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Microtones work a lot better with strings because it just makes it sounds like the performers are slurring their notes. Funny how the whole piece is this eerie mood (bec of the microtones), but then you end in a major key. I love the part from 0:44 to 0:47. It's beautiful to my ears! Well done, you're nailing microtones in a way that makes the listening a fun experience.

A soundtrack idea of mine for exploring a haunted abandoned theme park where the ghosts have unfinished business (probably related to the theme park being abandoned) and you're looking for clues to uncover the story of the theme park... This is mostly a piano rendition, although I imagine the song having organs and strings. But I haven't gotten around to doing it yet... https://soundcloud.com/sheeye/remainders-of-the-fun-we-had?ref=clipboard&p=a&c=1&si=79ddede14a264ba09c51b5f61e3a2635&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing

Thank you so much! It’s truly rewarding to feel heard — even in the smallest details — especially when working in French, which isn’t always the easiest language to share online. I’m really glad it resonated with you. Laforgue offers us a message of lost love — cruel, universal, and timeless.

Haha, you’re absolutely right — it would definitely save me a fair amount of pencil lead! The reason I generally avoid using key signatures is that I don’t want to feel boxed into a tonal framework while composing. I need to be able to escape at any moment. (Even though in this case, the harmony remains fairly traditional — if slightly wobbly at times…) I’m also a bit wary of giving the performer the “harmonic solution” upfront — sometimes there are several, and it’s up to them to choose what feels most appropriate. So yes, I tend to approach the page as a blank, open space. Most of my manuscripts are working drafts anyway — I really should take the time to clean them up. And when I do, using key signatures might actually be a sensible option. 😉 As for the reference to Dichterliebe — thank you! That cycle has been with me forever… It’s sort of my singer’s Bible, you know. So yes, there may well be echoes of it in what I write — intentional or not. The coda of Dichterliebe is such a marvel — a very strange and beautiful thing — like a page gently closing, a consolation, the dream-kiss of a beloved. We are, after all, speaking of bitterness and love… so of course, we’re already halfway into that world. In any case, thank you for your listening and your advice.

Hi guys! The past three weeks I've struggled coming up with something decent and finally came up with this about half an hour ago. It's a SNES/polyphonic sort of track (not sure how else to describe it), since I like that timbre. I'm not sure how to approach that major key I end up in, should I continue that or switch it to a minor one to keep the "dark" sound? Poly SNES.mp3

Hi @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu! Wonderful and simple use of secondary dominants and classic sequences. The melodicity of the piece is also more defined and the pastorale nature of it is more solidified with the birdsong allusions. But it has its Sturm und Drang moments to it as well as the occasional random pauses before the birdsong gets its solo moment which is really a great way to emphasize that aspect of the composition. You underline the birdsong by exposing it in solo relief - very clever. Lately every piece I've heard from you has been getting better and better. And imo this whole sonata is an even more substantial achievement than your sextet! Great job and thanks for sharing!

Tritones in scales, yes, but look at the left hand and what I am doing with ye old Church Modes, including Locrian...which the piece is in! Tritone for a dominant.

It's hardly my best piece, and the repeats are there because it is an ETUDE. Doubt it would be anyone's favorite piece! Anyone who cares to perform it, however, is welcome to leave out the repeats.

I guess the point is not that there shouldn't be repeats, but that they should still serve to move the narrative forward. Da capo aria? The first time the performer introduces the material, the second time they are encouraged to make it their own with ornaments or other small changes. But for this exercise, the structure of what you were doing with tritones and scales is firm enough that there isn't much room for experimentation or nuance when it's played through again. Welcome to the forums! And I disagree! If you're alive, you are getting exposed to new musical ideas and influences which are sure to keep you growing. Cheers.

Well, not really commenting on my own pieces, unless I have to, but thanks anyway. I use repeats, sure; so did Mozart! Good enough for me. I've been writing music for 38 years, and won't get any better at it than I already am.

Hello @Churchcantor and welcome to the forum! I've noticed that you posted a large number of your pieces already, sometimes commenting on your own topics multiple times. There's a few reasons why you should avoid doing that. 1) Posting too many works in a short time tends to overwhelm the members and reviewers on the site and they might not pay as much attention to your work as if you posted one work at a time. 2) Commenting on your own topic before anyone else has had a chance to reply also makes it look like people have already replied to your work in the "List of works with few reviews". If a piece has more than 5 reviews it gets removed from the list even if all the replies are just you replying to your own topic. This piece has a very clever name given that it explores the use of parallel tritones! Cool idea! I think calling it an "experimental etude" is a really good description! But some etudes, besides being exercises in some kind of theoretical construct (in this case the parallel tritones and also some surprising use of polyrhythm) also manage to be musical and entertaining. What with all the heavy chords and copious use of repeats this piece gets really tiresome to listen to even once (I also can't identify a reason why the repeats should be there). I can't identify a melody or some kind of musical hook to get me to tune into it on more than a surface level. There's also no dynamic contrast or balance between different elements of the composition, some of which could be more important than others. It's a cool experiment though! Thanks for sharing.

Nice Rag, and Joplin would love it! I've played with the idea of writing a Rag in the style of Scott Joplin, and calling it "Maple's Grease Rag," but haven't gotten around to it. I use ragtime form, AABBACCDD, in some of my rondos.

I'll edit this with music related comments later (I've heard this 😄), but I just had to say reading your post made me happy. I remember not too long ago how sad and stressed you were, and with starting a new job, I hope you carry this fresher and more positive outlook on life with you. I know you wrote this during a happier time, and it shows. Love the pictures, love the music!

Thank you! No, not a guitarist; could play Folk guitar with first position chords by a campfire, that's about it! Play electric bass a bit better.

What's funny is you keep writing short microtonal pieces to give yourself a break from a large project, but the amount of pieces as a collection is kind of a large project too 😄 This is cool, I think I've mentioned how much better your microtonal stuff sounds with strings versus harpsichord. This had such a "melting beauty" type of sound to me. The chromatics helped, but the 3 note pitch cell's descent or ascension maybe made me feel that way. Clever writing, I like 🙂 I also really like the mix, you've gotten really good at that! Nice job, Peter

Oh hey there Are you a fellow guitarist? The music is pretty cool, I liked the third movement the most. Welcome!

Hi @HoYin Cheung and thanks for your review! Thanks! I used Musescore Studio 4 and Musesounds for all the solo strings in this piece. As can be seen in the score, I fussed around a lot with the dynamics in order to bring the different contrapuntal lines in and out of the foreground throughout the piece. Thanks for listening and commenting!

Not a catchy or upbeat piece, but I consider it one of my best. Ten days, in March.

Don't know how difficult this is, not being a pianist myself, but probably easier than Liszt!

Two weeks ago in five hours, but the main A theme was already done, an arrangement of a song by my brother Tyler. All of the piano part is mine; he wrote the main melody, and the little "hook." I wrote the F# minor B theme and D Major C theme, and the coda. A Rock & Roll waltz!

Waltz in A Major Free Sheet Music by Robert C. Fox for Piano/Keyboard | Noteflight Read comments...

A few weeks ago I already posted this on related forums, and received some very detailed responses which pointed me to rework the dynamics, chords, tempo and key signatures. Now I feel like I'm much closer to having a polished and release ready version (it's just a hobby project for me though). I'm sure there's still a lot of stuff in there that looks / sounds amateurish, which may or may not have to remain depending on the effort I'd have to invest to fix it. But to get a general impression on how much this transcription / arrangement is still lacking, I'd like to have some final feedback, in case I'm allowed to ask for that over here (specifically looking for a community specialised in composing now). The score can be found here: https://musescore.com/user/103380388/scores/25823476 It's supposed to be an arrangement to the following track: Paint the Pictures I know I've taken a few liberties and it's not a 1:1 transcription, but I feel the changes were necessary to make everything work out more smoothly on piano. What I'm mostly worried still, would be: - key signatures: I received feedback before, that the original doesn't use F#'s everywhere, and so I decided to not use a 'default' key signature at all except for the bridge. I just added the sharps to each F individually where I deemed them necessary. I'm not sure if this is fine, though? Like, is it a good style to change key signature 'just' for the bridge? - playability: I removed / moved some notes to avoid ninth intervals, which would be unplayable by the vast majority of pianists. Now I still have parts that require you to 'jump' much of the bass clef up and down in quick succession to hit octaves though... Are these fine and should I keep them, or are they unnecessarily difficult and I should just keep the root notes? - dissonances: I feel like the last few bars of the bridge sound dissonant and annoying after a few listens. However, the original is kind of the same... Now, I increased harmony near the bridges end by using more complex chords / triads, which bother me because they seem to bring in the dissonances. Is this just a midi playback issue, and these triads in the upper treble clef area should be 'more simple' as they are at the beginning of the bridge (where treble clef chords consist of 1-2 notes max), or are they fine and I should keep them? - chorus: There are two chorus segments, and in the first one I intentionally omitted the octaves to reserve a more powerful effect for the second one. Now, does the first chorus sound too 'weak' to you, or would you keep it as is? - of course any additional critic / feedback is fine as well with me Thanks!

Scared me; Noteflight has its glitches, but I'm not even sure where I put the manuscript, and would hate to have to re-enter it anyway...

Toccata Free Sheet Music by Robert C. Fox for Piano/Keyboard | Noteflight Had to copy/paste Toccata into a new score: Just changed a Bb to an A# and the original stopped playing!

Wow, I guessed I have listened 3 times in a row to start to understand the piece😆 I enjoy the piece! I love the development at m. 13-17, where the Violin I giving a slight breath to rest, with the ascending melody, from the ever-descending motive. FIguratively, it would be like a nightmare where you try to do sth but never succeeding each time - pick something up and something missing😅 Btw, what notation software are you using? I kinda like the shifting sound and quality of the solo strings in the recording.