mikey555

I'm only temporarily scrapping it! I started something a lot cooler today, that I actually want to sit down and work out. I'll unscrap it in a few weeks.

Thanks for the response! I think I'm going to scrap this piece, I feel like I'm not writing in a style that I... want to write in. NOt my voice. Just because I found it difficult to get through, and I just wanted to end it by the time the end 2 bars come. Maybe in a month I'll write it out and rework it for woodwind quintet, which is how I imagined it when I wrote it.

Alrighty, here goes.... My first (one of about 4 :P ) piece! It goes unseamlessly from section to section, the transitions are crappy. The glisses at the end are totally out of place, I think that's due to excessive Ravel listening lately. And playing. Now that I think of it, they sound like the beginning of the 3rd movement of his sonatine... oh well! Any harsh, ugly criticisms are more than welcome! Because it more than desrves them. I'd be happy to take a listen to a piece of yours and give you some input if you show me where it is. 9_6.MUS

That's a good point. The problem is that I have no idea what schools have good composition program. And I don't know where to start!

Hmm... I didn't mention Berklee, but I think that's interesting. I thought they would be more well rounded (considering that I saw they offer a major in film scoring - is that a major?). This jazz genius from my school is going there, so this seems more like the case. Nathan Madsen: Thanks for the advice! I have begun to compose, and, well, I've never been satisfied with anything I've written, except now, but only remotely :P I plan on continuing this. I hope to be doing a lot in the next days, weeks, and months. And I hope to put it up here so you guys can critique it! I actually consider myself quite proficient in Finale (and Sibelius a little, but it frustrates me -- and even Lilypad! But don't et me started), because I've arranged a lot of pieces for my school orchestra, so learning the software definitely shoudn't be my focus right now. I've been experimenting with audio lately; EWQLSO Gold, many, many other VSTs, CUBASE (WOW I have fun with this program), and Sound Forge + Vegas (greatest program ever made?). I even used to use Reason, but I decided I wasn't into making beats and completely synthesized music. That's why Cubase is so fun :) Copying manuscripts in Finale... that might be rewarding to try doing. If the oppurtunity ever came - in college - I'd totally do it.

Hey Nikolas, I enjoyed this. I especially like the density at R. Good job!

I'm a bit confused on what music education really is... if you're not learning how to perform or how to write music, what are you doing?

nikolas, thanks for the links before - I read through the first three (long) pages of the post on the EW forums, and I think that really helped answer a lot of questions that I had.

I bet a lot of people (alright, everyone!) say this, but I know that if I had time to sit down every day and work with writing a piece, I could compose something decent. I say this because I always have ideas running through my head, whether it's getting ready for bed, or spacing out in school. I'm definitely going to be doing some writing soon.

Well, it's good that I'm not alone. I have other ideas of what to "fall back in", or maybe minor in, but they would be pretty unuseful... what can anyone do with a film degree? ;-) Maybe some older members of the forum have a word to put in on this subject!

Hi everyone, I found this place yesterday, and I realized it might be more beneficial to many of my current worries in life than anything else! Big statement, I know... but you'll see why. Or maybe not, this whole subject is very hazy to me. Excuse my repetitiveness! I've played piano for 6 years and clarinet for 7 years. I'm an average piano player, but posture, arm movement, and physical barriers have been holding me back technically (I can't play scales fast, or anything near virtuosic). Some day it maybe it will click. But it hasn't yet. On clarinet, practice seems much more proportional to improvement. I can say that I'm prouder of my clarinet skills, and advancing decently seems like a greater reality than for piano. Since I'm going into my senior year (school starts tomorrow...), it's about to be college applications crunch time. That said, I have no idea where I want to go or what I want to study. I'm exaggerating: I would like to study composition, but I have no hint of any other possible majors. My life these days, more during the school year, pretty much revolves around music, and the past few years I would assume show a clear dedication to music. So to me, it seems foolish if I were to go into something besides music, because I've put so much time and effort into it. But then I think of the big conflict: is a degree and intense study in music going to support me later on? Will I be able to get a decent career? Composition is an area that I'm really interested in because I would love to write music, and I think it would be enjoyable/rewarding. I'm deterred from music performance in college because, well, there are some really good pianists, and I'm not really interested in playing clarinet professionally. But then more conflicts hit me: I have never composed, besides two short pieces. I have some confidence that I can compose, because I can sit down at the piano and improvise around a tiny bit. I could expand on something like that... but I'm getting sidetracked. For the past week I've been thinking about music schools. Say I make it into a good school (not likely, right now), and I graduate having learned an amazing amount. My fear is that I wouldn't be able to get a steady job. So my dilemma is this: I would like to go into music as a profession, but I have this image of music careers that is of the starving musician, barely making money to get by (and I don't just mean performers). I don't think I have a broad enough scope of possible careers in music out there. I feel like I should evaluate whether making a living off composing music is probable, alongside beginning to compose more, instead of finding schools currently. I think I got aross most of what I had in mind, but there's a lot that I've forgotten. Nothing is quite clear in my mind... maybe some of you will know what I mean. If anyone could enlighten me, correct me, reassure me, tell me the truth, or just anything about music school, or careers, or life, I would very much appreciate it.

Coincidentally I got a CD with both the Ravel and Shostakovich trios (no.2) and have been enjoying both like crazy. Could anyone not really pick up the rhythm of the first mvt. of the Ravel? The first few times it genuinely sounded like Ravel was swinging 8ths... :happy: obviously at that point I realized I had the wrong rhythm in my head.