Grant Weep

Hehehe, that's some great advice. All I can say is, if I viewed the world through your lens - it wouldn't be too hard to make any decision. I think that there are a lot more possibilities than what you have come up with, so I've found a compromise that I am happy with. I do resent the accusation that I am not deserving to be an artist, but I'll gladly accept that if it means that I am a better human being.

That is totally true. But I'll let one slide for a cherished friend. This point really resonates with me...I've always seen art as a balance between form and expression. Unfortunately it just feels like there is such a high emphasis on expression these days. A very egocentric approach. I really liked your post and this point stood out. KJ...thanks for sharing your story. I'm definitely a bit of a softie - I have my principles but I'll bend them if I like you enough. I don't think I'll be able to share my music with this friend in the future, which really is a shame - since he absolutely loved the piece that I wrote...so much that he decided to make it his own. To steal it. It's sort of discouraging to see how my biggest dream as composer literally turned into a nightmare as someone liked my music *too* much. At the same time, it's been a really valuable learning experience for me as a composer. I am already working on some new pieces, so I suppose that it makes me feel alright by remembering that my friend has never written any music and I'll just write more music to make things right again. Thanks again, for all the helpful suggestions/opinions in this matter...I do have a recording of the way he played my piece right now, and the sheet music. Once I'm able to find a proper piano to record myself playing the piece - I will most definitely share the piece with you all!

That sounds intense. I've certainly thought of it, but I am worried that going this approach would end up losing a friend unnecessarily... **edit** My compromise was to basically have him present the song as: Written by grantweep - adapted by him.

Well, did you read the part where the performer being a close friend upsets the balance of the equation? What you describe holds true for most situations where there isn't much of a relationship between the composer and performer. My song isn't a jazz piece. And he is in fact performing the piece publicly in my name. I'm not a professional musician, and I didn't ask him to perform the piece for me. This is someone who basically liked the song I wrote so much that he ended up treating the song as if he wrote it. That is what pisses me off. I change/mess around with pieces all the time. I like jazz as well. I'm not really sure you understood the deeper meaning behind my dilemma...=/

This is all very helpful feedback....with the exception of one opinion, it seems that most people are sympathizing with my position. And I do welcome dissenting opinion, hehe. Yeah, technically you are absolutely right, it's the fact that he's my cherished friend that is making this difficult. There is some simplifying going on, though my friend has some impressive technique. I think he's taking over artistic vision over certain parts. He'll say stuff like: "I don't think that you should elaborate/develop the melody you have here. I just like the melody so much from before. Hence I'm going to play the melody straight and without all these embellishments." It's pretty annoying to have to be challenged like that as a composer. Yeah, I make these direct comments over the internet message. (he is far away) And basically, I get ignored when I start pointing out more than 4-5 places where he has deviated from the sheet music. I'll then say something along the lines of: This piece is important to me, I wrote it going through a difficult time in my life and all the notes were chosen for a reason. We'll change topics and chat for a while. I'll try again some other time, and say something to the extent: "You know, I'm really not enjoying way you way you are playing my pieces, but I'll continue listen to your recordings to give support/feedback. And he'll reply back with something like: "Oh? I'm sorry that it isn't fun for you, but it's super exciting for me, I've been working on this song so much and I feel like I am entering uncharted waters stylistically" There may be some truth to this. My analysis is that my friend really enjoys this song. He's never written music before. I think that either subconsciously or consciously he's enjoying the fact that by changing parts of my song he is living out perhaps some fantasy or pleasant feeling of being a composer. Anyways, I do appreciate the support guys. This was really bugging me and for a while I felt like the douchebag, which made me feel worse. The piece that he is performing is one of the most personal that I have written - it came from a really tough place in my heart and basically summarized some of the emotional struggles I've been through as a young guy growing up. I once explained to my friend that this piece was essentially like a dairy a certain part my life. And that when he was playing the song, it was almost as if I would be there on the stage with him, naked, and with all my emotions present for the audience to examine. And if he was then to change parts of the song it would like he would be perverting my soul and distorting the experiences that I've been through. Didn't stop him from totally messing up the song though :/

Hello all, Ive been writing music for a long time but I've only recently gotten to the point where another person was interested in performing my works. This person, who is a cherished friend, is learning my piece very eagerly but is also applying a lot of 'performers edits'. At first, it was flattering to see someone really into my music, but now its gotten to the point where annoying and I've given up correcting him. These 'performers edits' include playing sections of the song 2x faster than indicated tempo. Cutting out endings. Adding extra bars of transitional passages and intentionally altering harmonies or even refusing to play the right hand melody as written. Has anyone ever felt like this and how were you able to get past this frustration? And am I justified in feeling this way? Or perhaps I'm just a really mean and uptight composer.

Hey guys, This is a song, w/o lyrics yet, written/improvised by me, on the piano. It originally started out as the simple riff you hear in the beginning of the song, and it progressed on from there. Putfile - Find 16 I should really get a metronome...

Lies >.>

http://media.putfile.com/I-Dont-Know-1 What I did: 1. Got a mic 2. Stuck it behind my piano 3. Plugged the mic into a small guitar amp 4. Maxed the distortion for the guitar amp 5. Play + Record Here's what a bit of what the 'clean version' sounds like for anyone that's interested http://media.putfile.com/IDONTKNOW-98

montpellier: Well, punk is a pretty loose genre, with the DIY approach. I was thinking more of a pop-piano-punk genre when I wrote these. I mean, I wanted to have to have the raw energy of punk but also capture it on the piano (which is a very powerful instrument). The I-vii-vi-IV-I progression is a lot less aggresive for punk but great for a pop song. xD ~Grant Weep

Well, the topic says it all. Here's 2 great songs that I had lots of fun composing with. Sonata fantasy no. 3 for solo violin, 4th movement.MID Minor.pdf Flame away :P Ephemeral2.mid IDONTKNOW.mid

MoLe, I switched the instrumentation of the melody and it sounds much better =) http://media.putfile.com/The-Unicorns-Ride-60 Here's the new Unicorn's Ride. I updated my first post too as well. Great advice ^_^.

Hey guys. My first time here and I have something to share :D My friend showed me this amazing poem a while back and immediately after reading it, I told him that I'd write a song for it. It's a very beautiful poem that stands out on its own. FIRE.sib [Edit, changed the song a bit] or http://media.putfile.com/The-Unicorns-Ride-60 The Lyrics: (I added the time in, since it can be a little hard to track down the exact melody otherwise :mellow:) 0:11 Over your ra-inbow A-a uni-corn fle-ew He was sent to find me He-e sa-ai-id by-y you 0:32 "Climb aboard" he whi-i-i-is-pered "We must go" For a ride 0:42 And into a portal of light We rode inside The sky was so blue The fields so green With each explosion of light Was a wonderful scene So happy we seem And always together 1:08 There was no end to your dream It just went on forever 1:18 Then the unicorn said "I-i have one more sur-prise" So we took off quickly An-nd pi-ie-ie-rced the sky 1:36 Then I saw you sl-ee-ee-ee-ee-ping And dreaming in your be-ee-ee-ed I caressed your ha-ir ge-en-t-ly And kissed you on yo-ur he-ee-ee-ad 1:59 The unicorn interrupted "I must now get you home but now that you've seen her dre-am may you never feel alone." 2:20 My heart is feeling heavy A fire burns inside Tha-a-nk you my dar-ar-ar-ar-ling 2:57 For the-e-e unico-or-orn's ride Author The_Unicorn__s_Ride.mid