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Here's my submission! Maybe I should have waited for Christmas Eve for its publication, but I reckoned the sooner might as well be the better. P.S.: I wholeheartedly agree with the concerns brought forth by @AngelCityOutlaw regarding the AI-generated submissions. It should go without saying that allowing AI-generated music to be presented on par with compositions requering hours upon hours of effort and dedication could run the risk of severly undermining the legitimacy and ultimate purpose of these community events, not just on account of the frictions and controversies caused by the presence of AI-generated content, but also on a more fundamental level which has been thoroughly implied over the course of this debate. Despite this, I firmly believe those who want to participate and submit their art should not hesitate to do so. Why let so much time, effort and dedication go to waste after creating a work of art that is in any capacity worth far more than mere AI imitations? My take is that we should not be deterred, but rather emboldened in the face of these dire circumstances we are living through, that we may adapt to this unsettling trend and make our art known regardless. In fact, that's precisely why I think it's more important than ever not to refrain from posting our own music, lest we pave the way for more of this AI-generated music to claim our place. It is rumoured that the Dead Internet Theory may as well soon become an increasingly encroaching and inexorable reality. By refusing to yield to the tide and sharing more of our own creations, hopefully we might briefly forestall such a harrowing prospect for this tiny little corner of the Internet where so many creative wonders are being posted and discussed every single day. The point is not to force these AI-generated compositions out by decree, but to make it so that the abundant music produced by humans in this forum may flourish beyond the scope of neural networks being used as amoral tools or shortcuts to achieve apparently similar results, yet lacking in personal significance or emotional depth. Banning AI-generated music will not ameliorate the problem at large, but composing music through righteous harship might as well be the only substantial antidote against the proliferation and normalization of this kind of content. That being said, I'm certain this must be quite a difficult point of contention for the forum's staff to deal with and try to find a meaningful solution for, so I won't comment further on the subject matter. In any case, I hope whichever resolution or agreement is reached on the subject matter will allow the course of these community events to carry on peacefully and with respect towards the time, effort and dedication proportionally invested into each submission. It is good to know that this issue is being seriously discussed by staff and high-ranking members alike, and as such I would like to thank @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu and @PeterthePapercomPoser among others for their dutiful labour in calmly trying to sort out things amidst the heat of the debate.

Hi guys! Hope you're all doing well. So, I wrote a poem two months back, and whilst I did, I also made a melody out of it just because lol. So, I thought it had the potential to become an art song, so I composed it. By the way, this song just contains the first stanza of my poem. Do you think I should make more songs for each stanza to do like a song cycle or something? Anyways, I sang this myself because I find vocal soundfonts to be... nauseating. Anyways, I am no singer, so try not to roast me too much for my voice lol. Do tell me how you like it, or if you have any suggestions.

Wow... Your voice is wonderful, I love the timbre and emotion in your singing. Don't be bashful about it! Do I think you should do more songs? Definitely :) Please keep writing and performing these, I had no idea I'd like your vocal music so much

My submission for the event can be found here:

Hello, all. Coming at you with something a little different for the event, but I hope you find it at least interesting, even if you don't particularly like it. I've basically decided to get really good at writing for strings nowadays, and since I'm mostly an atonalist, cello is the easiest since computers can't play that kind of stuff; the implied timbres are super important. So enjoy hearing me poorly play this miniature fantasia on Jingle Bells. I promise there's a method to the madness 😄

You can make your part writing fuller by making the bass more jumpy. Harmony could sound less thick if the movement if all the voices move smoothly by step. And although it is best to minimise the movements of the middle voices, you should try to make the baseline compete with the melody in grabbing the listener’s attention. This could be done by large emotional leaps downwards when the melody shoots skyward. Good contrary motion balance between the melody and baseline makes for a full sound. Second way is to add more passing notes in the middle voices to give some dissonance between strong beats—they make the harmony tastier. Also, suspensions can really lift up the voice leading. Third way is to make a texture, be it with figurations (as someone mentioned) or with simple imitative counterpoint in the inner voices. My advice is to try experimenting with articulations and syncopations with the inner voices (if you are writing for SATB, make sure it’s singable). Lastly, make sure the rest of the voices do service to the melody, in the sense that their rhythmic material and contrapuntal material are somewhat derived from or echo the essence of the melody in question. Same goes for the baseline. Happy composing!

In anticipation for this year's Christmas Eve, I decided to try my hand at writing another religious motet. Considering the fact that the bulk of this piece has been composed merely in the span of yet another insomnia-driven bout of inspiration, perhaps its modest length may as well be a reflection of missed potential, as I reckon it could have been developed into a more complex structure should its latter half not have got stuck on a protracted pre-cadential spiral. Once again, just as with my previous vocal fugue, the main goal of this composition was to make the text as intelligible as possible (specially taking into account the musical history of such a well-known textual setting), that is, within the confines and constraints of an 8-voice motet. This has ultimately led to some interesting contrapuntal oddities which, despite the preservation of independent voice-leading and thorough avoidance of melodic and harmonic blunders, have produced a number of somewhat unorthodox unresolved dissonances throughout. Nevertheless, I believe such contrapuntal licenses are more than sufficiently justified given the scope of this piece, as well as the sheer volume and density of its texture all the way through. This piece was specifically conceived as a submission for this year's edition of the forum's Christmas Music Event, and shall be presented accordingly in its dedicated thread. YouTube video link:

Ahhhhh this makes sense...

Google: "The chorus effect in music creates a fuller, richer sound by duplicating an audio signal, slightly delaying the copies, and subtly shifting their pitch and timing, making it sound like multiple instruments or voices are playing in unison, adding depth, width, and texture, common on guitars, synths, and vocals for a lush, shimmering, or "detuned" quality. It works by using a low-frequency oscillator (LFO) to modulate the short delay time between the original sound and its copies, creating a constantly shifting phase relationship that thickens the sound. "

Not exactly sure what you mean by "chorus effect" I think one thing that I wasn't articulating was arranging the parts (this is partially contingent on the melody), so that there's a peak and the song doesn't just say on the same plane for the whole time. For example, "Abide With Me", is honestly pretty standard, part-writing wise, but it has peaks.

Like this? I like how this sounds

Write the 2026 Mikrokosmos update we need :D

This is really smart. I instinctively am harmony first, but thats why its good practice to start with other facets of music for different pieces. Form first is great because most neglect it at first and it's the best cure for "gee what comes next"

But why covering basics would be annoying? 🤪 I myself, weirdly take form as my first approach to composing, but not harmony and counterpoint. Maybe that's why I have to write longer pieces instead of shorter ones now.

I don't sense this going astray at 4:37 that you seem to feel, personally. But you presumably have a better concept than I would of what the overall structure of the movement is going to be.

Yeah! I thought of another point: 4. Lack of vibrato/chorusing. Instruments or voices sound full when many of them sing or play together and the vibrato of many individuals turns into the emergent property of groups of voices or instruments that we perceive as ensemble resonance. Many samples and soundfonts already simulate this, but you can increase it or adjust it with the "chorus" effect which makes the vibrato wider or narrower.