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🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄🎄⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄🎄⛄ Here's my submission for the prestigious and highly esteemed 2022 YC Christmas Music Event. I decided to bust out my singer/songwriter boots and trot over to this realm of writing for the event. This song is about my wonderful days of working retail, and how loving and caring everyone was. They were days full of love and festivity, working at a store in a wealthy town, where you only meet those that are the most cheerful and wonderful in every way. I was treated with respect and care, soaking up every drop of Christmas cheer that oozed from their ever-smiling faces. The holidays were worry free, stress free, and a time where everyone joined in the comradery of this special time of year. I'll never forget the countless hours of the shopper's hospitality and love, filling my heart with joy in an overabundance I wish everyone could know. Merry Christmas everyone, it brings a tear to my eye remembering these wonderful and memorable times. The score is just the guitar, it's a rough idea of what I played. The lyrics are below, enjoy!! 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁 🎅🎄🎁 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ Get away from me, get away from me I don't care about, all your problems Why can't you see and why don't you believe me, yeah Well you've run out of luck, cause I don't give a When you scream and shout, about your problems Why can't you see and why don't you believe me, yeah Why don't you believe me, yeah And you run around all day Driving all the workers insane Spreading joy, and spreading cheer in the form of filth, for all to hear This time of year will never be the same And I'm waiting, waiting, waiting for the carols to reach my ears But you stole it all from me With your vile shopping spree I know I may be wrong, but I can not carry on With a great big smile, while you frown in the aisles and you scream and shout, about your problems Why can't you see and why don't you believe me, yeah It's Christmas Eve, of course we're out... We do not have Xbox, legos, tiny toy trucks or the Barbies, and Elmos, and all your fancy clothes So go home, and remember, why we all honor This time of year 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁 🎅🎄🎁 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄ 🎅🎄🎁⛄

What are you talking about dude? The quality of singing here is spot on! There's nothing to complain about here. I think every singer has to sing the kinds of songs that are tailored to their voice or style of sound that they make and your sarcastic song is just such an example! Some people have raspy voices, other's have really smooth voices. I think I'd call your voice "edgy". LoL But, your voice is really well suited for this kind of song and it sounds really gritty and angry! LoL I know you said you learned to be humble and all during the Christmas season but I'm betting that writing this song must have been quite cathartic! Haha Finally giving voice to those long dormant thoughts must have been a great expressive milestone for you! That's en interesting tuning of Eb Standard Tuning that you chose for this song. So I'm assuming that the score is a transposing score (meaning that all the notes appear a half step higher than written?) It would have been nice if you included the melody/lyrics in the score as well, but I guess you can't have everything. Was it easier to sing in this key? Thanks for sharing this piece full of joy and Christmas spirit! LoL

Salvete, Since my string quartet was getting nowhere, I decided to work on something else to relieve me of my frustration. Inspired by @David_DLM's waltzes, I decided to write a waltz alla Tchaikovsky or Strauss by splicing different ideas from waltzes I had floating around in the dark depths of my Musescore folder. So far, I've got a couple of sections completed, and I'm currently working on a third section and a coda. This version of the waltz is written for the piano, but once I've finished sketching out the rest of the piece, I will orchestrate it. I am aware that bars 61 to 76 have sections that are unplayable on a piano, but I'm just sketching out my ideas at this stage. Also, the phrase from bars 21 to 24 is just filler, as I could not figure for the life of me something that could join those two sections up. Anyhow, please enjoy this, I think it's the best thing I've written to date. Arrivederci, Expert21

I've been a bit quiet in the forum the last few weeks -despite coming back from a long hiatus. This is what I've been working on. I'm sharing it here for a few reasons.... 1. This piece has taken up every thought in my head. Most people would see that and scoff (or perhaps prep the sanitarium!) I think many of us here feel this about some of our work. I don't normally labor over a piece as much as I have this one. So, this work definitely is a bit more refined then many of my others. 2. The work is highly personal in that the thematic material is my first name (a technique employed by countless composers known as nomenclature). The nomenclature here is Db-A-Bb-D-E. This 5 note motif serves as the basis for the first movement and large swaths of the second movement. The motif will also appear in the 3rd and final movement (which isn't finished yet). 3. Another motif also appears in the second movement that I plan to utilize in the third movement as well: G-C-D. This motif appears first in a very stark chord towards the end of the second movement. I hope you guys enjoy this work in progress. Like I said, It's taken a large amount of time over the last few weeks to compose. There's definitely a sense of seriousness to it. Any comments would be appreciated.

Hello, My brand new piece of music. What do you think?

Man.... I chose a bad time to let the muses take control of me!!! SO much I missed in this thread. Let me start with this: It's very difficult from an archaeological/historical standpoint to truly state the claims above. While, yes, we do have evidence of Christian marauding of pre-Medieval sites throughout Europe and Asia... we also have concrete evidence of preservation within the same area. Many Christian churches and cathedrals were built on top of earlier, non-Christian edifices throughout the Middle East and North Africa by the Romans, Byzantines, and later kingdoms. Further, we see many non-Jewish traditions incorporated into the Christian theological practices that many scholars often wonder if Christianity is instead based on many of these pagan traditions. I would argue that -regarding the mayhem mentioned in your second paragraph- that this was less due to Christianity and more due to the fact that a strong, centralized governing body gave way to a series of ill-conceived and short-lived polities that resulted in the populace lacking basic needs. The result was a breakdown of society that resulted in a turning away from the perceived indulgences of antiquity (philosophy, old religious systems, etc.). That's a much simpler and more grounded explanation for the mayhem post-Rome (we can see it played out in modern history with the mayhem in Germany that led to the rise of Nazism after WWI). Finally, the last point is well grounded. While we do have evidence of a continuation of pagan traditions well into today, there is a LOT that we don't know about those traditions. For instance, this time of year we celebrate Christmas -a holiday that is supposed to represent the birth of the central figure of Christianity. Yet, this holiday is full of pagan traditions that many practice but have no clue about: decorating a tree, giving presents, making a feast, etc. We take these things for granted but each of these things has at its foundation a pagan practice that predates Christian tradition. We can look at other practices as well within the Church. Ironically, the Jews often consider Christianity to be an idolatrous religion for many of these practices and other things! I'd argue that work and entertainment arose within human socio-cultural environments for very specific reasons. Work: This is a very generic and vague term. First, do we consider hunting and agriculture work? These two tasks are a means to provide sustenance necessary for survival. We have to do either of these two things to survive. Would this be considered work? Providing customer service, on the other hand, isn't really something we need to survive. We don't need to sit at a desk or stand behind a counter to really survive. In some facets this behavior is counter-productive to our physical needs (i.e. promotion of a sedentary lifestyle). Is this considered work? Historically, we see that work arose as a means to keep civilization moving. With advances in agriculture and hunting technologies, vast numbers of people had nothing to do. As idyllic as this sounds -being able to do nothing all day long- it was deemed counterproductive by our overall society. The resultant fix was to set up institutions such as pottery, woodworking, civil engineering, etc. Thus, one could argue that this gave rise to the birth of civilization itself. With all these new trades it became important to develop infrastructure to oversee the functioning of society. In time, this resulted in the need to provide workers with recreation. After all, people have to have something to placate the fact they can't just do anything all day long! Ironically, I don't buy that narrative. As I mentioned in my prior post, music production has been around a LOT longer than civilization itself. Thus, to make the argument that music and entertainment stem from the need to drown out the abyss of working doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I do agree that there is a definite connection in the development of music from being akin to a linguistic form of communication to art. But then, we can also get into the subjectivity of artistic definition itself, right?

@Luis Hernández - So happy you enjoyed it, thank for for your comments! @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu - Thanks for your reply! I would of course love a live choir to sing it (I do have some in my area that I could ask very nicely ) but musescore is doing a pretty good job of it these days. Thanks for catching that tempo marking - I'll pop that bar on a new line. Another big thanks to you both for the feedback!

Another great channel is https://www.youtube.com/@MusicaUniversalis.

Well, maybe it's one of those things where everyone hates the sound of their own voice. I guess if you're Mariah Carey or something you don't think so, but I just cringe at hearing myself sing. I'm glad you think it fits the song, I think you're too nice. Regardless, thanks for the confidence in this one. 🙂 I almost wanted to post a version where I notated the melody with an instrument, in fear of people hearing my voice. Too many people don't post their selves singing around here, but I figured eh what the hell. 😄 That was the only reason I detuned the guitar; it was easier for me to sing it. I've frequently even went to D standard when doing solo gigs, just to sing everything easier, and I could always use a capo if I needed to bump the song up a step or two. I know... as I said, I debated notating the melody out, but it wouldn't have justified all the little nuances I did with the vocals. Tbh, whenever I notate guitar music, since I play, I'm kind of lazy with it, because I know how I want it, and there's little articulations and imperfections that I know will be a pain to notate. I've always viewed the guitar stuff I notate as a reference to something I'll remember, but yeah, you're right, to give credit to the listener and potential reviewer of my music, I should take the time to notate every little thing. I really value your opinion, Peter, and am happy you found this one enjoyable. Thanks for listening my friend!

If you are going to give this book a run through, I will really suggest you to read "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience" by the same author. It's after reading this book that I am now capable of composing many more hours by entering to the state of flow!! Definitely a must-read book! The other books by Csikszentmihalyi is great as well, really a great psychologist!

Also - interesting ending on the major 3rd of the tonic. Very unusual - and it kinda makes the listener expect a turnaround back to another verse of the song!

That's actually really interesting, I think I'll check it out! The band leader in one of the bands I'm in fits that description perfectly. He can be the most cruel person you'd ever hear criticize your playing, but also the person that can pick you up when you're down and out. Very curious about this, I'm definitely going to give this book a run through. Thanks!

Actually I can play piano!! Though your piece needs a really light touch to play to create that snowy effect, and that will need a lot of practice to do so!! My playing is, conversely, heavy, as my favourite composer is Beethoven, lol. I can never play anything light well like Scarlatti's sonatas. I do post a piece here with my own recording, but it's heavy throughout.

Yes I'm baited and fooled! Good job here 👍! I think to be a good composer, you have to be a good human being first. I remember reading Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's book, "Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement With Everyday Life", saying that creative person tend to be having contrasting personality traits. They can be both arrogant and humble, narcissistic and empathetic, but in a balanced way. Any experiences and feelings we have in our daily lives, if reflected and treasured, can be great materials to be developed in our compositions!! Also consumerism becomes so popular now. Every festivals exist to promote consumption. So tragic. In my place it's so stupid. Great cultural desert it is Totally agree since that's what I cannot do well!! Henry

Heeeeeeeeeeeeey my man Henry This was a lot of fun to make, glad you liked it! Trying to bait them in, you know? I wanted this to be funny, but also real. On the surface it's humorous, but underneath I'm just about over (almost) how people treat retail workers during the holidays. Working those jobs taught me a lot about humility and empathy, something I'll always hold close to the heart. You're too kind. I know I'm not a great singer, but eh who cares. Sometimes it's more about getting what you want to say out rather than worrying about how it falls in the annals of music history. More people should just go for it in their music, especially when playing live. Merry Christmas, buddy!

LOL I'm literally scared seeing this!! Does this also represent THE WORD in your decorations (like the first one)? LOL!! Great sarcastic description to your funny song! Really great description here!! It's both weird and fascinating to hear your voice, a guy that I meet only on internet!! I definitely love your recording! Your voice is full of sarcasm and humor. I love that sarcastic change to tonic major in the lyric "And you run around all day". So "positive" and "festive", isn't it??!! The word "insane" is great as well with a slide of tone. The three "waiting" with higher and higher pitch really shows that you ARE waiting! Your singing skill is definitely much better than the "singers" in my place. Your guitar skill is great too! Really nice job Vince! Wish you Merry Chrstmas! Henry

Yeah me too. Maybe the status is changed to private?

I am happy to hear that! I usually look at my pieces with more lowly lens and I am happy you love the harmonies in it! That makes my day as well to have your compliments!

Oh, when I said "I hope to hear more creative harmonic choices from you," I meant that I found your harmonies in this piece very creative and personal and I want more of it -- I hope to find a similar spirit in other or future works of yours, maybe. 🙂 And, I may be the only one with this opinion on bar 8. I appreciate the diversity of taste and viewpoint in this forum. At any rate, I'm so glad I stopped by and listened to your piece today!

Dear @MissCello, Thank you so much for your review!! I am glad that you love it! Yeah this work was composed by an emotional teen 10 years ago. No wonder it's emotional and the harmonic choices are more limited. My approach towards composition is primarily on structure and form, but this piece is just an emotional outburst, and I really didn't think much on harmonies then! I was really just fleeing and following my instinct then. I really hope my harmonic language now will be more advanced but it is still more functional and traditional. Thank you for your compliments! I really think honestly the prerequisite of a good composition. You will never move your audiences to laugh and tears if you yourself don't. What I am proud of is that despite the piece is youthful and lacked of mature compositional technique, it is honest. I really feel what's inside the music and express it. That really makes me happy, even though I know there's much more room for improvement! I love bar 217 onward too! Thank you! I think emotionally it's quite deep. I didn't choose to end in E major then, my instinct told me so and I just followed it. Later I found E major the hexatonic pole of C minor which does reflect how faraway they are. This connects to the next point: I agree with you and @Thatguy v2.0 that the conclusion is somewhat too apart from the previous ideas and sections. What I was thinking then it's I want to end in a dreamy way without any materials, energy and sadness from the previous Beethovanian sections. That rising left-hand figures do comes from the opening theme and b. 217-220 is from b.43-55. I find it now that it's too beautiful to be true to the context of the piece, but I still wish to retain it, even though it's quite unrelated to the previous sections except maybe the chordal section of theme B in b.23. Oh really? I think the flow is OK there 😜. The continuity in this piece is quite bad though. As @Thatguy v2.0 noted, the sections are almost all linked by long notes, which is quite unsatisfactory. Probably the emotions in my playing save the structural problem, making it more connected. This aspect is also the one I want to improve badly, and hopefully my recent pieces can have more continuity in it, as shown in my clarinet quintet. Thank you for your detailed review! Really appreciate your honest comments and I love that! It's always interesting to look at your pieces in different angles!! Henry

I am quite a parsimonious person and I'll practice my piano pieces to save spendings on the sound library, lol! Just kidding! Actually I do find your piece sound great! Of course a live recording will be even better, but your sound library chosen is amzaing as well.

I love your piano version aa well! Maybe because it's played live, so that does justice to the light touch of the music! I absolutely love Tchaikovsk's Fourth and Sixth Symphony, Fifth is great as well. Mozart's 40th and 41th are pieces from God though and no one can write that except Mozart himself. I don't listen mucj to Rimsky-Korsakov though. Yeah they are essential reads. You can also read Berlioz's treatise though. Henry

Great high register sound and thin texture to depict the snowy weather! I love that D flat minor touch in 0:12 and later appearance. I love the moment in 1:26 with the triplets. Though it appears somewhat repetitive later on, since the sound is great I don't mind that! The ending on relative major is good as well! Which software do you use? I think a live recording will pay even more justice to your score! Henry

I loved this piece!! Very, very graceful. My favorite part was the main theme, specially the 3:14 repeat. It just had a very special ring with a lot of elegance. Excellent performance too. Everything was crystal clear, which made the piece sound perfect. The harmony was amazing. I use the french 6th and dimished chords very often in my music. I love those chords, and your piece made perfect use of them. Thank you for sharing this lovely Christmas piece!

So I heard you like alberti bass

My friend, it absolutely is. Almost nothing of continental Germanic society survives beyond surviving writings from the Romans; Charlemagne killed thousands of Saxons and assured the destruction of their "pagan altars" and sacred sites. Early Christians destroyed the temple of Serapis — then widely-regarded as the most beautiful building of the ancient world — among countless other temples to Athena and Aphrodite from Greece to Syria, they forbid so much as hair-plucking when they took over and smashed down statues and ancient buildings to use in the construction of churches. Philosophy was outlawed; they put all of Athens' last great philosophers (who could trace their lineage directly to philosophers of Plato's day) into hiding, destroyed most of the mathematicians works, they dragged philosopher-mathematician Hypatia from her chariot and flayed her, burned down what remained of the city's library and the list just goes on and on. The Christian side of the argument always brings up that certain monks and Saints preserved works, but this was centuries post collapse of Rome, and it is rarely discussed how much couldn't be preserved because it was already destroyed centuries prior and we only have shadows of its existence. I recommend the book "The Darkening Age" by Catherine Nixey. It is a very good book on this subject, with parts about music of course, and contains an extensive bibliography for further reading But that's basically getting off-topic. We agree on key points, though

Indeed my opening remark was that it was too vague to be discussable. I rather wasted my time and yours reading it (but thank you that you did). Although you're exposing your flanks somewhat to hugely vague conjecture with music production being around a lot longer than civilisation! I won't get into the subjectivity of defining civilisation. Hence nor on subjectivity of artistic definition. You said it - subjectivity. "Is popular music better than classical" is an unanswerable question.