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Update: Live Performance + Score of this piece:

I finished the other two movements hooray!! Here's the YouTube upload. Please let me know what you think so I might apply the advice for future piano works 🙂 As for the piece itself, it's so personal to me I'm not willing to change anything, though I recognise it's not flawless. I think it is my very best piano piece and I'm extremely proud of it despite its issues. I'll do a rundown of the piece real quick so ya'll know what to expect. Movement 1. Sonata form, both themes are derived from the same rhythmic idea. A theme for desolation and a theme for consolation, which alternate in rotations becoming less and less certain until neither resolve. closes on a 6 4 chord. attaca into... Movement 2. Ternary form. A is a waltz with violent interruptions. B is more restless and dramatic. The return to A is based on first movement closing 6 4. Ending of A is infected with B motifs. Closes with a satisfying cadence at last. Movement 3. Ternary form. This movement is meant to be "looking back" at the events of the previous movements. B section is turbulent again. A section returns. The movement closes with a chorale "prayer." attaca into... Movement 4. Sonata form. Opens with a return to the consolation motifs from movement 1. First theme is dramatic and modulates constantly. Second theme is a combination of consolation and prayer. The climax of the development (and I think the climax of the whole piece really) with the minor version of the consolation theme from the first movement is in E minor which is a tritone away from tonic key. Recap has no proper second theme, only fragments. It ends resolved on a single note all by itself. All alone. Thank you for listening and for any feedback :3

Hi, guy, I suspect the problem is that an octave above middle C really is quite high for most tenors. Counter tenors can sing that, or higher, but they are an exceedingly rare voice type. The samples you bought may be giving you a more realistic idea of what you would get from a group of vocalists than your composition software. It's not that men who can sing that high don't exist. That is technically a range some tenors can sing in, but only a tiny number. Take a look at some standard choral repertoire and you can start to get an idea of the more commonly used parts of the range for different voice types. And remember that it is only in modern times that we have started using the "modern" tuning. Historic pieces look like they are written higher than they actually were, because the composers and singers were using a different tuning standard when they were written, and they are still performed down at that historically accurate tuning today.

Hi @FILMSCORE! Nice orchestration! To me it has the hallmarks of a charcuterie of different orchestral textures from the classical orchestral literature. The beginning starts as if you're going to give us a trial run of all of your orchestral samples for us to test out how your orchestral libraries sound. There's a clear allusion to Holst's Jupiter from the Planets Suite (around the 1:00 mark although the melodic content in the brass is a bit different). I'm not sure what the fanfare near the beginning is from. The harp is often too loud in comparison to the rest of the instruments and is not doing its signature glissando flourishes that could give your orchestration so much more color. Although it might be really taxing on your software/equipment to render quick harp glissandi with so much reverb. It might be easier to render the harp and the rest of the instruments with less reverb especially if they're all playing together. Thanks for sharing!

Its not enough to just HEAR the music, youve also got to SEE the music, and im not talking Notation-Score. Regarding the FINAL-MIX-DOWN , iv often thought to myself........... " Yeah that sound ok ".........Without even checking to see the levels-Balance. in the example below: 1: The French Horns were 5-db OVER 100% 2: The Trumpets were 27-db LOWER 100% 3: The Trombones were 6-db LOWER 100% The Final Result sounded imbalanced

Hi @ComposaBoi! I know I've heard the 1st movement before but am not sure if I reviewed it. I don't hear the following chord in your performance: I just hear a Db both in the left and right hands. Also, didn't you mean to mark this as 8vb? 8vb means an octave lower while 8va means an octave higher: That aside, I find the main theme to be so happy-go-lucky in comparison to the bleak introduction! LoL I think the way you present the main theme in measure 78 is more appropriate to be the main theme proper, being darker and more suited to follow the bleak introduction. I know you said you won't be changing it but I'm going to give you my impressions nonetheless. The version of the main theme at 151 is also nice - not overly happy-go-lucky but rather, bittersweet. The version of the main theme at 220 where it is used as a modulating sequence is really good! I much prefer this treatment of the happy-go-lucky material as it sounds more developmental and suited for modulation. When you return to the material of the bleak introduction the 2nd time it sounds really empty and like the momentum of the piece just stops and falls dead (especially with the left hand staccato notes). The 2nd movement waltz sounds like it really flourishes perfectly out of the 1st movement! It really creates a lucid listening experience. The only thing that brings me out of it is the allegro furioso. I think it sounds way too fast and intense for the bittersweet mood you set with the beginning of the waltz. I like how you reference back to your 1st movement material with the molto meno mosso part. With how fast and furious this part gets it's amazing that you managed to perform it! I think bringing back the dreamy main waltz theme towards the end really releases some of the furious tension you build up with the fast tempo sections. Great job with these two movements! I'm looking forward to reviewing the last two at another time. Thanks for sharing!

If you were going for a movie score feel then you got it, because it sounds like the soundtrack for a Marvel movie (not meant as a slight). I do agree with what Peter is saying about the accompaniment overpowering the melodic lines. This is something I have struggled with as well, in sometimes layering too much, and ending up with a muddy mess. It sounds good, but it hinders the ability to focus. I would suggest going through, the softer moments especially, and seeing where you can edit out some of the underscoring, to let the melody shine through a little better.

Hi everyone, I would like to share with you my first major composition: a string quartet. My compositional style is evident in it, which is quite unusual, but at the same time I think it is accessible to a wider audience. I'd appreciate it if you gave it a listen! Thank you! https://youtu.be/WPfU9OKB8Aw?si=EFZEiZDdlTbWXOnu

Yes, you're dead right about that. Will take most of those staccato marks out in my next revision. Glad you liked it otherwise! I created the piece in sporadic bursts of rapid composition over the course of three months or so, with long breaks inbetween. Each time I came back to it, the character of the next section I composed was always different from the previous section. At one point it was sounding a bit too saccharine sweet: so I decided to introduce an octatonic scale, then played with dissonance to make a more contemporary sounding ending. Didn't really analyse the tone clusters I made, just experimented with lots of copying and pasting between instruments, and moved pitches around. Think the results were quite Stravinskian. I don't expect it'll ever be played by a real orchestra: so not sure I'm going to bother with a proper score? Also: I found this cool video on You Tube of what life may be like on Tau Ceti f:

Peter, many thanks for listening! The key modulations were designed to move the music up a gear: so it would ramp up tension. The final chord is intended to be a little surprise at the end, and it just felt right to me; although it's a suspension. ("We Are The Champions" by Queen ends on a suspension as well: so it is a device that's been used occasionally in pop/rock.) I did try using E major; but it didn't sound as good to my ear. Can't quite remember; but I think the development arc of the piece was partly improvised; though I added the opening drone later. The podcaster seems happy with it anyway; though I have to enhance the bass somehow (maybe with EQ).

Btw, there was a national level blackout in my country so I had all the day to write this!!! lmaoo

Ah ha! That would explain it!

Thanks very much, Pate. Yes, I'm pretty sure that's where I went wrong - I didn't realise that their part was meant to be read an octave lower, so it all makes more sense now. They were actually singing an octave lower than I'd though.

I think this insight offers an opportunity for a discussion on how academically trained composers approach/think about composing; and how others who compose with less of an academic training/background approach their projects. Mark

Thanks for the shout out, Henry. I actually record all the parts myself instead of using samples, which may be the difference. As an alto, I generally have the range to also record soprano and tenor parts. The lowest bass parts are too low for me, so I sing them up a few steps and use Garageband's "transpose" feature to shift them back down to where they are supposed to be. It sounds like I've been dropped down a well, but it works well enough.

The Levels-Animation above was not Referring to Your Music. It was just an Example of something i did years ago......and taught me to SEE the LEVELS, as opposed to just Trusting my EARS ?..........You cant always Trust your Ears.

Hi again @Dima Kravets! I agree with what @luderart has said above about the difficulty of some of the double and triple stops. Including consecutive double stops that can be really difficult as well! Such as these: and these: In the first image the D and G have to be played on the G and D strings respectively and right after using those two strings for the C and Ab. In the 2nd image the G and D open bottom strings are played before moving to a parallel fifth on the A and E strings playing a B and F# which have to be barred at the same location on the finger board which can be difficult. I also agree that a real performer could definitely breathe more life into the composition with their interpretation. But it's a thousand times easier to make a musical interpretation if it is clear to the performer that the composer already has an idea of how the piece can be expressed in a musical way. This is especially important for pieces that are for a solo instrument because the soloist is tasked with keeping the momentum and musicality of the work all on their own which is much more intensive than collaborating with another performer. The soloist is asked to "make something out of the work" that in many cases has never been performed before. So having a good idea of what you want as the composer can really help the performer out and facilitate a future performance. And making a good rendition with lots of tempo changes and musical indications as to how the piece should sound even in electronic form is important as well (perhaps as a selling point to get a performer convinced to perform it). I see from your profile that you specialize in chamber music so you probably already have a good idea about that. But when you say things like: it makes me think that you don't see the point or value of making a realistic rendition, which is a shame. Needless to say, the piece sounds very mechanical throughout and could stand from some humanization and TLC to improve it. But it's better to already be thinking of those things as you're composing it rather than having to go back and revise a piece that wasn't conceived musically to begin with. That's just my own perception of the piece however. I look forward to hearing more of your contributions to the forum (as well as potentially your opinion about other composers' works on the website!) Thanks for sharing. P.S. I'm sure the reviewers of your work (including myself) would appreciate a ❤️ or a 🏆 reaction/acknowledgment of their time and effort that they took to listen and formulate a response. It would really help our little musical community flourish! Thanks in advance!

Thankyou 4 your Indepth-Review, i was shocked to see it. Thankyou............ The Harp plays only Once, at the Start of the Track with the Timpani, Primarily to initiate the "SIGNATURE" Thankyou..........The software can take "BOTH-BARRELS" ...... he he , quick harp glissandi is possible, and there used in other productions already posted. Thankyou..........All Production-Trax posted ,are using a "RICOCHET" Reverb, and there is a problem with it, as this software is a Classified-Alpha/Beta version. ---------------------- I had to Look up 2 words that you used, as iv never heard them B4.............. But now i know , & Thanx again 4 your Detailed Review.

It's a limitation of how I use MS probably. irl I would couple the manuals to the pedalboard so the bass would sound more prominent irl

Hello @Samuel_vangogh! I like the vibe of this piece and as you've already stated above, I understand that your intent was to create a certain background mood? It's not too attention getting and serves that purpose well. Also about the counterpoint - the way you use it is well suited for your intent because the heterophonic/polyphonic textures tend to lose the focus of the melodic line. This would be more of a problem in a more deliberately thematic work like a sonata but I think it works well here. Thanks for sharing!

Hi @Ho Sen Ken! Wow! What a great and intense Bartok-like piano banger! It reminds me of one of Bartok's early works Scherzo in E minor for Piano. Although admittedly, your work is a bit more similar to later more harmonically adventurous works. I'm looking forward to hearing more of your contributions to the forum (and besides sharing your music you could also tell us what you think of other composers' works!) Thanks for sharing! To reward those of us who have taken the time to listen and review your pieces, you could also leave a ❤️ or a 🏆 reaction to support our community and let us know that you acknowledge our time and effort we've put in towards reviewing. I'm sure the people above who have reviewed your piece as well as myself would really appreciate it! Thanks!

Hello @Fugax Contrapunctus! I like the idea of this piece but I personally would do a few things differently if it were mine to make it more expressive and bring out its best features. The thing that bothers me most about it right now as-is is that the tempo it's played at and the fact that the piano starts it soon makes the individual voices hard to hear and instead ends up sounding like a sequence of chords metronomically and mechanically performed. I think if it were played slower and with the piano removed it would bring out its best features of being a really great and haunting chromatic canon! The other reason that this would work better (in my opinion) is that the listener would then be able to absorb the melodic material without immediately being interrupted with the stretto-like canonic treatment that you employ in the piano part. Of course, you're the composer and I don't expect you to make these changes, but I thought I'd mention my rationale behind why I'd want it this way anyway for any benefit that it could possibly impart to you in the future. But I thoroughly enjoyed this canon - thanks for sharing!

Hi @PCC! Great job with this arrangement! I was having trouble hearing the bass part in some of the sections so I turned on my bluetooth speaker but it kept glitching out like crazy with the sound cutting in and out constantly which made it unlistenable (and this happened only in the "principale" sections - it played the rest of the piece just fine for some reason). So I know that my inability to hear some of the bass parts was in part due to the speakers on my Chromebook. But I also question whether there might be something in the recording itself that makes my bluetooth speaker behave the way it did in the principale sections? Either way - I think I got the gist of your intent in how it's supposed to sound. Thanks for sharing!

Hi Carl @Carl Koh Wei Hao! Long time no see! Hope you are well now! Yeah it’s quite different from my past music though I won’t say I have transitioned to a new style, because I really never have one myself, I only write according to what the music need. Maybe there’s some change due to the completion of my (huge) Sextet: Thx for commenting on my piece as your 1st comeback post haha! Henry

Thanks you for your detailed analysis. I definitely will review/assess the triplet figure in the strings. And I am so very pleased you found the work appealing!

Thanks for taking the time to comment on my work. I will review/reflect the percussion line. Mark

Hey Henry! A very nice piece of impressionistic music! I truly enjoyed it. I love the tonic pedal point and the melody in the left-hand part of the A-flat major section. This piece gives me an oriental feel – it's much different from the other pieces you composed more than a year ago. Do you still write Classical-styled music, or have you transitioned to a new compositional style? I'm sorry for being quiet on this forum for a while - I needed to take a break from composing and work on bigger projects. Life's starting to get busy. Carl

Hi again @Alex Weidmann! I like the ebb and flow of this piece! There's definitely a gradual rise and fall in dynamics that sounds very natural to the arc of the piece. What doesn't sound natural however is how the melodic line sounds interrupted or cut off by occasional staccato notes in the strings in the beginning. This is a problem that you soon rectify with the addition of more instruments playing the melody and a thicker orchestration. But I like the piece despite that - it makes me think of a peaceful and potentially life-bearing world in orbit around Tau-Ceti in the goldilocks zone for that star. Although, now that I read about it, the Tau-Ceti system is quite a bit older than our own solar system, so it's possible that it has already harbored intelligent life in its past. Musically it amazes me how you are able to make music out of the most random seeming musical gestures on solo instruments with a harmonic pad underpinning. It's so totally alien to the way I write music. You also make use of really alien sounding chords that I would never think of using (all of which is appropriate for a piece about an alien solar system I guess! LoL) Thanks for sharing!

Hey @Alex Weidmann! I listened to the most recent update (#32). The main theme has the makings of a great feel-good space western! But, I do have to say that in my opinion, the key modulations in the piece (especially the last one at the very end) sound out of place and unnecessary, like you're changing the key just for it's own sake without really any real musical reason guiding that decision. Also, I like how the piece starts very underwhelmingly with really soft high strings and slowly builds up to the main theme first on trumpets and then scored more fully with strings on the main theme. But then, the arc kinda doesn't know what to do with itself after 1:07 because it feels like the climax of the piece has already been reached and the music doesn't know whether it wants to keep growing to an even bigger climax or die back down to a whisper. Those are my immediate perceptions of the piece. Thanks for sharing and let us know if your music ends up getting featured!

I have continuously had a problem where it fails to recognize that I have the libraries installed, so I have to open their stupid MuseHub program for it to rediscover them. The last time this happened about a month ago, the MuseHub site claimed I did not even have an account, so I suspected that now I may just lose access to the libraries I'd purchased. I emailed their tech support and got the most useless person in the world on the other side who I'm convinced wasn't even reading what I sent to him and was just throwing out pre-conditioned responses. Eventually, I took a gamble by going "Creating Account" and thankfully, it still had my information so that I could use the libraries until the next time it happens... Anyway, I really like the long articulations in the Berlin Strings and Winds and I've been using them on my upcoming album. They are a much cheaper alternative to the Kontakt libraries of course, but they too are woefully imbalanced. I have to crank the violas up in the mixer and turn the violins 1 down. Brass instruments do have some great sounds, but are rendered unusable by imbalances between articulations. It's unfortunate that Musescore 4 has been fumbled so badly and they seem to just not care about improving what seem to me fairly simple things to fix. If their customer service is an indicator, it seems that apathy is to blame.

Hello! I've never heard that Brahms piece, I'll have to take a listen at some point You're probably right about those leaps being a bit difficult, but they should be doable with practice. I can do them and I'm far from a good singer 😅 A C# would work in m. 46 but I like the way it sounds to move from natural to sharp in the next measure. Thank you for the feedback!

This is a setting of Robert Frost's beautiful poem that I wrote around Easter 2018. Included is an annotated copy with things i'm unsure about. Any feedback is appreciated

Sounds like an articulation mapping problem. VSL will fix it, I'm sure. Product support is good, and they are intent on breaking into the entry level VST market....

Here is a better score

Thankyou for this "REAL-WORLD" review, as opposed to these current "Company paid reviews" example : " Its Amazing...Its Awesome...Its a No-Brainer ". .................Yeah you'd have to have no brain to believe it. Its only when you Trial these Personally, like you have............That you Discover the Real-World review. Iv included a mini-Selection of Brass sounds, thats currently used in a Restricted Software,thats in Alpha/Beta testing But most people know the difference between a Piano and Trumpet.....................its impossible to re-invent the Wheel.

ello everybody, I've spent many months working on three short new piano pieces for beginning to intermediate students. These are originally intended for children to play, but could also be for beginning adults. In these pieces, I've also tried to discover my own voice and style, do let me know how I've done in those areas. Other feedback related to technique, harmony and playability would be much appreciated. Poem 1: "based on a theme by Beethoven", updated score Poem 2: "the quirky detective", updated score Poem 3: "the crazed capybara", score

Hi @guy500, You may check out @pateceramics’s vocal works, she makes great use of vocal samples there. Henry

Hi @user011235! The use of D minor reminds me of Brahms’s Lied on death, op.121 no.1: I like the first sentence with the repeated A, it depicts the stillness of death well. The ending of A and then lower an octave and then a fifth sounds a bit difficult for the vocalist for me. For me, maybe I would use C sharp instead of C natural in b.46. Thx for sharing! Henry

Any and all feedback (for example if the high arpeggio notes are too repetitive) and advice is appreciated. I like the piece but can’t really think of any new ideas for it

Hi Luis! Thank you! I just try my newly acquired style after the Sextet and I quite like the result here. Never listen to Cowell’s piece even though his name is the same as me lol, but honestly I don’t like his idea to hurt the piano strings! Henry

Hi my bro, As I have heard all of these before, I think they would be suitable for intermediate children pianist. I like you’re trying to vary your style which is always nice for a composer no matter the result is, and the result here is good. My favourite is poem no.1. No.2 and 3 are quickly funny and I like them too. Thx for sharing! Henry

Hi @user011235! I like this especially the piano interlude in b.18. Just one thing, are you sure you want the high Bb from the soprano? It’s quite a high note for the singer and I feel like the drama isn’t that high to have that high note! I don’t see the use of the high note frequently in a Lied. Thx for sharing your old piece! Henry

Hi @Alant, Actually I like it as it acts like a good ostinato! For me you can keep adding instruments as different layers with the increasing of layers and colours to increase the intensity of the piece, just like Ravel’s Bolero. Henry

Hi Pabio! I love the hunting character of the fugue! For me I would have the 2nd subject in a less hunting character, as to provide a contrast with the 1st subject as well as a easier counterpoint between the two subjects, because like Luis I would also love to have the two subjects coincide with each other. I love the stretto in b.84, even if it’s not a very strict one! I like the less polyphonic cadenza too, I love contrasting texture. Thx for sharing! Henry

3rd movement: Nice melody, and like the arppegiated octave theme. Nice playing in b.23! The theme in b.53 reminds me of the turbulent theme in Chopin’s Fantasies in F minor. Again b.66 should have a Meno Mosso marking I think. 4th movement: I like the reintroduction of the motive from 1st movement with tremolo under it like the coda of 1st movement. I think you can change the key signature earlier. I love the outburst in b.15! It’s kind of foreshadowed in mov.3. The modulation to E major is very unexpected and a nice change! Probably the warmest key ever especially as the tritone key, like how I use that in my Clarinet Quintet and Sextet LoL! I lie b.133 since it’s probably the first time you introduce imitations between hands! You should do more of that! The Rachmanioffian E minor theme is a nice change of the consolation theme! I have no comment towards the ending since I like it. I love the ending too! Who’s not alone in the world, especially for artists! You should be, especially given how difficult this is to perform! Well done Jonathon and thx for sharing! Henry

Hey Jonathon! @ComposaBoi Thx for your review on my Sextet, I am going to return the favour to your huge work lol! 1st movement: I like the beginning, though I feel like it can has less repetition and moves more quickly away to the 2nd theme. I like the D flat Major theme as it sounds like Liszt, but I find the exposition repetition too much personally, especially with the very slow first theme! I love the development, it’s much more dramatic especially when tremolo is introduced at the latter half. I also love your modulation to G major, a very distant key as consolation giving its refreshing quality. I love the retransition to B flat Major very much, as with all those diminished 7ths it sounds really Lisztian. I find the B flat Major theme as it bit short, so the return back to tonic minor a bit abrupt for me, but the 1st theme sounds much better with tremolo under it. The reintroduction of 2nd theme in coda is unexpected for me, but it’s lovely. 2nd movement: Like the waltz theme and your flat 6th to denote the dangerous tonic minor. Love the G minor theme, but I find the transition to the quicker variant of A minor in b.93 a bit abrupt for me. Maybe a longer dominant preparation before modulating to A minor? It helps both the transition of harmony and speed. I love your return to the open transition from the 1st movement before returning to the 2nd movement first theme! The quick part reminds me of the Scherzo of Chopin’s 2nd movement, though less crazy here haha. B.222 should add a further Meno Mosso for an even slower tempo!

There were issues in the past: ---------------------------

Hi @Frank Normandy! Thank you for participating in the Christmas Music Event! I think your piece is very charming and bittersweet. I love its simplicity. But it's not without its complexity too which gives it a certain depth because of the non-harmonic tones used on the strong beat in the melody and occasional chromaticism or borrowing from other modes. Thanks for sharing!

Hello everyone, I am new to this forum... This is a piece called Noah's Song, referring to the Biblical character of the man who was lost in the great flood. Thanks for listening.

Hello everyone! I'm new to this platform. I'm a musician who likes to compose music in my free time, although I've never studied composition. Furthermore, I've already made some pieces, but I consider this to be my first "big" work. It's a work based on Bach's "Little Fugue in G Minor" (my favorite composer and piece). It's an incomplete work, it's missing (at least) one last part, which I thought would be a fast "movement" to finish the piece. I'd like to receive comments, criticisms, suggestions... to improve. I'm looking for comments of all kinds: musical, orchestration, stylistic... In this folder, there are the audio, the score and de video with audio+score: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1CZZP89RZ6g5gznB45ezyddqK6kdbKroV?usp=drive_link Thank you very much! Fantasia sobre un tema de Bach.mp3 Fantasia sobre la fuga.pdf