chopin

Very snappy light piece...and of course gotta love those random pauses haha. Also, very cool motif that you use throughout (4 sixteenth notes followed by an 8th note). The ending though, it makes me yearn for a cadence!

I think the microtones in this case make the soundtrack more dramatic, which makes sense if this is for a lava cave. Also, nice use of repetition, adding to the ominous atmosphere. Fun melody from the electric guitar that would work well in an RPG. The only thing I may add is that, if this is going to repeat or loop for a game, maybe consider an instrument that isn't as harsh on the ears...although it probably depends on the sound samples you go for.

Microtones work a lot better with strings because it just makes it sounds like the performers are slurring their notes. Funny how the whole piece is this eerie mood (bec of the microtones), but then you end in a major key. I love the part from 0:44 to 0:47. It's beautiful to my ears! Well done, you're nailing microtones in a way that makes the listening a fun experience.

The structure is very clean, and it piece was easy for me to follow with just one listen. This sounds very late classical, early romantic to me, and some of your harmony reminds me of Chopin, esp at around 2:10 (and of course the ending as you state). The motif of the Asian Koel is a nice touch, and merging that call with the main theme was neat. Like always your key changing helps keep the piece moving along, and you always find a way to add in a splash of the pentatonic. I get Beethoven and Chopin vibes throughout, but you clearly use your own voice and direction, especially with the bird motif.

A very light, and elegant Mozart / Beethoven-esqe influenced piece. But now that I listened to this more closely a second time, this sounds more Beethoven. I noticed you kept things a lot more simplistic with this composition. The simplicity makes it easier to follow the story. For example, I noticed you referenced your sextet's pentatonic themes in a few places too which was a nice touch, particularly here: 1:38 3:28 5:27 6:27 Your key changes from the major to parallel minor also made me think a lot of Beethoven's key changing style. For example, at 1:07, this is a prime an example of some key changing techniques I hear in Beethoven's concertos. I loved 3:40 - to 3:53. This was a section that could have been used to segue into a completely different theme. But I suppose you didn't want to venture too far off from the main theme of this piece. Either way, great piece, fun traditional classical harmony and nice references to your sextet.

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.

I'll put the most notable parts of your movement in bullet points. Then I'll give you my thoughts at the end. Very powerful intro, that hooks right into your motif from the first movement. I definitely am getting strong Chopin vibes from 1:00 - 2:25. The blues section was definitely surprising to me, but it was a really fun section! Then we get brief hints of Rachmaninoff at 4:30. At 5:30, this is a nice change of melody. Love how the right hand and left hand share the melody here. 6:40 looks brutal, 16ths notes against 16th notes at that tempo? I remember you telling me that this part was definitely as hard as it looks! Then you take the first motif from mov 1 and merge with the blues style, which is very fun. At 8:40, you have a nice variation of one of your first melodies, which is my favorite part. Then at 10:20, we have the return of the pentatonic! Without a doubt, the most most relaxing part of this piece, a nice contrast to the rest of your movement which is mostly energetic and fast paced. Love how the ending brings us back to your main motif from first movement again in powerful octaves. I think this piece can teach us that music is more than just melody or harmony. It's also about structure and storytelling. And this is something that can only come from the heart and the creative mind. The fact that I was able to categorize your piece into the above bullet points shows us how well organized this movement is. You use familiar styles to convey your message, but you also broke out of your comfort zone with the blues style. The reason why this was so effective, is because you didn't go overboard, you gave it to us in small bite sizes. Very beautiful work, and excellent performance!

So cool hearing both versions side by side. Same melody and overall song, but very different outputs. In the original, I feel like the music is very precise with high articulation. But the orchestral version, I can hear the harmonies and chord changes much more clearly. It may have to do with how the orchestral instruments can hold notes. Very nice rendition!

Fun little piece. I especially loved the middle section with the change of tempo and key. The ending? Really sounds like a joke!

A lot of juicy abrupt key changing here! And like @Luis Hernández said, this definitely reminds me of Debussy. And too bad you couldn't get this out when I did a short video on arpeggiated chords 🤪. But beautifully notated and great performance btw! Also, I didn't realize the pentatonic scale could be so beautiful and romantic. I suppose it has to do with how it's used.

I personally can't imagine writing by hand (after all, this is why I am investing time into a new music notation software 😄), however I understand your reasoning. Writing by hand is much more deliberate, and requires a more concerted effort not to just throw things at the wall as you say. I think at the end of the day, it comes down to discipline. If composing on the computer takes away that discipline for you, stick to paper and pencil. Maybe you can train yourself someday to compose directly on the computer, but only if you can maintain that certain level of discipline. As for me, I force myself not to move onto the next section until I am happy with the current section I am working on. And this approach seems to work well for me, whether by hand, or by 1s and 0s!

I don't think I've listened to this in full yet (as one complete work). A lot of pentatonic influence, which makes the intro to your fugue at 5 minutes in a lot more noticeable since you break out of pentatonic briefly here. It's fantastic in building tension, and a great foreshadow to the full fugal section that comes later. There's also a lot of interesting key changing going on in the first 5 minutes. One minute we are in one key, then all of a sudden, we are taken into a different key. It's a great way to change the focus and break up the momentum! The intro to your 2nd movement is powerful. I think this may be one of my favorite parts of this piece. This is about 16 minutes in. The part at 16:55 where the violins take over the melody, is just mind-blowing to me. I love buildup like this. I think this works because not only is this a great melody that you are using, but the harmonies are not overly complex, and your modulations are as smooth as butter. Also in terms of smooth vs abrupt key changing, the way I look at it is this. When you change key that feels more abrupt, it's equivalent to changing chapters in a book. That's why this type of key changing can be effective if used strategically. I'll list some more notable parts of your entire work: 19 minutes in, this is starting to sound a little like Mendelssohn. I think this has to do with the style at this particular section. 22 minutes in, one of your more dissonant moments, maybe a little fantasy-like here. 24, beautiful recap of main melody, a great reminder to the listener of what this piece is really about! 25:40, this is an interesting part, because this sounds like a call and response technique that you used here. Again, this is a great way to break up momentum because its out of character for this piece. 26, you know how I feel about the fugue and last movement since I've left reviews about them, but the fugue is probably the most complex part of this piece. This is why I featured part of that movement in my highest viewed video to date, on how to change key. A fantastic and highly emotional piece! There are a lot of great techniques used to keep the listener focused, and to help them follow your journey. For example, it's not just a fugue or, it deviates from normal functional harmony. But some parts have functional harmony. There's a lot of usage of the pentatonic harmony that you made excellent use of it in your story, but you deviate from that that too. Overall, this highly organized work, and strategic usage of dynamics, rhythms, and smooth vs abrupt key changing tactics are what brings this piece together.

Even though this is a second movement, I feel like it can represent an entire 3 part movement in itself. So I will try to address all 3 parts best I can (for now). Part 1 - The Intro This very neo classical / early romantic style intro is very strong, and quite dramatic. It reminds me of a Tchaikovsky intro but in a somewhat different style (your style!). 1:50 to 2+ is tremendously well done, with lots of forward progression with your harmony. This is a clear example of how to use harmony to your advantage, for the sake of the piece's progression. Sometimes composers get crazy with harmony but the harmony doesn't necessarily serve the right purpose. Tell me something, at 4:15, are you trying to show us your fugue subject from movement 1? I think I hear hints of it... Part 2 - The fugue The key changing in this piece is both sharp at times, and as smooth as butter at other times. And the many different styles that I've heard displays the turbulence of emotions here. The first major mood change after the intro is when you segue into your fugue subject starting out with the pentatonic scale. I feel like you slowly bring us back to movement 1, then BAM, you hit us hard with the motif from the first movement. I had to rewind a few times so that I could understand how you achieved this smooth transition (around the 9-10 minute mark). The fugue itself is a very complex work, and the recapitulation can be used as a study on how to modulate from key to key. BTW, I love this fugue so much, from both your first movement, and especially in this movement! There's just so much content here, that this piece can't be listened to just once! Part 3 - The chant, and metamorphosis (as I call it!) At the 20 minute mark, the last section where your chant begins, it brings me a sense of sorrow, with a hint of peace and finding oneself. And at the 26 minute mark, this is the part of reckoning, or the "return" as you say. This section is like a metamorphosis, transitioning from deep sadness, to a rebirth. It's a grand movement within a movement, but most importantly, it evokes a sense of realization and completion. And Henry, this is what your music is about. It's not just "music". It's a very well crafted and beautiful story. This one is particularly a sad and emotional one. The ending was joyful, but at the same time, I still felt sadness. I know this is a very long work, but I encourage people to listen through the full piece. Maybe others will have different interpretations, but listening to longer works like this will help you learn how to listen to the story, not just to the tones of the music.

The first version is definitely my favorite just due to it's clarity. The echo effect also makes this piece sound like it has a swing to it even though I don't think you are swinging playback. The beat is really nice, and consistent, despite the unusual time signatures you are using. At around 40 seconds in, I like how you completely change the mood by breaking up the rhythm here. The arpeggios at this point are haunting, and gives me anxiety. It's starting to sound like the use of microtones are really starting to shape (or warp) how the music as we know sounds. It feels like we are entering a second dimension of music, something not possible to create with the equal temperament tuning system. I think you are starting to get the hang of this type of composition. Congrats for creating a piece that will freak us all out, and it's not even Halloween yet!

You know what, this tempo is way better. Wouldn't you agree?