BiddyPocket

This is computer generated, not live. I think Holst would be pretty angry to see you had sampled so much of his stuff. There are various points where the melodies from Mars and clearly stated in your piece, which isn't a good thing. Sampling, or "quoting" composers is okay, but it's usually done in a much more subtle way so that only others who really knew the piece well would make the connection. Yours, however, blatantly reinstates the main themes from Mars, and not in any original way. It's not to say that the writing is bad, but this certainly couldn't be a piece that stood on its own. There would be an indefinite copyright issue :p. anyway, the piece that you chose....Mars....did its sounds/techniques really give you goosebumps? I love the suite, no doubt, especially Mars, but I think there are many other pieces that could give you goosebumps more effectively. The cool thing about an exercise like that, I suppose, is that you can interpret goosebumps however you want....creepy things give you goosebumps, but also unexpected, uplifting, triumphant things can as well. I don't know where I'm going with this... I'd say to restart it and take even less from Holst. Using his techniques is okay, but too much is stolen from the original.

I don't really understand the question... to be reputable is a positive term, it means that someone is honorable, in good repute.... anyway, I guess you mean which composer has the worst reputation/is the worst, in our opinion? I'd say cage. 4'33 or whatever it was kinda put me over the edge with him into my "no" category. The fact that it was arranged for full orchestra makes me giggle.

Hah, good luck trying to double tongue on a single reeded instrument :). In order for a tongued sound to be produced, the tongue literally needs to touch the reed. With brass instruments or piped ones, such as the flute, it can be faked because it's just stopping the air, but with a clarinet or sax you have to actually stop the reed from vibrating in order to properly tongue. I've never heard of anyone able to double tongue on the clarinet, but I could be wrong. Either way, it would be very difficult, leaving that part only playable for a select few. EDIT: Also, after reviewing that part at 71, it isn't so much the tonguing that would be difficult but the switch in ranges. There are places where you have fairly swift tongued 16th octave C#s that pass through the two registers, then back down again. It's difficult stuff....again, not impossible, but pretty close. I'd say take a look at the Stravinsky's 3 Pieces that I mentioned and look at his use of slurs. It's especially important in the third movement, which is a very challenging passage at first glance...but once you take a harder look at it, it's mostly just technique....but a lot of his tongued notes stay within playable registers, such as having repetitive tongued notes hovering around C6, but never dipping below C5 and back up. I hope that helped? :)

Thanks Safares! Hopefully I will get around to editting it once I finish my violin concerto...

I think the biggest problem with your whole outlook here is that you think that when you go to college, you have to decide what you're going to do for the rest of your life. I got into Whalen school of music at Ithaca as a clarinet education major...and then decided that I wanted absolutely nothing to do with it, even though I had played and dedicated myself to it for over 8 years. Now, I'm heading into the field of forensic psychology, and will soon be going for a JD and a PhD conjointly. Do I still compose? Yes. Do I wish that my parents had let me go for composition? Sometimes, yes. Do I regret switching majors? Hellz no....it opened up a whole new world for me. Now I do research about eyewitness testimony and I'm a part of a team that's researching the latest in treatment of Autism. what I'm trying to get at is that you don't need to decide to become a composer at 16 - thee most popular thing to do in college is change majors, lol. It's all up to you, and how big of a part you think music will play in your life. Even if you get into a great school, making a living as a composer is very difficult nowadays. I say, go to college as undecided, take as many classes in different majors as you possibly can, and still compose. :)

Very playable clarinet part....i'd love to pay this piece! I also loved the quotes...entry of the gladiators, slavonic dances...very nice! And, I literally laughed out loud at the "mambo!" haha - well done!

I'm not a huge fan of atonal music, but I must say this was extremely tasteful and well put together. I enjoyed listening to it, which for atonal music is surprising for me. Anyway, lovely clarinet part. I'm a clarinetist myself, and I must say it's very reminiscent of the Stravinsky's Three Pieces for clarinet solo (especially that whole bit at 57 ;)). None the less, great work! The only criticism about the clarinet part I have is that you seem to have used hardly any slurs in the faster part at 17. At 60-63, you have a great use of slurs, but then look at 71 and so on - that'll sound pretty choppy if tongued. I'm guess you're not a woodwind player? If not, then what I always tell people is for each tongued note, to say "Ta" every time - it gets pretty exhausting and difficult in fast passages. Even sluring two notes together, or doing slur-two tongue-two is much easier than straight, percussive tongued notes. Some of the jumps you have there, such as measure 41, is very difficult at that speed....even just the octave F sharps would be hard. I guess I should give you some background info on how the clarinet works... The clarinet it sectioned into three main note sections - from the E below middle C to the Bb above middle C, B 5 to C6, and then everything above (the throat register). Mixing anything below B5 with anything above B5 in fast passages is very difficult. If you take a look at some clarinet literature, any changes between those ranges are usually arpeggiated. The part isn't impossible, but it's definitely very difficult. It would take a lot of experience to master some of those changes and rapid tonguing. Regardless, great piece :)

I think someone needs a life. No offense, but it was just an excited utterance. CLEARLY I don't John williams took it from his 9th. so, relax, take a chill pill.

ME TOO! totally taken from his 9th... anyway, I wish I had written the Firebird. It's pretty fabulous... It's possible when your family is rich, and instead of going to school or getting a job, you learn music non-stop. I think what's more amazing is Mozart's compositions at a MUCH younger age than 16...

*shrug* I don't know why people enjoy bashing Tchaikovsky...I think it's just because he wasn't appreciated at his time, and people feel the need to continue it, regardless of his music...*cough*...right... anyway, for best symphony I'm going to have to go with the Sibelius 2...wonderfully written.... and what about the Mahler 1?!? Personally, I think the 1 trumps his others. I'm also a tchaik 4 fan... and for violin concerto, I'm going to have to go with the Barber. And, of course, the mend and beethoven are close seconds.

hey AntiA, thanks for your comments! I see what you're saying....the comments on all of my music thus far have been to develop, not repeat, which I'm starting to understand now, lol. I'll definitely take this into consideration when reworking it! Thanks!

hey there! I love the quartet so far! I would say give the second violin and viola a bit more exposure, especially in the beginning. I like how it's solo violin and cello, but I think it goes on that way for a bit too long. Other then that, I really liked it. Make it longer! :)

thanks everyone! siwi - thank you for the information about the string parts and some of their difficulties...I'm a clarinetist, and don't have much experience with string instruments, other than what I have learned from reading and talking with friends. I disagree about the beginning though...I like the fact that it stays in one key. Like I said, I'm modeling the Tchaikovsky Serenade which, in the first movement, has a slower passage (though Tchaikovsky wrote it as a tribute to Mozart...so I guess I'm modeling Mozart? :P) I agree, though, that it is dense. During my revision, I'm going to take all that you have commented on and take a very long, hard look at it. Thank you! Roli - Thanks! I can't wait to hear your opinions about the other movements! Ablyth - I will most certainly mark my divisi later on.....it's something I have a terrible habit of not doing! I am also going to work on developing one section instead of shifting existing sections around. I think I do develop the piece with the theme from the first section of movement I quite well towards the middle, but you're right - Where the second theme picks up, there isn't much that links it to what follows. blm - Thanks for your comments!

hey everyone, I'd love some feedback - especially from those pianists out there! I want to know what works and what doesn't for piano! :D

Hey Everyone, I would like to introduce my Serenade for Strings. It's currently unfinished, lacking a 4th movement that I intend to add, but the first three can give a pretty good example of my composing skills. I'm really proud of this work...I think it's one of my best. I hope you think so too. I began writing the piece out of the blue, inspired by the Tchaikovsky Serenade in C (as you can probably hear in the first movement), and it turned into much more than I expected. I envisioned a summer romance, a brief love affair symbolizing bliss. I felt that in each of the three movements. The scoring is as follows: Violin 1 Violin 2 (Violin 3 - first movement) Viola 1 Viola 2 Cello 1 Cello 2 Double Bass I split up the viola and cello to get a deeper sound, which I think is lost when the they remain in unison. NOTE - I know some of the notes are out of range for Double Bass - this was because I compose in "display in concert pitch" and when I made the scores, I didn't change the parts. whoops! The links to the mp3/pdf files are as follows: Movement I - Adagio and Allegro PDF - String Serenade - MVT I.pdf - File Shared from Box.net - Free Online File Storage Movment II - Romanze PDF - String Serenade - MVT II.pdf - File Shared from Box.net - Free Online File Storage Movement III - Danze PDF - String Serenade - MVT III.pdf - File Shared from Box.net - Free Online File Storage I hope you enjoy, and I appreciate any and all comments, both good and bad. ~Joe