A Short Quartet in B minor (my first piece here)

I'd like some for feedback on this. For context, I do not have any music theory training, and I keep doing this as a hobby.

https://musescore.com/user/35701388/scores/23939950?share=copy_link

Hello @tsk201911,

Welcome to the forum! The mood is quite oriental for me here, particularly with the emphasis on the augmented second of G and A#. I think as one who has no theory training you write really good music! Maybe you can now take on another step by trying to modulate, which means to change the piece to another key, and this could be learned by studying real music pieces or by studying theory books. Thx for sharing and joining!

Henry

It is an interesting and engaging piece.
It certainly has an exotic tone because of the scales and so on.
I think that, in a way, you can tell that you don't have a strong base because although in some phrases and moments the quartet is well articulated, in many parts it doesn't work as such. Either there are duplications of voices (in octaves) or there are several instruments that make a harmonic support without more. The essence of a quartet is that each instrument functions as a soloist.
But that's fine.

Hi and welcome,

You have a very interesting, if not a unique style.  This happens at times when individuals are not trained and rely on there own voice.  I definitely would review the work with a mentor.

I thoroughly enjoyed the work.

Mark

Hello and welcome! 
 

id like to add my $0.02 in! 
 

the piece feels very imaginative, and the composing… well, without it being an insult (because it isn’t!) I can surely tell that you’re still learning. There’s nothing wrong with that by the way! That being said, I concur, if you have anyone who’s able to mentor you in music theory and composition, it would be beneficial for you! 
 

however the sound of the piece’s playback definitely sounds as you intended for it to, despite the actual notation. However, if I had to say anything about it negatively, I’d like to point out that there is such a thing as too much reverb 😅😅😅

When I began using MuseScore, I also had that problem, as a beginner composer. I was still planting my roots in composing with Musescore and in general, right around the time that Musescore 4.0 released, and MuseSounds was introduced. 
 

Muse Reverb sounds great when used correctly, however, too much as you have here, can create a “muddiness” in the sound, making it hard to pick up on articulations, intonation from the different parts, and it allows sounds to bleed between chords, which prevents the music from having distinct separations between each chord being played, making it a bit difficult to follow well. So I’d definitely look into improving the mixing/mastering of your playback. Keeping the reverb at its default position on the mixer is usually perfectly fine. The only time I’ve ever increased reverb was specifically for soloist parts, as it helps them to ring out a little more. However, I’ll rarely have that reverb dial turned to more than 50%. And your “Aux 1” channel next to the Master channel is the reverb gain control and pan control. Pan it to 0, and set the gain to ~+2.0, with each instrument’s reverb either at its default 15% position (most instruments are at 15 by default, but some are at 5%, such as Piano and percussion instruments. Those should also be left alone), or a maximum of ~25% but do so selectively. This will help your playback to be more legible in my opinion. It also helps to do this with headphones in, and to avoid adjusting individual instrument gain +/- at all, and solely rely on the panning function for volume control and balancing. (I.e. higher voices should alternate to max ~60% L or R pan, mid voices should alternate to ~25-40% L or R, and bass voices should stay relatively centered. It helps to spread the voices out a bit more so regardless of the gain, all will be heard easily!) 

that’s about all I got for ya. 

I like this a lot. It's very creative, daring, always interesting and with a few moments that are just.. beautiful. I agree with others that sometimes the writing is not I think ideal for what you are expressing. My 2c, from hobbyist to hobbyist, mainly would be: play more with sonorities, the four instruments don't all have to play the entire time, and silencing some would enhance some passages, and make the piece even more interesting. It's amazing what you manage to do not moving much if at all from b minor.

Thank you guys! Your feedback is helpful

Also, for a bit of context, I am from India, so the music I have been surrounded with was the traditional Indian music (think Hindustani, Carnatic, etc.), not much of western. I believe it shows in this small piece.