icy_bass_clar

This suite for wind ensemble, projected at 4 or 5 movements, is about the stars- power, wonder, majesty, resilience, etcetera. So, can I get some feedback on what I have so far? I need help on the second movement more than the first (I have material for the last two/three on paper somewhere, just not punched into the computer yet). It's very incomplete. Instrumentation: 1 picc, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 1 Eb clar, 3 Bb clars, 2 bass clars, 1 contrabass clar, 2 alto sax, 1 tenor, 1 bari, 3 trumpets, 4 F horns, 3 trombones (3rd opt bass), 1 euphonium, 2 tubas, too many percussion, and 4 crystal glass players on 10 glasses (this could expand). I'm particularly bad at writing trumpet parts, I think. That and percussion mapping- this might take a few players- like, 9 or 10 or 20 if I'm not careful :P By the way, pay no mind to the key on the first movement, the band I'm writing for could do it just fine. Thanks for listening! Ryan Ursa, a Poet.pdf Ursa, a Poet.mp3

You write some demanding bassoon and tuba parts! And that's not bad, either, it's about time they got something hard to play. I liked the piece, to be brief. Now, enough compliments, let's get to it. Two things: 1) The ending was a little uncalled for- you have dissonance and strangeness the whole piece and then you end with a strong, traditional, and happy unison. I guess it made some sort of sense with the title, "Confusione," but I have a feeling that wasn't what you meant (or maybe it was, meh). 2) Formatting issues:There are times when your time signatures don't match the actual meter (notated 2/4 but 4 quarters to the bar) and others when tuplets and other note groups don't use conventional grouping (ie using multiple 3's instead of simplifying notation to 6's, or having WAY too many 16ths in one group). Fix that- also check for rogue unnecessary accidentals and consider revising those and others for easier reading. Overall, solid. Nice work! Oh, and put up a pdf of the score, people tend to be upset about that Ryan

Thanks for the comments- maybe it could be for orchestra, but it's in quite an awkward key... tune them basses down! :P And it's a little ambiguous on my profile- I play bassoon, an used to play clarinet (and saxes, but hey). Not until recently did I start playing bass clarinet, and it's pretty hard... derp.

Spot on, it's minimalism! Too bad I don't have any prizes except this imaginary pack of cookies... Anyways, thanks for listening!

This is a piece that I wrote to explore one of the specific instruments in my sound library- Lead 2 synthesizer (sawtooth). Maybe it could be performed on some sort of electric organ?It's simple, I guess, but I particularly wanted to explore the instrument's capabilities of warm harmony and pitch shifting.Comments are being begged for in the streets. Enjoy, and thanks for listening! Mountain Drone

Right on the money- low tom, brake drum, woodblocks, bass drum, crash cymbal. Your point being?

One more thing I noticed (I listened to it again, sue me, I liked it) was that sometimes you have the tubas in 3rds. that's pretty edgy- no matter how good it sounds in MIDI, unless both notes are well in the staff, it sounds muddy in practice. Just something to be careful of.

Pretty piece of music! I like. A couple things, in a very particular order: At measures 29 and 34, your harmonies are very ambiguous- There's a G in the bass, but it sounds more like Bb major- was that intentional? Use the maj7 or 9 more in the mid-range instruments (saxes, horns, etc.), because what you have with the piccolo and flute and high clarinets doesn't do the full chordal structure justice. From a chordal standpoint, 46-7 is quite messy- it's not clear what you are trying to do. I think it's G minor, but I'm not sure. It makes me uneasy, that's all. At the end, add tuba on the root with the woodwinds. It'd add some finality to the phrase. For the conductor, keep the baritone as just bass clef. You can have a treble part for the player if they need it, but the conductor is perfectly fine with just the bass clef. ------ Very nice- especially the last few bars- oboe!

Thanks for the comments! Just note for anyone else interested: I might try to make this piece fit for performance, but that was not the original intention. I'm aware of the technical limitations of instruments and of how difficult runs might be, but I never meant for anybody to play it anyways, so I wrote for the imaginary perfect band in my head :happy: Now, on to responding. 1. As far as the key, I'd change it if anyone played it. 2. Thanks, that's personally my favorite section of the piece. 3. If it's a people playing it thing, then I'm not worried, but yeah, I see your point. 4. Hm... D'ya think so? I'll try it, I suppose! 5. The woodwinds don't just need to be heard, they need to bug the heck out of the listener. I was actually disappointed that the MIDI couldn't be louder. 6. If this were ever played in a real setting, this would be the first thing I'd change. You're right, it'd work better that way. 7. If you didn't read the essay, do so, because that theme is not supposed to have a correlation to any other- it specifically represents the stark contrast of the lives o the rich and the poor in the time period. 8. Does laziness count as an excuse? .........I didn't think so, yeah, it'll get changed some time or another. 9. Yeah, I know, difficulty wasn't a concern. If this were played by 30 pianos and percussion, it wouldn't have mattered to me. Wind band is just more powerful and impactful. 10. Thanks a bunch for the comments!

I'm not sure whether the low, muddy chords were intentionally so, but I think that it detracts from the overall mood of the piece. Where the arpeggios are closer in the lower octaves I would consider reworking the intervals; those minor thirds and stuff down there are technically correct but sound odd with the pedal mucking it all up. Maybe instead of min 3rds in the low register, you omit/skip those and use a 9th or 11th later in the arpeggio instead, I don't know what would work best for what you want. I like it, though. Sounds cool

I wrote this piece for a history project. It's a narrative that follows immigrant workers in the Gilded Age period. My history teacher isn't a musician, so I think I may have gotten 100%... ;DComments are so welcome it's unhealthy. Thanks for listening!If you're interested in reading my essay on the piece, here it is: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=46FQC1QV Gold Plating That Rusts

There is meant to be no melody from numbers 1-20: it's just a simple layering texture that maintains a constant 16th pulse despite the different rhythms. The section before 5:00 is a musical substitution, exchanging notes for rests, until nothing is left but the Mario-type synth sounds. the section at 5:20 alternates between A minor 11 and E minor 11 flat 9. The end is another substitution, and is meant to drop off like that. Thanks for the comments!

Something I drew up as an experiment with my computer's synthesizer sounds. Instrumentation is actually 7 synthesizers and an electric bass (kind of synthesized, right?) It also uses a hi-hat, but that's hardly important.Enjoy the Reich-esque music- comments are appreciated!EDIT- sorry, uploaded the wrong version if the score... 8 Synths

Definitely make from page 2 to the horn solo double time. Then the horn solo could be marked as rubato (and maybe take out the barlines to help with that?). Also, you could use this as a chance to take advantage of versatile woodwind doubling (or at least make the score denser in that area) by using english horn/oboe 2 or bass clarinet or flute 2 or contrabassoon... you get the idea. One last thing- maybe you could write some harmonies into your woodwind runs? It would help make them sound less thin- again, another flute player could help with this. I like it. Keep up the awesome.

Glad you noticed the Ticheli quotes :happy: I used Sibelius 6 for all of the notation things. 72 and 80 serve as smaller climaxes for the first work, though it doesn't come out very well in the MIDI. Yeah, I guess it's similar to "Cloudburst" with the snaps thing, but not much tops Eric Whitacre in that field. :lol: Thanks for the comments!