Creating a theme for a fantasy hero. Need help with dynamics and transitioning from one idea to another.

Here's the score so far: https://flat.io/score/5af7ec32bafc367ac83ec8a8/edit

I would just like some advice on the dynamics for the second theme; dynamics are kind of a weak point for me in general.  I also plan to come up with a proper intro to the piece.  It will be some kind of slow intro, which will then explode into the theme that is currently first in the score.

@OnlyICanLikePie

1. "Only I can like pie?"

great username but an absolute lie.

I guess that sometimes one's thoughts fly,

I wonder if you're that sort of guy.

2. I'd love to help you but I can't open the link 😞

If you reply, make sure I get a notification by writing @Rabbival507

@Rabbival507  Does this work?

Also, nice little poem you wrote there xD

@OnlyICanLikePie

Yes, that's the way most of the people do it here,

if you want to get the best feedback you should also upload a score.

Let me give it a listen.

Wow, that's almost exactly a mix between things I wrote at my first and second year composing and this:

I like your composition. It's right on my taste but, as you said it isn't very well developed.

As I said before, a score would really help me here. 

You don't have to add an introduction for it.

I think that it's good as is, but you should connect your puzzle pieces.

Let me give it another listen.

Yes it really sounds like me and the music I like.

Listen to some European folk if you want to get inspiration. 

Also if that's a super hero theme you should at least repeat yourself at some part.

Also it sounds close to Brave Heart at some places.

Now I'll give it another listen.

Some of the harmony and melody are really beautiful, just like I like them.

As you said, you should pay attention to dynamics.

Ok this time I realized what is it exactly you ask for.

You have parts but you don't know how to make a big whole out of your puzzle pieces.

These parts you have are really good, but you want to make a piece out of these.

Let me think.

Take out a paper and a pencil, so you'd be able to change it if you don't like it.

Now draw a line that goes up and down, maybe stops at some places or does anything else you want.

The important thing is that it starts on a clear place and ends on another clear place.

Now choose what it is (volume, speed, scale, general pitch of melody, general pitch of chord progression etc.)

Now draw another line.

That way you'll have a full scale piece (also don't force it to be too long),

If you don't like it- it's much better to have a bad piece than none at all.

Because bad pieces can be fixed.

I hope you found my advice helpful :)

P.s  as you probably noticed I mentioned a few times, I like your style. It's pretty much close to mine.

Will check your profile in a moment to see what is it you listen to.

Here's one of my first pieces, it's suppose to be a folk song that tells the story of a hero of some sort.

P.p.s 

Just checked your profile, and you didn't write any of the composers you listen to.

Also you're a female! It's rare XD 

@Rabbival507  Lol...I already realized after giving the piece a few listens that I was unintentionally inspired by the Hobbit soundtrack, but I only realized now that you could literally edit my piece to extract the beginning of Misty Mountains Cold... 😅  This is a pretty generic-sounding piece compared to some of my other compositions, but hey, having your melody compared to the Hobbit theme is (probably) a good thing.  That theme is epic, and Howard Shore is one of my favorite composers --- I know I didn't indicate that on my profile; I just created it yesterday.  Hopefully I'll be able to find time to edit it some more today.  While I certainly like film music, I love the music of Romantic-era composers (Grieg, Tchaikovsky, Dvorak, Rimsky-Korsakov, Chopin, Liszt, etc.) even more.  Obviously, film music has been hugely inspired by Romantic music, and I love both.

The first link I sent was actually the score. 😂 Strange how you couldn't open it; I copied and pasted it on another site and those people were able to open it.  Whatever, I guess I could send you a PDF of the sheet music once I clean it up a bit.

Thanks for the compliment on the harmonies!  I consider harmony to be one of my strongest points, since identifying chords and applying them to my music has always been relatively easy.  My goal has always been to elicit strong emotions in my listeners, and harmony plays a huge role in that. 

Also, let me know if the melody can be easily heard or if it's being drowned out by the other parts.  Is the melody "catchy" enough?  Coming up with a memorable melody has always been another one of my priorities.

In order to improve the dynamics, I think what I'll do is study the sheet music of similar pieces, so that I know just how loud or soft certain parts should be.  I use flat.io, and unfortunately the String Ensemble soundfont on that site is a bit too bombastic-sounding whether it's forte or piano.  I'll just do the best I can.

About European folk music --- I love that stuff; when I was in chamber choir I sang a good number of folk tunes.  Since I like Romantic music, I guess it goes without saying that I'm a big fan of folk music. 😊 

Thanks for your advice on "bad" pieces vs. unfinished pieces.  It makes a ton of sense, and it isn't limited to music.  I just gotta keep working at it and stop being so worried about it being perfect haha.

I didn't even think about how uncommon female composers are; I am familiar with a few female composers (like Soon Hee Newbold) but I can probably count all of them on one hand.  I guess most women go into songwriting or pop music instead, which might put me at an advantage.

"A Hero's Tale" sounds pretty awesome, especially given that it's one of your earlier compositions!  It sounds like something you'd hear in a tavern.  You should consider making a guitar and pan flute arrangement of it.

@OnlyICanLikePie

The melody is great, but I can't really remember it now,

a few hours after listening to your piece.

But I guess it's just because I listened to tons of other things since then.

I do remember that it had parts from The Misty Mountains and some of the Brave Heart Theme Song.

I like Howard Shore, but I believe they should have let someone else compose for The Hobbit.

Like they do in Star Wars.

The fact there's a new composer using the work of the original one

contributes to the feeling we're watching a different story in the same universe.

Ok I stopped in the middle of your post, will continue reading now.

Well I know some other female composers, not personally.

I was surprise to have one on the site other than Monarcheon.

Yea, I forgot the "a" there. Sorry, not a natural English speaker.

I don't really feel like doing anything with it,

I'm dealing with other pieces now.

You can check my failing attempt to rescore Jurassic Park, I uploaded it a few days ago.

I'll take a look at your profile later to check your favorite composers.

Also, about music that isn't Folk and Film/Games soundtracks-

I'm more into the post-romantic music than the romantic one,

which is funny because when I compose music of my own I have to have a story or feeling of some sort attached to it.

I do believe that music is first of all a place for self expression,

it's just that most of the romantic pieces don't feel enough... moving for me?

Not to say that nothing happens there, it's just to close to the Barok for me.

I really like this! It sounds so cool and majestic! It really suits a fantastical setting. 

I like the intro and I think you're almost there with it. Just a question, the 2nd theme starts at bar 14 right?

Either ways for dynamics, I think the bit you have as f works really well but in those empty bars at 23, to contrast, you could have a p section with a less polarising texture, and then jump back into the big stuff. 
When it comes to dynamics, I personally try to go for what I want the players/audience to be feeling and just what feels natural. If nothing other than forte feels natural, then it's probably meant to be forte :)