Ivan1791

https://youtu.be/RuxcHnDTfjQ This project took quite a lot of effort. I spent around 19 hours orchestrating the piece, which had taken me around 9 hours to compose last year. I can say that I think I'm improving a bit with my orchestration and I'm getting more familiar with each instrument and how an orchestra operates, but I still have so much to learn... Luckily I'm getting this kind of film sound color. The original piano piece was inspired by this poem: "When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself, and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featured like him, like him with friends possessed, Desiring this man’s art, and that man’s scope, With what I most enjoy contented least; Yet in these thoughts my self almost despising, Haply I think on thee, and then my state, Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate; For thy sweet love remembered such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings." -William Shakespeare

Thank you very much! And yes, I kind of copied Beethoven without even noticing. xD I'm glad you think this orchestration is nice.

Thanks! Yes, I agree it has some Baroque hints, most of my counterpoint is based on Bach's influence. The melodies aren't too special but the sonority is more videogamey. Oh, but I don't focus too much on libraries and sampling for now, it's just a miniature I came up that day. Yes, the bass doesn't do much here, it is more like a support. I only use MuseSounds, but I will consider buying some libraries later this year. Yup, I usually put some reverb but I was too lazy with this one haha. What libraries do you think are worth my investment if I only use Musescore for now. If you had to pick your 3 most reliable libraries and which ones are best for each group of instruments (strings, brass, etc.). I have no idea about all that and I never really used a DAW. It is a dark fantasy videogame! I really suggest people checking it out, it is a classic at this point. Yes, I left it open just in case I want to reuse it for a future epic piece. How about Musescore? And how expensive is it usually?

Luckily in musescore you can place a dynamic and then change the letters or just place two dynamics and deactivate one and make the good one invisible. I hope this piece gets performed someday by some lucky chance, I want to know how convincing some of my choices would sound in real life.

Very nice piece. I know the struggle of composing a crab canon, it's no easy task. I think something that helps a lot is the use chromatism and the melodic minor mode with it's ascending and descending versions (which you already did), the reason being that they have more flexibility and different symmetries that can be exploited to get melodies that work well in both directions.

Maybe the introduction progression is the most interesting part of the piece. I found it the other day and I probably took inspiration from Gesualdo. About the rest of the piece I tried to convey the imagine of a knight who has been defeated in a Souls-like universe. I wanted to portray the feeling I got from the music when I first played these videogames that I love so much. I hope you enjoyed it and see you next time!

Thank you very much! I think I might have overdone dynamics but it's better than my past try. 🙂 Yes, it is something that has sparked a new flame in me. Now when I listen to orchestral music I pay attention to new details and it inspires me to write music with a more orchestral language, at least more polyphonic. That's a good idea. Although I was referring more to the use of dynamics. I have heard "ppp" should be used scarcely and "mp" shouldn't be overused either. But in piano they are not too uncommon, so I need to change the mindset regarding dynamics.

I really liked this piece! It's like a mixture between Blackwood and some pentatonic music from asia or even gamelan. I didn't hear anything odd and it's good nice colors and a catchy rhythm. I do feel like this could be the A or B section of a longer piece though, or even a little suite. Also maybe I'm missing small 1 measure bridges/transitions at some points, like where you go back to the initial theme. And experiment with what kind of cadences are possible and natural sounding in the tuning system you used. But great job. 😁

I'm stil not done with my orchestrations, I will probably come to this section a bunch of times this year haha. What do you think? I believe I managed to portray a dark aura. I still don't know how to assign dynamics to the instruments, any advice for that so I don't have to rely on "mp" and "ppp" so much?

Thank you very much Henry! Yes, I also think this is a step up from the original, but I think my current best piece is the choral one I composed a few months ago. Oh, the original also ended with a hollow sonority. I wanted it to have a very hard and Straussian color haha. I'll be sharing more in the future! See you next time. 🙂

Hello again. Here I am again with another orchestral adaptation. Let me know what you think and what stuff you would change related to the orchestral notation, doublings and instrument ranges. Thanks for listening! 🙂

I like the gothic ambience. I feel like the harmony is a bit stagnant at some points and I think this piece will benefit a lot from having more clear phrases, each one with a very clear structural function. The climax is pretty epic too and the effects nicely executed. So basically playing around with more harmonic variety and polishing the range of your melodies.

Thank you! And you are right, I will keep it in mind for next time. 🙂

Hello everyone, this is my first time orchestrating a piano piece of mine and I wanted to go for an epic Straussian orchestration. Feel free to spot any mistakes or give me any advice, I'm still quite new to the world of orchestral music. 🙂 It took around 6 hours to orchestrate and I used basic knowledge, the Musescore playback and my intuition. The original piece was done at a very important time of my life and it symbolizes looking at he horizont of the dark past and remembering one last time before moving on. But feel free to let me know what it made you feel or imagine. 😁

Thank you! I'm glad you liked the piece. Yes, I think I did that, but I can't control how fast the arpeggios are played I think. So maybe that's why it doesn't sound as natural or realistis. But I hope I can get the piece performed. With themes you mean melodies that are recognizeable? Yes, this piece lacks a memorable melody. I wanted to give texture and micro motifs a bigger role and build the whole piece with that alone. That's one of the reasons why it sounds quite different from my previous compositions. I will probably write a few more pieces like this one and create a small set. Of violin and piano miniatures.