All Activity

no worries, might be wrong. It's just weird, you know?

Okay, you do you man. It's pretty clear that @Ellie Smith is some weird scammer. There have been links hidden in each comment trying to get you to click on them.

ohh why?

It's so that one bar doesn't take up the entire line, which would br way too spaced out. Also to show that one should play them lightly

I'm not going to argue, and I'm not stupid. There's a chance some nitwit created an account to only comment on your piece, and then "pretend to be you", but from my experience of the years I've been here, I beg to differ. This is a competition for nothing other than fun and community comradery, so if you're here for clout chasing or personal ego buffing, it's super cringe dude. Just post your music and try to make friends like the rest of us. People will grace you with praise or critique your music because they care about you in an authentic way if you're authentic in return. I doubt we see you after this competition has ended, but I would LOVE to be proven wrong. I'd LOVE to have made an embarrassing mistake calling you out. I wish you well, and good luck in the voting

@Fruit hunter makes total sense! So many times I have to change markings in my own scores so that the MIDI or sound libraries play back correctly lol

@Thatguy v2.0 No... I don't know who @Ellie Smith is...? I haven't had time to come on and check the comments here until today.

Please please please be nitpicky, it helps. Not only for the composer, but those reading as well. @Ninja Nolan Kudos for the recording! And also, very cool ensemble. It must have been a challenge for a quartet with instruments of the same range...and same name :D I think this is very cool, and the range and monophonic restrictions breed creativity. AND ALSO, I love the idea of different movements for the stanzas. I feel like this could have been something you wrote before the competition but fit the criteria. Maybe, maybe not. Regardless, very cool and creative piece. I agree with those who said variation in texture could have been beneficial. This to me was conservative in nature, but executed very well. There weren't moments that really "wowed" me, but it's so solid in craft that it hardly matters. You were able to showcase the instrument from your performance, and that means something. Hopefully people interested in soprano sax writing can benefit from your piece in knowledge of the instrument. This really fit the theme of the competition to me, and I enjoyed this thoroughly. Good luck in the voting!

Hi @latebeethoven_addict , Wonderful entry to the competition. It was great to listen to your music. Some engraving thoughts: score order: vln, hn, pno very cramped score - put more space between systems and staves not sure why some pno notes are grace note or cue sized lots of rests divided incorrectly (m2 8th+16th should be a dotted 8th rest; m3 two 8th rests should be a quarter rest) double bar lines at section changes and tempo changes (most players also still prefer them at key changes) where it is just pno solo - hide the other two instruments General Instrumentation thoughts: I would think more about articulation/bowing for the piece and add a lot more slurs. putting in these markings would make the violin part more playable A lot of the times the vln/hn are playing together and often in unison. I would play more with counterpoint and harmonize some of the lines. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 8 7 8 the ABA form did not seem to serve the piece well 7 6 see comments above 6 see comments above 7 7 Average Score: 7.0

Hi @Matthew M , Such a lush and lovely setting of the poem as an art song! I also choose to go this route and set the text. I really enjoyed your version of it. I think the piece would work even better as a solo for voice and string orchestra. One big thing, if you're planning on this being sung in English - the Richard Stokes translation is in copyright, so you may have to reconsider some things. Some quick engraving notes: in general the score is quite cluttered; make the rastral size bigger and give more space between staves and systems watch when you copy & paste that extra things don't get attached; the lyrics accidently show up in the piano part at times the syllable division don't match the slurs in the voice part at times, so I'm not sure where the words would fall check that the breath mark in m27 would not be followed; it's almost always better to not give singers breath marks add lyric extenders to syllables under a melisma Some string writing notes: I would be careful using the wedge markings for string players - this means a different sound than I think you would like in this piece the ranges of the players are all very middle of the road; explore the upper ranges of the strings In general, there's a lot of everyone playing all at once. Find places to explore the colors of only using sections of the ensemble Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 8 lovely melody 8 good job filling out the harmony in the string parts, but the chords used are often obvious choices with little development 7 not clear divisions of musical sections - begins to all blur together 6 6 see above comments 8 see above comments 7 nice job setting the poem 7 Average Score: 7.125

Hi @Ninja Nolan , Lovely writing, you can tell you're also quite the saxophonist in addition to being a composer! Writing a quartet for all of the same instrument is a bold choice. I find this limited sense of timbre/range leads to difficulties when listening to a new piece. However, I didn't feel this way with your writing at all. It showcased the soprano sax well, everything blended quite nicely, and I found the piece to be very successful. Breaking it up into three movements was a smart idea. You did a great job isolating and contemplating the mood of each of Verlaine's stanzas. Also, the French titles for each movement are a nice touch. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 9 9 10 good use of multiple movements 10 10 very fussy with dynamics, but I love it 10 10 9 Average Score: 9.625

Hi @Wieland Handke , Very different than many other pieces so far. I really appreciate the ingenuity in your composition. I also enjoy the amount of detail you put into your score. All the instruments are well thought out and notated with precision. I know the playback doesn't match, but others above me have done a much better job dissecting the accordion part. I do love the combination of accordion notes and L.H. chord buttons. The guitar part is all very easy. The double stops you have are simple fingerings with little issue. I would actually love if you added more to it. The classical guitar is quite a soft instrument compared to the rest of the quintet (I would probably amplify myself if playing this piece). As is, it comes across as more of a mandolin part than guitar part. I think it would be great to add some full chords, especially starting at Reh. B. All the final notes in the phrase could be turned into playing multiple strings. I also don't think you often need a dynamic marking for each note. If you'd like it to be louder, you can always double strings or add octaves for the player. Some engraving thoughts: I would reconsider score order: maybe tpt, gtr, vlc, acc, pno maybe? I would always have the piano at the bottom of a chamber score like this. Overall the score does look quite cluttered, but you have given us a lot of information. Even with the dense texture, find a way to bring the staves of the acc. and pno. parts closer together. In 2/4 I would still beam with the beat even at this tempo. All the unbeamed 8th notes make it difficult to count. I would mark what type of mute you prefer for the trumpet. Also, only mark this the first time and then use 'open' to cancel the marking. The mute marking should also be placed above the staff, not below. Very interesting to see your compositional process behind the piece, but for a final score I would remove the fugal analysis and lyrics. Make sure the acc and pno parts are not barred together. The pedal markings for the piano become cumbersome. I think it is natural for a pianist to play it this way. You could also simply write 'with Ped.' or use the line pedal markings instead of all the asterisks. Several bar rests are misplaced (pno m20 for example) So much of the music is playful and lovely. The notation style and having a separate dynamic for almost every single note becomes distracting from this fact. Double barlines at tempo changes; put 'a tempo', 'piu mosso', etc. markings in bold non-italic above the top staff Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 8 8 8 clearly organized form, but not sure if transitions always worked; did not develop well 10 very creative 6 see comments above 8 see comments above 9 very French 8 memorable Average Score: 8.125

Hi @Musicman_3254 Really beautiful entry to this competition. I loved the music to this piece, a lot of my thoughts are on cleaning up the score and parts so that they are more legible and effective. Some engraving thoughts: make sure the first full system of the score includes all instruments and their full names (even if resting) hide bar rests in the harp part if you are writing cross-staff for the opening, use hairpins instead of the cres. and dim. lines solo marking for instruments is extraneous octaves in the harp (mm15-17) would be better read on two staves as one hand would play each note clefs: none of these instruments should use alto clef cello should only ever be in bass, tenor, and treble clefs baritone should always be in bass clef never use octave clefs for a non octave transposing instrument harp m51 - use an ottava line instead key signature Gb is a lot of flats, it works great for the harp though I might be tempted to leave the harp in Gb and notate the flute/cello/voice in F# major, but unsure if it would be any better put slurs on the grace notes and connect them to their primary note not sure what purpose the marking in the cello part in m59 serves don't let dynamics or other text cut into barlines unless you really need them to (m86 flute) make sure trill lines extend to their last note (mm102-104 oboe) large harp chords - use one arpeggio line across both staves; don't need the up arrow arpeggio line unless you're going in both directions Some playability thoughts: I saw lots of comments above about the playability of the harp part, but I didn't read all of them. None of the harp part is currently technically impossible, but here are my thoughts to make it easier on the player. the Dnat to flat ped change (m20 and m101) is totally fine and doable. There's plenty of time for the player to flip the pedal to natural and back to flat - you might hear a little bit of noise, but it's unlikely. This is also the only pedal change in the piece, so I'm sure they'll manage. the cross staff arpeggios at the beginning are wonderful, adding in doubled notes in mm5-14 is difficult and likely not worth the additional amount of sound that will be created. I would suggest either start up the octave and bring it down an octave for more resonance in m12. on a similar note, any passage which immediately repeats the same note is challenging on the harp, as it required the player to mute the string and then pluck it again my thoughts on the large chords - again technically possible, it's just asking a lot and is quite fast. The player would alternate hands to play across the entire harp, so get rid of two arpeggio lines and put one big one across both staves. The tempo is likely too fast to play all the notes, it will also be too loud at the dynamics you have marked. Save the big arpeggiated chords for one per bar at most and make sure you really want to volume of so many strings sounding at once. A trill on the harp (m86) doesn't always work well. I would switch the pedal so that it's a bisbigl. between G# and Ab. The flute part is very low. I would not have it written to sound lower than the oboe damore. Even the very beginning I would switch the pitches or bring the flute part up the octave. Curious as to why you chose the oboe damore. It's an uncommon instrument and very, very few players have it. The range doesn't call for it either, as it all fits nicely in the range of the traditional oboe. The oboe does not dim. to nothing effectively. m72 and similar places will be difficult The cello range is too demanding of the player. High Gbs and Bbs at the dynamic level you have asked for is impossible. Bring it down one or two octaves. mm53-59 is confusing as well, it's very high and the ppp dim marking makes it seem like you don't want it to be heard Not all of the cello doublestops in mm59-71 are possible. The Gb and Ab dyad is a real stretch. ( I wonder if the entire piece could be transposed up a half step and you could use open strings?) Some text-setting thoughts: Lovely, lovely use of the voice. I also set the poem as an art song and I really love your rendition of it here. I know there are different house styles, but I would only use slurs to show syllable melismata or very long phrases. I love the stress of the first phrase, but make sure that important words are highlighted on the beat Make sure word divider lines (-) are not causing collisions with the text Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 9 beautiful and memorable melodies 9 effective harmonies and instruments harmonize more often than play in octaves 9 good form which supports the text of the poem 9 loved the musical content 6 see comments above 6 see comments above 9 love the setting of the text 8 great piece! Average Score: 8.125

Hi @MK_Piano , Lovely writing and it was great to listen to your music! I immediately felt the connection between the music and the poem. I thought it brought out the summer love side of Verlaine's poem quite nicely. As a whole, it does come across very piano heavy, especially in terms of rhythmic pulse. Some engraving thoughts (very picky): I would make the string part staves just a hair larger for legibility be consistent with your Ped marking, sometimes it's the lines sometimes it's the asterisks once and a while a random staccato was missing in one part and not the others (vln m122 for example) I'm never sure if it's actually worth breaking secondary beams for 32nd notes in the violin runs wondering if articulations should be consistent between parts (accents in mm128-end for example) some repeat dynamics, make sure cresc/dim are always arriving at a marking not engraving but something to think about, the Richard Stokes translation of the poem is still under copyright, so the score would not be publishable with the text included in the front matter Some thoughts on the string writing (first of all, this is all very possible and doable, just some suggestions as a string player): first, thank you for switching clefs and using tenor clef in an appropriate context and style for the cello violin octaves - this gets quite exhausting on the player's wrist and in my opinion exhausting on the ears, I would use it more sparingly I would save the octaves for slow moving lines, not faster 8th notes (mm81-87 is probably not worth the effort) I would save the octaves for important places in the phrase/piece, it currently feels like a default setting if you're set on the octaves, I wonder if this would work better as a piece for piano quintet with the vlns 1 and 2 in octaves throughout similar thought - the chords in mm136-137 will need more time for the player, not a great idea to put them in such a rhythmically tight spot bowings - none of the marked bowings you have are necessary, these would all be obvious to the player vla part in mm18-21 and its analogous spots is quite tricky for a string player to be accurate off the downbeats like that, I wonder if it would be worth doubling the first note so it would be [D, DBD] separate than three slurred, that's a common string rhythm octave doubling is a string player's worst nightmare in this sort of late Romantic sounding tonal chamber music see if there are places to incorporate harmony rather than just octaves or octaves with the piano would love to see more rhythm included in the string part, not just the piano part Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 9.5 lush, memorable melodies 7.5 textures rarely develop; lovely harmony in the piano, would love to have that translate to the full ensemble 8.5 clear sense of form, with very little play or freedom to it 8.5 lovely writing 9.5 only very minor errors 9.5 notes on string writing above 10 very well with the theme, loved it 9 quite traditional at times Average Score: 9

The thing about the sound font I’m using with vibraphones has a individual pedal default meaning that all staccato notes should just mean dry sound or in this case what I think is default for non-pedaled if that wasn’t a issue then I would use no markings I know this is controversial, but I'm not sold that all the staccato markings need to be placed on the glock and vibes part. I personally don't mark percussion as staccato unless I want the player to dampen the note. If you want vibes really short you can always mark them as non Ped

Music concrete featuring Winston Churchill and his speech, "We Shall Fight on the Beaches." Music was made with trains and church bells. We Shall Fight on the Beaches.mp3

Hi @Fruit hunter , It was lovely to listen to your music! I think On Pastel Skies would make for quite the fun front ensemble or indoor percussion piece as well as a concert percussion quintet. It definitely succeeded in your goal and transported me to your Florida summer evening. I enjoyed the details you brought into the score. Wonderful usage of mallet changes, vibraphone pedaling, stickings, etc. You can tell that you are comfortable writing for percussion and that all the parts are able to be performed, even if some of the transitions are tight. Overall I liked the sectional use of form with reoccurring elements. I think you could have expanded the unpitched percussion sections more and explored that sound world for longer. Or even add sections where you more more thoroughly combined pitched and unpitched sounds. (I know the time limit was only 7 minutes - I did the same thing in my piece and pushed the duration to the buzzer.) Some engraving notes (I'm being quite picky for this score): I would appreciate an instrumentation list/page after the title page, so I know what equipment is needed for each player there's a lot of white space on some pages and a lot of cramped staves on others make sure the instrument abbreviations are marked Mar. 1, Mar. 2 (they are at first but not after you switch instruments) double barlines at meter and tempo changes check that your rests are simplified correctly, a lot of two eighth rests that should be a quarter rest sometimes extra clefs are left in after changing instruments I know this is controversial, but I'm not sold that all the staccato markings need to be placed on the glock and vibes part. I personally don't mark percussion as staccato unless I want the player to dampen the note. If you want vibes really short you can always mark them as non Ped Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 7 wonderful atmosphere, not a lot of sections which felt melodic - not that that's a bad thing 7 a lot of octave doubling and not a lot of fully fleshed out harmony at times 8 enjoyed, but see comments above 8 interesting and successful use of the theme 8 see above comments 10 lovely blend of mallets - see comments above 9 relaxing summer vibes 8 some of the chromatic scales and octave doublings were a little too marching band-esque for me, but still greatly enjoyed! Average Score: 8.125

Hi @Kvothe , It was great to listen to your piece! Interestingly enough, we choose a similar instrumentation - I think the piccolo/viola/harp trio really speaks to the French summer sound of the poem. The range distinction between the piccolo and viola didn't personally bother me. Great harp part! - Breaking it down into groups of four notes makes it quite idiomatic for the player. With so much pentatonic sounds happening, it would be interesting to explore various pedal settings on the harp to group the glissandi in pentatonic scales rather than diatonic. If you liked, you could also expand the range of the harp part into the higher octaves on the instrument. Minor engraving comments: there are a couple slurs that seem to be missing or extraneous, I would prefer the viola be in alto clef for pretty much the entire piece (it never gets too high to really need to be in treble clef for the performer), and at rehearsal B I would mark those as dotted eighths rather than eighths tied to a sixteenth. It might also be nice to make the rastral size slightly larger for the entire score, just for readability. Melodies Themes Motives Harmony Chords Textures Form Development Structure Time Originality Creativity Score Presentation Instrumentation Orchestration Playability Execution of Given Challenge Taste 7 very summer sounding melodies 7 loved the pentatonic scale groupings, I think sections would be more effective with the picc/vla in harmony rather than in octaves 6 not much development, but works nicely for being a shorter work 7 beautiful entry 6 comments above 9 could be more creative, but very accessible for performers 9 sounds like a lush summer 6 simplistically tonal and could use development Average Score: 7.125

@JDevorMusic @Ellie Smith Are you the same person?

My apologies for not attaching it earlier. You'll see the PDF below :) HotR_FINAL.pdf

Hello, Out of the several pieces you have posted, I like this one the most. I think you have this very fluid and spontaneous quality to the way you write music. I am starting to hear your style. Your piece title has the word "bird" in it". I think we've all had experiences in our lives where we hear a bird chirping in nature and appreciate the immense natural beauty that comes with it. I guess what I am trying to say is that your music sounds somewhat random, but also natural at the same time. I would imagine that if I analyzed your piece, I might find some unified themes, but maybe that doesn't even matter for your music. When listening passively, it sounds like I am in my backyard with all the birds chirping. Maybe this is what synesthesia might feel/sound like. From a technical point of view, I am loving the dissonance and colorful chords. But it doesn't sound too overly indulgent or serious. I didn't read the poem. While I appreciate that your music was inspired by it...my personal philosophy around music is that it's bit more of an absolute art form. I certainly was able to enjoy your music without any reference to a poem.

Hi! Umm this piece is quite virtuostic, but could work on voice leading and meaning, you could vary dynamics a bit more too.

hm.pdffinally got a bit of a break, composed what's probably my worst piece to date but I find it neat in some ways this was ment to be cute.mp3I am aware a decent bit of laws has been broken when making this piece, and that it's quite near impossible in a few aspects, thank you.

You’re right @Omicronrg9 , my Chopin example wasn’t very clear! His contrasting sections are shorter than yours. It was mainly the amount of contrast between sections that I was trying to explain. But you nailed it: length isn’t the issue if the material is adequate. Your material is definitely adequate. You’re right that all of this is overthinking. The music is already great as is!

Thank you all for the thoughtful reviews and feedback! I really appreciate everyone taking the time to listen and share their perspectives. I’m glad the harmony, textures, instrumentation, and extended techniques stood out. I’ll definitely keep your notation and musical suggestions in mind for future revisions. Really grateful for the support! 😊