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Piano sketches can be useful for beginners in composition because it keeps them focused on making sure the raw musical material is worth actually expanding into something big like an orchestra. However, once you are skilled enough in simply "composing", and your familiarity with the orchestra grows, you tend to outgrow the sketch and see its very limited utility. I actually sort of dislike the piano as an instrument, because it is really not very expressive and sterile, whereas the orchestra can play from whisper quiet to deafeningly loud and with a huge number of articulations that a piano simply cannot emulate. What can happen if you rely all the time on a piano sketch is that you will orchestrate the music in a very basic manner; no trills, horn rips, portamento, mordents or other ornamentation...because the piano is not really capable of it. Another issue is that in orchestration, tone colour is of paramount importance and basically why you would use an orchestra in the first place. A melody played on the oboe can have an entirely different character than it would played by the horns; the piano captures neither. Where this also manifests itself is in harmony. For example, in a piece I am presently working on, it begins with the horns playing a Gm add9, no5 chord at piano dynamics. This has a real warm, ethereal quality that the piano and sustain pedal couldn't capture. Thus, if I had reached for the piano instead of a horns patch in my DAW, I don't think I would've come up with the harmonic language the piece has. Another thing is that: I compose for film. Two films I did this year I had just a few weeks to compose the score before the premieres in a major city. So there were hundreds of people counting on me to be on time. I just don't have time to sketch things out in a piano and then try to translate it to an orchestra. Especially not in film, where the picture itself influences the structure and orchestration; makes way more sense to just go straight for the instruments you have in mind. You can also get some sample libraries these days which are quite playable or at least set up a couple of patches to play in tandem (like staccato + long) and "sketch" that way, with the instrument sounds right at your finger tips. In notation software, you could play your melody on your keyboard, and then just enter it straight away to the violins. Don't like how it is on the violins after all? Copy/Paste it to the flutes in a second. Piano sketches have their uses. Concert composers might still find use for it and beginners will value it, but modern technology has given us better alternatives, I find. It should also be noted that composers of old often didn't really use a "piano" sketch even if they worked at a piano. Following what @Sojar Voglar said, John Williams' sketches were always 3-stave reductions for winds, strings and brass. So even when he was writing at the piano, he was pretty much orchestrating it at the same time. He was always composing with the orchestra in mind.

Nocturne- E minor.mp3Nocturne- E minor.pdf Hello. Recently finished this piece and felt it was something interesting to share; What i feel makes this piece distinct is that its quite heavily harmonically driven, as in the melody doesn't stray far from the current harmonic background; I'm quite satisfied with the structure, as i feel it keeps the piece interesting and fresh all the way through; I'm still not sure if i should say this piece is in E minor, as its never really suggested until the very end. (also this piece used to have a subtitle in early stages, but as i was composing further on it didn't quite stick, so some ideas of what to call it would be nice) Thoughts and feedback are always welcome. Enjoy the music.

Hello. I listened to your Nocturne. The piece is very interesting in its musical language, and it is well constructed in terms of form. However, it seems to me that this music belongs to the category of works that look clearer and more understandable on paper than they sound. Both in the accompaniment and in the melodic line you use very wide leaps and cover a very large range. For this reason, without the score it’s not always possible to tell where the accompaniment is and where the main figure is. The pulsation in groups of nine also feels somewhat intrusive. But that is probably more a problem of computer playback. A live pianist would most likely play more softly, and that pulsation wouldn’t draw so much attention. In any case, it’s good, interesting music.

My composition. I would appreciate any feedback.

Thank you very much for the positive feedback. Yes, you’re right, the computer plays it too evenly and unexcitingly. On the other hand, I wouldn’t want too many agogic deviations here. It seems to me that much more attention should go to dynamic shading rather than agogics. As for the Tropak, that’s an interesting association! I hadn’t noticed the influence of that dance, but perhaps it’s easier to see from the outside. And it’s interesting that the music sounds Russian to you. Yes, I’m Russian, but this piece seemed fairly neutral to me. Just as, by the way, Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony seems relatively neutral to us here, while in Europe, they say, it’s perceived as very Russian.

Hello Everyone! Today, I am sharing an old work of mine that I have been reorchestrating and revising: The Golden Lakes. PROGRAM NOTE: The Golden Lakes is a short and evocative work for concert band telling a story of night and day upon a lake. Inspired by the geography surrounding the home of the composer, The Golden Lakes evokes the glimmer and sparkle of light from the sun as it crests over the horizon into darkness. During the night, the lake is left vulnerable to the winds, darkness and more, ever waiting for the sun to come back and bring warmth. Originally composed in 2024, this work was commissioned by Kistler’s former band directors. In 2026, this work went under revisions by the composer in the early fall following a period of chamber works he created. This version presented to you is the piece he revised in 2026. Join the concert band as they take us into the landscape and paint us the scenes from The Golden Lakes. This work is set to be a Grade 3-4 for wind band. If you wish to know more about the work, check out the "About" section on page 4! Lastly, if you enjoyed this work, leave a reaction and a comment detailing your thoughts! AUDIO_Golden Lakes.mp3 SCORE_GoldenLakes.pdf

Hello A fantastic piece, rich in colour and beautifully orchestrated. I find this sort of work for wind bands to be a rather distinctive genre, and by no means an easy one. In the area where I live (Spain, on the Mediterranean coast) there’s a very strong tradition of street bands (marching bands?). They play whilst marching the whole time and consist of dozens of clarinets, oboes, flutes, sometimes saxophones, and percussion—including timpani, which are constantly pushed along by two assistants. There are many bands here and they play at the local festivals. For example, in many villages and neighbourhoods, ‘Moors and Christians’ festivals are held (lasting 3–5 days), as this country was under Muslim rule for seven centuries (from 711 to 1492) and these festivals re-enact the final Christian victory. Anyway, it’s fascinating. And that’s why we have such a wonderful Muslim heritage in this country in every aspect (traditions, cuisine, the language). These bands parade with various groups throughout the day and play pasodobles, music that sounds ‘Arabic’, and so on… That’s why I’m so fond of this sort of band. Anyway, sorry for rambling, but I’d like to congratulate you on this music.

@AngelCityOutlaw Thank you very much for your contributions. Of course, I understand all the different viewpoints and situations. The thing is, even though I’m still at an intermediate level (I think) when it comes to orchestral composition, I almost always write directly for the orchestra. First comes the idea – which might be a melody, but is often something else – and I already picture which instruments will be used, and so on. But my current mentor on these matters remarked that in orchestration, if you have good voice leading, you’ve got a large part of it sorted. And in this regard, he recommends using a sketch – not a standard piano stave, nor a piano reduction. Rather, use two, three or four staves (depending on the size of the orchestra you’re using) to outline the ideas and structures. Of course, I think he’s right. But I find this method useful when you’re developing an orchestral work of a certain scale, length, structure, and so on… For something lasting just 3 minutes, I don’t see it as necessary. I also think, as you mention, that it’s not the same whether you have all the time in the world to compose and orchestrate, or whether you have to work whilst adapting to deadlines and other people. And of course, reading the biographies of the greats – Verdi and Wagner, for example – it’s clear they did make sketches on the piano… But they didn’t have the digital tools we have today, and it was their only way not only of structuring tremendously complex works, but also of creating their ‘demos’ to present and rehearse their works. Best regards.

Hi @Alexx ! I love the Prokofiev-like angularity of your melodies! The chromaticism is also a welcome feature and very entertaining! Very Russian of you! (You're Russian, right? Forgive me if I'm wrong.) As a critique, I think this sounds slightly artificial without any changes in tempo and at the tempo you have. I think a real pianist would usually play this slightly slower and it would be great if you tried to play and record this yourself. I think at a constant tempo it starts to sound somewhat resembling a Russian Tropak or the famous Russian music from the game "Tetris" (or a march). I think it would greatly enrich your music if you found ways to include tempo fluctuations. For me, I've occasionally written pieces where each measure there's a constant alteration between ritardandi and accelerandi. If you don't want to clutter up your score with those kind of indications you could just write "rubato" at the beginning with the tempo indication and hide the ritard's and accel's. That's of course for a very different kind of piece and doesn't really apply to this particular style you have here. Nonetheless, I think I'll leave my comments for any future piano pieces you may write. Thanks for sharing!

I am stoked to finally release this great collaboration with @Maharani that we've been working on for over a month! I first found out about Marissa's Solo French Horn sonata through the United Composer's Collective discord server (UCC). I offered to play and record at first just one movement but then it turned into a full 4-movement project. I spent a lot of time practicing almost everyday getting my chops into a state of preparedness. Honestly - it was a bit like training for a marathon! LoL The movements are as follows: Sonata Aria Capriccio Ciaccona We are also including two versions of the score - the handwritten one by Marissa and a more official and mistake free engraving by me. Bandcamp link: https://maharajah.bandcamp.com/album/sonata-per-corno-op-4 Let us know what you think of the composition, engraving as well as performance of this work! We'd be stoked to hear any of your comments, critiques, suggestions or observations! Thanks for listening. Sonata per corno – 1. Sonata.mp3 Sonata per corno – 2. Aria.mp3 Sonata per corno – 3. Capriccio.mp3 Sonata per corno – 4. Ciaccona.mp3 Sonata per corno – handwritten score.pdf Sonata per corno Complete.pdf

Hello everyone! I'd be most grateful for any feeback on this piece. Thank you in advance! View-from-the-air.mp3 74PDF.pdf

The allegro below was an earlier movement for a wind quartet (back in 2019) that now contains lots of revisions. At the time, I thought it was 'perfect' but almost 10 years later, evidently it was not! 😬 Second movement recycled from another standalone piece I had made for wind quintet originally. The Rondo is a work in progress. Currently working on the C section (minor). I quite like the theme... think it is catchy. String Quartet in C (Allegro).mp3 String Quartet in C (Second Movement).mp3 String Quartet in C (Rondo Idea).mp3 String Quartet in C (Allegro).pdf String Quartet in C (Second Movement).pdf String Quartet in C (Rondo Idea).pdf

During my studies I sometimes did the sketches but with the experience comes the inner ear skill. Today I can hear the orchestra before I even write notes down. I guess I would be able to be deaf like Beethoven and compose further, trusting my inner ear.