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Hi Peter, Thanks for listening! For the bells, I was using a preset called Old Memories on GarageBand's Sun Glitters Pad. There's definitely some detuning at work; but I didn't have control over it as such. The work uses three different presets on this pad; but I don't think I used any automation between presets as the music evolved. Instead I just put them on different tracks. If I was remaking it now, I think I would use some automation to make it even more weird!

Peter, Thanks for the lovely comments. Would you please expound of your use of "artificial" in the context of my work and how it relates to Stravinsky. Mark

Peter, Thanks for the review. My compositions can be a bit dense ... I have been actively working to address this ... Ironically, the ending of this work was edited/re-orchestrated to lessen the density and bring out the more prominent thematic material; however, it did leave the ending with less of a punch. I have another version with more density and more satisfying ending. So I will once again I will review the work to create a better build up punch at its conclusion ... balancing both aspects of the work. Also, thanks for the kind words about my style! I don't know if the way I compose/orchestrate influences my style. For me the score sheet - is a way to build the architecture of the work - in a sense I am a very visual composer. Mark

Hi @Some Guy That writes Music! I love the song-like quality of the music and the breathtaking modulations! Some of the melodies sometimes sound like they're wandering around aimlessly up and down the scale in step-wise motion which doesn't make for a very interesting melodic content. Other times you break away from the step-wise motion and the music seems much more romantic and purposeful there. Although I guess the other extreme of avoiding step-wise motion would be to skip around to chord tones. Of course, that wouldn't be interesting either all the time. But you do show some good choice use of non-harmonic tones on strong beats to really bring out their beauty. Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed the romantic flourishing and I loved the quiet ending!

Hi @Fugax Contrapunctus! This perhaps makes me think of a slow funeral march with its metronomic regularity and depth of emotion. I usually try to try to steer clear of orchestrating stuff the way you've done here where the choir is basically just doubled by the strings and woodwinds. You seem to have made it work, but I wonder if that will translate to a real performance. Perhaps with a careful balancing of the orchestra and a formidable enough choir, the orchestra won't drown the choir out. But you seem to have deliberately omitted the brass which might have been too forceful for the venue and the nature of the music, so I guess it's best to leave them tacit. Thanks for sharing!

Hi @mercurypickles! I really love the lyrical 2nd song! Perhaps they're both lyrical. The 1st song is lyrical in that it seems to continue a logical leading melodic line despite seemingly constant tempo changes. But you make it sound quite natural and smooth and beautiful. Thanks for sharing!

Hi @Alex Weidmann! I really love the tubular-bell/chimes in the latter half of the piece. Are you using microtones at all in this? The bells sound kinda cool and a bit out of tune. Thanks for sharing!

Hey Mark @MJFOBOE! Nice succinct multi-movement piece! I especially like the 11 pm falling asleep section - probably because of the close connection you have in that part to memories of your daughter. I also like how the piece starts over again as the new day dawns. I would have expected a dream-like sequence after the 11 pm falling asleep section though - could have made for some really interesting music! I also really liked the 3/4 hemiolas in the morning rush section. There is a peculiar artificiality to your musical style (I'm not meaning this at all as a negative comment though just an observation). Once again, I can't help but compare this artificiality of your style to Stravinsky. Thanks for sharing!

Hi Mark @MJFOBOE! I think your individual style really shines in this piece. In your other pieces, your style can be a bit dense and hard to digest. It's a bit like Stravinsky in that it's a style one has to get used to. But once one does, and in this piece especially, it really has its own unique logic and beauty! The way you extend and repeat your motifs in this piece is a really unique kind of development. The piece also seems like it's constantly building towards that final chord. Although I did find it personally a bit lacking, like a whole fanfare finale/codetta could have maybe made it sound more conclusive. Those are my thoughts. Thanks for sharing!

I really enjoyed your percussion writing .... Mark

Hi all .... Here's composition that I began a few years back; however, I really never finished to my satisfaction. So he's my latest version .... all comments/criticisms/suggestions as well pleasantries are welcome. Mark

Just try it, not as accurate as I thought!

Sharing a platform I've been working on which uses AI to convert audio to sheet music notation and MIDI: Songscription.ai. Feel free to check it out and share feedback on your thoughts!

Hi @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu Thanks for reviewing 🙂 Well, I guess the bare chords in the A section are indeed intentional, they give a strong, rigorous - bare - tone to this first part, aimed at evolving towards a more flourished, lyrical part when switching to D Major for the main theme. You're right about the harmonisation errors in b.16 and b26, I missed that. Your last remark about the transition towards the end in D Major makes sense ; I had wondered a little bit about it must admit, but finally let it like it is. Best regards, Marc

lol I have never replied here!! Pabio you are just too nice, I already find some minor little flaws in the music 😜! But thank you so much for loving it so much!! I am sure I hope to strive for greatness in this music, though I don’t now whether it does achieve greatness or not. I just have so many things I wanna speak that hasn’t be spoken and they are all spoken here in this music. I thought of the tragedy of my friend, Ukraine, Gaza people (not the evil state) and humanity in general, the philosophical teachings my philosophy Professor and his teachers, Confucius and Kant taught, and just wanna express them out. This is the first time I truly don’t care whether the Sextet is well received or not, because I have already spoken out what I wanna speak and I know I have paid my 500% effort in composing this. I know I have no regrets writing this because I pour all my hearts and souls in it, and even if the product is not good enough, I still have no regrets because I probably won’t be able to do better. I am sure you will write your own work that you are satisfied very much with Pabio! I did keep dreaming that I would finish the Sextet one day even though it’s very, very, very difficult. I always think that you have to have new thoughts in order to have new sound and timbre, not the vice verse as the contemporary music composer claims. Thank you! I still enjoy very much what you commented on the 2nd movement of the Sextet!! Henry

Hi @kaiyunmusic! Really like this vibraphone like electric piano piece. I agree with Peter, the piece is more in 6/8 than in 3/4 since the dotted crotchet is the basic unit here, rather than the crotchet. Nonetheless, I enjoy very much the serene mood here. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hello @Vladisove! Welcome to the forum! I didn’t read your post at first, but I recognise the opening of the 1st piece as really Sibelius like with that particular Scandinavian colour, like use of harp and pizzicato and winds in high register. The thick brass in 1:50 has reminiscence of Wagner before returning to Sibelius Woodwind. Really love your woodwind usage here, particularly the English Horn. The D minor 2nd piece is really ice-cold just like Sibelius’s work. That English Horn/Oboe entry is amazing for portraying the bitter and cold mood. I love the vocal too, even tho I don’t know the lyrics. The ponticello tremolo opening is captivating. I love these mood here, though I think for a 10 minute piece it can introduce more memorable Melodies to sustain the interest throughout the piece. However I love the ending very much especially it ends in my favourite C sharp minor and F sharp minor. I love these pieces and they are amazing especially when you don’t receive formal music education. Maybe for me I would love to have more contrasting mood in this suite, since they are more or less in slower tempo and minor key, portraying the cold atmosphere as in Sibelius’s work. Thanks for joining and sharing your work! Remember to hit the like button under my comment so that we know you like my comment haha! Henry

Thank you for your instant response! As I am new on YC - it is like attending a house music concert for the first time where all other guests are still unknown - it is very pleasant to be welcomed warmly by the host (according to my reading of a number of the latest posts I have noticed that you are very active in replying to new submissions and as you are one of the „Moderators“, I consider that you are one of the „hosts“ among the YT community). I will take a more thorough look at your profound comments concerning the composition of my fugue as soon as possible. The applause at the end - I know it's a bit embarrassing, but I added it for technical reasons, because I often had the problem that videos on iOS devices were cut off when there was only silence at the end, and one wants to hear of cause the final chord after all. You have recommended to follow @Fugax Contrapunctus. Interestingly, I’m already a (still silent) follower of him on YouTube and I found the YC website only due to he has linked it in its YouTube profile. I’ll watch his fugues (an your own, linked one) in the next time a bit more thoroughly to be able to give a reply, too. Greetings from Wieland

Ok thanks!

Thank you, Henry, for your careful listening. Yes, you’ve pinpointed exactly what I’ve tried to do — and what lies at the heart of my exploration through these Laforgue settings: to stay on the edge. On the edge of tonal harmony, of expected progressions, of almost conventional paths — but always trying to veer off, to wander. The same applies to expression: sometimes as simple as possible, sometimes ambiguous, sometimes hidden. I’m trying to find that forest’s edge where Laforgue leads us with his poetry, into his moonlit twilights and his lost loves — which I know all too well. You mention Schubert — of course, and your ear is sharp. I couldn’t deny it. Once you enter these borderlands, how could you not have Schubert in mind? Again, thank you, Henry — your sensitive listening is a true gift that brings light to my moonlit paths.

Hi Henry, thank you for listening and replying. It is indeed "Bad Sallad", a pun on "Sad Ballad" because, as you pointed out, there's a bit of mixing things that shouldn't belong together (the English & American anthems, reharmonized and thrown in between movements of a sad waltz). So, from a sad ballad it ends up being an unusual salad of themes 🙂"Bad Sallad". The album is generally quite humurous, on the nonsensical side

Hi Mike! Lemme reply in bullet points too haha. Yup it's the first thing I think for the third movement to build the connection between movements. Yup especially the Revolutionary-etude like accompaniment! I quite like the section. Yup it's just a fortituous product when I was taking a bus but it works surprisingly! Oh actually I haven't linked there with Rach but more with Prokofiev! I think 9:32 is more Rachmaninoffian for me! It's a sudden thought and I once was afraid whether it will break the coherence of the piece, but I just let it remain because I love the theme so much. And it's boring to have right hand playing melody all the time so I invite the left hand here too. It IS indeed brutal and took me a lot of time to practice this section alone, but I absolutely love this part! And I feel very happy to be able to play this part out! Yup I deliberately have the juxtaposition here to represent how contradicted I was then. Yeah I like that part too especially the Sacratisco passage. Yeah I quote the 2nd movement melody there again to try to save myself from tragedy, but obviously it's futile and I sadistically love it muahahaha. Yup I love that too, as the tragedy is not preventable and I must admit that myself. Thx! I love that you love the whole Sonata!!! Henry

Hi Alex! Haha yeah who knows why I put the bluesy section into the otherwise Beethovanian and Chopinistic movement! I like the bluesy section myself too, it really does sound nihilistic. Hahaha! Thx for commenting! Henry

Hi @Luis Hernández! Sorry for my late reply. Very interesting to use the constructed Greek scale to compose. It sounds somewhat microtonal for me in some places. And it does sound impressionistic! Thx for sharing! Henry

Hello @L.S Barros, The piece does sound very English for me with all those colorful Picardy 3rds. I don't know if I mishear but I think I catch a parallel 5th in 0:31, maybe it's the organ sound. Thx for sharing. Henry