JairCrawford

I do not think 'dead' is really an adequate term for any sort of music. Because you can still go to early music festivals and hear Medieval music. There are people on this site that write in the Baroque and Classical styles and do so rather well. And they are not the only ones. There are people who still compose in the Serial style as well, I'm sure. So no, of course it's not dead. None of it is. I mean heck, I still play the keyboard at church in the worship band in an 80s and 90s style. lol I think a more appropriate question would be, "Is it still commonly practiced?"

OPL3! ... jk lol. Those look pretty good.

Ok, first of all, this is awesome. I absolutely LOVE the pipe organ and it's always great to hear new music written for the instrument. I very much enjoyed this. It is quite nice! I will say it felt a little short and when it was over, it was like "Aww... that's it?" I felt like it definitely could have gone on even longer and developed more. Better yet, it could be made into a movement for an epic pipe organ suite! Just my two cents... something to consider possibly? Very nice! :)

This is very nice! It's always great to see the viola getting some cool repertoire. I love the viola. It's been under-represented in the past, imho. I liked the fourth one even better! It's a bit of a different style for me, but very nice regardless. Would be cool to hear a soloist perform this.

Thanks for the feedback! I think, if you compare the recording to the midi, you might notice a lot of the differences. Especially in the third movement. He had to take a lot of passages down the octave from what was written and even had some almost improvisational moments and I am wondering how playable it is. He couldn't really give me a definitive answer on that because he barely had time to look over it and he practically sight-read the performance (again, that's on me, not him. lol) But my main concern is if there are parts where I am legitimately asking too much of the performer. Another notable case of this is that big scale at the end of the first movement. He wasn't able to take it all the way up to the final note at that speed and volume and I wonder if it was just because of the circumstances of the performance, or if it is just simply too demanding on the instrument?

I'm glad you brought that up. There is actually a specific reason for that. My composition professor (who was originally quite hesitant to allow this on the program) encouraged me to make many cuts from the piece where there was some more repetition of themes and such. The issue was it ended up being too long that way and it tended to meander a bit, so it feels more concise now, and as of right now I find myself agreeing with my professor's suggestions. There have been some spots here and there where I have debated the possibility of extending them a bit, but I've also had people tell me that each transition feels like it's in just the right place, so, I might just leave it as it is. At least that's where I'm leaning at the moment. I would love to hear a rebuttal from you though. If you feel like I should extend some of the themes in certain areas, tell me why, and you may just persuade me. Because I have considered it before. And thanks for the feedback! Always appreciated! :)

Isn't it like... something Blake? Who did The Snowman? @Austenite this is one of the stronger works I've heard so far from you, IMO. Very very nice!

This was another piece I did for my senior recital, but, I just barely got it onto the program and it really, really, REALLY needs a lot of work. I'm not even sure how playable some parts are from the score. I need to figure out if I'm exceeding any limits in that regard, first thing. Then I need to restructure it. I feel like the 2nd movement is the most 'complete' (although I think the B section and subsequent development needs some work), while the first movement has some solid material but is lacking and the third movement is quite questionable. Is the third movement playable as written? Overall throughout the piece a main theme is using the instrument to outline what the harmonies would be, while the melody is still well pronounced. I have a live performance but it was essentially sight-read at the last minute and my scores were not very helpful with the state they were in, so there are quite a lot of technical errors in this recording (my fault, not the performer, lol). I also have a VST mp3. Any tips on salvaging this into something really cool would be greatly appreciated!

The more I think about it, the more it does seem a little undeveloped. Either that or the main theme is just too short and moves onto the development sections a little too quickly... hmm... that could be it too. This is giving me a lot to consider, and certainly helping to point me in some good directions. Thanks again for all the advice! I'll have to check that Metamorphosen piece out.

I like both. Yeah yeah, I know that's no fun, but hey, I gotta be honest and go with my gut, and my gut can't decide and wants to have cake and eat it too. XD

This is very cool! I have to say so far I'm liking the 2nd movement a bit more than the first. This style of music is not quite what I am used to, so I'll try to provide as constructive feedback as possible, but I can tell you already that, and this is just my opinion, but those loud chords in the piano in the second movement, not too long after the beginning? I think they would sound better if they were pedaled. To me in the recording it sounds like they were played dry, but I don't know if that was intentional or not. That's really the only thing that's stuck out to me so far in the second movement. Ok it sounds like the third movement is starting now. Oh man... oh this is gorgeous! Dude I really really like this movement so far. That introduction was absolutely sublime, and the faster theme that follows it is quite nice and perky, and very catchy! Very nice! Oh and it's going back into those nice slow rich textures again... So far I'd have to say the third movement is the highlight of the piece. I would have maybe liked to hear those slow themes a little bit more, perhaps I enjoyed them a little too much! lol Ok fourth movement time... This is cool! I'm liking the folksy string elements so far. This is going all over the place, but not necesarilly in a bad way. It sounds very cool! Sorry that I can't be more specific than that but like I said this style is different than what I'm used to. Overall, one of my main feelings is that perhaps the first movement doesn't quite fit the piece like the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th do... and I'm not sure why. It could just be because it's the only one that wasn't in the live recording, but it was definitely the one I had the hardest time immersing myself into. By the second movement I was quite enjoying it, and by the third movement, I was hooked. That third movement is just absolutely great. Highlight of the piece for sure, and the fourth movement rounds it up with a nice finish. Very nice! Edit: Ok upon listening again I redact what I originally said about the first movement feeling out of place. I now think it's due to comparing it to the live recordings for the other three movements.

Thanks guys for the feedback so far! Yes, I agree that it's the structure of the piece that's a bit... scatterbrained. It's how to go about restructuring it that will end up being the key. And I also agree the more and more I listen back to it, the more unnecessary that long intro sounds. Now I am curious as to what you mean @danishali903. Do you mean that what I consider the main theme of the piece (after the intro) sounds more like what should be a B section? That could be problematic because I already have a B section after it, and if I put something before it, I would have two B sections, essentially. I feel that would confuse things even more. Hmm... thank you for pointing that out about the Bass. I hadn't considered that and I'll definitely take a look at that. @Ken320 Are you referring to the sustained note and pizzicato in the beginning (that I feel like I can easily cut), or even all the way up to when the cello starts rolling that pattern?

Did you have a story playing in your head when you composed this? Because I can practically see these birds conspiring to go to war, falling in love, mourning for loss, and all sorts of things as I listen to this. You paint a very vivid picture with your sounds, and I must say it's very very cool!

Another re-upload from the archives: This piece is an experimental work that is a serious work, yet, it is not meant to be taken too seriously. It has many fun surprises and a lot of cross-over feel to it. It's broken up into three movements, but it's all in one file. Video game music was one of the bigger inspirations for this piece. The piece is meant to start off sounding of old-school synth elements, and a more 'weird' tone to it, but each movement moves more towards a huge, cheesy, dated-sounding, full-on trance/dance romp! This was the grand finale of my senior recital and boy, I had to really push my professor to let me include this on the program! LOL Enjoy and let me know what you think! A Synthetic Mind (c) 2013 Jair W. Crawford

This was the second piece I composed for my degree after the Choral Fantasy, but I don't feel like it's quite up to par. I feel like it's mostly there but there are things that need to be cut in certain areas and/or reworked. This is intended to be a second movement for a larger work. I'll post both the Sibelius Essentials and the live recording from my recital but the live recording has a considerable amount of errors in this one, so do keep that in mind. I would love to know what works and what doesn't with this piece. I can't seem to decide if I like how lush it is in the beginning, or if I need to keep it more simple and make it more harmonically dense later on. And then there are some developmental parts which I'm just not quite satisfied with. I decided to post this here though instead of in the Incomplete Works forum because I feel like any cuts and changes I would make wouldn't be all that major. Please let me know what you think! Suite For String Orchestra Mov. II (c) 2013 Jair W. Crawford