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Dang, two new(-ish) pieces in a month? That's crazy. Tbf the main materials here are from a preexisting song, and the other piece is a full revision. Then again, I had to learn orchestration stuff for this and that took a very long time. aaaanyway, really happy about how this has turned out anndd imma just gonna quote the description from the progress update thread you could find the progress update thread here: also @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu, I'm really glad I could be the first one to ever quote one of your themes! When I was sketching that section, I thought of wanting to quote, and I thought of your specific theme. Again, really happy that it fits really well. Also also, those syncopated rhythms are actually from the original song itself. But, I do agree that it fits this "cover" and the original song. Glad you liked my orchestration too!

Well I’m very used to a Beethovanian Scherzo marked in three in a bar so I just retain that! Henry

Haha yeah, given how lame the Ab major sections surrounding it! I definitely need more HUMOR in my life, whether it’s the joyous mood or the body fluids lol! Henry

Thx for your information! It’s really useful! I guess I won’t have my Sextet performed by them given the cost lol haha. Oh I also just finished a Violin Sonata commissioned by @expert21 and also feature dance rhythm…… 😛 Henry

Thanks for your comments, Henry--and yes, if you're writing chamber music, nothing compares to a live performance--the strings were so much more detailed and nuanced, emotive. This is very helpful for me to remember and to write with this in mind. I was shocked at how much Derek brought out of the piano part! The Cost?! A lot! The musicans were $100/hr. x4 hours for the recording session. The studio was $75/hr. This included the enigneer and access to the glorious Yamaha C-7 (7.5 ft conservatory grand) freshly tuned. I spent 3 hours in post-production for splicing and mixing. It was a $2k day. This is summer vacation money for a family for 5 or 7 days. This is how I choose to spend my treasure-- I rationalize it by calculating that a composition degree and access to musicans would cost $60k-80k (easily) at university. I hope to write something substantial each year and go to studio in the late spring /summer--at least untill I have internalized the lessons to be had from working with real musicans and recording. Next: A violin sonata (violin+ piano) which will be cheaper by almost half! I want to do a full-on string quartet after that.... The musicans: They were great! NO auto-tune here. A few pitch issues but really very, very good. All University of MIchigan trained string players. Master's degreed. Derek is a fresh graduate of Wayne State University, and has a great career ahead of him. He prepped this in 7 weeks, where 3 months would be the norm... I just googled for string players. They gave me the lead on the pianist... I think I got lucky... I think I'm going to start the violin sonata and back track and do the last movement of the PQ-- a tarantella tempo piece with a Siciliano B section (my mom was Sicilian). Up-tempo and a bit more adventerous...

Re-hearing the piece I was thinking if you could also use 3/8 at a slower tempo or 4/4 but all the crotchets here are then in triplets - since counting this fast may be challenging and unnatural, then I suddenly realize why you chose 108 per dotted minum, which makes complete sense - but again, just personal notational preferences at the end of the day I guess.

hahahahaha lol!!

Hey @Rich! The live version is so so so much better than the computer version. The sadness already contained in your music is a million times enhanced here, as I had listened to both versions and can easily listen the difference! Those subtle tempo rubato would not be possible in a computer rendition at all, as well as the very detailed changes of tones . There's one (two actually lol) question for me, how much is the cost for hiring the entire ensemble and also the production team? They are really professional here! How did you find them in the first place? Thx very much for sharing your precious live recording of your own movements! Hope you will also submit the other movements to them too so we can enjoy (free-ridingly lol) more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Henry

At last, I can post the studio recording of my Piano Quartet in C minor. The two movements were recorded in a 4 hour session on 5/23, and spliced/mixed today 5/30. I've learned so much, and am very happy with the result, as solo strings are not good on ANY VST, compared to professional string players. The pianist stepped in on short notice and did wonders humanizing the piano part--the chorale and 2nd movement theme sound fantastic! Now I have a concrete reference for what my writing sounds like with actual musicians. I plan to do another pass over the score, as there are things that need improving on my part. A worthwhile and important step in my DIY musical education!.... The artists: Fantastic musicians, and they all helped me consider my writing, score/part preparation and musical issues in new ways!---- Violin: Dan Winnick Viola: Chloe Thominet Cello: Michelle Kulwicki Piano: Derek Szlauer Recorded and mixed and Big Sky Recording, Ann Arbor, Mich. Geoff Michael, Engineer. 5/23/25 and 5/30/25.

Hello @Eric N! The Invasion sounds like a chic version of a Bach Prelude which I like, with a 3+3+2 rhythm throughout the music. I personally love the eclipse more, it's more colorful with some effects on it. I think you can simply learn orchestration yourself! Never say you are only good at A or B, you won't be good at C had you not attempted on it! Thx for sharing. Henry

You could keep the main line col legno, but switch it to arco sul ponticello or sul tasto (staccato) for the latter part of the melody where the most rapid notes happen. And I don't know if your libraries have these options recorded but there are also different varieties of pizzicato that might also be useful in this situation. @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu would know about that given that he's recently explored Elliot Carter's music which uses different articulations on pizzicato strings to yield different effects. There's also the Bartok pizzicato which is a really strong pizzicato so much so that the string strikes the bridge of the instrument, but that's usually only used in a ff dynamic.

Thank you so much, Peter! Always appreciate your insights. I had purely chosen that articulation of strings from a sound standpoint and had not considered the difficulty of play (should this be turned into sheet music). What better articulation or instrumentation do you think would be best to convey a similar feeling?

Any ideas where I could potentially collaborate with someone to add some kind of orchestration to these pieces? I'm only good with composing piano pieces I don't have much skill with musical software or adding multiple instruments

Hi to all! Here is my latest composition based on an extrasolar planet that may support life. The previous ones were "Tau Ceti" and "Iota Draconis (The Dragon's Quest)". Am planning to combine these into a symphony or suite eventually. The score is designed for midi playback, hence the strange note lengths and dynamics. Think I probably need to allow more time for winds and brass to breathe? Also my bass-line in the celli and doublebass is really boring: so perhaps I should change it? Looking for some feedback on how realistic the orchestra sounds, and what further steps I can take to improve this? I used MuseStrings and MuseWoodwinds with Berlin Brass. Haven't done any stereo panning yet. Think I may have pushed the dynamics too high in the climax at the end, as it sounds like it's clipping to me.

Thanks Henry, I love Hisaishi's music: so that's a great compliment! Watched a You Tube video the other day, about how to write Ghibli style chord progressions. I may decide to perform this in public at an upcoming concert, since it's very nice to play.

Thank you for liking my work!

Hey @Krisp! Sorry for a very belated review. I only remember to review this wonderful piece of music until I see your name on the member list! I love the 5/8 time signature very much, in a sense an omen to signify the premature death of the poet with the rushing rhythm., but also well fit to the poem’s subject of chasing a girl! Your modulation is always wonderful, I love your modulation in b.30 to F sharp minor very much, reminds me a lot of Schubert and Schumann. The 2nd stanza begins will a mellow E major and a soft tone of your voice, matching very well to portray to girl’s beauty. And the hunger for sex is really showed in the next stanza with those forceful chord, signifying the uncontrollable Id and Libido. The cool down and then arousal of sex desire, then the breakdown is so fascinating. Your music is always full of content. I can’t imagine in just 2 minutes you already told us a great poem with all those dramas and structure. Very fascinating to listen to, and thx always for your sharing! Henry

Hey @Alex Weidmann! It’s in no way awful, at least my recording of the 3rd Sonata is Worte with all those tears lol! Besides your playing is nice. Yup I like your rubato! Me neither lol! Maybe we need FF expert @PeterthePapercomPoser or @Thatguy v2.0 or @ferrum.wav here to explain LoL. Nonetheless I enjoy your playing your own work, it really matches your more modal style but here it’s quite like Joe Hisaishi since I watched a lot Miyazaki Animations recently. Those high register and ethereal mood and harmony really makes the music “Above the Clouds”! The ending on C sharp major is quite surprising to me but I enjoy it, making it resemble Japanese anime music more! Thx for sharing your music and your playing! Henry

Hi Pabio @Fugax Contrapunctus! I love the unsettling mood here and how you use all four forms of the tone rows! I like Peter like the piano version more but this one is not your fault, as I always don’t like MuseScore’s Strings sound with those weird portamentos. I love your Bergian and Wozzeckian major ending for sure! Just one thing which lingers in my mind when I was reading sections on Serialism and Schönberg using atonal language for counterpoint and which Taruskin the author pointed out: The rules of counterpoint is maintained very much by the preparation and resolution of dissonance, but in a post tonal context there’s much less differentiation between consonance and dissonance, so the counterpoint rule may be weakened or even non-existent and meaningless. What do you think Pabio? Henry

Hello @张文灏！ Very nice singing and jazzy mood! I like the saxophone interlude after the first chorus. Only one thing: 舞到地老天荒 [Dance Forever] reminds me of the poor girl in the Sacrificial Dance in The Rite of Springs muahaha! Remember to hit the “like” button in the bottom right hand corner of reviewer’s posts so we know that you like our posts haha! Thx for sharing. Henry

Hi to both @gaspard and my baby Peter, I like both your work! To @gaspard’s original: I love the omnibus progression at the beginning and the virtuosic Toccata after it! The ending reverts to opening texture too nicely. To Peter: Your orchestration is masterful! I really love how you arrange for brass for those opening and ending chords, as you transform the opening to something from a mysterious black hole. I love how you strings for the running notes and especially love those bass drums and snare drums for transforming the original piece to a match, possibly to space lol. The running of harps with diminution gives so much colour to the running which I may steal it to my variation on your themes haha. Your buildup to climax with a gradual crescendo throughout the piece is wonderful too, as well as the punching percussion to enhance the intensity till the end! I feel like this one is much longer than just a minute given how colourful it is. Very nice job Peter! Even I say a lot to Peter’s arrangement, it doesn’t mean I like Gaspard’s clavichord original less lol! Thx both of you for sharing! And thx to Gaspard asking Peter for arrangement so now we can kill two birds with one stone! Henry

Well at least I am always corrected by Peter when I mistype piano as piani (not with a gun tho lol!!) Henry

Thanks Peter! Lol!!

Hello everyone, I'm Zhang Wenhao, a singer-songwriter from China. Here I'd like to share with you a laid-back and sultry retro jazz dance song I composed, titled "The Night Is Tantalizing". It tells the story of a couple dancing closely in the dance floor. Welcome to listen. 大家好，我是来自中国的创作歌手张文灏。在这里和大家分享一首我创作的慵懒、暧昧的复古爵士舞曲《夜色撩人》，讲述一对恋人在舞池中相拥着起舞的故事，欢迎大家收听。

unfortunately @user011235 there isn’t any video game in progress. That would be amazing though. i wrote the clavichord version thinking it would be a character select music for such a video game though. So interesting to see what @PeterthePapercomPoser does with keyboard scores. The middle part really shines much more in the orchestrated version in my opinion. I used to do orchestration before the obsolescence of finale and I feel like peter has much brighter and friendlier symphonic takes whereas my ideas usually skewed much harsher. And some of the things Peter knows how to do I never got around to learning. The kid knows what he’s doing!