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G'day fellas, The Étude in D Major is of my latest compositions I've been working on. After renaming it a couple of times, I concluded that the rhythm and flow of the piece reminded me of a kite soaring up and tossing and turning through the air. I've written more of this piece, but the main theme is what I want to enquire about today. The way in which I apply the dynamics is very simple: the music gets quieter as the right hand ascends, and louder as it descends. In theory, I thought that this decision imitates a kite drifting further away from its owner. As I put the dynamics in and listened to the MIDI playback however, I wasn't so impressed. What do you fellas think? Cheers! Étude in D – %22The Kite”.mid

Hello dear young composers. Here is a little music inspired by some photos, which I took in Rouen, a city in Normandy where I often work at the opera, in the choirs.Sometimes the books are demanding to memorise, where they require a lot of presence on the set, sometimes less and leave me free time, as is the case at the moment. I always take the opportunity to explore the lost corners, camera on my shoulder. So I wanted to put some musical notes on these views, with a theme related to decay, abandonment, which is something that interests me a lot in photography because I find it aesthetic. It is therefore close to a musical theme that I had called Scarescrow, even if here, we lean more into the melancholic side than into terror. Thank you for listening anyway!

Thanks for listening! I guess when I say "modern" I meant harmonies that were not based around the Major/Minor Tonal system. In some of the other pieces, I composed using Whole Tone Scales ideas for a more "modern" feel!

Thanks for your reviews! unfortunately I do have to keep it short as the competition I'm writing this for has a limit of 5 minutes. 😞 I might expand the piece in the future!

Thanks for your response. I sometimes use reusable phrases or chord progressions which are characteristic of me. Nowadays I try to use not only the basic triads but also suspended and seventh chords, and unconventional time signatures, so I intend to bring new things to my art. I reuse things, but it's not so conscious, probably these reusable phrases and chord progressions come from more European musical traditions rather than my art. In my opinion, composing is a kind of Lego, we put parts together that already exist. I think there are some basic building blocks in European music, both classical and popular. I've listened to millions of pieces of music, and they stuck in my head, like in the case of other musicians. We all use these classical phrases and chord progressions. What is the "Dreamscapes" competition?

So, last month I made a little orchestral practice while being on an online orchestration class with my conductor (as teacher). Firstly starting by composing a piano piece, then strings, then add woodwinds, and finally percussion. Despite conductor applauding for my practice, I felt like the final product is lacking some content that could make the music deeper in heart... I would need some comments on how to improve it qwq Here with the final product with all instruments shown, the audios, except the pf original one, have no piano however, as requirement by the teacher.

It's actually realistic issue: our orchestra simply doesn't have those qwq

Hello yet again @olivercomposer! I think you are probably one of the most recycling composers on this forum! Your music is quite recognizable because you either consciously or unconsciously, recycle your melodic material in all your pieces, making them all sort of inter-related. I think, and correct me if I am wrong, that there is a similarity between the melodic material in this piece and your recent "Fall of Chronos" piece (or maybe that piece is related to some even older piece too?) I think that technique of borrowing from yourself is a really effective one for writing a set of inter-related themes for a huge blockbuster movie or videogame saga. About the music - it is nice when you write pieces like this for a much more modest instrumentation as it allows you to explore different textures and styles without having to worry as much about orchestration or without being able to use it as a crutch musically speaking. Thanks for sharing these enjoyable violin melodies! This would have been a great entry into our "Dreamscapes" competition!

Hi again @olivercomposer! This track is a very harmonically typical one for you! Very epic and grandiose! I like the variation in tempo which lends the music some variety in drive. I also like the short meter change to 5/4! That also brings rhythmic contrast. But there is also contrast created by the slower section with col legno strings! I like that you seem to be exploring different techniques in your orchestration! As the music winds down the tempo also slows down - great job! Thanks for sharing.

Hi @Guardian25! For a piece that stays in A minor pentatonic the whole time it didn't bore me! If you really wanted to include some more "modern" harmonic ideas, I think you could have used a larger variety of modes and changes in mode and chromaticism. Also, I believe it was only in the classical and baroque period where the appoggiatura ornament was used the way you have it here. Nowadays composers usually just write out the notes instead of notating it as an ornament. But I like this piece because it sustains a homogeneous mood throughout. Thanks for sharing!

Hi @cloud10000! I wonder if a real performance of any of your micro-tonal piano pieces could be arranged by setting up like, a double manual midi keyboard with one of the manuals either tuned a quarter-tone off from the equal tempered keyboard or with a lumatone instead of a keyboard? You seem to be coming into your own style with this piece - I like it because you're not including any work by other composers. Honestly, when you included other composers' works in your micro-tonal pieces, to me that was like a sacrilegious butchering of the original material. If you had written your own original set of variations on another composer's work and included original variations that were micro-tonal, that would be quite interesting and desirable to me. And even this piece, even though it includes micro-tones, they are only an occasional ornament to the mostly equal tempered music (which might make them possible to play after all with the set-up I described above?). Regarding the music - I like the slow middle section and the seamless transition back to the jumpy part. But on the whole, for being a micro-tonal piece, to me, it's not micro-tonal enough. Also, imo, the music just stops at the end. But it sounds like there should be another movement or like it should continue somehow. It definitely doesn't sound final and conclusive imo. Thanks for sharing!

Hello @SisselOnline! Great job! I like both the original piece and the elaborated version for full orchestra! I do question why you didn't include Piccolo, Bassoons nor Contrabasses? I like the gradual thickening of the texture and holding off on adding all the instruments until the answer part of the melody comes in - that is a great strategy. Now that you can do this I think you should search the internet or this forum for original piano pieces that you might want to orchestrate! If you find something unique that you really like it could be a really rewarding experience to have orchestrated a fellow contemporary composers' music. Of course - you should ask for permission before starting. Thanks for sharing!

Electronic music with horn sections is where it's at. What a banger 😄 It does kind of linger though, what about a contrasting section on a few different chords? The cut out at about 2 min. was a nice change, but still the same harmony, right? The part at 2:45 to the end felt unfinished and unnecessary to me. Maybe just adding a bit of contrast with the chords would be good enough. If you like that end section, maybe just cut it shorter? I know you said this was done, so this would be for future compositions. Plus it's just my opinion haha. Awesome track! You seem to have a flair for sax writing, do you play? Thanks for sharing 👍