DrewCCU

This is a very short composition I made called "Savor the Victory" ... it's kind of a short fanfare thingy i did for a video game ... but it could be used for many things i'm sure. http://www.snapdrive.net/files/537084/SavorTheVictory.mp3

Think of it like any other small ensemble composition only your using just pianos. Don't restrict yourself.

I agree. I didn't give this piece all I have - by a long shot. But as I mentioned it was for a contest and I was under a time constraint. I didn't have a lot of time to work on it ... so I kind of rushed through it and played it "safe" and conservative ... I could've done a better job though. You're right. Thanks for the feedback!

I tried to see if this topic has already been discussed here but I couldn't find it. But if it has, forgive me for overlooking it. But anyway, in search for how to turn a .mus file into a .pdf file i came across this website. Thought I'd share it with you. Finale Export to PDF - David Bolton

That wasn't a comment directed towards me. You should reread the sentence: He is refereing to the "someone like that at (his) uni". But thanks for your comments ... you said what i was trying to say in much fewer words. LoL.

I usually like to give my pieces a name that means something - especially if the piece is really important to me. Listen to the piece and close your eyes. What do you see in your head when you listen? Ask friends and family to do the same ... what do they see? For example - i once wrote a piece and when it was complete i listened. some friends and I said it kind of sounded like you were out at sea on a voyage to discover new lands. Therefor, i called the piece "Nautica". I wrote a piece also and when i listened to it (and another friend agreed with me here) it brought back memories of childhood and old friends. So i called the piece "Nostalgia". And then other times the name is just too simple. Like i wrote a main theme for a video game (we will say the video game was called "A VIDEO GAME") ... so ... i titled the composition "A VIDEO GAME Main Theme"

Yes I agree with what you've both said. Yet, i feel you're missing the point I'm making. I am a music major and a fond studier of music. I'm sure most of us are. I agree with you on many levels - just about everything you learn about music theory is important knowledge that should be at least retained (not necessarily used all the time). however, certain things just fit so well for an effect you are trying to achieve. I think you misinterpreted the topic for the most part. I strongly believe that you should learn all the theory you possibly can and then throw it out the window (or at least throw it in a vault in the back of your mind) and write what you hear in your head and feel and what - to you - sounds good - using only the very basics of music theory to guide you. However, as i've mentioned, there comes a time when you need to call upon something you've learned and you can't. take for example you are a young composer and you want to incorporate something in your piece that sounds fantasy like and dreamy ... you've heard it done a thousand times before and you used to know what technique was used but you simply don't remember. I'm sure it happens to us all at some point. I don't know - i just thought this would be a way to help jog peoples memory but more importantly possibly introduce them to new things they haven't tried. I know there are a lot of threads that go into greater detail about certain techniques and stuff but I thought this would be a good way for a quick look at a bunch of different references. Honestly, i can't quite put into words what I'm trying to do here. So let me try to summarize just one more time: As i've said over and over - it all makes sense in my head if only there was a way you could open up and look in there. I truly honestly believe music theory is something that should be PRACTICED not executed. That may not make much sense at first but think about it. Music theory deserves to be taught and rehearsed no doubt. But there comes a time when you should throw all that stuff away and just do whatever the hell you want ... some might say - why did you do that ... that doesn't sound good to me ... thats not right ... YOU SHOULD NEVER!!! ... but I say (to a certain degree) that's all bull ... as long as it sounds good to you and you are happy with your creation thats what makes it good. however, there are things in your head i'm sure you would like to transcribe but just can't seem to be able to do it. Thats where reapplying your theory comes into play. But sometimes there are simple things we are looking for but can't find that answer to ... so we need some help. That's what i'm trying to do here i guess ... sounded like a good idea to me ... maybe i was wrong. An endless discussion? No doubt. But whose to say you won't turn on someones light bulb in the process? And that makes it all worth while to me.

Dictation is a key factor but there is something else i feel. Remembering everything about music theory you've ever learned. A tough task I know but here is why I say that. Prime example ... in your head you come to this chord that just needs to be brutal/vicious/out of place/scaryish. Obviously the chord in your head isn't a "normal" chord. But what kind of chord are you looking for? Boom! Then it hits you (at least you hope it hits you or something jogs your memory)! You need a tritone chord! I come across this problem from time to time and need a little something to stir my brain up and come up with some ideas i've probably forgotten about or maybe never even knew. I came up with this thread to hopefully help solve some of these problems: http://www.youngcomposers.com/forum/dont-forget-about-13521.html I don't usually like posting other thread links in a reply but I think it goes so hand in hand with this thread that you should take a look at it ... hopefully if enough people reply with their opinions it could be a nice bit of information to be able to fall back to when you're in a tight spot.

As composers I think it's fair to assume that sometimes we (or at least I) find ourselves getting tied down to one particular style or whatever. Sometimes we forget about all the other things we once learned ... often little things that we could use to liven up our compositions or maybe fill in that piece of the puzzle we're missing. We need to remember that there is a whole range of ideas outside of traditional music theory and outside of the key on the paper. I hope I am making sense. What I would like to do is a thread here where we can all help each other out and jog each others memory or maybe teach us something we didn't know before. If you have any ideas please feel free to share ... i'll start by giving you all an example of kind of what i'm talking about: DON'T FORGET ABOUT ... --- Whole Tone Scales. a scale in which each note is separated from its neighbours by the interval of a whole step. Common Use: Whole tone scales are often used to create a "dreamy" sound (especially when played on a harp). Often in films/TV it is used to transition between reality and dreaming and vice versa. --- Tritones. a musical interval that spans three whole tones. The tritone is the same as an augmented fourth. Common Use: The interval tends to suggest an "oppressive", "scary", or "evil" sound. --- Augmented Sixth Chords. An augmented sixth chord contains the interval of an augmented sixth above the bass. Common Function: There are 3 different types of Aug 6th chords (Italian, German and French) They all have their own little thing going for them but essentially they all serve pretty much the same function. That is as altered supertonic or subdominant chords leading to a dominant chord. This movement to the dominant is heightened by the chromatic raising of the fourth scale degree. --- and the list goes on and on all day long ... if you have something you'd like to add - please share it!

I wrote this piece intending it to be a warm up chorale. However, upon some research this piece doesn't exactly fit the classic definition of a chorale. So then, if not a chorale what can it be classified as? Or could it be called a chorale? AKS_Chorale001.mp3

I hate to bump the thread but I was really hoping to get some feeback from some of you guys with this piece. Being it's my first time actually scoring for a prerecorded video I wanted to see if you thought I captured the scene well with my music. What do you like the piece and what would you do to improve? Also, I'd like to share some of my own thoughts with you for just a second: After years and years of study I've found that music theory is just the building blocks of music. Once a composer/musician grasps the "rules" of music they are then allowed to break them - and then who is to say they are right or wrong in what they write? I think it's mostly about the way an artist/composer hears something and wishes to portray it. So who says he can't have a piece made up entirely of parallel 5ths or end the song on a V chord? But anyway, this is a subject for another discussion - the point I am trying to make is this: In music composition, no one can really say "you're wrong" but it's still nice to share our ideas and works with other artists and maybe get a little insight on how they see things and/or think. Receiving feedback is always positive - even if it's negative. The person might comment on your piece such as "I don't like the way you did this ... i would have done it that way." (at least this is the "correct" way to give negative feedback or contructive criticism in my opinion) and EVEN if you don't agree with what that person says it gives you a look at how other people view things. You may not realize it at the time, but you learned something from their comment ... always take others comments into consideration - and then make your decision on what to do. That's the way I see things. ANYWAY - all of that said - I just want to make sure this thread doesn't go unnoticed and wanted to see if i could possibly get a little feedback. Thanks.

download a program audacity ( Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder ) and use it to save your .wav to an .mp3. Yes, there are many other smaller simpler programs that do the same job. But this is only one of the many reasons i love this program Everyone should own this program.

My name is Andrew K. Smith. I'm a 21 yr old with ... well half of a BA in Music. I began working on my BA but took a break from school for a while after 2 years and decided to join the Army (i know - what a radical change of plans). However, I still plan on finishing my degree and continue my education towards a Masters. I hope to one day be able to make a living by doing what I love - composing. I wanted to share something i just recently finished with you guys. It's nothing spectacular and isn't my best work by far. But it is the first time I ever synced a piece to a video clip. This is my entry to a composition contest. The rules were to write your own score to this clip from Nightmare on Elm Street. I decided to take the clip and upload it to You Tube with my score as the audio track. I thought it would get maximum effectiveness this way. Original Clip: YouTube - A Nightmare On Elm Street - Freddy Kills Glenn My Video: YouTube - So You Wanna Score Nightmare on Elm Street? comments are appreciated.