nivin

That's truly very good. However, I am compelled to add a suggestion: I agree with royreintjes that there's too little change in "attack". At first the piece is very soothing and gentle, but around 0:40 it begins to lack something fresh. Perhaps a line of double bass? I advise double bass often when I feel there's a tad too little variety, double bass can complement the rest of the string section in a magnificent way!

I'm very happy you liked it When it comes to adding some more instrumentation, I thought about it too, but then run into two snags: (1) I compose using my keyboard and it's so hard to simulate well the sound of a woodwind instrument, esp. ethnic; (2) honestly speaking, on a day-to-day basis I'm totally into symphonic rock and metal and therefore I don't feel comfortable enough around oriental scales to come up with some more complex melodies. Given that, I went for simplicity of just oud in the lead Before composing this little piece I had listened for days, over and over again, to lots of different Arabic and Turkish melodies so as to feel the climate and get the grasp of how it all should work. If you like my composition, then it's a huge reward for me

This is a product of me experimenting with some oriental scales. The underlying inspiration for it was an old Arabic tale :) Ebony Horse

That's a very good instrumental. I like the bass and drums, they provide really good dynamism. Pads and keyboards good as well. One thing I might suggest is to introduce some more piano somewhere, so that the piano part in the middle isn't the only piano part in the entire piece. To me it sounds a bit awkward if you introduce the piano just for a couple of bars, since piano is very distinctive and in your piece it takes the lead for half a minute. But it isn't a must, much depends on your conception of that piece. Anyway, good job

I've never listened to the piece that you intended to pay homage to, but I think that you could improve your composition by introducing a bit more dynamism/variety. For instance, try adding a line or two of double bass here and there. I guess you wanted to write a sad and solemn piece, but that doesn't necessarily mean you can't add occasionally something one or two octaves lower. Other than that, your composition is quite good, it sure does convey sadness, and even depression I would say.

As for the lenght - of course it's the composer's job to expand the piece But as for what you have already done - it's the first stage: you have the very basic concept of the chords and some melody. If you want to make a decent symphony out of it, then you naturally need to add various instruments and so must decide what you want them to do: create a large variety and many layers of music or a simplier structure? Which (and when) are to carry the melody and which (and when) are to create the background? It's hard to say anything precise here, a lot depends on your vision of the piece. But I think a good way of understanding better how it all works is to simply listen intently to symphonic pieces. Then you can discover what you like and dislike about various instruments and learn about their "potential". Of course, listening to a symphony is also good for picking different composing techniques that you can later use to enrich your compositions. Hope that it helps a little

Although I'm not an avid piano listener, I enjoyed that piece. I liked the changes in emotions and articulation. It's a disturbing piece. Plus there's richness and much variety in it which add dimensions to the music. All those things kept me listening. Well done and thanks for sharing