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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!

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.

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

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!

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.

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.

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

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

It will be difficult read, like REALLY difficult.

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.

Listenable? Very much so - I'd say a beautiful work indeed.

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.

Nice stuff. F Sharp?! Why? So many sharps! Anyways, taking a guess, the next thing you compose is in F Flat Major.

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)

It saves on every keystroke while you compose, it's like Google Docs; you can just download your midi file. But if basic composition isn't working for you, it could be a browser bug, so if this is the case, I would need more information about your browser. I've tested Music Jotter with Firefox and Chrome, and it should also work with Safari. Here's another trick...as long as your composition plays back, you know it has been saved, because saving your midi file happens before the playback compiles (behind the scenes).

Thanks everyone for your comments, I sincerely appreciate every one of them! As is ever the concern of a composer I'm very happy to know that the right mood/atmosphere came across to other people :) There seems to have been some discussion about the key and key signatures: I was never really a fan of music with all sorts of accidentals and black keys until I came across Scriabin, whose delight for the likes of F♯ major/D♯ minor, B major/G♯ minor, G♭ major/E♭ minor, and D♭ major/B♭ minor seems to have slightly rubbed off on me. Idk though, I felt like F♯ major gave off sweet lyrical romance (e.g. Poème op. 32/1 or Étude op. 42/4) vibes so I went with writing in that for this work. The key signature switch to G♭ major/E♭ minor was actually only a logistical sight-reading one, if I remember correctly. In the middle section there's some vacillation between a major key and its relative minor, which would have been fine for bars 9-12. However, I move a fourth lower in the following four bars, i.e. tonicising the dominant, which means that if I kept the original key signature I'd get C♯ major and its relative minor A♯ minor. Eek. Sharp overload. I am not quite sadistic enough to put that onto the performer, let alone F♭ major (though that has now given me an idea...). I figured that writing out the middle section in flats meant that I could resort to using natural signs rather than extra sharps in bars 13-16, but yo, @Luis Hernández and @Wieland Handke, you may have a point with it also engendering a somewhat darker mood, as I had intended. This is an excellent point, now that I'm poring through the score again. I think there are some spots (e.g. b. 12) where I quite like the arpeggiated quality, but I have also decided to add a few markings for spots where I think it is justifiable to have the other hand take a note or two. Was this what you were thinking of? Version with redistributions.pdf

I like these ideas. Or at least some of them as that I could definitely do and feel motivated. I do have others just in case if something I wasn’t prepared got voted on and it’s probably still do things. Frankly, I prefer to do string orchestra works for things like these. But I’m open too many things.

@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.

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 second part of this series! No.3 - Petite Sonata for Strings A Petite Sonata for Strings is a small work for string quartet I composed for my own experiment. I composed the second movement first as I was bored and wanted to try writing something using my theory skills. By fortune, I found some passion and within 4-days, I composed this work. Unfortunately, I fear there may be some challenges with the execution, whether it is for double stops or fast-pizzicato playing. I admit I am not as knowledgeable of string techniques and would love to hear some feedback or suggestions to amend any trouble spots! Feel free to leave any comments about the work and I hope to see you all in the next one! _______________ PROGRAM NOTE: N/A no.10_PetiteSonata_4Strings.mp3 no.10_PetiteSonata_4Strings.pdf

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!

I would argue sharps are more brilliant, flats are more ambient, and c major... is just nursery rhymes basically.

I very enjoyed this dreamy prelude with its nocturne-like charm. What I was especially excited for is the tonality, e.g the use of both F-sharp major and G-flat major. (I mention this because my last recently posted composition is in G-flat major/F-sharp major, too, while not a prelude but a fugue …). I guess you’ve chosen that key change to emphasize the different nuances of mood in the piece, the sharps for the brighter passages and the flats for the melancholic ones. The texture is well balanced and I like that you decided to present the score with revealing the five-part movement. As you yourself noted, there are some large chords which are playable with arpeggiating only. When I’m looking at the score at the first glance, there are – beside the large chords – some intervals that seem to be uncomfortable to be played. However, many of them are playable when taking a note in the other hand. I would appreciate, if such situations would be written out or marked in the score (even if it would look somewhat cluttered) for an easier sight-reading experience.

It’s very beautiful and reminiscent of Brazilian harmonies.

It’s a composition that sounds very harmonious and sweet. I haven’t taken the time to analyze it, but that middle section caught my attention (the key signature change).

If you mean this note... Yes! Better a D.

Hi @Luis Hernández ! Nice job on this orchestration! I did notice an apparent mistake in the horn parts in measure 6 - the top note should be (I think) a concert D (written A) since the harmony there is a G major chord. Overall though I think you really include a lot of fun interplay between the parts! I think it was very clever of you to fragment some of the phrases into question and answer contrapuntal roles. Like for example the interplay between the 1st and 2nd Violins in measures 28 - 29 is really a very creative orchestration decision! Thanks for sharing and I hope to hear more orchestrations!

Yes, congrats on the software refresh. But i also want to echo that it used to have the look/feel of a creative, low-key, grassroots composer’s group. Though the cartoon images were a little corny, i appreciated the vibe. Now it looks/feels like a cold office. If that’s because its taking time to reupload style, then you guys are probably already on it.

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 you are right. I am in the process of writing more variations and have already released a Scherzo on 8 of these themes (I had to keep adding themes LoL). Thanks for your interest/comment!

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 ;_;)

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!

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.

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