What Young Composers Here Have Had A Profound Effect On You?

When I first came on the site, I didn't really know what in the world to expect, musically. But over time, there were some musicians who just constantly blew me away, and inspired me. They've probably influenced the development of my music as well. Some of these are:

Jason Woodruff (aka jawoodruff):

His inventive use of tonality and willingness to immerse himself in unusual harmonies is pretty inspiring stuff. My favorite work of his is this:

http://www.youngcomposers.com/pg/Music/jawoodruff/composition?entry=29730

Just a really dark, interesting piece, full of personality and thought put into it. This piece is what made me want to give more attention to detail and dynamics/articulations, for putting them in a work can make the difference between a dead piece and a living piece :lol:

Another one --

Caleb Pecue (aka pequad):

His addictive ostinatos and careful attention to harmony, and where the soul of much music lies -- in proper repetition -- I found very evocative. He is able to put things in the listener's mind, if you pay careful attention not just to the tone of the piece, but the expression of what the player would have to enact to play the piece. My favorite one is this:

http://forum.youngcomposers.com/t21221/valse/

Just a simple, but incredibly powerful piece -- I can't get enough of it :happy:

Yet another is this sly dog:

John Axon (Aka...well, John Axon)

As melodically talented as he is, what really caught my attention was the percussion in his pieces: they're always fresh, interesting, and even used with good panning! For example:

http://forum.youngcomposers.com/t24649/jet-car-stunts/

So much of the atmosphere here is captured by the texture of the groove -- as well as subtle accents. Accents really are quite important in rhythm, I've found: they can influence the emotion evoked and feel of a piece simply by changing the "count"...or just make a piece sound really cool :P Haha!

This is just a sample of the talent on here, and I'm purposefully leaving off many people so that you can join in and add your own :)

Sooooo....

What Young Composer(s) here have had a profound impact on you musically?

I've actually been thinking about this quite a bit lately. I realized that Marius has had an enormous hand in my shaping as a musician. He introduced me to music that quite literally changed me. He's also been a huge inspiration to be both as an extraordinarily talented composer, and as a strongly motivated musician. As if this all wasn't enough, he's been a great guy to have a conversation with, and is very patient with my questions about everything. He may try to make light of what he does, but I think he's truly just a great guy who cares about musicians. Marius, hats off to you my friend. And in all honesty, thank you. :)

You're sweet, Zach :)

If I was to sound off on a few of mine I would say:

Thanks, to everyone who make this site truly amazing!

-John

Hmm this is a great one. I really have few people here whose works have influenced me strongly. Rather it has been the comments and exchanges had that were influential. I'll answer your question Serge but first thanks to the following people

SSC - My lessons in fugue with him and music in general were great. our discussion were great. I advise you go into the Archives (the ones ending 07 or 08 and look for lessons with composerorganist. You will learn a ton about baroque practice, fugue and aesthetics

Gardener - He doesn't comment often but when he does his advice is golden. I suggest you read his comment son my mood pieces - http://forum.youngcomposers.com/t23971/first-set-of-mood-pieces/page__st__10

Voce - never was verbose but whatever he said was usually spot one and extremely helpful. Also, his great wide ranging familiarity with 20th and 21st century music enlightened me to many new composers.

Anant - Egad, I almost forgot him! Well, always a great sounding board and always asked smart questions and good comments. Always admire to stick with his love of music and composition while pursuing his science studies.

Black Orpheus - Very insightful and always asked good questions

Jason (jawo0druff) - similar to orpheus and as one of the slightly "older" young composers we have had times to share our own challenges pursuing composition while holding down a job. Good luck with music school jason. Cannot wait to hear how you grow!

Nathanial - great conversations on aesthetics and never held back expressing his thoughts on my compositions. Wish he were still around

His name escapes me ... darnnit. Well look for his band orchestration threads. If you ever wanted to have your score checked for neatness and practicality - he was the man. I learned much the few times he commented.

Ok, compositions which influenced.

Magna Carta Textures (which I discovered a few months ago won the Young Composers AScap award - Magna was not present to receive his award) for string quartet. Basically that was my model for exploring extended techniques in my Cappriccio movement.

Pilorius - His electronic and electroacoustic music is great and I urge you to explore it. I think his works here are underappreciated at YC.

J graham - More admiration for sticking to his stylistic conviction and doing it SOOO well. His music honestly would not be my first choice to listen too only because the style he favors is quite saturated on the airwaves and informs a good deal of traditional pop music. and jazz. But when I do I am guaranteed a very good time.

Ferk - I love his fluency with twelve tone technique and his piano pieces are as good as Webern! His experiemtnation is boundless and learned. Miss him as he always knew much more than you think he did as he was quite humble and self-effacing.

Morgri - Always enjoyed his work and his recent chamber music I heard earlier this semester blew me away (well and his experimental piano piece)

ps. awwh thanks Voce

Sorry if I have forgotten anyone ...

SSC - Probably the most influential user on the site for me, in terms of the incredible amount I learned from talking with him and reading his posts on various subjects. In all honesty, he played a role in shaping some of my basic beliefs about music (probably because I knew next to nothing when I began here). He's a very intelligent and funny guy; unfortunately he's not as active as he used to be.

composerorganist - Definitely the most willingly helpful member on the site. He's never been averse to giving advice and helping out where possible, as far as I've seen - plus, he's the one who's often spurred me to continue working on whatever project I've undertaken at the time. From a compositional standpoint, I've been influenced by his continual experimentation with things unfamiliar to him - baroque fugues, new structures, textures, etc. His emphasis on counterpoint as a crucial element of composition has also played a role in developing my own views on the subject.

Gardener - Come on now. You know what's up.

I'm not one to be a huge follower per say, but there are some composers here that I'd like to mention.

As far as music goes here's my list.

Blm22-Jacob Yates is an amazing composer for his age. When I began writing I thought it would be impossible to write anything of any quality, however jacob and other younger composers here make me feel that this isn't a hard feat and they do inspire me to continue writing. As for his pieces, I've liked every one. :D I'm thrilled to working on a collaboration with him . :D

MaskedTrumpeter-Virgil is a truly remarkable FIRST piece for any composer and is what made me NOT give up on the Grand Lullaby (which ive contemplated on doing several times) He's also very great to talk to and offers great advice when needed!

ThisIsAndyCullen- I have yet to talk to him personally, but this guy has got some skillzzzzzzzz. <--? anyways, His ellegy and irish folk songs pieces were brilliant and I'd could only hope to write something half as good as those.

MaxCastillo-Although he only has one piece, Adagio is a truly beautiful ones and definitely takes the place for the best written piece I've seen here, composers like this inspire me to write stuff on my own!

As far as personality goes,

Elizabeth(jesusfreak)-Very nice person, had very encouraging words as I was wrapping up my piece and I can tell must be a joy to be around, people like here make me want to stay on the site!

Impressario- I don't know that much about him, but he's a very nice guy and he tries to comment on every new piece he sees and he leaves great comments at that! I hope I can get to know him better as my composing career and stay on YC continues!

-AntiA- Definitely one of the more knowledgeable members of the site, always tries to find something constructive to say, and is a great composer as well.

-Tokkemon (despite the fact that not many like, him, IDK why? ) I think that he's a great person and only wants this site to thrive and reach its full potential. I haven't talked to him much, but he truly is a young composer and is already published. What an inspiration, I hope, i mean wish, i could be published at his age.

Sorry for sounding cheesy, but those are some of the great people on this site among of some of the others already mentioned! :D

Wow, everybody has their heroes, I think I have to browse this site more, but what I could call "Profound Effect" .... none, I mean, not yet

In the discuss ambient, the articles (posts) from the Gardenerpedia are always excellent.

Nikolas should come back here.

Composers that gently challenged me to expand my horizons, like charliep did when he introduced the shoutbox chats listening to a webradio. Good old times... :D

Marius Masalar. I learned a lot about film and game composing just talking to him and listening to his work. He is an amazing sound sample technician and combined with his exquisite and practical musical taste I find almost every one of his compositions absolutely stunning. I wouldn't say he's really influenced me yet, but he has sparked in me a great interest in building a sample libary of my own one day and maybe poking my head into video game music one day when I have a steady income and enough time to devote to the effort. And just generally he's an awesome guy, always willing to help anybody out but know how to deal with annoying idiots when he has to. A real example for other members of the site.

Robin Jessome. I listened to jazz before I ran into robin, but not with nearly the diversity as after I started paying more attention to him. His podcasts were nice and his jazz masterclass shaded some light on a timeline that's difficult to pin down on your own, not to mention the numerous tunes he always posts in the shoutbox. Thanks to him I've really opened up my appreciation for jazz, especially the more experimental stuff. Plus, this guy is chill.

Tyler Hampton (Nirvana69). When I met this guy I thought he was some other stupid metalhead, but for whatever reason we got to talking and I realised he hates stupid metalheads too. In fact, we found so many similarities that for well over a year we were almost perfect doppelgangers and I rarely went more than a day without having some intellectual or philosophical conversation with him over MSN. Then his music tastes moved onward and mine pretty much stayed put. He's really become an aficionado on 20th century classical music, and if he isn't yet I have no doubt he will soon enough be qualified. He's brilliant, if he gets a few degrees I can easily imagine him a music history professor. One that actually isn't boring. He's really begun to open me up on 20th century works, stuff that before I knew him I would have skipped over and labelled as "modernist atonal scraggy". I've really acquired because of him a taste in more romantic ideals not bound to common practice rules - to really throw away what people have stuck to in the past and just experiment with new things personally.

Ron Ferguson (Rolifer). One of the first atonalist scraggy composers I ever really listened to. I found out his works were more than atonalist scraggy, I actually found I enjoyed him and he has a very consistent and original voice as a composer. It's quite an inspiration to see someone who is so devoted to creativity and originality that only composes as a hobby. Not to mention he's a mathematician. It's very interesting to see such a combination in an individual (likewise Bitter) and I just generally enjoyed him being around.

GMS (and his various aliases) and Corbin due to opening me up to the brutal reality of the music scene. They may have been loving annoying trolls at times, but because of them both I've made a point of being more aware about what's going around me.

I have these three to thank the most, I believe, but I could mention others if I really wanted to. Why I don't is because I really don't listen to as much of Young Composers works as probably most people. I always made sure to listen and review more works than I have comments on my own, but I haven't really been as exposed and in touch with the scene because of that.

Oddly enough, I've tended to stay away from the more "established" (for lack of a better word) composers - composers on this site that give me the strong impression of experience and musical maturity. Whatever I have to say is probably going to benefit someone who's younger musically, and typically younger music doesn't stick as well. I also try to check out music of those who have checked out mine.

So I can't actually say musically here what anyone in specific has done. I do know that my music is far more mature now than it was when I first came here, like 8 years ago? And so I'm interested to see how all those 'younger' musicians whose works I've commented on will be once they start diving in head-first (if they choose to pursue composition).

I know personality-wise, there are quite a few people here that really keep me thinking.

Awesome, guys! :nod: I'm glad to see so many people are recognized.

....nobody likes me???? :(

Composers that gently challenged me to expand my horizons, like charliep did when he introduced the shoutbox chats listening to a webradio. Good old times... :D

We'll have to have a revival of that at some point.

It always worked better when it was a spontaneous thing than when it was planned.

Or at least, more people seemed to be aware of it than when it wasn't planned out. :ermm:

You're loved MF, in a internet from a distance sort of way

ANd yes kudos to charliep - the extended string techniques is a great source of info ... I wish I had time to get thru half of it!

like charliep did when he introduced the shoutbox chats listening to a webradio. Good old times... :D

Oooh oooh, I got caught up in that! I forgot to acknowledge charlie - though it was only the icing on the cake compared to the other guys I mentioned, but hey, who doesn't like icing (besides me... and I can't stand those Maraschino cherries especially)?

But also - there's chopin. But I really don't count that - it's not a musical influence... or is it? Depends on exactly how you look at it. As a composer, not really. As a proprietor to YC, most def. If it weren't for him this site would be netdust.

Yeah, I think we need to give props to Chopin. He gets alot of crap from people, (usually cause they're irritated by some site malfunction, or the fact that he doesn't really socialize much) but he's actually a really nice guy. I've had some excellent conversations with him over the years that I've been here. And let's face it, without him, the site wouldn't exist, and I wouldn't know any of you guys. I may not have ever grown as a composer the way I did without this site.

Yeah, I think we need to give props to Chopin. He gets alot of crap from people, (usually cause they're irritated by some site malfunction, or the fact that he doesn't really socialize much) but he's actually a really nice guy. I've had some excellent conversations with him over the years that I've been here. And let's face it, without him, the site wouldn't exist, and I wouldn't know any of you guys. I may not have ever grown as a composer the way I did without this site.

I hear the whole "He's an idiot" lot sometimes as well, but I don't agree. After all, you can't simply take people's word for it, if you don't even know the person yourself :sleep: And mistakes [assuming he's made some] do not a stupid person make, a human it makes! :lol: Lighten up and don't be quick to judge, people :happy:

I think Chopin is a great guy too. Sometimes though people who are inexperienced make, shall we say, less than informed decisions. That's what happened with him.

I think Chopin is a great guy too. Sometimes though people who are inexperienced make, shall we say, less than informed decisions. That's what happened with him.

Just saying, even though a decision is made that many of us might not agree with doesn't make the decision "less than informed." It simply weighs the risk of losing membership with the potential of growth in membership down the road. Any transitional period comes with bumps in the road, but the folks that support the site even when they don't agree with the direction are the reason this community still exists. So, cheers to Chopin for taking the blows for us and moving us forward (and sometimes dragging us along, kicking and screaming). Talk about a thankless job... been there, done that.

Jawoodruff. I really can't believe how he managed to change his style so fast. I just love his music!

Marius. He may not be as active any more, but, he really is a great composer!

And of course, really, a lot of people here have really cool stuff, like Serge, Musicfiend, and Peter W., just to name a few.

Heklaphone

Marius Marius Marius. The kid is a god and he totally knows it :jedi:

John Axon, great composer, and extremely helpful. I have a huge amount of respect for him.

The J, same as above. Creates awesome music, and really cares about the composers on this site.

abd, seeing him excel so quickly has been an awesome experience to see. Keep up the great work and never stop composing!