Discouraging budding composers

Was I wrong in what I said? It is a common thing young composers do. They feel like something should always be happening. They do not rest. Besides the review wasn't all bad. I even said certain parts weren't bad. The point is that I didn't make those comments to just be rude. Like I said I only review music people ask me to review. They have their reasons for asking me. They might actually like that i'm honest with them. I know strange but it might be true.

Besides the nature of a review in music is opinion. If you don't know that then you should learn. All reviews are opinions on someone's music based on your own opinion. Even if I thought his piece was amazing, it shouldn't make him want to compose more. It is just my opinion. It isn't anything special.

So your first composition(happiness), was rather boring. It sounded nice though but you tried to do too much in a short amount of time. Nothing really flowed and I kept wondering if you were just switching from piece to piece. Overall, I found a lack of devolpment and a sound which is heard here day in and out.

So your second piece sounded like your first piece. For a while I started to think about FF9. It remindef me of it for some reason. I think you really need to work on your choice of notes. You just seem to play notes because you fear silience. It all sounds too busy.

Oh gosh the same feel to this piece too. Well it ever change? I think not. I have to thank you. I have a friend from oklahoma who is a comp major here at ut. I have more ammo to use against him! It seems that the state is as boring as your music. Please change it up and find something more than video game rep off. If I wanted to hear video game type music, I would listen to the video game soundtrack written by the masters. I really do suggest breaking out of your bubble!

I'm afraid he said more than just his school. He said,. "I'm renowned in my school, district, and state." That is just making yourself seem better than you are. Ok, so Oklahoma is a scrafty state! I can understand why the music was so so, but no reason to make yourself better tha you really are. Plus his comment about not being used to negative reviews. More arrogance. He didn't like what I said, and what I said was repeated by other people. His music was repetitive and barely changed from piece to piece.

Most because it isn't true. He isn't renowned in his home state. He merely thinks he is. It's like people who make all state orchestra think they are now renowned. No, they are merely the best at the time they audition. He is placing his fame based on one competition that barely anyone really cares about. Jealous? Hardly. I might be if I cared for his music and thought it was good and wanted to write in that style but it is apparant that I don't. He came off the wrong way, it is the simple. There were better way for him to state these facts. Also, the fact that he was expecting high praise for his music shows a bit more arrogance.

So anyway, as an effort to make peace, I sent him this letter.

Since I am partly to blame for you departing from Yc, I feel I have a some what moral obiligation to request your return. I'll put this in simple plain english. If you want to be a good composer and be forced to be the best you can ever be, then come back to us. The people are nice here and i'm not suggesting leaving them, but they will never tell you if your works are bad in a detail way we will. We don't do that to be mean but we do it in hopes for you to improve your ability as a composer. Now, giving that we are jerks. We cannot deny that but we are jerks who like each other and most other people. Now, if you only want high praise for your music, then stay. This place is probably the best place for you but if you want to hear the truth about your music. Then come back and take it like a man because if you want to write music for the rest of your life, you are going to get rip to shred by every composition professor and grad student you ever meet.

Okay here's the material from ureshii gaki. I can see you're making an effort not to offend people too badly Bitterduck. You're not the only person on this site that I am criticising, and I haven't said you are even nearly the worst. But i'm going to keep this thread going so people remain aware of the possibility of discouraging certain very young composers, because it really is terribly unfortunate when it happens.

I was expecting that soon. Yes I did do that. However, he claimed to be the best composer in his state. Thus he was preparing himself to be reviewed on a higher standard. He music was childish and sounded the same. I later told him i'm sorry but I stick by what I said. I merely made him leave the site, he still composes.

It's funny too because you said you hate arrogant people. That guy was extremely arrogant. He expect people to love his music.

Yeah, I suppose some of the things he said were annoying also. Maybe go ahead and discourage guys like that but encourage nice ones. Haha jk. They might be one of those coddled 13 year old prodigies who are under the impression they are the only child prodigy composer in the whole world and think they are amazing...you gotta forgive them for that they probably have crazy parents who think their kid is the next mozart. in that case ...they probably already have more than enough encouragement.... oh well

I suppose. That doesn't give you or anyone else free reign to blast everyone though---the point of this thread is to get your attention (which I have) and to say, be aware of how other people can react to what you say. Especially really young people...see what I am getting at? This thread is about responsibility. Go ahead and blast me or any other adult on this site, but just be careful. There are sensitive, fragile kids out there. I used to be one of them, though thank GOD that was when I was into programming and not music when thathappened! I would hate for the reverse to be true!

Truth and learning most often come from hardship, 'tis true.

I realize I have a great deal of talent, perhaps as much as anyone on this site, but that is not to my credit; no one can help talent. I am not the best composer here or anywhere else, but I do try. I must say, thank you all on this site who have commented on my works recently... whether I'm all that great a composer at this point or not, your support has been overwhelming! :) I've grown a lot as a composer in my time here, and I owe that to all of you. Thank you.

When have I ever said my work is better than anyone else? You naturally just assumed I have a big ego.

Sorry, Bitter, couldn't resist. You've stated your work is much better than others many times while I've been here, most notably Austins. You perpetuate the assumption that you have a big ego through various statements made. Not bashing you or anything, just pointing out that his assumption is not his fault, and you have said your work is better than others before.

Sorry, Bitter, couldn't resist. You've stated your work is much better than others many times while I've been here, most notably Austins. You perpetuate the assumption that you have a big ego through various statements made. Not bashing you or anything, just pointing out that his assumption is not his fault, and you have said your work is better than others before.

find it

Edit: Please don't bring up Schubert. He is and I agrue for the sake of agruement. Anything we say to eachother cannot be taking seriously.

If they don't find criticism here then they will just find it elsewhere.

Ew, I hate what this thread turned into. Could we all be more riled up?

find it

Edit: Please don't bring up Schubert. He is and I agrue for the sake of agruement. Anything we say to eachother cannot be taking seriously.

Search for all posts under both your account names. For BD's Revenge, it's the last 3 pages. I'm not going to start quoting in a thread, but they're all there.

On one hand, I agree. On the other, if you suck once, you suck all the time.

I'm going to have to disagree there. Composing is a learning process for everyone involved. Some may learn slower, and start at different levels of composing than others. To say everyone who sucked at one point will continue to suck is faulty logic, especially if you're basing it off the fact that either you never wrote something you considered sucked, or you've never heard anything the great composers have written that really sucked. (Personal preferance aside, sucking as in being incoherent, not in bad taste.)

Search for all posts under both your account names. For BD's Revenge, it's the last 3 pages. I'm not going to start quoting in a thread, but they're all there.

psh i'm not going to waste my time searching. You found it, you quote it then.

psh i'm not going to waste my time searching. You found it, you quote it then.

It would be wasting a lot of space in this thread. If you don't want to take the time to search, then fine. The posts are there, all archived, if you don't want to take the time to look at them, then I'm not going to waste my time finding them again to do so. Last 3 pages of BD's Revenge, and scattered throughout BD.

On one hand, I agree. On the other, if you suck once, you suck all the time.

What a horrible thing to say.

My early music sucks. There I said it. I used to write music in the baroque style and I think that everything I

wrote in that idom sucked the big one. I used to love it, but now.... yeesh... what I would have given for some

honest criticism.

So... in short... stop being a dick.

He's only being honest, Tumababa.

I agree with Tumababa. That is a horrible thing to say. Very dismissive to the individual, and that is not right. Making a call like that is basically passing judgement on the individual by only examining a small part of their life-long output. That smacks of arrogance. At the very least, that individual may end up finding a completely different voice.

By the way, did you know that Berlioz was considered a musical waste of time in his youth? He wasn't even accepted into formal composition training. Well I do think he proved a lot of people wrong.

He's only being honest, Tumababa.

Honest? No, opinionated. Honesty requires truth, else it's just lying.

On cmaj's comment about Berlioz, lots of famous composers were considered bad in their youth. Prokofiev was considered 'impossibly avant garde', yet composed some beautiful classical pieces, like his first symphony, along with his modern pieces.

Besides, people like Bitterduck get flamed all the time for being "honest". At least when he was honest it was constructive(Most of the time anyway).

For pete's sake, the title of this topic is "Discouraging Buding Composers" and then nico comes along and says, "If you suck, you will always suck". What the hell is that?

Besides, people like Bitterduck get flamed all the time for being "honest". At least when he was honest it was constructive(Most of the time anyway).

For pete's sake, the title of this topic is "Discouraging Buding Composers" and then nico comes along and says, "If you suck, you will always suck". What the hell is that?

I say, there's nothing better than constructive honesty, tastefully done. It's easy to be too honest and work against yourself.

I would agree with you there.

Ugh.... I'm still pissed off.

I'm gonna go punch some stacks of manuscript paper.

careful with papercuts.

And to relate this briefly to another thread....

Should people put "Don't review" disclaimers when they don't want us to say anything about their pieces, or should we only review those that say "Comment please"?

Apparently I got myself into some trouble recently...

Ok, I haven't had time to read this whole thread, so forgive me if I am just butting into the middle of a conversation. But, I felt that I shouldn't start a new topic on this since this one was already open.

What do you all think of giving a composer false hope? Praising them constantly when they really are not that talented? I've seen this a lot, and not only in composition, but people playing instruments too.

I'm against that. A person should always know where they stand. I believe you should tell a person something they did well and something they did poorly. They must always know they can improve.

Even if you will never play the Prokofief Tocatta you can still derive pleasure from playing piano. I say, as long as the person in question enjoys what they're doing and is improving, they should recieve HELPFUL encouragement. That is to say, something that helps them improve as well as spurrs them on to continue. I couldn't think

of any reason to tell someone they will never amount to their dreams.

Judging people when they are early on in the learning process is a hard thing to do. I mean, you could potentially have 30-50 years ahead of you right?