Jeff Ball

We played her Concerto for Orchestra at my university. It was horribly difficult to play, but it's fun to listen to.

The only criticism I have is that the piece feels sort of disjointed, lots of little sections, but without any common ground, except a few themes brought back after a minute or so. Other than that I like the harmonies, very interesting choices.

Wow, this is the slowest piece I've heard you write. Good stuff though! You have an interesting sense of chord progression.

Upon listening to the main theme, I like the atmosphere it creates, but the rhythms feel a bit too square. The chord progression feels a bit stagnant after awhile as well because of the repetition. Sometimes your notes clash as well, but that can be fixed with some music theory training. Listening to the Introducing Joe, I think the same criticisms apply. Good work though, keep at it!

I think there might be too much reverb on this track. It's very epic though, I'm enjoying chord progressions, and great job mixing the classical instruments with electronics. The melodic content can get a bit repetitive though after awhile. Try less reverb, and maybe adding a higher melodic voice, it kinda feels like it needs some epic Irish flute or something.

This is a lot of music, I've just listened to the first. It kind of reminds me more of Danny Elfman from Edward Scissorhands until about :54 when you open up, then it sounds more like Kingdom Hearts. In any case, good track, I enjoyed listening! I would work on your instrument realism, such as using more expression within the notes.

Theory of Krin This stuff is the most brilliant and evocative experimental electronic music I've heard.

Beautiful harmonies, very uplifting. Thanks for posting this!

I love this piece, the orchestration looks good too. Nice work.

This piece for vocalist and keyboard is attempting to portray the Catholic church from when Latin was used to keep the people uninformed. Specifically, actions of rituals in repetition, with emotion of bleakness, inadequacy, and yearning. The text is borrowed from the Confiteor, where the congregation confesses their sins. Confiteor Deo omnipotenti, beatae Mariae semper Virgini, beato Michaeli Archangelo, beato Joanni Baptistae, sanctis Apostolis Petro et Paulo, omnibus Sanctis, et tibi Pater: quia peccavi nimis cogitatione verbo, et opere: mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. I confess to Almighty God, to Blessed Mary ever Virgin, to Blessed Michael the Archangel, to Blessed John the Baptist, to the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, to all the angels and saints, and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, deed. Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Score: http://www.jeffballmusic.com/scores/jeffball-peoplesconfession.pdf MIDI (ported from sibelius, dynamics and tempos aren't always proper): http://www.jeffballmusic.com/scores/jeffball-peoplesconfession.mid

thanks Morgri. right on 1:27 is an example of the pizz in question.

I think this piece is accessible by 9 and 10 year olds... They've been playing for a few years at this point. To my friend Anita's credit though, I should say that she is an excellent teacher and I think she could guide them through the piece. rautavaara: That's a good suggestion. I'm kind of on the fence about it though, on one hand it would be good for the kids to see something easier, but then I don't want them to be getting dependent on seeing something that doesn't always show up in music. QcCowboy: I definitely agree. The violist in the quartet, from what I heard, is the most proficient of the bunch. I think the viola part having some chromaticism would be good for them, but yeah, she might have to practice intonation a bit. anthonyzerillocomposer: Sorry for the misunderstanding, but it doesn't require two players at all! When pizzing the last note, the player would roll their finger over all 4 strings to pluck them all, much like strumming a guitar. Though in the viola part that would only be 3 strings, and 2 in the cello.

My friend Anita is working with some young students, and has organized them into a string quartet. They're about 4th and 5th graders, and they have a lot of potential, but she couldn't find any fitting quartet music for them. So she asked me to write her a baby string quartet. PDF: http://www.jeffballmusic.com/scores/jeffball-nightwindseasyquartet.pdf MIDI: http://www.jeffballmusic.com/scores/jeffball-nightwindseasyquartet.mid What do you think? I think there should be more easier quartet music for younger kids to play.

Very well written! who's playing it? Did you conduct as well? I'd give better comments, but my roommate is listening to rock at 900 decibels...

hahah, thanks for the compliments. The lament was so short cause I wrote it that short I guess... It's the second part of a 2 movement work, but i didn't include the recording of that one because the performance of it didn't come out well at all... I'll put in a midi though so you can hear what it sounds like. It's more a combination of French and Russian early 20th century. I would like to hear my orchestral works performed by live players too heheh, maybe someday. Oh yeah, we had another Conducting quiz. 4BRUCE2.MID