Topics

Name Your Distinguished Professorship

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:34:10 +0000

Let's have some fun. You have been given an endowed professorship at Young Composer University. What would you name your professorship? Meaning, you will name the title of your endowment and a brief description of the person you named them after (the person needs to have been AT LEAST a part of the 20th Century, no Ludwig von Beethoven Distinguished Professors! )

I'll do two different fields:

Chad E. Hughes, James Aikman Distinguished Professor of Composition
(my former comp teacher)

Chad E. Hughes, Benjamin L Pruitt Distinguished Professor of Conducting
(my former band director)

Sys Grabs A Try As Smooth Jazz Pianist

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 21:30:16 +0000

Hey...

I'd like your opinion on my performance on this style, I'm seeking job as pianist in Restaurants or Hotels but no luck so far, they have musicians already, still, there are more places I can go to offer my services..

There is not much Jazz in Mexico, there are tons of so-called musicians with keyboards playing a melody along midi background, sometimes the piano is there but they prefer to carry their heavy stuff (bad sign).
My performance in these videos is already good enough for my city, but you people from other places, specially American guys, even New York guys, I bet you know pianist play way better than this, so I'd like you to tell me how could I improve this, all I want is $300 pesos (like $25 dollars) per hour, I'll be happy with that.

I come from Classical world, I have taken these piece from fakebooks, no complete score, I try to make the best arrangement I can, is always kinda improvised, not 100% defined, each time sounds a bit different, I also can introduce sections in the middle and make the piece longer etc...

I'm not yet in full control of this style, you can notice at the end, the last note, my finger...I'm a bit nervous (also I was cold)

YC Shoutbox sound, chord progression at the end , it is not officially called The YCSB ending.

I think I got nervous at the end too, kinda lost track of harmony, (I can't blame temperature on that)

so what do you think ?, just replace in your head the casio sound with a real piano, my room with a much better ambient.

(Note, Digital pianos resonance is way weaker than real pianos, it automatically forces me to add more notes, to avoid emptiness, I usually play less stuff on a real piano.)

An Idea For Promotion Perhaps?

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:14:30 +0000

It's not music related per se, but it is art (ok... it's computer games). There is a name that is well known in there (Tim Schafer), but other than that this seems unreal:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/66710809/double-fine-adventure

The guys started this YESTERDAY requesting some 400,000$ (already a big amount if you ask me). They found that money in 8 hours!!!! And now, 24 hours after launching they've got 1,200,000 $$$$$$$$$!!!!!!!!!!

It goes to show that one CAN do well alone and one SHOULD try to promote the best way possible!

I'm amazed at this, and even more at poeple giving away 15,000$ to have dinner with Tim!

8Dio Releases Deep-Sampled Legacy Grand Piano For Kontakt

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 05:42:07 +0000

8DIO productions has announced the release of a new deep-sampled Grand Piano for Kontakt called Legacy 1928: Scoring Piano. It was released February 7th, 2012, with an introductory price of $199 ($249 from 15th February).
8DIO Legacy Grand Piano series marks the next evolution in piano sampling and first virtual piano to ever have deep-sampled round-robin (repetition samples) on both sustains and staccato, which means you get a more varied, fluent and expressive piano.
8DIO is initiating their Legacy series with the release of one of the most precious and sought after pianos in the history of pianos, namely a specific series of ivory covered Steinway grand that were produced in Germany in 1928. This particular series and era is known to be one of the best and the build quality still stands unmatched - even the strings are still original from 1928. It is the perfect piano for soundtrack composers, songwriters and people looking for an advanced emotional and resonant piano.

Specifications:
Deep-Sampled Steinway 1928 Grand Piano.
Repetition on Sustains (Long Notes).
Repetition on Staccato (Short Notes).
2 Microphones (Internal/Close & Ambient/Player Perspective).
Deep Controls & Convolution Reverb.
Bonus: Morphing Piano Instruments.
Requires Kontakt 4.2.
Exclusively available for direct download at http://8dio.com/?btp_product=legacy-1928-grand-piano

Watch the 8Dio 1928 Legacy Steinway Piano Demonstration: http://www.youtube.c...h?v=YqL8cJSKFGc

Percussion Set Up

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 02:06:48 +0000

Hey guys, I'm writing a percussion duo that will be performed in May. I was wondering if this set up would present any issues. I've never done anything like this before, so I'm open to suggestions from people with some experience in this arena.

I tried to embed the picture, but the site doesn't seem to want to accept any image extension >_<. The setup can be seen at the below link.

http://www.box.com/s...rmm29s52ncm4rjm

Since I am planning on approaching this with multi-staves for each player, economy of motion is the goal here (although I'm having a hard time thinking of a way to have the Glockenspiel situated within the other instruments for player 2). In my sketching, I was trying to have 'higher' and drier instruments towards the right side and farther away from the players, and the lower more resonant ones closer and towards the left. I was somehow thinking that this would be more intuitive for the performers: is this consideration practical?

Happy 80Th Birthday

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:27:28 +0000

To the one of the most influential film composers of all-time, I salute you.
You have inspired so many people to become composers. You introduced many of us to leitmotifs in film, and interpolated the melodies of Holst, Strauss, and Wagner in your music.
Your 1977 film score is ranked as the Greatest American Film Score ever.
http://connect.afi.com/site/DocServer/scores25.pdf?docID=222

You have inspired me to become the composer I am today!

Happy Birthday John Williams!

What Is It That Makes A Modern Composition Original Yet Intellectually Coherent And Great?

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:56:29 +0000

What I am getting at is that nowadays too often originality comes at the cost of intellectual coherence and greatness. Originality becomes only due to novel sounds and effects. This kind of originality would be something that, for example a deaf Beethoven would not value, let alone pursue. So, is the kind of intellectual greatness that is distinctive of a Bach partita for solo violin/cello, or a Beethoven quartet, or a Mozart quintet for example, still possible and attainable in composition today without the sacrifice of any originality, where the originality would not be superficial (as in mere sound) but in intellectual depth and style, in pure musical greatness of the inward kind?

Is Music So Bad Now?

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:21:08 +0000

Well...

I can't post in the other thread, but I might as well try my take on this thing... Considering that I compose 'music now' and this music is not exactly 'nice sounding' I can hope that I won't get insulted and thrown to the dumbster!

Yes, there's a lot of music that's bad out there! There has always been! The difference with back then and now is that:
a. You weren't there back then to hear all the rubbish that did NOT survive time.
and
b. With todays tools you hear SO MUCH MORE music so you're bound to hit some ugly stuff.

That said I will agree that contemporary music has taken a road which sometimes seems autistic! Partly because of academia, partly because avant garde (which is there to promote an idea rather than and partly because of the composers...

Take for example the 4th of Feb locked thread! So many young composers in here and not a single person decided to reply to the (aggressive and sightly insulting I'll agree) question by the OP. Nobody decided to bother... Because it IS plain obvious that the music YOU hear has as much to do with YOU as it has to do with the MUSIC!

Problem is that if we, the composers, don't do something to change the way that YOU perceive music, then we are doomed to be left behind somehow... And we won't know who to blame exactly! And, yes, I'm in love with what I do and I'm eager to grasp as much audience as possible, without this meaning that I would 'reduce' my art to the level of Biebier! I'm very eager to promote my music, to show my music, to shed a light to my music, to respect my music, and to think that it's great music! To offer it to people and to sell it! To see it getting performed!

___________________________________

That said it's a great generalization to say that the last 75 years music is very very bad... There are some excellent examples of well written and magnificent all round music...

What Is A Professional Score

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:04:08 +0000

what is a profressional score ?

Spectral Analysis

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 06:44:44 +0000

Couldn't get this image file to work on the page with the mp3, so here it is. Thought it was interesting enough to share.

Mp3 is here: http://www.youngcomposers.com/music/1528/xenakesque/

Attached Thumbnails

Alba Music Festival 2012

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:15:39 +0000

Anyone else going to this by chance?

http://www.albamusicfestival.com/

Lessons With Kody Pisney

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 01:42:02 +0000

Lesson 1

consider this

Polytonality has been used by several composers in the 20th century, some of these including: Bartok, Stravinsky, Stockhausen, Milhaud, and other well known composers. The technique is employed when one plays in two keys at the same time. For instance, playing in C major and A major at the same time would be polytonality, as opposed to bitonality, which is when two different chords are played at the same time. However, both techniques work in harmony together.

Listen to the following excerpts:

1. Ginastera
2. Darius Milhaud

here is the sheet music.

Danzas Argentinas
download "Scaramouche" here

Answer the following questions

1. What makes the use of polytonality in these pieces successful?
2. When does the composer make use of the polytonality?
3. How does the composer escape from polytonality back in to standard harmony?
4. Did the polytonality employ a more rhythmic scheme or more relaxed motives?
5. Are these two composers using the same chord progression in each key? (i.e. if he is using a I chord in C major, is he also using a I. in a Major?)

Homework 1

write a 16 - 32 measure piece that employs polytonality. You can take as long as you like. You may also post parts that you write and we can talk about it as you compose it.

Question About Transposition And 'key Clicks' On Oboe...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 00:30:14 +0000

The piece I am currently writing calls for an Oboe solo which will utilize key clicks (among other forms of pitch production). My question is: do pitches parallel the fingering? I vaguely remember hearing something about how only lower register notes sound true to the fingered pitch. If anyone plays the Oboe or has experience utilizing similar techniques for the instrument, or any other woodwind, much help would be appreciated!

Lessons With Xroseofdespairx

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:09:04 +0000

Hi everyone. xRoseofDespairx have me to instructed her on the humble topic on composition and devoplement, and I have accepted this offer. Before the lessons the comence, xRoseofDespairx can you please describe you musical background to me, so I can have feel and understand of you as a student.
Here are sample question to guide:
1. What topics have you studied acedmicly and personally?
2. What insturments do you play? and how long have you play them?
3. What genres do you, and are you favorite and lest favorite?
4. Favorite Composers and works?
5. and any other important infomation.

Thank you,
Aniolel

How To Get Into Indie-Film Scoring?

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 14:50:07 +0000

So, back in my "younger years" I used to mess around in Garageband and similar programs, making film music. It started when my 7th grade reading class did a "movie" (if you could call it that...god it was so bad) of a book we had read, and I volunteered to do the music.

Moving on from my life story, I've recently decided to get back into a more cinematic style. I just purchased EWQL Complete Composer's Collection, and I'm currently learning the ins and outs of the program. What I'd like to do is find independent/low-budget films that I could make music for. I'm a big fan of fan-films (no pun intended) and other low-budget films because they are often more creative and interesting than their Hollywood counterparts.

So my question is, what can I do to try and get my name out there? Are there any sites dedicated to low-budget groups looking for composers? Basically, how do I get started with all of this?

The Tone On Yc

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:30:49 +0000

So my fellow composers, after reading through some threads here on YC, I'm quite surprised by the harsh tone that is seemingly accepted. It's a bit sad, I think, that I can so easily name two examples, not just particular posts, but almost entire threads, in which people are condescended and ridiculed for their opinions. The first would be "A new YC", and the second "Why is the music so bad now?"

Don't we have some kind of guidelines on how to talk to each other here?

A New Yc

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 20:38:29 +0000

" Why not decorate the look of YC like a baroque-magic-fairy-tale-harry potter candy fashion? It would not only look better but inspire the entire experience let alone compositions in new directions assuming individual composers could harness it. Just like in the baroque times a large part of inspiration for the pieces that for instance Bach came up with, beauty of sight was very cruxial ( The Ornamentation Of Architecture ) to realize, say BWV 999, which ix little wonder why composers today have a difficulty emulating the baroque times through musica. You could edit the look with colors & ornamentations of the gothic baroque to the magic of harry-potter. Perhaps fairy dust when one executes a transition of any soft, say for example click to another page or something. The player to be given a look of a shall we say Baroque Computer in the screen the name of song & etc. ( The Display in a old english font perhaps. And the ideology of improvement ix extensive. "

Quarter Tones In Sibelius 7

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 07:46:31 +0000

Can't get this to work in playback. The quarter tones are being played as naturals.

My First Premiere

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:30:26 +0000

Hi all,

So recently I was asked to write a piece for brass ensemble for the Manhattan School of Music Precollege Brass Ensemble. The name really is a mouthfull, but it was just premiered two weeks ago at the Manhattan School. It was the first live performance of one of my pieces.

You can hear/watch the performance here: http://www.youtube.c...nel_video_title

It's not perfect, but expecting a perfect performance is unrealistic. They also had been playing for some time before this.

Since then I was recently asked to write a piece for symphonic band to premiere in China. My college's band is doing a week and a half-long tour of Beijing and Xi'an, so I'm in the process of putting something together for that, which I'm really excited about.

It's been a while since I've been on here. Go to my facebook page and like it if you're interested in more updates about stuff . www.facebook.com/michaeltdefilippis

Below is the concert program in which my name appears for the first time with some not-so-bad company.

Why Is Music So Bad Now?

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:00:06 +0000

Obviously this is my opinion, and I'm sure this has been brought up before, but I need to know. Why is classical music so bad now? There's this kind of horrible post-tonal music around that is just completely awful. It's honestly making me lose hope in composing.

I'm going to go even further and say most COMPOSERS, not just musicians, like classical music from before 1920 MUCH more than music since. I think they just don't want to seem musically stupid, and when they compose this new music, it's very hard for others to poke holes in it. They like this. Say a student composer writes something in the vein of a 19th century composer but with more progressive harmony and their own personal flair. People could potentially shoot holes in this. But by writing this current intellectual garbage, no one can shoot their music down. It can almost always be defended in some way.

I'd wager nearly all (99%) musicians don't want to hear Cage (for example) over Beethoven and they never will. This is the composers fault - it isn't the audience's or the performer's. People like music the most when it is fundamentally about emotion. They don't like it when it's about going against the grain or appealing to some abstract plan or form. We as a community are actively trying to be open to this music and we still don't like it.

I'm losing hope though. What performers and musicians demanded of composers ~100 years ago was so much more human and so much more real than what is at work nowadays. Now composers write one big work a year, and maybe a song cycle or something, and it all sounds like complete crap. They are obsessed with being original. How original was Bach? Think about that question.

Also, look deep in yourself: do you really like music composed in the last 75 years more than say Beethoven or Chopin or Mahler or Bach?