Hugget Zukker

I was inspired by the sound and arrangement style of this album I found on YouTube called Sailing to the World. -- I may have ruined my presentation by linking to this comparison! I figured subdued dynamics and generous use of the sustain pedal were important to the sound I wanted. I also tried to add some moments of rhythmic fluidity. Do you think the ending is okay? I realize that the last chord may be a little sideways. I personally like it, but I also feel a little bit uncertain about it.

Tomorrow is the longest day of the year on a Sunday in my country, at which time people burn a dummy witch per old tradition, and this afternoon, I just felt in the mood to finish this piano piece. I feel like it has a bit of summer in it. But I actually started on it back in April or so, then put it in the drawer, because I found something off-putting about it. I hope it sounds reasonable now.

Thanks for the points of critique. They're all valid, but I still think what's laid out here calls for slow development even if it's boring. In time, everything will change. Patience is important in life 😛 I've developed it some more, and got it up to a modulation for a B section, except I haven't written that B section yet. I had hoped it wouldn't turn into static (as in background) music, but you're right; that's what it is. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's just not what I had aimed for in the beginning. I love long and subtle buildups that lead into something powerful, and that's what I wish I had achieved... Maybe I can still achieve it? I wouldn't like sax or guitar in this, but thanks for the suggestions. Not that they wouldn't fit in, but I just don't want to do a really jazzy arrangement for this. The brush drum kit could give one the impression that this was going for a classic jazzy vibe, but mainly I just wanted it for the effect. Instead I've got solo strings, celesta, flute and clarinet now. But accordion could have been very interesting come to think of it.

Hiya! I am kind of in a rut with this. I guess it's atmospheric, but I kind of want it to escalate into something dramatic. One nagging question is where to go with the instrumentation. Should big sweeping strings roll in? Should the drummer go crazy? I can imagine all that, but then I can't figure out how to segue into it. It probably also needs some contrast before returning to this theme. The way it is now, it seems like the most natural thing in the world to begin on yet another iteration of the same thing, but by then it really should start to mix things up. And I'm dying to have the instruments play something more interesting, but I have been going for instrumental simplicity so far. I wonder if the harp is written okay. I read this for some guidance: https://www.danielleperrett.com/writings/tips-composing-for-harp/ Do you think the chords may be a little atypical for harp in that they are not broken and only slightly rolled? At least they are all four-note chords, so I hope that would be easy enough? Having never had my hands on one, I'm left to guesswork. Then you might say, why write for it at all if you don't know it well, but I'm going to give it a hopeful try, because it's a really pretty timbre. I didn't notate the drum part yet because it's the same every single bar until it rests, and because I don't know how to notate it. Trivia Up until bar 36, the harmony sticks entirely to the scale or set {A, Bb, C, D, Eb, Fb, G}, and I think the melody only breaks away from it a couple times for color. This was actually the device that inspired me initially. I don't know what this kind of parent scale is, but I thought it was very interesting in terms of harmonic progressions, and also in terms of possible sonorities. I want to explore that some more. Sus chords really help when limiting your pitch material like this; they can hint at various major and minor triads not available in the material and take you half the way there, or ambiguously through merely suggested harmonic territory. Unlike harmonic and melodic minor, this scale contains no augmented fifths or diminished fourths, so when the D augmented seventh chord is rolled by the harp in bar 36, it sharply breaks away from the predominant intervallic content.

My fat fingers did the page refresh shortcut in the middle of composing my comment. So here we try again. But at least I got the B. That's pretty close, isn't it? Thanks! Oh, no no no, I don't know more about harps than you do if you're already trying to figure out pedals and stuff. My harp knowledge is on the level of Monty Python's How To Do It lesson on how to play the flute. As for the key, I probably gave more thought to my pairing of socks this morning than I did to the key of this thing, and I probably should have transposed the whole thing up to F if knew what I was doing, to get a whole lot of naturals. I'm no good at writing for real, actual instruments played by living, breathing humans. Thanks. You're totally right. This is but an unambitious little doodle that came out of some nerd'ing. I have modes popping up all the time in my music, but I rarely immerse myself completely in one sound. I think if the piece had a real length, it should definitely go beyond. So would you. However, the thing is... that I... kind of overwrote the project file, which I used for tinkering. It was an oversight. I know... I'm sorry. But I'm not feeling up for a transcription by ear now. With audio online, I guess it's now an undead piece. I tell myself that I can listen to the mp3 to extract ideas for the future. Oops, I forgot the #4. Oops, I wrote in a bad key. Oops, I deleted my comment. Oops, I deleted my piece. I'm on a streak! I better block my bedroom door tonight.

Hello. It's been a while since I've posted some new music. I'm experimenting with unusual modes to get more familiar with their sounds. Out of this came a very short piece for two harps written entirely in E lydian b7. This means that the only pitch classes present should be E, F#, G#, A#, B, C#, and D, and E should feel like the home note. Whilst it brings out the unique flavor of the mode, it also severely limits the harmonic possibilities; it isn't functional harmony, and you need to constantly reinforce the tonic by other means than authentic cadences (since there is no proper leading tone), so the harmony is mostly based on "vamps" - alternating between two chords to prolong the tonic. I came to really like the sound of this mode after toying around with it. It sounds bright like normal lydian, but with an even more mysterious tinge.

I'm really sorry about this late announcement: I shouldn't have entered the competition, but due to poor judgement, I thought I'd be able to participate. I've been too busy to make an eligible deliverable in time. I've barely started on a few different ideas, but haven't gotten anywhere with them, and at this point it's too late. I'm so sorry.

I almost forgot. Hi, I'd like to partake in the apocalyptic competition. It's hard for me to promise much, but I will really try to make something qualifiable before our times run out.

The heckelphone sounds very beautiful. I may prefer its sound over that of the English horn. It's quite rare though. Then I may write it "for heckelphone", but make it playable on the English horn.

Long ago, I had started but given up a piece for piano and oboe, but recently I found it again, and decided that it needed a darker tone, so I tried writing it for the English horn instead of the oboe, but perhaps the English Horn was not dark enough, so I also tried the bassoon. Here are versions with the bassoon and the English horn respectively, for comparison. I think I prefer the possibilities of the bassoon for further work on this, but the English horn is also beautiful. I think the bassoon lends it a more narrative feeling, but the English horn gives it more poignancy. I want something in-between - an English bassoon!

I want to write a duet for piano and bassoon, but I don't know much about the bassoon, so I have a few questions. I apologize if my questions are too loaded with ignorance, or too general: You don't have to answer them precisely, but if you can share any advice, that would be wonderful. Tessitura and dynamics: How does tessitura affect the ability to control dynamics? Tessitura and sustain: How does tessitura affect the amount of effort needed to sustain a note? Trills and runs: What is the difficulty of trills and fast runs on the bassoon? Are certain keys more feasible than others? Leaps: I've noticed that bassoon lines often feature large leaps and arpeggios. To what speed and range should I limit them? There may definitely be important questions which I have overlooked, so anything else about bassoon writing is appreciated. Thank you very much.

I had never heard of this until today. Sorry if that's a disappointment, but I don't care. I find this so interesting and gorgeous.

I like this, especially the brasses, but it sounds unfinished due to the sudden fadeout.

I had not heard the full story until now; interesting. @Luis Hernández Thanks! I am highly grateful for the opportunity, encouragement, and freedom I was given. I was worried about doing something which might undermine the composer's intentions. It's a little bit scary to add driving percussion to another person's dear piece for strings. It was at first a leap of faith to take it in this direction, but I'm relieved by how it worked out and Rabbival's reaction. I got his feedback and guiding hints along the way.

I like it! If you'd like, I could arrange a version with sample modeling instruments some time. PM me.