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This forum update was a big one, which is why I put it off for a year. But I have about 90% of things back. As of now, I just made another update. MP3s and PDFs are back and with improvements. We have proper view counts now (finally!). I will be working on getting our old colors back, and don't worry, the logo will be back too. Hopefully I can also bring back the chatbox, I just need a few more days. Another major update which has been quite hidden, is the integration of a new music notation software that I've been working on for some time. That's why I had to update the forum, I'm getting ready for a release of Version 1 soon. The early adopters of Music Jotter will be migrating here and I'll be using the forums for issues and customer management. I'll also be opening up a subscriber tier (The forum will always remain free but the subscriber tier helps me develop Music Jotter, for those interested in the new technology). Overall, this forum software also should be a lot faster, so hopefully we see some improvements with speed!

I was listening to Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations again after quite some time, and I’ve become convinced that, personally, I believe it might be the greatest work ever written for the piano. It filled me with such excitement and inspiration that I sat down at the piano and wrote a variation of my own. Knowing the story behind this theme—that about fifty composers each wrote a variation on it—it felt like a great opportunity to test myself as well. Because of my enthusiasm, in a single sitting of about half an hour I improvised and came up with this charming figurational variation. I hope you enjoy it and appreciate it.

Hello again! I just finished my comments and am eager to share. Please find this PDF for your convenience! Go to the end of the score to see the final comments. May anyone else on this thread also consider checking out the comments and share your thoughts! M. Neupauer - The Great Lighthouse (ANNOTATED).Pdf

It's that time again! Time for another Young Composer's Musical Composition Competition and thanks to @TristanTheTristan who has instigated this poll! There are a few things we'd like the members to help us determine (and to help gauge the level of interest in another competition): 1) What should the competition be about? To write background music for one of @chopin 's Retry Bro's YouTube videos. Explanation: @chopin has a new YouTube channel! It's called Retry Bros. and consists of him playing Super Mario Maker levels and coming up with entertaining narration from Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Bowser, and other assorted characters. There's also a musical element. So far, Mike has come up with some clever lyrics and used AI to make realistic sounding songs that go along with the video. Now, where you would come in is that you'd be writing background music for one of @chopin 's new videos! To write some kind of autobiographical piece with a paragraph describing how the music portrays the autobiographical material. This one is @UncleRed99 's suggestion. The idea is to "write a piece that simply tells a story about your life, and something meaningful within it. Utilize complex elements to express emotion, tension, or any other desired emotional or mentally relatable expression. Provide a brief summary describing the root of the story being told." @Thatguy v2.0's proposal is for everyone to write a piece about their home landscape. This theme could be called "Landscapes - Soundscapes." @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu bestowed his theme proposal to me so I decided to include another theme in the options: "Sound Mimesis - Acoustic Anatomy". The idea is to use the instruments at your disposal to mimic sounds in your natural environment (although the sounds don't technically have to be created by nature - they could definitely be artificial sounds, but should be mimicked by acoustic instruments). My own idea is for the members to write M&M&M's - Mock-ups, Mash-ups and Medleys. The idea is for the members to take 2 or more preexisting themes from different genres of music and to make mash-ups and Medleys with them. 2) What kind of ensemble should the competitors be free to choose to write for? Solo piano/keyboard or solo polyphonic instrument (such as guitar or harp) One monophonic instrument accompanied by one polyphonic instrument Choice of mixed trio/quartet/quintet of individual instruments Chamber orchestra (string orchestra) Full orchestra 3) How many months should the competition span? (1 month, 2 months or 3 months) The duration of each piece should once again be between 3 - 7 minutes. Reviewing the entries will once again be spearheaded by the members/competitors at large. You are free to use the Official Competition Reviewing Template or you can review the entries in any way you see fit or create a template of your own making! There will be tiered "Ardent Reviewer" badges given out for this event: Featherweight Reviewer - for reviewing 33% of the entries submitted to the event Welterweight Reviewer - for reviewing 66% of the entries submitted to the event Heavyweight Reviewer - for reviewing 100% of the entries submitted to the event We are instituting a policy of not allowing any AI generated works in the competition. Because of this you will be required to detail how you created your piece and submit a PDF score or midi file for the perusal of the staff and members at large.

Hello everone 🙂 My first post here is part one of larger composition I am currently working on. The composition is called The Great Lighthouse and is inspired by Christopher Paolini's book Fractal Noise. Part one is written in largo - A minor and is called Discovery. Please enjoy and any feedback would be appreciated 🙂 Musescore: https://musescore.com/user/60829534/scores/32485457

Hello @Marek , I see, that you have joined the forum recently and now at the first topic you have the fortune – or even the evil – that you’ve received a very detailed review which is not only intended as suggestion on the improvement of your particular piece but useful to all other members in this forum. So I could imagine, that there will be many replies on this topic in the future – perhaps a discussion or even a little dispute about the issues MK_Piano pointed out, especially on engraving. So there is my advice, take that serious, but not personal. I remember on a topic by Frederic Gill where some members had (their own) conversation about details he surely had not in mind and finally was a bit overwhelmed and „overteached“, so that I was a bit afraid he would be too disappointed and would leave the forum at all. Therefore, I now come first to your music, where I only speak from my listening impression: I can really imagine a shore in the morning where the fog is slowly lifting and the sun comes on shining through the clouds. It’s a very calm and serene moment, in which the perception of time seems to be gone away. After you’ve walked an endlessly seeming time at the shore, you turn your head and look back – now discovering the great lighthouse you hadn’t seen before, since it was hidden by the cliffs above, you now have passed. I tell that story to express the sole criticism which I have, and that is the length of the piece in comparison with the things that happen. And in this I can only agree with MK_Piano’s comments on his final pages of the annotated score. Now to the comments concerning engraving: Hello @MK_Piano, thank you for your effort you have put into annotating the score. I think this is helpful not only for Marek, but also to me and many other forum members. There are a few general rules you pointed out which one should follow to achieve a clear score presentation, for example • No dynamics on rests. • Not to prolong notes using ties whenever it is possible to notate otherwise, for example with dotted notes. • No separated rests whenever it is possible to combine them into a larger rest. • No diminuendo to „nothing“ (e.g. unplayable dynamic marks like „pianississimo“). • Some aesthetics (clashing dynamics symbols). And in the examples in that particular score, it is „obvious“ to follow that rules would be a huge improvement. However, as I remember at some of my piano preludes and fugues, there are some situations where I intentionally violated that rules in situations where I find that the score becomes more readable when using tied notes instead of dotted ones or when separating longer rests and put the shorter against the notes of the same length in another voice – to mention some examples. I don’t want to go into detail with this at Marek’s thread here, so I would ask you whether I could discuss that topic with you in the future, for example when I’m about to present that respective pieces here on the forum. One advice I can really emphasize, is to maintain two different scores. One as the „printing“ score to be used for playing from, and one solely for the purpose of recording in your software. I do so with all of my pieces, and the „recording“ score is full of exaggerated articulations, dynamic marks and even micro tempo changes to achieve a satisfying, more realistic recording result wherein I can express my ideas about the interpretation.

This is a very small and simple Fugue i made in one sitting, im still pretty bad at making fugues and baroque music in general, so please have a bit of mercy on me! LOB 53 Fuga.mp3

We already have "Counterpoint Wizard" badge for it! I myself receive it twice lol! We have the badge "Amorous Romanticist" for it, though no one ever receives the badge lol! What is featured in an outstanding Prokofiev writing lol? Only @Thatguy v2.0 himself can be better than himself until Thatguy vUlimited.0 lol Henry

Hello Marek Please don't despair or feel Broken hearted, for trying hard to make a composition be appreciated, for being Special . It is appreciated and special , because its Totally Unique, your the one who created it. Medicine can taste Horrible, and make you feel ill, but in the Long-Term, it can actually help. and its the same with advice from those who are qualified to give it ,and without payment required, so thats a good thing. This is your First Post, and it was good, but MK's advice can also lead you to better things in future posts , so please don't be too despondent There's even greater scores for you to discover , in your future compositions. i wish you luck. MK.............. Im pleased your post was recognized by PeterthePapercomPoser!

Wonderful suggestions! I am eager to see what this one turns out to be. In my opinion, I wish I voted for two genres as both landscapes or autobiographical writing seems very interesting to me. I do like writing for large orchestra, but for things like this, I find the intimate nature of a chamber group or solo instrument befitting for a few minutes depicting spring. Two months seem very appropriate to start a brand new work and finish it.

As smooth as the rolling seas with the fog. -fruit hunter approves! I’m a serious note even with MuseScore basic sounds this sounds amazing. This is definitely a good ballad to program into a concert orchestra and we need more music like this although that I may say that the orchestra is kind of a dying art in itself hopefully in the future change will be made that academic full orchestra’s can be existing and play music by composers and just not arrangers This would sound incredibly beautiful with real instruments or even just muse sounds

I thought I'd share this short prelude I started last year and finished soon after (which I originally intended to use for Valentines' Day this year, but alas...). I haven't been writing much new stuff and am currently working on fixing up a few of my older compositions so this was one of the few things I did manage to conjure up in the past few months. I hope it's listenable? (as for playability, arpeggiating large chords is a must, haha)

I had this doubt long time ago for tying around 16 times or so and all lost lol.... Later just figure out the seniority rule myself haha Henry

Ties between members for the day won are broken by seniority. So that means that Luis won the day because he's been a member the longest - Henry has been a member 2nd longest and you have been a member here for the shortest amount of time which is why you didn't win the day that day.

Hello everyone, I don’t know whether this is the correct section to post concerning „technical problems“ and suggestions, but I’ll try it. Congratulations to the software refresh of the Young Composers Forum! However, since I’m working in the software branch, I know that customers can sometimes be a nuisance because they’re the first to notice what isn’t working or seems not to be working, or when something has changed from what they’re used to. So I'll have to get used to the new layout first. What I really miss – and I am sure I’m not the first one and that the staff will be already on working around that problem – is, that the attachments, i.e. the PDF files with the scores and the MP3 files with the recordings seem to be lost, which is a big problem for reviewers. Apart from that „bug report“, I noticed that there are a number of placeholders which await to be replaced by real pictures to make the forum „colored again“. Since I’m working for a while on my own website – which I would to present to the members of the forum, too, once published – I have done a lot of „artwork“ during the last few month, so that I could contribute a few pictures as well, if appreciated.

The beauty about music is that even simple things can sound complex or can be just as effective. Before you completely scrap your work (as we all know that is annoying to do), with the theme consider writing a 2-bar version, 4-bar version, and 8-bar version. You already have a motif or material to base from. You can do this separately on a manuscript or other file before the main work too. With the accompaniment parts: To Me, sometimes long sustains in the orchestra translate to when I use the sustain pedal on the piano. Where I take the long harmony I am sustaining from my improv and translate it to paper. The French Horns are great for gestures like this, or even simpler, the strings. (Bassoon + clarinets are good too!) Take whatever harmony, divide between the accompaniment instruments and just hit the harmony every few beats or on the beats. It’s probably the most basic way to pulse harmony.

First of all, I want to thank you for the review. - "diminuendo al niente" is exactly what I was looking for, thank you 🙂 Fixing this will be laborious, but relatively simple. - theme - I thought I had a theme, but apparently not, since several people, including you, have confirmed that they didn’t recognize it. This will be difficult to fix, as it disrupts the overall flow and feel of the piece. Actually, I’ll have to redo the whole thing. - accompaniment - This is my nightmare; I’m still struggling with it. Personally, I can’t stand whole notes anymore, but so far I haven’t been able to come up with anything interesting. In any case, thanks again, your review really helped me 🙂 Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

I have just updated the track "Save Them!" to be more complete and correct - I had originally transcribed it slightly incorrectly and left some things out. I also corrected some dynamics so that the Violas can be heard. Thanks for listening!

I'm creating an absurdist world, where the series link together...so it might be weird if you aren't into that kind of humor lol. But I rely on music to help with storytelling. Here's an example of a musical, but I also started doing mini episodes.

Hello everyone! I‘m very excited looking forward to the next competition I would like to participate. The suggestions concerning the the topic in combination with the instrumentation are very interesting, but also challenging. After a quick look, I’m not really sure yet which topic/instrumentation I would prefer, and which musical idea would best fit for any of them, so I need to take some time thinking about, how to vote in the poll. (Hopefully, I won‘t miss the deadline ...)

That sounds really interesting. Is there a video of @chopin doing something like this that I can watch? I like this idea, as well as the landscape one and the mashup. As for the overall theme, I don’t know—it should be open-ended, right? And as for the duration of the competition, maybe two months at most, so it doesn’t spill over into the next season.

@Wieland Handke Of course! Feel free to message me here, on discord or other! As a brief reply: With all the rules or trends in music, it is equally often to see breaks in the trends. If you know the product will be effective, then it is only in your best interest to do so! Again, @Marek, I am eager to see how your music will change. Even me, if I shared my first attempts…. It would be bad. 😅

Thank you very much! the key is actually A minor, but the tuning is 415, so it makes it sound indeed one semitone lower.

Hello @L.S Barros , Reviewing a fugue without a score is a challenge, but if you choose not to reveal it, I fully accept that decision and will try to figure out what I can discover just by listening… The fugue has a short and memorable subject that modulates to the dominant. When I try playing a few notes on my “GarageBand piano,” I’d guess it’s in G-sharp minor, which is one of the most interesting minor keys to me because it has a somewhat spooky vibe (perfect for Halloween) and is a great choice for your energetic and humorous little fugue. I said „humorous“ because the first transitional passage between the second and third subject entry introduces funny repeated notes or intervals which are even more pronounced in the first episode. This somewhat repetitive and homophonic motif is reappears later as counterpoint of the subject, and I enjoy how well it works not damaging the overall counterpoint of the fugue. In the later episodes, you have presented a more traditional transition using sequential motifs, so that the fugue as a whole has an engaging texture that never becomes boring. You mentioned that there are parallels, but aside from the repeated notes or intervals in the first half of the fugue, I always felt to perceive contrary motion in the voices which naturally avoids parallels. Thank you for sharing, very enjoyed.

It will be difficult read, like REALLY difficult.

The Lento ma non troppo, con dolore movement is quite lovely and I enjoyed it immensely. Mark

In anticipation of tomorrow being Bach's 341st birthday according to the Julian calendar, I have decided to upload now the modified version of this fugue, which I initially intended to repost back on July 28th last year to commemorate the 275th anniversary of his passing, but couldn't due to circumstances which prevented me from publishing it in time. As such, in order to better honor his unparalleled legacy and eternal spirit thriving within the vast reaches of his art, still echoing through Western musical history long after the world was graced by the timeless genius, unabating magnificence and unmatched brilliance of his divine compositions, I have chosen to once again mark this occasion by sharing the definitive revised edition of this humble work of mine, originally based on the subject of his G-sharp minor fugue from the 1st volume of the Well-Tempered Clavier (BWV863b), as a tribute to his insurmountable greatness and immortal spirit. In roughly 10 days from now, his 2nd birthday according to the Gregorian calendar will also take place, so by then I may have hopefully finished another piece I'm currently working on in time to celebrate his actual birthday. Note: the whole composition has been rendered in A = 415 tuning and 1/5th-comma meantone temperament, in order to better, more accurately capture the Baroque essence this piece strives to convey. Scrolling video link (YouTube) Fugue in A minor (Subject from BWV 863b).mp3Fugue in A minor (Subject from BWV 863b) Piano.mp3 Fugue in A minor (Subject from BWV 863b).pdf

Well, it sounds great to me. It would be best to take a look at the sheet music as well.

Hello @Luis Hernández , Thank you for the score! Yes, I’m interested in it and did download it, because it is such a small but great example. Since I’m usually focused on piano pieces, I’m not familiar with orchestration – especially with large ensembles. I only did some arrangements/orchestrations of my preludes and fugues, for example during the last two YCF competitions – which I very enjoyed. So, if there is the next such event, I think I’ll come back to your exercise using it as an inspiration how I could make my piano pieces sound in a larger ensemble. And since my preludes just have some more notes than only two – or better to say more than three, as our beloved Tristan correctly pointed out – it will be very helpful!

Hallo @PeterthePapercomPoser ! Thank you. I always highlight the subject entries in the „colored score“ which I use for the videos and even for myself when composing, since it helps me recognizing the subject and I enjoy if it is helpful for the visitors, too. I’m not quite sure which exact subject entry you meant, the first one (of the original, non-diminished subject) is in bar 46 in inversion as accompaniment in the transition section to the anthem (and from there on, the subject appears several times with that shift). While analyzing the fugue (which I’ve composed four years ago), I found out a few more interesting „shifts“ (which I did not remember furthermore). For example, in the exposition there is a recurring countersubject which starts together with the first subject entry as Comes, but is than shifted a half bar (for the second) and a whole bar (for the third occurence). Astonishingly, it seems to work and those „shifts“ help that the fugue is not repetitive in its rhythmic texture, but has a continuous flow – which is required to resolve the dissonances I use heavily in this fugue (somewhat contradicting the consonant style of Palestrina) but which I find appropriate given the serious programmatic backdrop of war. As far as I remember, a ricercar is an „older ancestor“ of a fugue, dating back to the Renaissance; while it is “close” to the fugue, its structure is perhaps less rigid. I have chosen the slow note values to be reminiscent on the style of Palestrina and not thought at a ricercar which also employs long note values as the „stile antico“. But yes, one could call it ricercar, especially since due to the introduction of the Ukrainian national anthem in the second part, the piece became „multithematic“ as early ricercars are.

Hallo @TristanTheTristan , Haha, F-flat major, a key with a double flat in its key signature … But thanks for the link; interestingly, it included some examples where composers actually used F-flat major, at least in certain passages or movements of their works. So you brought me to an idea: Since I have not yet composed my E-major fugue, there might be a spot where I could use F-flat major in a passage with a mood that calls for flats rather than sharps (I associate the mood of flats with „darker“ and „somber“, but also „warmer“ and „mellow“.) But to take it a step further, I should not use F-flat major, but F-flat lydian, so that I could make a key signature change in the score to seven flats in order to stay within the common range of usable accidentals. And the mood of F-flat lydian must be completely confusing: As „dark“ as possible due to the seven flats and „luminous“ at the same time, from the Lydian mode.

Hey all, Just wanted to let you know my new album "Seize The Night", full of gothic orchestral film music goodness is out on all major music platforms today and the solo cello is played by Grammy-nominated cellist Chloe Mendola (Trans-siberian orchestra, Michael Buble) You can check out a video performance of Chloe playing my piece "The Change" below, along with recordings of "Once Upon A Nightmare", which opens the album and Bloodborne fans will probably enjoy and "Sweet Home Salem", which is the most cello-driven piece on the album. Listen to the rest on Spotify! Hope you all enjoy it and thank you for listening!

Nice mysterious, atmospheric intro. I really like it!

I like this „petite“ piece for just four instruments (which is not for a large orchestra). It doesn’t require sophisticated orchestration skills to achieve the desired effect; instead, it works well with its “simple” four parts. Starting already in the first three bars, all four instruments have the equal right and equal importance in playing the melody. None is the soloist, while the others are „degraded“ to accompany only. Although I would not call it „counterpoint“ in the academic sense, it works. Sharing the melody or the various motifs among the voices creates an atmosphere of „dialogue“ between the instruments that captivates the listener.

Hi @kaiyunmusic ! Great job with this piece! It's bittersweet-ness is exquisite! I especially love the creative use of hand crossing to give the piece some sparkle in the high range despite keeping the melody in the alto range. The half-cadence at the end is a perfect way to end the piece with a longing for more. Thanks for sharing!

Hi @Wieland Handke ! I concur that the listening experience is greatly enhanced by the color coding in the score to let the listener know what to listen for! Perhaps the most interesting part for me was when the subject gets shifted by a half-note within the measure. I do have to say that there were many discordant moments in the fugue where I felt harmonically ungrounded - but the ending was satisfactory so I guess all's well that ends well! Would you say that this is an example of a ricercar rather than a fugue though? I think ricercars are more known for slow note values. Thanks for sharing!

Oh, I didn’t know the story behind all this. I suppose it’s because Beethoven’s variations overshadowed everything else over time. Your version is very good — I find it has personality and is easy to listen to.

In this case it was about orchestrating the sketch in the image; I might even make a collection of mini orchestral studies with these kinds of things.

this piece was composed with me hearing absolotly nothing while in the making of it, I wanted to see how well can I make pieces like that. yipieeee.mp3 wadanada.pdf

Thirty years ago, I was an accordionist. Now I’m just a hobbyist. Feel free to leave any comments, they might not be so obvious to me 🙂

Yes i understand , but your First line of post states: "I made these 13 mock-ups on 13 themes from Final Fantasy VI intending to use them to familiarize myself with the themes in preparation for writing a big variations piece based on them" So i therefore assumed, you were going to take this project even further , by releasing an Original Composition, some time in the Future.

thank you! I just wanted to make sure that you and everyone knows that these are not my original compositions but covers/renditions/mock-ups of Nobuo Uematsu's original music for the game Final Fantasy VI - he's a Japanese composer.

The Dynamics adjustment to Save them ! Has resulted in a Lovely SMOOTH sound. Troops March On & Save Them ! , Combined & Interwoven has all the elements to a 1st Class Original Composition,sounding Pretty , Mainstream- Contemporary-Scored.

A short song I wrote in two days. Do you guys have any critique on any "breathing issues" that may arise? Also do you think it ends too abruptly, or is it okay for a short piece? Though it's mostly classical, do tell me if it works in your opinion. Note: I usually sing my own songs if I can--but this one was way too difficult for my cigarette-smoking, untrained throat to handle XD. So I used an AI-based vocaloid sort of. (Yeah, I kind of feel guilty for using an AI vocaloid, but everything else just sounds so trash, I wanna tear my hair out. Sorry ;_;)

Here's a very short piano composition I composed for my daughter many years ago. Nothing extravagant .... simple theme and tone. Mark

There's some great stuff here. I urge you to listen to the aforementioned. There is GREAT advice given!

Hey everyone! I am decided to go ahead and publish my finished works on the forum. I may re-upload some existing works to match this shift, however, let this score mark the first part of this series! No.1 - Mountain Storms and Valley Peace Mountain storms and Valley Peace is my first successful work for the orchestra. Winner of the 2024 Young Composer's Forum, and apart of the Tennessee Valley Music Festival, it was recorded and debuted in June, 2024. In 2025, I decided to rewrite the work to the version you shall listen to. After some small tweaking of the front matter, the score is complete and available for view. Feel free to leave any comments about the work and I hope to see you all in the next one! (P.S. In my opinion, this work is complete and as of this post, I have no plans to update the score) _______________ PROGRAM NOTE: Mountain Storms and Valley Peace is a symphonic work and the winning composition of the 2024 Young Composer’s Forum at the Tennessee Valley Music Festival. Set against the backdrop of the Appalachian Mountains, this piece explores the dual nature of the world; both the chaotic power of a thunderstorm and the tranquil peace that follows. The storm represents the harshness and unpredictability of life, a force of destruction that is as much a part of nature as the calm that succeeds it. This work invites listeners to join the orchestra and experience the balance of forces that shape the world, showing how both extremes contribute to the richness and resilience of nature. [VOLUME WARNING]

So you might not suspect it, but microtonality is actually much more common than you'd think! When blues singers and soloists bend their notes up or down, they're using microtonality. When Pop singers accidentally sing a little bit out of tune, it's microtonality (even though it might not be deliberate). When out of tune sound effects happen in VGM or Film music that are just part of the vibe, it's microtonality. When string instruments do glissandi or guitars are played with a slide or a bend, it's microtonality So don't be shy and bring on any example you can think of that exemplifies microtonality! Here's my example from Chrono Trigger, the classic RPG for the Super Nintendo. This is the music that plays during 2,300 A.D. and is called "Ruined World": The microtonality in question can be heard in the background sound effect of what I presume to be a set of metallic cans being hit against each other.

The first question, that came to my mind is: are the piccolo players you know skilled in circular breathing? If not, the beginning should be revised, no piccolo player can play these high a's without breathing and hence breaking the obvious attempt to maintain the pitch uninterrupted. I personally believe this is more appropriate to be the movement of a Suite, rather than a Symphony. The piece needs some modulations to other tonalities. The varied use of orchestration and dynamics help this music a lot, but there is no real climax or waypoint towards a certain progression of the musical material. You are relatively new in the field of composition. I remember my beginnings, and this is more ambitious than mine were though.

Chopin asked a bunch of older members (which made me revisit the site) looks good. I see old and new names 🙂