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I think it’s better when you mark the structure of your piece with bar numbers yourself than terms like “Climax number one”

Bar 50? I thought that's like at the middle of the climax.

Originally I wanna reply all at once but when I was replying my boss was coming so I stopped LoL… I’m shocked to know that you find this sonata better than my Sextet haha, but for sure I appreciate it! This one was composed in a happy time, and all those clever things I did it with zero thinking as I just wrote what I want then with no planning or attempt to use technique at all! Maybe only for the 4th mov did I finally try to use some techniques. But here I just wanna write simply by emphasising the beauty melody I thought of. Henry

Yo Peter! I think the microtone well fits with the lava setting, as I imagine the “normal” in tone notes are melted by the lava so they are turned to microtones lol. That electric guitar is cool enough and I imagine Vince playing it while shaking his hair LoL! Wait what I have the same imagination as you did lol. I type the things above BEFORE I read this. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hello @seo_composer! Welcome to the forum! I really enjoy this one, it’s very soothing to listen to. I love the modulation to Eb major in b.26 as it creates great effect using flat median major. However, even though it’s only a prologue, I would say it’s too short especially when you modulate wonderfully and then it stops suddenly. I would extend it longer so that the wonderful effect won’t be wasted here, even if it would recur in later movements. Thx for sharing and looking forward to later movements! Henry

Hello @lemon, Welcome to the forum! For me it’s because the quieter passage lasts a bit too long after the climax in b.45. Like you I love that cello melody near the end, but it’s contemplative, and it would be strange to contemplate when nothing happens before it. Before it there’s maybe f dynamics but they aren’t climax because of the motion and rhythm, they aren’t moving as much as the climax which ends in b.45 which I really like the texture. I think you really have the b.27 texture recurs again as the climax before the cello melody. Or another way: you can build from that cello melody and add intensity with semiquavers as you did in b.27, before entering the coda in b.116. Thx for joining and sharing your music! Henry

Hello @L.S Barros, First, nice lyrics with that tree image haha. I must say the voice sounds really weird, but it should fit the setting with the organ once it’s with a more normal sound. I like the intro though, it does sound English medieval. Thx for sharing. Henry

Hello @InterstellerApex, Welcome to the forum! I like the climax in b.50, it sounds really Chinese before the G# comes in. I rather think the ending climax in g Major a bit abrupt, maybe you can add some more bridges to it! In b.12 the D note can’t be played by a sul E? For the bartok pizz. Marking I think you can mark it with the proper marking? The piano in b.77 doesn’t need the octave sign. Thx for joining and sharing your music! Henry

A chamber piece that includes all string instruments that i tossed together. I forgot to master...

A piece for Clarinet Bb and Piano that I wrote.

This is something I composed. Intent on actual performance. Climax number one is not good. The rest is mid. The logistics work out though for the percussion. I used Noteperformer playback cause I was too lazy to put it into a DAW. Feedback would be appreciated.

You were dead right with your analysis. Turns out MuseScore doesn't like to have more than two instruments playing the same pitch at the same time, and sometimes seems to prefer only one. Otherwise the mid frequencies stack up on top of each other, and blow out of range, even though the overall level is well below maximum. When I thinned out the arrangement, most of the distortion disappeared (see attached version). Unfortunately this has sucked the life out of the cue, and it's lost all its former richness, especially in the middle section. Sounds very hollow and thin now, not to say badly orchestrated!

Hello friends! I am very happy to write something here again. This time I would like to present you this composition of mine. Again you can hear my specific features in music. Otherwise, I apologize if the recording will rattle you somehow, some lesser quality headphones and speakers can't handle it completely 🙂

Hi Marius, Yes I do hear it on both the mp3, and the playback within MuseScore. I've checked with two sets of headphones, and I'm hearing it in both. Not all the way through, just when many instruments play together. Also hear it on my laptop speaker. Spectrum analyser shows some red transients in the mid frequency range: so I'm guessing that's what's causing the distortion. What you're describing sounds like buffering, which can be a problem if your PC is low spec. I think this issue has been improved though with more recent updates. Many thanks for listening! Alex

Hey Alex, Except for those balance issues, I cannot hear a problem with the audio either. Do you still notice it in the exported and uploaded MP3 files, or is it just in the program itself? When I tried MuseSounds I had a lot of problems with it (including 'stuttering' and distortion), and I think that was because my potato pc just couldn't handle the program... But I'd imagine (didn't try it myself though) these issues would disappear upon exporting the audio. I should say I tried MuseSounds at its very first release (I believe 1-2 years ago), and my experience might've been due to a bug that has been fixed since. Anyway, I was so horrified that to this day I haven't tried using it again, so this might not be an issue anymore.

YO MY BRO! Yeah these past few months were probably one of my happiest months in my life ever. I was able to finish the Sextet as I always dream of finishing, keep composing, enjoying music by having the time to listen music for many hours straight, enjoying food. films and wandering everywhere. This whole Sonata is the product of this free life so I am happy I am able to transfer my energy into it! Henry

Thank you! I do hope to achieve the simple beauty here, which is lack in my past music when I was chasing too big topics and complexity (though rightly) sometimes. Henry

Wow, great analysis! Thanks for getting back to me so quickly too. Agreed I didn't really hit the brief very well. Quite difficult though in just 5 days, as JW tends to use lots of strange chords and exotic scales. Hexatonic and octatonic seem to be his favourite. Will go back and rethink my arrangement along the lines you've suggested. Part of the reason it ended up that way is down to the course itself. We were told to use octave doublings to create a strong melodic line on Day 2. Then on Day 3 we added harmonies. (I pretty much copied the orchestration of the course leader here.) Day 4 was middle ground (counterpoint lines), and Day 5 finishing touches of orchestral colour, like harp, cymbals, glock, mark tree, celesta etc... Some of my tracks have a ton of extra reverb, e.g. celesta and trumpets 2, 3 & 4. That's because I liked the effect; but I imagine this uses up lots of extra frequency space in the mix too. Anyhow thanks again, will take another look at this over the weekend. Alex

So a few things: Firstly, this isn't really very similar to the style of John Williams at all. But of course, John Williams is an absolute master; he'd already been composing 40 years before his first film score. Writing a piece in his style is no small feat. As for your mix issues, I'm not really hearing a problem with the overall levels on my end atm, but there are definite balance issues. Some of these are due to musescore/musesounds which right now are notoriously unbalanced and have limited ways of fixing that, but some can't be. What you could do is put the tracks in logic and automate volume to help them out and send them in to a new reverb. However, some of the other issues are related to orchestration and sample limitations. For example, you have, as a lot of modern composers do, all these big block chords with a melody over them. Bar 20 is a good example. Firstly, you have the trombones and celesta eating up a ton of the frequency spectrum by playing these huge chords, but then you ALSO have the trumpets coming in three-part harmony AND a String Melody in three octaves with the cellos taking the lowest octave. And everything there is playing mezzo piano. That's a recipe for mud, even in a live context I'm afraid. Then, in bar 22 onward, you still have trombone footballs, but now they are accompanied by absolutely massive harp chords. While that is happening, you have different things happening between bassoons + horns, violins, etc. Another issue is that the bass is entirely footballs in the piece, which does not give it any breathing room and becomes rather exhausting to the ear. "Melody + Chords" style Chord pads that have become popular in film music are actually generally considered bad practice not only because they're boring to play, but because the strings, low brass, and choir are basically the only ones good at playing them and these are large ensembles that take up tons of room in the frequency spectrum and stereo field. So you see beginners give this big, five-voice string harmony with a lonely oboe melody on top and then wonder why it's so hard to make the melody stand out even if the strings are at Piano. It's because the oboe is totally surrounded and your ear will focus on whatever line is thickest (the chords). If try to thicken the woodwind line, you're now competing for space with the strings. However, unlike samples, live orchestras have almost infinite dynamic range, and not only that, but they can stay at one dynamic range and still have a lot of modulation in the sound, which is something samples can't do. So chord pads with samples tend to just sound bad. With these pads mocked up with samples, you're always going to fighting the fact that your chords seem like they just can't play quietly enough, and if they can, the timbre is bad because you can't modulate the sound without screwing up the dynamics. TL;DR: You can fix some issues by loading it into a DAW, but the main problem is the writing/orchestration and samples suck at chord pads.

Hi to all. This week I took part in a 5 day composing challenge, where we had to write a short cue in the style of John Williams. We started with a piano sketch, then progressed through different stages of orchestration. Posting my work from all 5 days here. What I found, was that MuseScore produced progressively more distortion as I added more instruments. The meters didn't show any excessive levels, but I'm definitely hearing a serious problem, even when I turn the faders down by 6dB or more on all instruments across the entire mix! Tried using the free EQ and mastering plugins from MuseHub; but they're very limited in scope, and seemed to make things worse. Any tips on mixing solutions very welcome! I could pull everything into Logic Pro 11, and try to fix the issues there. Not really sure what plugins to use though, and on which tracks to apply them.

Okay making this post is a pretty impulsive decision and I hope I'm not intruding, I discovered this place today. In summary: I'm 15 years old, and I've been trying my hand at composing for around a year and a half now. I've written a handful of pieces I'm proud of, mostly for string orchestra. I'm a former violin player turned french horn, but I would consider myself having a much better understanding of strings than wind instruments (when it comes to composing). In my free time I'm also writing a book that is currently in the revision stages, and the plot of that inspired my newest piece. This is my first time truly writing for a full(er) symphony ensemble (there are missing parts right now, like tuba, that may never get added because I tend to write for sound, not playability, though if anyone has tips for that please please send them my way!!) and I'm trying to really develop my style and just improve my composing overall. Right now I am struggling with not exactly how to end this piece, but more of how to get there. It starts with mostly percussion to set the vibe, followed by an explosive entrance of the rest of the ensemble (0:57), then a softer melody (1:49) (there's more but I'm listing this for context). To end the piece, I intend to write just cellos playing that softer melody introduced earlier (in a different key I believe) with the recurring chimes over the top and probably other various percussion sprinkled in there (with attention on just the cellos). The melody will end and the piece will conclude like it started, with just percussion and a final chime hit. However, I have no clue what to do to get there. The attached recording ends with a callback to that earlier melody, but from there I've tried probably five different versions, none of which I like. My goal was to write one final "heroic" melody with a minor twinge to achieve the proper mood effect, but I ended up adding brass over the last string part at 4:39, so maybe that could be the height of the piece instead? I do really like that part. If anyone has any thoughts, any comments on anything in the piece, tips for compositional work, structural work, anything at all really, please let me know! It can be as long or as short as you like, I just would like help. I've never posted my music online before, know barebones music theory at best, and have a horrible ear for this kind of thing. Thank you in advance!! trial 2 incomplete.mp3

Thank you! Yes I just finished making a version with organ and more, gonna post it. I listened to the soundtrack you mentioned, it does really have a similar vibe. This groovy spookyness..

Hi @shirz and welcome to the forum! I like the alternation between the two main harmonies you use throughout the piece! I think these kinds of simple alternating harmonies have a lot of expressive potential! It does sound kind of demented and spooky. Organ would make it match your target vibe even more! You know .. this music kinda reminds me of the OST to an old SNES game called "Zombies Ate My Neighbors" LoL! Great job and thanks for sharing.

I made this composition while testing a virtual organ i really liked back in the day, its for 2 villagers as the title suggests but it was originally for Violin and Soprano. Since musescore can not render lyrics and AI sites that do that are very pricey i decided to just change to the villagers. Enjoy! ❤️

It sounds phenomenal. I always really enjoy microtonal music; it has a special aura, which is obviously different from what I'm used to. In this case, I also like how it's organized into a little fugue. The dynamics are great.