muhmuhmuhmusic

Time the contests to when people actually use the site. Bi-monthly works well in spring and fall, in the summer you can probably have monthly or two simultaneously. Summer contests have seemed to be the most effective. I second a winning works folder. And also never having the winner choose the next topic, not a good plan. Incentive could work better if someone was offering a performance recording of the winner, which has happened as non-monthly competitions. Try to get a few of those into the cycle.

Good is a spectrum, good is relative, and good is a long-term goal we have. If you're concerned about other people considering your music to be "good", then you can't be concerned with what you write before you write it. There is a limited amount of "good" music, and you can write virtually any amount of "bad" music. The distinction will come from you and others determining whether you wrote is one or the other. If you make good music on the first try, great for you! If you don't then you'll want to revise it, and eventually what you write will be considered "good". As for the Rite/Firebird: Firebird was perhaps the second large work in Stravinsky's career, maybe even his first. Rite was his third ballet. It took him some time to write a ballet that was great, even considering the praise he got for Firebird. Even further, Stravinsky continued to practice, writing a bunch more ballets later. Not all were "good", he didn't have a magic formula, but he tried things until they worked, and then tried more things until those worked. In your music, it is a nice connection to see it as an evolutionary process. Come up with several options, then choose the best option. Repeat. Eventually, your work will be as "good" as it can possibly be, although this may be beyond any of our lifetimes. So, good is a spectrum, good is relative, and good is a long-term goal we have. Until then, we work towards it. Gradus ad Parnassum.

I like Stirling's Sigur Ros suggestion, but honestly, I would go out to their "Varuo". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf1h2PMPCAo

Russo seemed pretty good.

Hey all, I'm trying to start a Facebook meme thing supporting classical music. This is the first idea, I'm open to other suggestions as well. Trolls, I'm trying my best to support what we love here. So, if you agree, it'd be cool if you could share this with your friends on facebook and help it spread. Thanks!

Good topic choice. Thank you.

Aren't those the YC awards at the end of the year? ;)

If we were thinking of changing the prompt, and I may suggest a different competition, I'd like to propose we write a piece inspired somehow by "Rite of Spring". It's 100 years old this year, and within the public domain, so it's easy to look through the original material. Then, there's so many ways to take inspiration from, from quotes to plot to structure to tonal schemes. You can do almost anything with the Rite, as long as you explain what you did and how you got there. Is that any good of an idea?

Is there an idea for a composition that's been bouncing around your head for a while now? An opera you want to write, a text you want to set, a symphony to compose, a chamber work to flesh out? What's the greatest work you've never composed, only dreamed about? And why haven't you started on it? -- For me, I've always wanted to write a series of Bolero-like variations on a minor version of "Battle Hymn of the Republic", as a kind of anti-war message. I never start it because I always feel it's too good to waste on my meager skill set and don't want to mess it up. Also, I'm toying with the idea of setting Shakespeare directly into chamber operas, but I'm still not sure how I feel about interpreting the bard that much. Anyways, what say you, forum?

Listen.

Florence + The Machine Muse Coldplay Of Monsters and Men Sigur Ros Daft Punk Of course I like the Beatles, who doesn't? Others that I don't remember, and a few individuals that I don't count as a band. I think I was accidently born on the wrong side of the pond. Britain please take me! Unless you mean "bands", in which case: Blue Devils Cavaliers Carolina Crown (I like drum corps quite a bit as well)

Hooray!