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Well, I am a composer, professionally for films. Used to do games the better part of 20 years ago, now I am currently working on films that will be doing festival tours in North America this year before going to streaming and such. Some of my current projects have actors from TV series like "Billy The Kid", "The Last of Us", and more as well as Emmy-winning special effects teams who have worked on films like "Sonic The Hedgehog" and "Child's Play". The reason I preface with that is to say: I don't have the career of John Williams (yet), but I'm not entirely a nobody either, so I am probably qualified enough to give you some honest advice and feedback. I could write you an entire essay, but I will try to keep this as short as possible: Firstly, if you want to be a professional concert composer, then no matter how good you are, that is extremely rare in today's world and to be honest: It kind of always has been. Historically, most works were commissioned by the church, aristocracy, etc. for some reason or another. So, if you were aspiring to simply write music for live performance or albums of orchestral music and make a living on that...I'm sorry to say the odds are astronomically small. Some will suggest you compose for video games, but speaking from experience only a handful of composers have that entire industry locked down. Getting a job that pays ANYTHING in video games is hard to come, the games take years to develop now, everything is a buyout deal, cancellations of entire projects are normal, and this all translates into relatively low annual income even on "AAA" games. Where the real money is in being a composer today, and for the last 40 or so years, is in television and film. Especially long-tail income in the form of royalties and licensing fees that accumulate over decades. Now, to the meat of your question: My brutally-honest answer based on the piece you have shared is "No". If you wanted to compose for films, especially if you have no DAW or MIDI mockup skills, I'm sorry to say it would not cut the mustard for even lower-level indie shorts. Very few musicians to be honest have what it takes to be a film composer, even a middling one. There is a massive list of skills, that take decades to build up, just regarding music and its production before one could confidently score a film. I can honestly say that even 8 years ago, I don't think I would've made much of a film composer, and I had already been writing music for bands or games for years by that point. Not only must you be able to write memorable themes, which this piece does not demonstrate, but you must have a thorough knowledge of orchestration, mixing, MIDI mockups and recording; advanced composition theory that involves: counterpoint, various unusual scales and harmonic progressions that are not typically found in popular music (or even a lot of older orchestral music for that matter), experience with synthesizers, creating realistic mockups, structure that works with a clear emotional arc, writing effective short pieces, writing effective long-form pieces, etc. And this is before we even get into: You have to understand how all these musical devices can relate to linear story-telling and emotion. You have to understand "film" at least as much as you understand "music". There's "composing music" and then there is "composing music that tells a story". You also must be able to be an effective business man. You have to get out there and make friends with directors, producers and editors. Attend festivals and build genuine working relationships with people and be very easy to work with. 99% of composers stumble big time on this one. And one of the hardest things of all is that you have to be extremely-reliable. On a film, and god knows on a TV show, you do not have time for things like writer's block. You need to know theory, composition, orchestration etc. like the back of your hand to be able to write on average 2 minutes of finished music per day to get the job done on time. Not being on time on a film or TV show would be absolutely catastrophic for that studio and I'm not joking when I say that being late would ruin your entire career and cost people potentially millions of dollars. Now bear in mind, on a film you might have just two or three months to write the score. On a TV show a matter of days or weeks per episode. You must be absolutely certain you could deliver on that. The composer is often the very last major person involved with a film aside from the sound mixer and maybe colorist. It is generally the case that the score has been recorded and finished just weeks before a film hits theaters. It is for all of the aforementioned reasons that age 44 is considered "young" to be working as a professional composer in film and tv. Studios and directors are placing an enormous amount of trust on the composer. So most film composers started composing at very young ages, and spent decades in music, honing their craft, making connections and essentially "proving" themselves before anyone trusts them enough to score a film and pay them good money to do it. John Williams, the most successful and iconic film composer (and probably just composer of the 20th century tbh) was already just about 50 years old when he did Jaws and Star Wars. So unfortunately, in the most profitable avenues that I am aware of for being a composer, I don't think you presently have the skills, musically, yet. That is of course fixable, but what you must ask yourself is if everything else that goes with it is something you can do and your personality is a good fit for. Another thing is, I'm not sure how old you are right now, but age is also a factor. Deciding you want to become a professional composer in your 20s is more practical than starting in your mid 30s, for example. Hope this has been of some help. Good luck.

This fugue consists of two fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier by J. S. Bach played simultaneously under transposition and augmentation. The fugues were performed by Kimiko Ishizaka and superimposed over each other by me.

Well, I didn't have any intention of making it "idiomatic." I just read the poem, liked it, and set it!🙃

I’m trying out this software that ‘sings’, and perhaps it’s time to get started on a composition I’ve wanted to write for a long time. This is a test to see how the orchestra (with its rather unconventional choice of instruments and sections) fits in with the harmonic system I’ve used, the vocals, and the mix of English and Latin. Is it worth it? Preludio.mp3 Preludio.pdf

That sounds lovely. And well-balanced. I think that in a chamber music setting like this, the double basses can have their own independence at certain moments and in certain phrases. That’s how the great Romantic (or post-Romantic) composers did it.

OK, I'm currently trying out Cantai + Dorico. I've only been using it for a short while, but it's already working as it should; at first it was a real headache.

Thank you, it's very simple. You need to have the MusicXML file and send it in. The panning and reverb are automaticaly set in by the software. However it's a bit of pain to get it to work the way you want, and sometimes (most of the times) it doesn't perform the lyrics the way they are supposed to.

That sounds very harmonious. I also liked the piano part, even though it was secondary...

A very good idea. But the piano part isn’t very idiomatic. Especially in a style one would expect to be ‘romantic’ from Keats.

I don't know how this app works, but it sounds pretty good. And the panning is good too. The atmosphere of the piece is very well done.

More music created with the program I designed. Once again, it is dense, well-coordinated counterpoint.

The truth is that in this style, where the forms aren't the classic ones where you already have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen, it's more difficult to outline a general plan for the work. It's easy to get carried away by what's happening in the moment and put that planning on the back burner.

Im surprised to see you say No ?.........As your composition as Several of the Hallmarks that Sound like a HAMMER-FILM sound which will always be in demand......................Wish i could create stuff like that.

Thank you! I'm specialized on renaissance and early baroque writing! For about learning it i probrably learned by listening to a lot of music and copying scores, so i learned all myself! I also watched tons of youtube videos about it.

Now, I can't treat DAW or any type of midi or any sequencer then, the answer seems to be No ㅠㅠ

In Answer to your Original Question .............i would say : Can YOUR Music be composed to " FIT " A Film ?............. If it can , Then the Answer to your Question is : Yes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lust_for_a_Vampire

I promise you'll love this one. It really shows off my program's capabilities to their fullest extent. Lots and lots of well-coordinated contrapuntal imitation in this one:

“I just made public the eight music tracks I had submitted to companies on YouTube. Do my compositions have professional-level value?”

I worked my butt off on a music composition program that takes two or three songs at the same time and allows you to find the perfect mashup between them. Here's what I was able to do with two songs just now. For my part, I'm pretty amazed that I can do this type of thing now with great ease and speed (note that the first few seconds sound off because of the source material. Just keep listening):

Hi my Jonathon @ComposaBoi ! I am so happy and overjoyed to know that you love my piece and even STUDY it!! How come I deserve this kind of respect and attention towards my little music pieces! Thank you so much!!! Yup I did chop some bars there since I find the original version a bit long for the transition and modulation, but I think it really is personal taste haha! I absolutely enjoy how honest you are. Believe me, I am the one who dislike my pieces most since I always finds tons of errors and ways to improve my pieces, and can seldom really enjoy my pieces in their own way, knowing that it could have been better. I check both version of the score and don't find the dissonance (augmented chord) removed. Can you specify which chord? I can explain on that: I feel like the original version with the dominant pedal in clarinet a bit too flat, so I remove the first G in the clarinet, replace it with pizz., and then change the second G to an Ab to make it sound like "is it really that peaceful?" by making it a bit more suspenseful, and hence the counterattack of the dominant preparation and retransition can sound more fiercing and dramatic. Yup it's just for fighting the playback, as with the actual grace notes the playback will cancel the whole slur and make all notes non-legato, so I compromise and write with that strange notation. But with a published score I will definitely have the actual grace notes back. And the inconsistency is due to my careless proofreading lol. Thx! Yeah I do pay a lot of attention in the breathing of the clarinet. And as always, all pieces can be better and mine is definitely no exception. Thank you very much! I guess this piece is different than the Sextet: this one is more about subjective suffering and despair, and the resolve of it towards the end, while the Sextet's suffering is less personal as it's more objective and worldly. You are right, I deliberately ruin what I create in the first movement. It's interesting to know that in the first 14 minutes of the movement (two-thirds), the tonic C minor only lingers for 2 minutes, so basically in the first two-thirds the music is under a subconscious influece of tragedy without knowing it, to my understanding. The positive things like beauty and serenity are all ruined without knowing why, until after minute 14 when all is suffering and the despair arisen to the level of conscious. The surprising return of the second theme in its original key is a last struggle, which is brutually defeated to achieve a more tragic effect, hopefully. The structure more or less is influenced by the film Mulholland Drive I guess. And obviously I am no Mahler. Haha I will still cut things out in movement 2, but I will retain all of the passage in mov 4 and will even add passages in mov 3! Stay tuned! Henry

Hi @Markus Boyd ! Thx for your listening, as it proves that you aren't one of the ipad kids! This one is indeed only the 1st movement of the Quintet, and sorry for making it 21 minutes lol! This movements last for an almost 3 year span from 2016 November to 2019 July, so definitely my thoughts kept changing and adding things to it so the music grows like this. But I do disagree with having a short work means it's easier to receive more detailed reviews. I have made posts with longer playing time before, for example my Sextet 2nd movement, but I did receive tons of valuable and detailed reviews, particularly the one by @Fugax Contrapunctus , and I guess it's more the willingness of wanting to review or not. Henry

Hey My Chee, I quite like the moment as well, and yeah it could have been a waltz, which indeed there are some waltz moments in the movement, tho not with this theme (for example in b.169, 315 and 361). That's good news to hear haha. It's absolutely ok to have something you don't like, since probably I am probably the one who dislike my pieces most, finding all sorts of errors and holes in them. I am working! (Tho not this week as I am ill all week) Henry

Hi @Musicman_3254 ! First, one thing for the scoring: as this competition signifies It would not be appropriate to use divisi for the strings, unless it's for a string orchestra. The soundtrack and the scoring suggests that this piece is for a string orchestra rather than a string quintet, which could have been resulted in disqualification. The octaves sign aren sometimes not realized in the recording, and you should write the notes out instead of using the sign anyways, like those in the beginning section. But put that scoring aside, I quite enjoy your music here! I like how you achieve some varieties with a simple unchanging melody by changing the instrument to play the melody, the register, the thickness/thinness of accompaniment, I especially like the moment when you invite motions of semiquavers in b.50 which really makes the music more exciting. Use of tremolos are great too to enhance the drama. Maybe one suggestion is that you can vary more with keys and mood. The piece is in C minor with the same melody throughout the whole piece which is fine for me, but it will be more interesting if you can somewhat modulate to other keys. For example even with the original melody you could have a Eb major chord supporting it and make the mood change. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @TristanTheTristan ! There's nothing fugal here but it's definitely Chinese. Sadly there are no available soundtrack for dizi and erhu, as if they are used it will for sure enhance the unique color of the piece! Just like @Kvothe said the piece is too short, as the compeition requires an entry to have a minimum time of 3 minutes, while here it's not even 2 minutes long. I like the heterophonic nature of the piece, and I think you can have added more details in it like dynamics and slur markings even it's for Chinese instruments. To me it sounds like a typical Chinese music with its pentatonic harmony, maybe you can add some contrasting episodes so that the music will exceed 3 minutes mark and make it more interesting. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @therealAJGS , I would be regret to say that this one is a less competent piece in this competition. i don't quite think the music captures the landscape of a rainy weather to me. The scoring of this piece is not as polished as other entries, as the music to me is in B minor but there are many unnecessary accidentals in the score without a key signature. The flow of the music is less moving as well, sometimes it just stays without moving forward, especially in passages when there is only one instrument lingering, Even though it may be harsh for you to receive comments not so positive, I hope you will take it as a learning opportunity! Thx for joining the competition! Henry