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Musically it feels very episodic, with moments of high drama, and some vivid tone colours. The first movement brought to mind a battle on the high seas, perhaps due to its cinematic tropes. It starts with a sombre air of tragedy, then becomes more expansive, and morphs into a sort of action adventure movie soundtrack. I found the sudden changes in dynamics quite effective and evocative. It's well orchestrated (better than anything I could do), and I enjoyed your use of sul tasto, Bartok pizzicato, and handstopping in the horns. All these things add more colours and textures to the orchestra. Overall a well heard piece.

I personally hear it as being in 6/4 throughout but I can see why you question if it might be in 6/8 sometimes, because your accompaniment figures and sometimes the stresses in the melody end up suggesting 6/8 instead (or 12/8). There is no problem with having a piece that constantly changes meter or uses hemiola prominently. With the concept of hemiola it becomes apparent that it's okay for the piece to even be in both meters at the same time. If you were making a score you could simply group the 8th notes according to which group of instruments is using which meter and which way makes the most sense for counting and displaying the rhythmic information. Some parts would be grouped in groups of three 8th notes and some other parts in groups of 2 and that would be totally fine. But I think for the conductor the piece should be in 6/4 as that is most likely how they would direct it. Btw - great, Halloween spooky music! I love the creepy vibe! It's just too bad that you didn't make it in time to be featured in the Halloween Event! Great job and thanks for sharing!

First, thank you so much for sharing this with us. Writing for a small an ensemble (a string quartet) is allows you focus harmony and melody and the elements of orchestration: foreground, middle ground, and background. Thus, that is how I will do review and critique of your piece. I appreciate how your passed around the theme between viola and violins: this creates a different timber in the section string. Although it is the foreground, the violins can soar higher than the violas and carry more when the melody becomes more dramatic. Maybe, the pizz with the accent is seem a bit odd.... It is too sudden.. If this suppose to be a minute, I would feel, that double and cello create figured bass line, perhaps.

It’s interesting you brought this up. In the original quartet version of this piece they are half notes (or semibreves) at half the tempo, but they were too difficult to count and always sounded rushed. One of the fascinating things I’ve started to notice now that I’ve had performances of some of my music is that notation can have a profound effect on how performers interpret sheet music. As such, I chose to put it in breves for a more expansive quality. As for the string tutti/unis. issue, I’ve heard it go either way and honestly don’t care terribly about that detail. It’s easy enough to fix, so if someone convinces me strongly enough in the future I may change it. What did you think of the music in and of itself?

Thanks, but I have a question. Could you please answer it if you can? I would truly appreciate it! 🙂

It sounds quite nice!

I think it is a very enjoyable, balanced and well-written piece of work. The piano sounds good and the dynamics respond quite well. I liked the Allegro very much, it's lively, always interesting (I even didn't dislike the repetition of the first part, which often bores me. In the second part, the initial part is great, a bit “Bellinian” for the length of its phrases. The following part begins more unstable and takes on darker tints, a good contrast. The part from bar 35 surprises by its march-like character, which leaves a super-mozartian melody in bar 45. The final part also has memorable sequences and a satisfying closing character. I see that the movements are written quite some time apart. Nevertheless, the work seems very coherent to me, which I always like. Although it is not my preferred style, I enjoyed listening to it very much. Thank you.

Although I believe they have an intimate relationship, the horizontal writing of the Renaissance and Baroque is different from what can be seen in Romanticism. Thanks to the conducting of voices, we see amazing progressions that work very well. This period is replete with such examples. An “extreme” case is the Wagnerian harmonies. Liszt, Consolation IV. Each chord is preceded by its dominant.

I like this thought process - I tend to write horizontally and vertically, but a solid line is a solid line lol But that makes sense though, if each "harmonizing" voice is just a solid line that works well against the other voices, then really there's no need to think about chord structure. The harmony will just come from the counterpoint (or the contrapuntal style writing)

Hey Guys, This is my brand-new spooky Halloween music piece. From 00:19 (the main theme) is in 6/8 or 3/4. I cannot decide because I feel sometimes two beats and sometimes 3 beats. Thanks for your help!

Exactly. In my own writing I honestly don't even think about "chord progressions" at all anymore. It is ultimately a very restrictive view on harmony. A more horizontal, contrapuntal way of thinking is almost always better. I just write a line and then thicken it in any number of ways. Sometimes it will be as simple as thirds and octaves, other times you could examine it as full triads or extended chords, sometimes it's contrary motion, sometimes just a weird cluster that worked at that moment. Then I often do the same to different melodies that may be occurring at the same time. I find the results much more musically, aesthetically and intellectually stimulating than just "chords + melody"

Thank you very much!

Gorgeous! You use the voices quite well here. I think this piece really shines in the parts that have rests. I think this is mostly because it feels like you are using the instruments the most you can, and if the harmony doesn't need more notes, you leave them out. You create some extraordinary beauty in those moments. I think your rests really allow the feeling of "Sentimentality" rise out. That along with your gorgeous harmony.

I have no criticism, I just wanted to say well done! It's such a simple piece, polished to perfection, and I love it!

Thank you to everyone who gave me feedback - this is the final piece! Program Notes: "Beauty for Ashes" draws inspiration from Isaiah 61:3: "To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified." This piece reflects the contrast between sadness and joy, crafted through Louis's signature blend of traditional and modern harmony; inspired by jazz harmony and film scores. The main motif, a 5-measure phrase, ascends with leaps and scalar motion, symbolizing the climb towards joy and redemption. Secondary material navigates unexpected harmonic terrain, briefly shifting to evoke turmoil before returning to the main theme, restored and renewed. Louis uses modern harmony, secondary dominants, and modal mixture, creating a nuanced emotional landscape in which sorrow's depth and hope's radiance intertwine. The piece culminates in a triumphant, cinematic chorale finale, symbolizing hope and victory. Sweeping dynamics converge with moving harmony lines, resolving to a radiant major 7th chord, evoking flourishing "trees of righteousness" – roots deepened by sorrow, branches stretching toward light. Duration: 5:22 Instrumentation: 1 Flute, 1 Bb Clarinet, 2 Violins,1 Viola, 1 Cello

Congratulations on completing such an epic and expansive work! I wonder why you chose to used breves (double whole notes)? I don't think these have been in common use for several hundred years, and some people may not realise what they mean. (That said, I have seen them used by Colin Matthews in his orchestrations of Debussy's Preludes.) You could perhaps have used semibreves instead, at half the tempo. In your strings, you have div. followed by tutti; but I think the correct way to cancel div. is with unis. (Tutti is used to cancel a solo, or 2 soli indication.) I'm really nitpicking here: so feel free to ignore me!

Hi Layne. I think you have a good facility with counterpoint in your works, and some interesting dissonant harmonies. You're also very good at creating an atmospheric soundscape, and musical storytelling that takes the listener on a journey. I've had a similar issue with lack of tempo variation, as I was using a DAW that didn't allow for any changes in time signature or tempo within the same project. More recently though, I've begun using MuseScore as a starting point for my composition, which has no such drawbacks.

Hi Mark. I enjoyed listening to this piece, as with all your works. It sounds quite militaristic to me: so perhaps you could call it "The Toy Soldier", or "The Clockwork Soldier", or something along those lines? My only other suggestion is you could consider adding mutes to the brass during some passages (or handstopping in the French horns), to create more variation in orchestral colour. There are lots of different mutes to choose from, each with a different effect: https://andrewhugill.com/OrchestraManual/trumpet_mutes.html

After a bit of a dry sepll, I finally finished this piano sonata which is intended to be in the Mozart/early Beethoven style (I'm a big fan of Beethoven's early sonatas). I had finished the first and third movements awhile ago and only recently finished a version of the second movement which I am still unsure about but welcome any impressions.

Hey there! I've been working on composing this tune for a jazz big band. It is a 12 bar blues and I am almost finished with it, I am just struggling with writing a 12 or 24 bar shout chorus followed by an 8 bar drum solo (this is the section in the score that has nothing in it.) This is my first composition in this style and am afraid that I'm not executing what I want to express very well. Could my score be analyzed and recieve some personal or general tips? Thanks!Smack That Thang Shout and Drum WIP .PDF

@AngelCityOutlaw, I'm aiming for a week before Halloween. I'm almost done with the video, and when I am, I will send emails out.

LoL! I love how the musicians are looking with their confused looks at one of the three conductor's batons!

Is it dropping on Halloween?

Hey there! I've been working on composing this tune for a jazz big band. It is a 12 bar blues and I am almost finished with it, I am just struggling with writing a 12 or 24 bar shout chorus followed by an 8 bar drum solo (this is the section in the score that has nothing in it.) If anyone would give me some ideas that would be greatly appreciated! Also this is my first big band composition so any positive feedback is very much appreciated!

Hello! This is the "vocal piece" that I was talking about! Its for soprano, string quartet, woodwind quintet and harp. Of course it's going to be a full song cycle in the future, but as of right now, this is the only one that is finished. For context, most of these songs are going to be from the series "Dark Dice" (by Fool and Scholar Production). However, I am planning to do original compositions on the texts from the series as well. As for this song, it is one which a character (Glom)'s mother used to sing when he was small. It is used in a scene where her sister (Gaelle) started to sing the song in his mind through a spell as he was starting to sleep. As always, I appreciate the feedbacks and hope you enjoy.