Digital Composer Getting a Performance

Sorry about the awkward title; I was trying to be concise. Basically, I've only ever composed on the computer

First of all, congratulations. This is certainly something special to look forward to. I understand your concerns very well. It's -always- a different thing to have a piece played by musicians than just working alone at home on something, and for most, it's always something coupled with doubts, fears and insecurity. This probably still applies to experienced composers, but of course even much more if it's your first public performance.

All I can tell you is not to be too afraid. It doesn't have to be perfect, some things may come out worse than expected, but others even better. A performance is a learning experience for everyone. And by the sound of it, your music teacher liked what she heard, and she's certainly not out to kill you if it isn't totally perfect in all aspects. Talk with her, ask her for help if something is unclear, tell her to notify you when something appears unplayable, etc. Just stay in touch.

As for "etiquette": It is definitely usual and desired for a composer to be there at the performance, particularly a first performance. Do show that you're looking forward to it. If I was a performer of your piece it would appear strange to me if it looked like you weren't interested in it at all and I'd like it if I knew you were excited about it. You definitely can ask them about the performance, and you definitely can ask them to record it. Don't be afraid to ask, to talk with them. Not enough communication is generally much more hurtful than "too much" and talking with the musicians shows them that you appreciate what they're doing and take some interest.

You can also ask if you can come to a rehearsal or two. There you can tell them things you'd like for them to do a little bit differently, and answer questions they may have. Don't feel forced to tell them much about how to play your piece if you feel unable to though.

Thank you, Gardener. And thank you for the tips. I will take your advice to heart.

Talking to my teacher is a bit tricky these days, as she's a very busy person and I'm out of town most of the time, but I do intend to schedule another session with her next week or so. I'll ask her all about the performance then. I don't know if I could make it to sit in on one of their rehearsals, but I'm going to raise that as well. I probably wouldn't say much as I don't mind them taking some creative liberties, but I'm very curious to see them play. :)

Well, I got my performance on Thursday evening. I'm afraid it wasn't quite what I expected... Some liberties were taken with rhythm and velocity, which I'm cool with, as I was expecting as much. The piano and flute pieces were played well and I couldn't complain.

What I wasn't expecting, however, was the sound of the violin. Perhaps I've been spoiled with pitch perfect samples composing on the computer, but this instrument sounded awful to me

Sorry to hear you weren't satisfied. Of course, you can never expect a perfect performance by humans, even less so when they're not professional players - but often the liveleliness of a human performance lets you overlook minor imperfections. But not always. Sometimes you may simply have the feeling the performers either didn't put enough care in practicing/performing your piece, or simply lack the abilities to present your piece in a way that you feel your piece is "understood" as you meant it - which seems to be the case here.

It's of course not easy to handle such a situation. On one hand, you don't want to hurt the performers, on the other you don't want to be dishonest and pretend you liked what you didn't like. Personally, I'd make my reaction somewhat dependant on the "status" of the performer. I.e. if it's a professional or semi-professional performer who apparently just didn't consider it necessary to practice your piece, I think it's understandable to stay a bit cold towards them, maybe voice a polite displeasure and suggestions for improvements, while thanking them for doing it in the first place. Bitter accusations on the other hand are rarely productive and won't lead to better performances in future. The point is that if you are going to criticise a musician, it's probably better to voice it in terms of concrete suggestions (optimally after pointing out what you -did- like about the performance) than general criticism that doesn't really tell the musician anything.

If it's a still relatively unexperienced amateur, I'd personally hold myself back with criticism and live with it as a mediocre experience. In that case it's probably more a case of your expectations clashing with a differing appraisal by the person who assigned this particular person to playing your piece (I guess your music teacher). If anything, I'd discuss your concerns with your teacher, not her daughter. Of course, it can be difficult if the teacher takes a criticism of her daughter personally, so you have to consider how openly you can approach your teacher.

But considering the impression the audience may have got of your piece - it's quite likely that it appeared much worse to you than to them. First of all, you know your piece best, so anything that is a bit wrong will of course stand out to you much more than to someone who is entirely unfamiliar with the piece. Furthermore, if it's not a setting that immediately looks like "professional concert by professional musicians" people are already used to hearing instruments that are out of tune, and they may be able to differentiate relatively well between aspects of your composition and aspects of the interpretation. And the more musically experienced they are, the better they will be able to differentiate and actually be able to appreciate your composition regardless of the execution.

If you still feel agitated about it, give it some rest, then consider how to talk to your teacher about it. And if you were happy about the flute and piano pieces, definitely thank at least those performers. I'd also thank the violinist, to be polite, if it doesn't feel too wrong to you.

Thanks for your ever sound advice, Gardener.

I feel that I should make an effort to discuss this with my teacher after all, especially since she herself was the pianist for the piece and I would like to thank her again. Also, I've never met the recorder player in person (I don't even have her name), so this might be a good opportunity to communicate my gratitude to her.

Phrasing my criticism of the violin is going to be a tough one, though. Perhaps I should let this one slide, since these are mostly students playing, and since I fear that my teacher might indeed take criticism of her daughter's performance personally (given her own skills as a musician, though, I'd like to believe that she picked up the discrepancy herself).

As for my pride, I think it'll survive. It's just that I don't get a lot of exposure (since I tend to keep my music locked away for projects that never see the light of day), and as I sat there, I really wished the audience could have heard my composition in its original form.

In case you wanted to hear it, here is the original. I intend to fix the velocity on some of the keys for the piano, but otherwise it's pretty much done for now.

Thank you again for your input.

Sorry for the double post, but I've got my hands on an mp3 of the actual concert performance (low quality, made off someone camcording the event). Perhaps I should post it here for comparison?

Why not?

If you're so worried about confronting the violin player in question, why not send them a short note? You could thank them for playing your piece and putting their time into it and remind them that you thought the concert/recital went well as well as anything else you could think to say. You don't necessarily have to complement their playing if you found it shoddy anyways - you could leave that for the other musicians, if you send them notes as well or talk to them in person.

True. I'm leaning towards not criticizing the violin, though, since the violinst is but a student and I knew this from the beginning. Listening to the performance again, though, I'm pretty sure I'm hearing some of the piano notes changed, which I find almost just as annoying (but given that this was my music teacher herself performing, I supposed I should have seen that coming).

Lonely Melody

Original Version

Live Performance Version

I have to ask that you please don't spread these files, especially not the live performance one, since that involves other people's work and I am currently unable to give them proper credit (also, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to upload it in the first place). It is here strictly for comparison purposes. :)

Well, yeah, I understand that you feel yourself somewhat "misrepresented" there.

The problem with the violin part is that it seems very easy on the first glance, with those slow notes, simple rhythm, etc., which probably prompted your teacher to give it to her daughter - but exactly such a part will sound a bit uninspired and somewhat banal if not played excellently, and the intonation problems will stick out a lot. I also think the original version with flute instead of recorder is preferable for this kind of music, but I guess there just wasn't a flutist available? And even the piano part, while played mostly correctly and confidently, could probably gain something from a finer, more gentle performance (but I assume your teacher deliberately played like that to give a firm foundation for the others). I don't think the MIDI is preferable (those are two entirely different mediums and therefore not quite comparable), but it did show me some qualities the piece could have had with an excellent performance, that weren't apparent in this live version.

But of course, one still can abstract from the non-perfect performance sufficiently to be able to make a clear distinction between your composition and the way it was played, so I don't think there's a reason to be ashamed in front of the audience there at all. It is a pretty hard thing to get a good performance of your pieces and often you'll just have to accept any performance. But you always learn a lot even during a mediocre performance and all this will come to use for later performances of this or other pieces. And to my experience, in retrospect one rarely is ever completely satisfied with a piece (as a composition or as a performance) - but it can always be a starting point for something next. So don't let yourself be pulled down too much!

Thank you, Gardener, for your valuable insight.

I agree with your observations on the violin part, and yes, I do believe my teacher used a recorder simply because she didn't have a flutist available. I will not let myself be put down, and in fact plan on speaking to my teacher tomorrow to personally thank her for the performance. Like you said, I'm lucky to have even had a performance in the first place.

On another note (so to speak), do you also hear a different chord at the end of that octatonic climb (after the flute part)? I'm not very confident in my ability to identify chords by ear, so I would appreciate a second opinion. :)

On another note (so to speak), do you also hear a different chord at the end of that octatonic climb (after the flute part)? I'm not very confident in my ability to identify chords by ear, so I would appreciate a second opinion. :)

Yeah, definitely. In your midi file, this climb ends on the augmented triad G-B-D# (Or Eb, however you wrote it), but she plays a Bb instead of a B, making it a normal Eb major chord.

Thanks. I knew it wasn't my imagination!

It's obvious what my own preference is in this case, but if you would indulge me, which do you think sounds better in this instance?

I prefer your version, which leaves the harmony a bit more open (which fits the octatonic passage) instead of the very firm and bright major chord. I find yours much more interesting.

Thanks. :blush: I really appreciate your input.

I think I'll ask my teacher why she played a different chord when I go see her today. Whenever she suggests a change, she always has a very specific reason (backed by music theory and everything).