JazzyKendall

I wouldn't do anything with the tonality or harmony of the piece, it perfectly fits the mood of the piece. I do have a few questions/ suggestions about the trumpet part (I play trumpet). First off do you have a specific performer in mind or are you just writing it to write? The trumpet generally is not a very intervallic (sp?) instrument, in regards to large leaps. So bouncing all over the register is going to be extremely difficult for who ever you get to perform this. Also watch out for large leaps that you have that are slurred. Take the extremely difficult part and multiply it by the biggest number you can think of, thats the drastic difference between the two. I'm not saying that it can't be done but just be fully aware that the odds are who ever you give this to might laugh at you for a little while, get frustrated, say wtf was this guy thinking, and just wing it if it ever gets performed. Aside from the trumpet part being what it is I thoroughly enjoyed the piece. I thought the balance between the two instruments was nice, in the context of musical ideas. The two complimented each other nicely. The mutes and flutter tongue effects on the trumpet seemed to be well planned out and added to the piece instead of just being performed for the sake of doing something interesting. I hope to hear more soon.

comments are appreciated as well

check out the live recording link in the first post, hope you all enjoy

Its far from finished denico, just started it, and thank you for looking at the piece bluegh2, its always nice to get a performers view on things.

Well in regards to the piece, I enjoyed it. I think the static part is fine for the particular style of the piece. Its a nice start to the piece as well. I think some other colors will add to it when you get around to composing for them. As it pertains to getting comments on this particular site you have to comment on other peoples works for people to realize that you exist, and even then the fellow users tend to comment only among their clicks or their personal tastes.

Hey everyone writing a little duet for Tuba and Piano (obviously) and I need some feedback from some piano players about the playability of the part. Here's the link: Duet for Tuba and Piano - eSnips, share anything Tuba and Piano Duet.MUS

I do agree that the low trumpet sound is gorgeous when a player can play it, but thats beyond the "practical low trumpet sound" have your trumpet player play the finger combination 1-2-3 (fingering for F# below the staff) and kick the third slide out as far as he/she can and lip the note down. That'll give you the best shot of giving you the desired sound. If he/she has time there are some easy pedal tone exercises that can help them get down to that range with a full sound. Best wishes on your piece.

just out of curiosity are the trumpets playing C trumpets? The pedal E you have is still a pedal note on C in measure 64. Its doable depending on the players but it won't have that trumpet sound per say. Also do you by chance have a tuba player lying around. Its more common to have a brass quintet (2 tpts, horn, bone, and tuba). If possible I think that could possibly add more to this piece, and it would allow you to revoice some lines (the pedal notes for instance) and really fill the piece out. Its a very good piece, nice harmonies and line direction. Can't wait to hear a recording.

This has to be by far the best post I've ever read on here. There are some very interesting points, I tend to agree with the original poster and I'll explain why. In my general experience in writing (which is far less than I would like it to be) I find that its more advantageous to start small and work up in the size of the ensembles. At the university I attend every composition student has to write a chamber piece for every group of instruments, brass quintet, string quartet, woodwind quartet, etc. I think the reason this is so advantageous is because you learn so much about the individual groups of instruments in these settings. Someone commented earlier about how the chamber literature is more difficult than the large ensemble literature. Well thats debatable. There are many modern symphonies that are just as technically difficult than chamber pieces, and vice versa. As it pertains to learning in a chamber setting, there is so much to be learned by it. Lets take a brass quintet for example (I'm in one and I'm writing a piece for one, trumpet player). There are five instruments (obviously) 2 trumpets, french horn, trombone, and tuba (you all probably know that). There are for the most part four completely different instruments with completely different sounds and completely different capabilities. When one writes for the smaller ensemble the composer has the opportunity to explore all of these differences, they have the chance to discover the abundance nuances available to the different instruments. If a composer goes about his whole career and just assumes that the brass section is incapable of anything other than fanfare type licks then they're totally oblivious to what those instruments have to offer. If a young budding composer takes the time to fully explore the characteristics of each instrument (in both chamber and solo literature) then that will better ready them for a larger ensemble. I've had the opportunity to ready several of the composition students brass quintet pieces and they've been open enough to listen to the comments we offer them. Its funny because depending on what instrument they perform on they tend to write for it. There is a violist (spelling?) who writes a lot of motifs that are angular in nature, which tends to be rather challenging on brass instruments, we can't just jump a string and be a fourth up or what not. We've made her aware of that issue. Can you all imagine if she had written that for a full brass section in a wind ensemble or an orchestra? Like I said earlier, chamber music allows you to focus on those things. When you're writing for a larger ensemble things are drastically different. Now instead of trying to write for five instruments with four different timbres you have this gianormous (yes I used it) palette of sounds to work with, to juggle, and to attempt to manage. Its daunting to say the least. If you want to work your way up in the size of the ensemble, write for one group of instruments, learn everything you possibly can about those instruments (I suggest a simple pocket orchestration book to learn the tendencies of the instruments and as a quick reference) and try to fully realize that group's potential. then write for another group and master that one. Then combine the two. Take into account the knowledge that you have of both ensembles and learn to manage both. Keep doing that until you've covered every instrument possible. And by the time you've covered everything, if you've put the work into learning everything about the groups and the instruments, when you go to write a symphony or a wind ensemble piece, the sounds available to you will be so ingrained in your mind that it will just be a matter of writing down what you're hearing. Thats my two cents.

well when we perform it the dynamics are over exaggerated (that the effect i'm going for) so I think a lot of this piece has to do with those dynamics and sudden change in both feel and sound/timbre. the end of this particular mvt is leading directly into the second mvt. it sounds fine when we perform it. its a little awkward in some places on the horns, and difficult counting wise (metric mod.) but other than that it sounds fine. starting the second mvt. now.

boring seems to be the general consensus...

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I'm taking composition lessons this semester (first ones) and I'm writing a brass quintet piece. The opening theme in horn line is the basis for the whole movement. The 2nd trumpet line at the end of the mvt. will be the basis for the 2nd mvt. and the third movement will be a combination of both movements at a faster tempo. I know there is a lot of editing that needs to be done, so I'm not that concerned with the comments pertaining to it. I'm more interested in the overall feel, flow between sections, and sound of the piece. I've already rehearsed it a few times with my brass quintet so playability is not an issue. here's a link to the piece if you dont have finale 2007 Brass Quintet No.1 - eSnips, share anything 20th Century piece - Score.MUS

Its a neat little piece. Aside from the little atonal section this piece has nothing mysterious about it, which is interesting since the character you wrote for was mysterious syrah. I think that if you're going to write programmatic music or music for a particular mood then you need to really think about what makes that emotion or mood. If you were going for mysterious, busy is usually not the way to go. There were very little suspensions or hardly and moments of tension which drastically differs from what the title would lead listeners to think of. I think the other problem is that the music is so busy, there is so much going on almost all the time. Its almost like a barrage of sound, there is hardly any time to really listen to the different lines and how they interact. Now outside of the context of a particular character its a very interesting piece. Hope to hear more soon.

I checked out your web site and its pretty apparent that you have a firm grasp of what a piano can do and what sounds good on a piano. This was enjoyable to listen to. I'm not really sure if its my place to comment since its finished it fits the style that you write and you seem to be more than experienced in both composition and piano performance. Great job. Maybe you could give some masterclasses on the site to help out the up and coming composers.