scores as something like that, but as a composer, you have to be prepared for the fact that the interpretation of these scores can vary greatly from one performer to another. The thing is, some people believe that a graphic score is a kind of PRECISE set of symbols indicating exactly what should be performed. Well, that’s not my idea of musical indeterminacy. The beauty lies in allowing interpretive freedom and giving weight to the performer(s).

Now, it's a time to help someone who wants to discover music - since I was helped by YC members a lot :) I have some examples that would be up your alley. Ludovico Einaudi: Moments of Peace Nils Frahm: Felt Ólafur Arnalds: Trance Frendz Hope this post helps you, have a wonderful musical journey and welcome to YC! Best, Lithl.

Hi I think it's a very interesting piece with an intimate feel to it, which I really like. When it comes to graphic scores like this, I don't have much to say because everyone interprets and works with them however they want. For me, that's an added element of interest.

This is a very interesting idea for a project and something I think many choirs would be interested in performing! Was there a reason you particularly wanted to restrict yourself to "calm, short pieces?" I'm curious what other texts you are thinking of incorporating; these first two are certainly a good start! It's a shame that Cantai doesn't give the vocals a more monumental sound, but it's still helpful for a sense of how everything goes together. I particularly like the little harp arpeggios for their sense of wonder. I'm not sure you need to specify the number of choral singers on the first page of the score. Instruments are good at being loud, so choirs that work with orchestra are good at maintaining membership big enough to balance orchestral forces. And the choral singers generally aren't paid, only instrumentalists and vocal soloists, even with major orchestras. So usually the paid orchestral parts are the only ones given a number of players needed. Nice!

Not sure where you're based. In the US, courts require "meaningful human authorship" to claim copyright, not just human contribution. You did not author the final product, just the prompt. It is possible to claim copyright to your part, but not to the final recording. Suno may have granted you commercial license rights if you paid them extra, but that is not the same as being able to claim copyright. Also, after listening to music created with Suno like this, I'm always less and less worried about AI music taking over. The use of kitsch and corny elements are through the roof, seem to have no relationship to the genre/style of the original concept, and have a redundant, non-developing form. "In my AI ethics course, any user that creates with AI is the sole author." - I am quite curious as to what sort of unreliable AI ethics course would be promoting this, as it's standard knowledge that all writing, graphic, and musical LLMs are only possible because you are not the sole author.

Civilization 5 has some pretty sick music. This is one of my favorites.

Hello, This is such a delightfully bizarre piece. You got such a great touch...to make dissonant things sound good. Bravo. When I first listened to the piece, I didn't really get it. But the musical idea was memorable and stuck around in my head. Returning back after a few weeks, and I don't know...I think I get it a bit more now. My fav part is at 0:11. Those doted notes. I actually typed this comment, had to do some work, and listened to some Bartok while during the work and then suddenly heard that brief idea at 0:11 (your piece) in one of his pieces below at 0:42. I don't think it's "that similar", but your music makes an impression...which is a lot more than I say about some other music.

Hello, I didn't read any of the preamble you provided for your music this time. I've listened to this piece on/off in the last few weeks. Like your other works, I find it very intricate. One gets the feeling like you are very deliberate about your notes. As usual, the engraving is absolutely beautiful. Is the applause at the end from a performance/is this you playing? 1:38 is very nice. I don't know why but the main theme sort of reminds me of something I might hear from a Pokémon game (ahhh I know, maybe this is not the feedback you want to hear for your elegant, pristine works!) Generally speaking I found the harmony to be a bit weird. Not in a bad way. The song comes off written in a way where it's obvious you know how to use conventional harmony. I guess perhaps you have found/looking for your voice? I can't tell just yet...probably need to listen to a bit more of your music to find out. I find that your music does tend to be a bit muted from an emotive point of view. I don't think this is intended to be a criticism...it just doesn't feel that emotional to me. I hope that makes sense. Perhaps it's a compliment? The music feels really deep sometimes, but the weird random harmonies throws me off a bit. My ear isn't really that used to all of it.

Hello, Looks like you are on the right track to composing music! You didn't really ask for any specific feedback, so I will just throw some initial thoughts that come to mind. The piece is sort of long enough (almost 2 mins) but doesn't really move too much from your chord progression. You mentioned something about "listenable". I mean, I only have 2 mins of material to work with. I hope that you aren't trying too hard to focus on playing it too safe. In my opinion, you really gotta take risks. I always remembered my second composition I ever did, I felt like it sounded weird and disliked it, but my brother really always encouraged me to go further with it, since he found it more "interesting" to listen to. Somethings to consider - adding intro/outro. Often times, adding some sort of development section really spices things up. It's no coincidence that most pop music these days might throw in a bridge right before the ending of the song. It's a tried and true formula. So yeah, I would really look at the structure of your piece, that's the main thing that really stands out perhaps as being next steps for you... One of the core compositional techniques is to be able change things. Change the rhythm? Change the chord structure? Change key even perhaps? Then you get into more abstract ideas...change the atmosphere/change the where the listener is listening/change the genre?? I hope you keep writing, cheers!

Maybe a little bit yes, I think most of what I write imitate or tries to imitate baroque style, even if I don't really intend it 😆. I didn't really knew how to write something longer/with less repetition on so short "theme", that was I think main problem here... If you could write, what could be done to achieve this, it would be very nice :)

Hey @Wieland Handke ! Thank you so much for your review! I always want to reply but I have been sick for almost two weeks (still so) and threw up twice 2 days ago, and also digging myself into Scarlatti so I am not that active in this forum recently. Whenever I write I never expect how long a piece would be, as I am not writing for any competitions/commissions. I always say that I am selfish and I always write for myself instead of any other people. I write to express myself and I will let the music grow and speak for themselves. The duration of "my" piece (if they are really mine) is not what I the mere labor barer can control. What I have to do is to make sure the music express itself out fully, resonably and coherently, with technique and care and honesty only. I didn't choose the instrumentation either; the 1st inspiration popped out during a night when I woke up from sleeping, in the sound of a String Sextet which is the opening of this piece. I have no choice but to follow my inspiration haha. I even (unwillingly and forcefully) write 6 part fugue thx to the Sextet medium, as if I write for any other medium or instrumentation I wouldn't have dreamt of myself tediously writing a 6 part fugue! This shows another aspect of how "selfish" I am as I only write for myself, I never care for the feeling of my listeners! :) I don't think of any imagery for the beginning but I think yours is an apt description of it. What I was thinking then was human represented by freaking violas immersed and resonated in Tao by Heaven (represented by Violins) and Earth (represented by Cellos), that's where my shameless subtitle "Heaven, Earth and Human" bases on. The fugue is in 26:33 of the Youtube video for the whole Sextet, or 11:53 in the 2nd movement audio. Thank you so much for listening to the Sextet and remembering the piece even it's a year ago! I really appreciate it! Henry

Fellow period composer here. Although i'm specialized in renaissance and early baroque music this is quite lovely! It's incredible what you did, the piece is quite long aswell, i have tried doing similar pieces but i always give up, seeing this makes me quite happy. Bravo!

I listened to your waltz. The concept strikes me as interesting, and so does the way you work with harmony: you clearly try to move away from conventional progressions. The semitone relationship between the triads sounds interesting and vivid. But, purely in my opinion, it isn't very well realized here. If you make a signature feature out of this progression, it should be carried through the whole piece, very clearly and consistently. Yet in bars 6–7, and again in 9–10, you break your own scheme, and the piece goes from interesting to a bit dull. If you had held on to this harmonic ostinato (G minor and F-sharp minor), it would have come out much more convincing. Good luck! =)

I've updated playback now. Continuo is probably not very correct in meaning of voice leading, but it would take triple this time to do it... Also the score had some minor typos in choir words, so it's also corrected. I don't know if I should change keys for choir, so I let them stay like this for now. Waiting for further things to improve here or in next works.

listened to your quartet and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's a finely crafted neoclassical piece. You've both preserved the style and built a very clear form, which is extremely important for works of this kind.

I listened to your composition and enjoyed it. It has an interesting image, and its musical language is simple but not boring. The form is good, too: a well-proportioned ternary structure with a recapitulation. Best of luck in your future work :)

Your composition doesn't sound terrible at all; on the contrary, it's interesting and cohesive. But yes, you're right: it's technically not easy to sing. It takes a very strong vocalist. Could you tell me how you recorded it? You've intrigued me with your remark about an AI performer.

I used older ones just for fun/to learn to write in various keys. I can always change them, I forgot about it to be honest 😅

Another point about the score, I'm not sure what has happened with some of your clefs. I also use Musescore, and there are indeed work arounds for lots of things! A great first effort at a longer work!

This and the following movements all toke a good 2 2/1 years to write

This is so good. I'm sure that you have a wonderful musical nature - the reason I think so is clear: this piece has so many musical factors and combines them with a progressive rock style avant-garde element very well. Probably the reason you didn't get feedback is that this piece covers a controversial topic, I guess. Also, a nice picture. I prefer the second one from the top: for the others, I know what you are trying to do, but the surrounding elements do not highlight the rabbit in the center. If you upload the second image to YouTube, it would likely draw people in. By the way, I want to ask you, how did you make the drums? Is that a VST, or did you play them yourself? Well, overall, this sounds amazing. Again, I admire your musical creativity. Some parts of this piece have a beautiful tune yet with chaotic noises. At any rate, we can enjoy plenty of wonderful melodies and developments. Keep up the great work!! Best, Lithl.

Hello, I am looking for more contemporary piano music with the following keywords: peaceful, pensive, sensitive, emotional yet simple. For example: August Hirv Jane Avril Akira Kosemura etc.

Hi @PeterthePapercomPoser , What a strange sort of work, mixing modes like that. The result is however astonishing, really well thought and nice to the ear! The principle reminds me of Etudes (like Chopin's or Liszt's), complex pieces intended to "improve your technique", but which are also real pieces in themselves. So to your question: yes, I feel you've gone beyond the simple exercise, clearly. Must be complicated to learn though (due to the dis-harmonic aspect) Thanks for sharing, Julien

Hey Tunndy, Some feedback: I like the beginning: the rhythm, the darkness, really cool! Bars [7-10], really not my favourite section. I like the change of tone bar 28. I agree with Tristan that having forte everywhere would deserve a bit of nuance... In general, in enjoyed it, thanks for sharing! Julien

No, that idea hasn't crossed my mind :). Besides, I don't know the technical capabilities of the accordion very well.

Thank you Luis! I sort of felt like adding the score as some sort of behind-the-scenes kind of thing, it was done before the recording and I practised by following the "score" and improvising around it. I felt like adding it since it's part of the process and if someone has critiques they can maybe point to those in the score... Then again, it's a new thing I'm trying! Thanks! :)

Hey again Vince! I like how this one sorta starts like an invention. It also has a certain dichotomy between major and minor that's really interesting. Like I didn't perceive the main melody in the beginning to be in F# minor, but the piece is clearly meant to be in that key since that's how it ends. Also, just from listening without the score, I wouldn't have known that the piece modulates to Db so very smooth transition there. I would perhaps make sure that the tie from A natural to Ab at the key change with a slur over it is clear that you mean that to be a different note, not just a continuation of the A natural (perhaps a courtesy accidental might be in order). But that's just an engraving nitpick. Thanks for sharing!

Hey @Thatguy v2.0 ! I like the unusual palindromic structure of this one! I feel like perhaps giving this one a heavy reverb and perhaps a delay effect as well would make it sound like some kind of a cave level in an RPG which I love. It has a clear sense of tonality despite the adventurousness, both starting and ending on an A minor 7th chord. And there seems to also be that strange dichotomy between the tonic and it's tritone (Eb) that we talked about. This is a very interesting piece from a lot of aspects: melodically, rhythmically, harmonically. Great job and thanks for sharing!

Hey @Thatguy v2.0 ! Stoked to hear another installment in your series of Preludes! I've been meaning to give them a review for a while now so here it goes! First off - I love the idea of these recurring flourishes that you insert into the piece! I think my favorite one is in bar 20 - that chord is just so weird - I think it's just an E5 b9 right? That's such an unusual sonority! I also like how the piece takes its time getting started - it feels like the real melody doesn't actually emerge until bar 16. It seems (at least to me) that all the other melodies are variations of this central and pivotal idea at bar 16 which is the prototype/main melody in the piece. But it emerges organically as if from out of a fog which I love! Great job on this prelude and I'm stoked to hear the next!

Sad to know there's an end! "If I'm going to give a deadline to our love, I hope it will be 10 thousand years..."

@Omicronrg9 Hey thanks for checking this out! Agreed, and I will say that this is such a pain in Sibelius. I can't tell you how many times I attempted this, but it needs to looks better. Speaking of attempting, I rewrote this so many times. It was to show major/minor on Db, but I was afraid of the key signature changing. I changed it to all flats, but I was confusing myself thinking in Dbm (I'm a noob). I then changed it to all sharps, and that was a little better, but back and forth from C# to C#m hurt my brain too (super noob). So in the end, I said screw it and just used Db/C#m 😁 Thanks for the kind words! It's a goal to have them all different, they're bound to appeal on all types of levels :) The end is 24 Thanks again for listening Daniel, looking forward to hearing more of your music!

Have you thought about transcribing for accordion? Mark

I was just playing around/jamming a bit to your tune and at 0:19 it seems possible to perhaps change the left hand into C major chord, though you may need to change a few right hand notes if you want to "fit" the new atmosphere. From there, you could do something like F major, followed by G major and back to C major. This would sort of fit the whole i IV V thing you got going in the A minor key. If you want to get really fancy (keep in mind my music theory may be not the most accurate here)...I sometimes think of the ii chord (D minor of C major as a substitute for F major. So you could add that in, though I'm not sure if that works for your piece. Sometimes, making the F major (the IV) into a minor, so F minor sounds good. I tried jamming to your ideas a bit with the F minor and it sounds okay I think. Then you have to make a decision...to stay in C major or return to A minor. You could play G major if you want to stay in C major, or get the E major going, if you want to return to A minor. Sometimes it's fun just to switch the key suddenly and without warning (my hero Schubert does it often), so you can just slightly randomly turn the A minor into A major if you wanted for fun. A more advanced idea would be to switch the key using one note that it's same (I didn't do this on the recording). So if you are playing like an A note over and over...A is also in F major and also in D major, so you could sort of just "slide" the music into those slightly more unrelated keys that way too. Voila! You instantly have variety. I recorded myself noodling around a bit so you can see. I'm just an amateur composer, and I'm sure that you can get much more "precise" and robust feedback from others on the forum. Example.mp3

Thanks @Grant Weep for introducing me to this Bartok piece! I already love the Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta and this ensemble is right up the alley of that one. I am hard pressed to find the similarity between my dotted quarter and eighth note figure and this piece at 0:42 - I had to listen really hard to even detect what it was that you meant. But I guess there is a miniscule similarity! And I'm always glad to be compared to Bartok - one of my favorite composers for sure. Now I'm going to have to check out the rest of the movements of this Sonata! Thanks for your review and recommendation!

Hello @Grant Weep , thank you very much for this generous feedback! Oh, no, unfortunately this is no live performance and I am not playing either. The applause – I know that is somewhat embarrassing – is included for technical reasons only: I needed some „sound“ or „noise“ at the end of the video for the „outro“, i.e. when presenting the final slides and Youtube-cards. One the other hand, I had sometimes a problem that the video was stopped before the final chord if there were no such „trailing noise“. In some other of my videos I have chosen other „outro sounds“ which are perhaps more appropriate, such as the song of the nightingale or steps walking through autumn leaves or a street scene with an accordion etc. Haha, that’s interesting and funny! Since I’m not familiar with Pokémon games (or video games at all), this reminiscence must be completely unintentional. To be honest, I think I stuck very closely to my inspiration—namely, the fugato from Prelude BWV 852a—but if it’s not that obvious, that’s totally fine with me. And yes, I also particularly like the passage around 01:38, since that’s the section that really really brings some emotions of joy and summer – while the rest of the piece is much more melancholic. Thank you very much. I find this last paragraph particularly interesting. We’ve already had an interesting discussion here in the forum on the topic of “personal style”, and this kind of “personal voice” can only be perceived and evaluated by the listeners, not by the composer himself. And if you, on the one hand, find the harmonies somewhat “weird” or “unusual,” and on the other hand recognize them as rooted in traditional harmonic theory, I consider that a great compliment. I initially based my first steps in composition on the model of Bach’s contrapuntal works, but now, after some time, I greatly appreciate that my works are not (longer) considered as exercises in imitating Bach’s fugues, but rather reveal influences from other, more contemporary composers, without coming across as completely “atonal” or “destructive”. My compositional approach—that is, my method of working—remains contrapuntal and therefore very “head-heavy“, which may explain the “muted” emotional level (or, perhaps, it is a matter of my (German) nationality?).

Hello, They sound real nice. Sort of feels improvisational, reminds me of something that I might hear in an indie movie or something. Felt a bit cheesy at times, but not in like a bad way, you know? Good cheese.

Thank you so much for review I will look forward it

For the section issue: open the three-dot menu at the top right of your post, choose Report, and ask a moderator to move the existing topic to the appropriate vocal section. That keeps the music and any replies together; there is no need to delete it or post a second copy.

Thank you, I'll update playback file when I make the continuo.

Welcome! On the continuo playback point you mentioned, a practical workaround is to make a separate playback copy of the score and write out a simple right-hand realization for the harpsichord there. Keep your intended bass line, and start with just one short section or cadence before doing all 18 parts. That lets you hear the harmonic support without having to make a fully realized keyboard part compulsory in the performers’ score. For checking the counterpoint, try playing the bass with just one vocal line at a time, then add the other voices. In MuseScore Studio’s Mixer (F10), you can Solo more than one instrument together. Temporarily reducing reverb can also make entries and note endings easier to check; restore it afterwards for the listening version. The controls are documented here: https://handbook.musescore.org/sound-and-playback/mixer These are suggestions for the mock-up you described, rather than a verdict on the composition. A short excerpt with the continuo realized would make it easier for readers to discuss the harmony you actually intend.

Hi Thatguy. I like the contrast between the arpeggiated chords and the almost solo voice passage. Both of them combined act as the structural pillar of the piece in my opinion, and you make good use of them. It may be true the midi doesn't do it justice. Engraving-wise I'd suggest putting these wide arpeggios in small notes so it's even clearer where the molto rubato acts and where the piece gets a bit more rigourus in tempo. I don't quite get the switching between Db and C#. Why is that? That aside, the prelude works for me but it wasn't my cup of tea compared to other preludes I've listened from your list. It's soft indeed and pleasant to my ears, especially the middle section in which the (1) seems to wander around chords. How many preludes are left? Or are they not gonna have a set end? Best regards!

Hello all! This is a piece I wrote for college. The first movement was performed, and I was supposed to have the rest performed before the end of the month, but unfortunately, the ensemble that would have played it got too busy. The piece is kind of in a similar vein as my first large scale work, the Seven Sorrow; a program piece based on a traditional Catholic devotion. The difference is, while no other composer had written a piece on the seven sorrows, there are composers who have written pieces about the stations of the cross (Liszt's "Via Crucis" comes to mind), though I approached it quite differently, I think. Rather than a movement for each station, I made it a 3-movement brass quintet where each movement represents several stations. The first 5 stations in movement 1, the next 4 in movement 2, and the final 5 in the finale. The stations are shown both in the score and in the video with pictures. The Stations of the Cross for Brass Quintet - YouTube Stations of the Cross.mp3 Stations_of_the_Cross_Full.pdf

@Henry Ng Tsz Kiu As always, you performance is lovely to hear. That makes sense now @Thatguy v2.0. I forget that programs are not smart enough to understand how we play the piano. :)