All Activity

Hi there, I have done short example for you. Few things about the example: The timpani and double bass are merely in the background. I did not want to overpower the brass section. So, i choose only used the horns. The cymbal crash at the end creates emotion effect! P.s.. I hope this hope you. Kvothe. Tutti example.pdf @MK_Piano is correct about the planets! Gustav Holst wrote the suite when he was all girls school for two pianos! :) Tutti example.mp3

Double Vodka No Ice SUPER LATIN BIGBAND.mp3

@BlackkBeethoven Heavens no! Please do not give up! I want you excel at your craft. I want to best write amazing pieces and be proud. Thus, that is why I suggest a path that would allow you to do that. You can approach a string quartet in the same manner as 4 part chorale first. :) That is amazing thing about homogenous textures they blend well! I know this can do this. Please continue. :) p.s. You are being hard on yourself if you think "why should I continue if it is bad". Tell that negative view take a hike!

Hi ................Try a little Rythem first......then progress to LAYERS. an example below: 1: Timpani Rythem 2: Low-Brass & Bass 3: Staccato string & Horn 4: Top-Line String TIMPANI BUILDUP.mp3

I would say in this piece , you were using your ALPHA-Brain waves...Not your BETA Brain waves 12 Foods to boost this Phenomenon https://nhahealth.com/12-brain-foods-that-supercharge-your-memory-focus-mood/ . Psychology TodayAlpha Brain Waves Boost Creativity and Reduce DepressionIncreasing alpha brain waves through electrical stimulation or mindfulness can boost creativity and minimize depression.

I gotta admit, you got me on this one lol I will take it as a compliment however! I like to think I have my moments of cool music 😅

MASON.............Do this more often.........Why put a Bird in a Cage ?...........Why put YOURSELF in a Cage ? That, Petite Sonata for Strings | [String Quartet]...Doesn't even sound like you That music sounds like Breaking-Free from Conformity................it sounds Fantastic !

Aha! That is the risk. If you know everything about your music and exactly what it would sound like, then you would not need to ask that question. It is the pursuit of the answer that you will become a composer. If you mess up, then so be it! What is the point of failure if you don't learn from it? To quell your concerns, here is a literal and personal example: My manuscript of Waves of Frisco Bay WavesofFrisco_sample.pdf Here, you will see what I did for the piano and then how it came to be in the Orchestra. I used little abbreviated terms like FL. for Flute, CL. for Clarinet, and TBR. for Trombone. Here, I literally planned everything out. I gave roles for each instrument and then put it to midi. How did I plan it? I started big and worked smaller: 1. Picked the form - 2. picked a style - 3. Wrote a theme - 4. Developed on paper - 5. Orchestrated. This is one way and it may not work for you the same. However, mess around and try different approaches. Listen and read, or watch videos. Doesn't hurt to experiment lol

@therealAJGS has submitted the following quartet!

Right. Now i see. I must admit all you said is.. a true. According to first piano then orchestrate, i knew it and had in the back of my mind, but now i notice how important it is. I wanted to write right away on full 20 staff partitute.... yeah this is not gonna work. I must confess over all my musical output i write first on piano just a couple of times. But what about writing on piano simply as it is. How do i know if i mess up here? Or maybe in other way: should i write something on piano and then upload to the forum?

You will never know whether your piece will be bad until you work on it! Most of my pieces grow themselves and I never know in advance how their outcome would be! To me writing is more an adventure and excavation of yourself which you will find numerous unexpected routes to take! So take it easy and enjoy the view you have when writing and treat it as excursion, rather than wasting energy! Henry

[INFO DUMP] I am not sure if I would go with the term "a lot" when it comes to the midi-playback discrepancy. It can be wonderous to hear our music realized in the notation engine; and at the same time, two things can be true at once. Hearing it in the computer is not the same as hearing it live. Just because the computer can do it, does not mean it will have the same effect with an orchestra or if it will be played correctly by an ensemble as the computer has shown. (People have done comparison videos showing Musescore Audio engine vs. a real orchestra. You can hear the results and form your opinions.) It's why we inform ourselves on the properties of instruments and why we study instrument pairings so we have the best tools at our disposal for effective writing. _______________ Ironically, to ask "How do I write better?" is a subjective question and the only answer will be what is great/ good to you. In the literal sense, if you feel you are inefficient or that your music is not accomplishing the standards you want, then there in itself is some knowledge dissonance and it may be your writing process that hinders you. There are a few ways to do this, and asking these questions is more than okay (especially here!). Igor Stravinsky was quoted saying the following: "Good composers borrow, Great ones steal" It is a variation of a phrase both Picasso and T.S. Eliot used when describing their work. One way to learn is to look at the greats, or your composer ancestors. Look at their music and copy it by hand, or by mouse. See where they put the notes and see what instruments... then look at the results. Since you have some music theory training, analyze the harmony and see how they voiced a chord, etc! Try re-orchestrating something if you want; or come up with your own exercises. In the collegiate sphere, at an early point, we were given Bach harmonic progressions and had to write a melody on top in my undergrad. That was a few years ago. Speaking of, do understand that you won't become Wagner overnight. This will take time and that is okay. _______________ If you haven't already learned, most big composers did not compose for a large ensemble first. They composed for a reduced score, as in a simple grand staff for a piano, and wrote out the entire piece first BEFORE orchestrating it. Did you know Gustav Holst wrote The Planets for Two Pianos in 1914, FOUR years before the premiere? He wrote it for keyboard first and then orchestrated the famous work we know today. Starting small and being able to see all the pieces over 2-3 staves is a lot easier than trying to control 17+ staves at your first go. Thus, if you haven't, give this a try!

I understand that, but if it's that bad, I don't want to waste more energy on it 😬

Thank you bery much for your and @Kvothe 's help. So you say program deceives a lot? Hm, i suspected from some point (even i rewrote some real composers tuttis to see if this works). Am i wrong or specially in tuttis programs will make a sound a lot different from reality? Horn It's suprising about horn i must mix something from here and here, like: Horns comparing to others brass needs doubling to equalise level of loundess (i may quote a bit wrong this) Question I don' know if it's right place but i'd like to ask a important question. I don't know what to do to write better, i fell like i'm wandering around, or stuck in some kind small stupid box while iknow how much left is to be done. So what i should do? Make slow analisys of great composers, apply them in my scoring? or... i don't know, read and seek for the problems with old pieces? Or maybe just i just simply simply suck writing for piano and any bigger assemble is doomed to fail... Maybe someone has got problem (among my many others) with writing a fast pieces? Others go through this problem too? Any advices? :)

Well, just take writing this as a learning opportunity! No one writes good pieces before they write tons of bad ones. I remember how bad I was when I wrote my first dozen of "pieces" (of shxt). I myself do follow the path of writing a piano solo work, then chamber work, then in the present continuous tense orchestral work, but not everyone needs to follow this route since everyone's learning path is different. I would say @Kvothe 's feedback is a personal one that you may follow or not, but never use it as a reason to forfeit any pieces! Henry

here https://www.noteflight.com/scores/view/8550c85674ba31c3c74ebe1549d462e4b6c4d3b8

@BlackkBeethoven please don't quit writing your piece! Young Composer's Forum should always strive to be a great place for you to receive feedback, guidance and support on any of your musical projects. "Go write a piano piece because you're not ready and need to learn the basics" is not really constructive feedback. Members on YCF should strive to support the composer with whatever project they choose to write, not tell them what to do. We're here to support you in whatever YOU choose to do not what WE think you should do.

Hey everyone, It's been a while. Here's my submission to the Spring competition; overall while composing this I did a lot on like, 5 different days, because I kept forgetting about it and then working on It! the instruments I chose are: Guitar, Piano, Violin, and Cello. I tried to make it (sort of?) Interesting with my Instrument choice which of I forgot to put the 5th one. Its a little short, but It'll do. I mostly did this for fun and have no intent on winning. oh, and also I misspelled the MP3 file. Great. spring competiton.mp3

Well, I'll go ahead and scrap this piece then since I have so much to learn

Now this is topic I was dire to seek! Answer to question one: If there is opportunity to, I will! Question two: The piano Question three: Yes! I want to play through piece I am performing. I do not play other instruments. Ideas usually come to me out of the blue. Tech gear: Noteperfomer 5 with SIbeluis. Musio and Cubase. Now I will probably do massive update once I have new computer. I would love to own more than Musio! I am looking at Spitfire or VSL as a main. Niche: Perfomace samples and Aaron Ventures. Omisphere. I can list others. Dorico for sure! Actual live performances? I do not want to brag...but did anyone see what I posted? blushes (and there could be more)

@BlackkBeethoven: That is great question! Before Bach wrote chamber music, he first went through and reharmonized chorales, wrote solo piano works, and then solo works for strings. In fact, his cello sonata is so well crafted! You have to learn to the basics first: counterpoint, harmony, and musical form. Then apply that! :)

How would a solo piece help me more then writing for strings?

So there are two forms of tutti: full and partial. In your case, you have full tutti. I will provide feedback for it. I will draw from Rimsky, himself! In orchestral full tutti, you have make sure balance the section correctly! If the entire orchestra was marked at soft dynamics, then there would be issue. However, that is not case here! Thus, we must address dynamic balance first. Woods and Strings: Melodic doubling: I feel it would impactful if strings double the melody in octaves! Then have flute and piccolo above that! Rimsky did this. Gustav Holst had an entire section string playing one gesture. it is more impactful! Brass: Here, I agree with @MK_Piano. Horns will pierce through and are over powerd. 1 horn=2 woods! :)

Yes. I am aware. Baby steps: you have to crawl first. A solo piece will help you to learn so much.

Thank you -- I'm working on writing a string quintet so I won't be doing solo piano piece 👍🏾