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Showing content with the highest reputation since 06/11/2025 in Posts

  1. Hi @BipolarComposer! I really wanted to try and give you a constructive critique for this one. I think there are many pros to this piece: It has a mysterious and dance-like feel (especially with the percussion). The orchestration is differentiated and you achieve some nice contrasts! The melody is harmonized in very interesting ways including doublings at intervals that are different from the expected 3rds and 6ths, sometimes including whole chords as a doubling, other times 4ths and 5ths. Some of the cons (imo): The orchestration is sometimes very thin and at other times very thick and bombastic with seemingly no middle ground. Some of the instruments aren't being used very idiomatically (such as the pizzicato strings). The piece sounds kind of same-y dynamically and intensity wise. The dynamics and intensity only change by adding or removing instruments rather than creating crescendi or decrescendi. (Not sure this really applies after my 3rd listening.) The tempo could also stand from accelerandi or ritardandi in choice spots to help the music arrive at a point of higher intensity or recede from an intense section in a kind of denouement. The piece lacks to me the lucidity of say, a Beethoven Symphony movement. The melody seems to meander here and there without unity and relatedness. I think the go-to example for how intense a melody can be if it's masterfully unified is Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 1st movement. He builds the whole movement out of that single motif. Even the longer leading melodic lines are constructed in fragments out of that motif, blurring the line between motivic and thematic composition. This piece in comparison, sounds at times very leisurely at best and meandering at worst because it lacks that drive and unity. The ending as well is kind of a throw-away because it doesn't feel like the music has taken the listener on a journey and so the piece ends very underwhelmingly. The formal sections of the piece seem to all be in the same key and so kind of blend together into one long section despite the many contrasts you introduce. That's my critique, although of course I really enjoyed the piece! Thanks for sharing.
    2 points
  2. Heh thought you'd notice! I really want to listen to you guys' pieces since you and @Henry Ng Tsz Kiu has been commenting constantly on my pieces and others, and I've only listened to a handful of you guys'. I've honestly been avoiding listening to this piece cus I had thought that there's a lot that I could change and all that. For example, I'd probably tone down the flute's high notes since it's so frequent and a reply here has pointed out that too. But honestly, it ain't that bad lmao. And hey, I wouldn't mind a concerto arrangement, but I think this chamber instrumentation suits it more. You're exactly right. And that's exactly why some of my older scores are just atrocious with pitch spelling, cus I was a dummy and had not figured how they worked yet, even here too in some places! It is one of the reason why I want to revise some of my older pieces. me when sleigh bells It's "Carol of the Bells." The first theme is loosely based on it, the sequence starting from b.122 has the rhythm, and the actual quote appears in b.193 Thank you for all the kind words!
    2 points
  3. Even though my application is still under development, the idea is that Music Jotter can translate the AI text notation from ChatGPT or Gemini to actual notes. This saves the end user the pain of having to notate the AI's response output manually. As far as I know, there are no other tools that can do this at the moment. So you literally are at the only place that can give you somewhat of what you are asking for. The problem, is that ChatGPT and Gemini are not trained on classical music, they are all purpose llms. I would love nothing more than to develop my own llm down the line, and train it on Chopin, Mozart, Beethoven, and other music, but hey, maybe if I can convince some AI investors down the line that we need this technology, this can be doable! But as of this moment, you can describe music and get textual output (even fun chord progressions!), where Music Jotter will convert that textual output into playback sheet music. My latest 2 videos on my channel are dedicated to this.
    2 points
  4. Hello @schedevrant and welcome to the forum! I am not too familiar with chatgpt, deepseek, or grok or any other AI tools for that matter.. but the owner of this forum @chopin is developing a notation software called Music Jotter that is able to take data generated by AI tools and create music. He's showed off the capabilities of AI tools and Music Jotter and what they can do on his YouTube channel - Can ChatGPT compose like Chopin? From what I understand, since ChatGPT and Gemini can understand midi data you feed it and output midi data - you can import it into notation programs and see the notes etc. That's just my understanding of the AI capabilities though. Can you maybe talk more about the difficulties you encountered in realising midi data output from AI tools and opening them in Musescore or other notation programs? They can export their files as midi even if PDF, jpg or mp3 isn't a format that ChatGPT understands, right? And thanks for asking! I'm sure many people will find this topic useful. And hopefully some of what I said will be helpful!
    2 points
  5. Hello everybody, I would like to post some piano music of mine here. I have lots of uploads and I don't intend to clog anyone's feed, so I will try to present them over time rather than at once. This is a short album I released one and a half years ago (28 minutes). I like to play around sudden tempo changes and unexpected modulations, and this marked what has been a gradual push for me into that direction. There is lots of humour (though it's not to me to judge whether it gets to the goal or not). I am curious to hear your thoughts on it, what you may or may not prefer, and similar. Any thought is welcome, even just a simple "I liked it/I didn't". Thank you in advance. I am embedding the video here.
    1 point
  6. A new poetry from the same Laforgue I can post the poem here, which is a beautiful black diamond (an automatic translation but quite close to the meaning) As always at Laforgue, irony, tenderness, idleness of an impossible platonic love We know that he loved a young Englishwoman with no return, and I think it was she who inspired him his most beautiful pages, here in the evening of his short life. Thank you for your reviews and comments! Ah! tonight, my heart feels sick, my heart is with the Moon! O veils of silence, spread out your still lagoons; O rooftops, terraces, basins, loosened necklaces Of pearls, tombs, lilies, grieving cats — give praise To the Moon, our Mistress to all, in her glory: She is the Host! and silence is her ciborium! Ah! how good it feels, oh! so good and sweet, in the halo Of mourning around this finest diamond’s glow! O Moon, you may find me a bit romantic, But tell me — now and then, wouldn’t it be frantic To think — just between us, and only if you please — That I could be your Columbus, on my knees? Well, let’s not speak of that; let’s chant the midnight rite, Preserved in alcohol, steeped in your delights. Slowing down towards us, O weary City, Fibrous cell with broken organs, withered pity! Remember the centaurs, the cities now erased, Palmyra, and the snub-nosed sphinxes of Thebes the chaste; And what Gomorrah, beneath your Lethe lake, Hides catacombs in honor of barren Astarte’s sake! And how mankind, with his “I love you” clichés, Is much too anthropomorphic in his ways, And knows only how to muddle through his days With hellos and goodbyes while twisting love his way. — Ah! As I was saying, and more than once or twice, That my heart is sick — my heart is with the Moon, precise.
    1 point
  7. I’m working on a project to compose 24 preludes and fugues, inspired by Bach’s Welltempered Clavier and Shostakovich’s Op. 87. The fugue in F major is my first post to the YC community, which I would describe as WOODPECKER AND BARCAROLE - FUGA SCHERZANDO The theme, knocking, with a sixfold repetition of the root note, counterpoint and interludes, on the other hand, in a swaying, rocking quaver motion. This contrast of “woodpecker” and “barcarole” makes up the jocular character of this fugue, underlined by the interjections of “wrong notes” - inspired by Shostakovich's D flat major prelude - in the coda.
    1 point
  8. Here is my entry for this year's Christmas Music Event! It's not really a Christmas piece, but it is about snow and winter, and it does have quotes from a Christmas carol. It's the first thing that popped out of my mind in the 1st of December when I started writing the piece. The story/idea behind this piece was supposed to be a person's imagination of what it's like to have snow on their town in December since they live in another part of the world that isn't snowing. It was originally titled "It's snowing somewhere else" (still a good title in my opinion). But the piece felt like it showed a little bit more on the rhythmical side, so I changed the title to that. Score is now available! New title by Thatguy v2.0 (old title: Snow Dance) Hope y'all enjoy the piece and Happy Holidays!
    1 point
  9. After riveted discussion with my wife, a lawyer, I have come upon what I believe should be the "final word" on the Copyright issues some members tend to bring up when we're talking about arrangements of music. Feel free to refer back to this thread or link to it if someone poses the question of, "Are you sure it's legal?" when you are presented with an opportunity to arrange music as a composer. Any original work under copyright is simply known as the original work. If you arrange a work that has copyright protection, you are creating a derivative work. Without permission from the creator of the original work, creating a derivative work of the original work under U.S. copyright laws is illegal - with some exceptions. An important exception for composers to understand is the "Fair Use" exception. Here is the general gist of the exception. The essential question of the Fair Use exception is whether or not the derivative work you've written occupies a substitute market, affecting the "market share" of the original creator. If a substitute market exists for the work you have written and you are profiting from that market, you are in violation of copyright if you do not have the permission of the holder of copyright. This is a great explanation of Fair Use of copyright works. So, if you're a student composer, a teacher, or generally a composer who is approached to write an arrangement of music under copyright, consider the purpose of the work (is this for commercial or non-profit purposes?), the nature of the copyrighted work (is this a popular song heard on the radio being arranged for your high school band?), how much of the music you plan to use (are you writing a medley or suite?), and will your arrangement impact the market for which the original work was written? Here are some examples where copyright has been infringed, where "Fair Use" has been rejected. If I find others, I'll post them as an addendum to this. A Junior Community College ensemble and its director re-arranged a choral work written for educational purposes, performed it once, and 47 copies of the performance were made for each member of the college choir. This was held as infringement because the choral work was written for the educational market and the composer relied on the royalties from the performance of the work as a source of his income. A music publishing company filed a suit against the A&E network over its use of 12 seconds of the song, "Rocky Top." The Middle District of Tennessee ruled that the use by the network was not fair use, but details are sketchy since the case was settled and none of the details were released. The point of this is to shed some light on an issue that otherwise leaves us cowering in the shadow of ignorance, fear, and paranoia. I'll try to keep updating this as I come across other cases, if only to help the rest of the community here. As the quoted portion from the U.S. Copyright Office website above, I also advise that in the event of any doubt, you should consult an attorney.
    1 point
  10. Interesting mixture of styles you have here Henry. On paper it shouldn't work; but I think you've pulled it off! Especially like the bluesy section. The lefthand figure from Chopin's Revolutionary Study made me laugh, because I once used that ostinato years ago for one of my own works.
    1 point
  11. @PeterthePapercomPoser hey! Thank you for the reply. I've watched the video, it's great and I'm looking forward to using apps of that sort to help create... such a good idea! With AI(s), however, as far as I know, the only way they are able to understand music is if you provide it described in words, like in the video, each touch and each little detail (then it imagines what it would look like in music form, but the notes themselves leave it overwhelmed). It doesn't see midi (at least from what I've tried) or any other format. And rewriting everything in word form seems like it would be tiring, especially in the future, where the exercises get more complex.
    1 point
  12. Thanks for the tip! I’m working on a slower segment at the moment
    1 point
  13. Much to my wholehearted agreement, you already pointed this out in your review of my other dodecaphonic canon: "Although I have read from Taruskin's Music History book that counterpoint without tonality would be not too meaningful without the rules for dissonances and its resolution, but it is clearly not correct here. Given your ultimate care for preventing clashing dissonances, I find this one actually quite melodious and even tonal, or at least pan-tonal." In any case I don't find Taruskin's assessment entirely correct, just as you pointed out, since care for the clashing and resolution of dissonances need not necessarily be strictly derived from the rules of tonality, but instead out of the composer's own stylistic preference. One of the greatest things I have thus far found true for the dodecaphonic tone row system is that it allows for an immense amount of diversity when it comes to compositional approaches, which is specially true for stylistic notions of what works and doesn't in any given work according to the composer's own intrinsic judgement. In many regards I believe my usage and deployment of contrapuntal techniques to be the polar opposite of Schönberg's in terms of the treatment of dissonance, as in coining the term "emancipation of dissonance" so as to refer to his own proclivity towards unprepared and unresolved dissonances he was so proudly fond of, I believe he essentially stopped hearing dissonances as "ill-sounding" or unpleasant to the ear. For better or worse, my own particular stylistic preferences remain fairly attached to the etymologically quintessential definition of dissonance I just provided, independent of a tonal context. As such, my reticence towards unsing certain intervals has little to do with the standards conventions of tonal preparations and resolutions thereof, but with my own tendency towards finding intervals like minor 2nds and major 7ths quite distasteful to hear in clashing (though slightly more toolerable in suspensions), and also difficult to handle contrapuntally with my current bare-bones approach towards the general treatment of tone rows in my latest canons.
    1 point
  14. Great work @Fugax Contrapunctus, counterpoint master 🙂 You set a nice drama mood here not devoid of hope as I feel it. Would be a great opening - though rather short - for a larger, epic opus. Thanks 🙂
    1 point
  15. Hi @Fugax Contrapunctus I loved this work ; this is both a cool technical exercise and a well written theme 🙂 Thanks for sharing
    1 point
  16. Hi Pabio @Fugax Contrapunctus! I love the unsettling mood here and how you use all four forms of the tone rows! I like Peter like the piano version more but this one is not your fault, as I always don’t like MuseScore’s Strings sound with those weird portamentos. I love your Bergian and Wozzeckian major ending for sure! Just one thing which lingers in my mind when I was reading sections on Serialism and Schönberg using atonal language for counterpoint and which Taruskin the author pointed out: The rules of counterpoint is maintained very much by the preparation and resolution of dissonance, but in a post tonal context there’s much less differentiation between consonance and dissonance, so the counterpoint rule may be weakened or even non-existent and meaningless. What do you think Pabio? Henry
    1 point
  17. This is not a dance suite, but is made out of old pieces in my dance suite folder that didn't make the cut (back when I was writing into the sequencer). The 1st movement - Serenade - is a fast ternary form in Ab major. Originally it was meant to be a prelude to a dance suite. It is in 4/4. The 2nd movement - Lament - was originally meant to be a Courante, but it doesn't satisfy the requirements of the kind of dance that a Courante is meant to be (and it's in 2/4). This piece is in Ab minor and binary form. The 3rd movement - Intermezzo - was also conceived as a prelude to a dance suite. It is in F# major. It is in 4/4 and binary form. The 4th movement - Postlude - was originally meant to be an Allemande but ended up being too slow to be any kind of dance, even though it has some characteristics of an Allemande. It is in 4/4 and E major. The overall form is fast, slower, slower, and even slower. Let me know what you think! I appreciate any of your constructive comments, suggestions or critiques!
    1 point
  18. Hello all! This is a Piano Quartet (Violin, Viola, Cello and Piano) I just finished which would probably not exist in it's current form if I hadn't found a Piano Quartet on this website. Originally I thought I would make this a solo violin and orchestra piece but found that this ensemble, once I was made aware of it, was the perfect match for my melodic material! I came up with the melodies for this piece as I was falling asleep. Luckily I keep a musical notepad next to my bed in just such a case. This is also my first attempt to write in sonata form although I'm sure I break quite a few rules if you'd like to point them out. I welcome your criticisms, suggestions or even just observations would be great. Hopefully this will be the first movement in a multi-movement work. Enjoy! EDIT: Thanks to some much needed advice from a discord server I recently joined I have transposed this piece (again) to the key of A minor (from the original key of G minor) which will be much easier for the strings to pull off some of those triple stops. If you'd like the score message me!
    1 point
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