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Scordatura can be required for several reasons: To make digitation easier in a piece To achieve a different sonority: chords that can't be done with normal tuning (or arpeggios, unisons, octaves, etc), a bigger tesitura, microtones... It's seen in the guitar, too.

A short violin tune. I tried to make it sound very-very dark this time.

Simple yet beautiful and also seems quite playable (I daresay even I with my very rusty violin skills could play this). Well done!

This is really impressive. Dramatic and sorrow. I think the word 'dark' expresses a different musicality. I find your pieces always successful in terms of melody, you are talented in this Thanks for sharing

Very pleasant tune, easy to listen to and the harmony was brilliant; varied, gave the piece tensions and release. But as for Coxi, it came over desolate and pensive rather than dark. The ending is beautiful, bringing just a little warmth to it. I have no musical criticism. Given its length, 3 minutes, you get some remarkable development into it. I presume it was a live performance - if not, you have great skills in rendering and some damned good samples! Very well done and a nice listen.

I did really enjoy the tune in its simplicty, although I felt a little bit like it was going circle around the halfway point, maybe? I'd say I couldn't really feel a strong "drive" to make the tune keep flowing. As far as I can hear, the piano mostly has a role of harmonic support or follows the main tune. It could have been interesting to give it more melodic independance at some point of the song maybe? I'm not sure what you mean by dark. It sure sounded melancholic to me, so if that's what you wanted, it is achieved! You could also upload the pdf of your score. It would help you get more technical advices. Overall, it was a very pleasant tune to listen to for me 🙂

I think any hobby becomes more rewarding when you have a goal to aim at. My mid term goal is to compose a piano sonata, my long term goal is to write a full scale piece for an orchestra. There are many shorter steps to take before I get there. I need to improve my harmony, learn orchestration etc. Music theory is a little like mathematics in that its best learnt sequentially, learning to count must come before learning addition and subtraction, and addition and subtraction before multiplication for example. I would highly recommend watching some YouTube videos on note value, rhythm and time signatures, then scales and key signatures. Then move on to melody writing especially the idea of the musical sentence. Learning these topics well will help you in your melody writing goal. I really like some of the ideas in your melodies and they are a great start. I took the liberty of reinterpreting the motif from your first melody into a simple sentence to give you an idea of how once you have a catchy rythm you can easily expand it once you know sentence structure.

It's a good idea. Thanks!

Sheet music seemed ok to me given it's an example. You can trim the bars at the end when ready. Point is, composing melody is so personal a thing that it's difficult to give feedback. Always easier if they have a context/a background against which they're set. I found them rather choppy and angular but a) that's just me, b) in another form they might transform to something very lyrical. I mean, just changing #2 to a legato and perhaps altering rhythm and stress makes quite a difference in mood. 'Choppy' might be what you want (a sprightly ballet scene or something) in which case fine. It might still be worth looking at traditional melody writing (if you haven't already) just to broaden your repertoire. Traditionally you'd have, say, two balanced parts, the first ending on some sort of imperfect cadence, the second on a perfect one. Also worth learning a bit about modulation as melodies usually lead somewhere which might be to a new episode/melody in a different key. Likewise you might have a surprise modulation in a melody but need to know how to get back to the home key. These things take a bit of practice across time but they come in the end. Sorry if you already know this but in case others don't.... Usually, combining melodies counts as 'development' which often needs movement around different keys. (for those who want to explore this from scratch have a look at almost any Mozart Sonata first movement or Eine Kleine. There's a further point... writing for a melody instrument other than keyboard, the harmony is implied in the melody. You seem aware of this but it's worth experimenting with greater variety in a tune like this. For example, bar 3, shift the whole thing up a minor 3rd (to A flat) then back down in bar 4 to get back in the home key. Can you forgive me quoting your tune but changed thus, as an example? Must admit I've never thought about compositional goals. It's been about self-expression above and beyond the capabilities of words and, if I get the chance, make a little money out of it with some commercial fragments or at least a decent dinner and a few beers if working with someone else for nothing! (which has little to do with self-expression but what the 'client' wants!) Cheers.

If you think that that title is long consider this: (I've been reading Chopin's biography) "On 16 November 1848, Chopin gave a concert in London's Guildhall for 'The Annual Grand Dress and Fancy Ball and Concert in Aid of the Funds of the Literary Association of the Friends of Poland.'" I thought my title was cool until I read that. I was bested! I am re-posting this because of improvements I made in the orchestration and recording, and the instruments and libraries are all new as well, and at great expense, and hopefully for good effect. I like the new design very much!

Totally blown away by this piece, Ken! Great job! It has a very squarely, sticky rhythm, and a whimsical nature which reminds me a lot of Prokofiev - given his penchant for making his music to sound subtly funny despite all the drama, which you also show to have. It's quite a hit to quote Chopin ball's title, since this piece itself sounds a lot like it could have been heard right there if the date was a few decades later. A question. This is the very first time I see the horns below both trumpets and trombones in a score. Was this by design or by mistake? Seriously, I totally commend this work, a refreshing take that perhaps symbolizes the rebirth of the whole site. Thanks for sharing!