JP S.

Thanks for the feedback! For some reason I can see it clearly on my phone screen, and using my Grabdpa’s laptop I could see it with YouTube’s highest resolution (1080p), but apparently you can’t see it. If I cut down on the stagger breathe note, maybe that can save some space and expand the rest. For the “Gregorian Chant” comment, I was intending it to be free from meter, not time. The cadencing of the beginning section phrases doesn’t end neatly on 4-8 beat sections, and if you try to feel it like that, the music would feel wonky like swaying on a ship unexpectedly. Is there a way you prefer that it would be phrased?

Heyo! Here are the first two choral pieces I’ve finished enough for feedback. I would love to hear what you enjoy about the pieces, then give any tips about what you think is high quality and how to fix anything that’s lower quality. My main desires are for feedback on the overall feel of the pieces, like the fittingness of the choral parts or the piano. I’ve never written for either before professionally, and these are kind of the test to see if I have potential to create choral music directors would actually purchase. Are these close to professional quality? If not, what could I change? The goal was to write semi-simple pieces that your average or slightly above average church choir could sing as a Motet or “Anthem” or a choir-only piece during a service. I enjoy purer, diatonic harmonies more, as well as an epic feel at times, so hopefully those come through. Thanks in advance for any comments you’re willing to give:) The Assumption: https://youtu.be/u_uR3quvWiA Come Holy Spirit Pt. 1: https://youtu.be/CTrRiL_wY_Q

Hey man! Great work at coming this far. I can tell that this style of orchestration was stretching you, but I hope it opened your horizons and you’re growing a lot:) Here are a couple of my thoughts: Distortion: I also noticed the distortion over time. It was slight and in the background, but perceptible. I agree with both the above analyses that it’s part Musescore (which could be fixed with a DAW), and part a thicccc orchestration lol:) Composition: This is already a great start. I don’t know if I would call it a “cue” (that seems to mean introduction to me), but it seems like a mid-scene Star Wars music. What I think would help you most would be developing your melody with a more cohesive theme (maybe using period or sentence forms), then using it to create a simpler piano sketch. Having everything sketched out on one (or two for complex pieces) pianos/organs/accordions helps to have a clear vision of how much harmony is going on at once. Then you can orchestrate and double all you want to get the timbre you’re looking for. These are some of the most helpful videos I’ve found for this topic, from my favorite YouTube composer Ryan Leach: This one covers using just a basic 4 or 5 part writing sketch, then adding octave doublings to give it an epic feel. I really recommend only using 4-5 parts/pitches at a time for emotional purity. This will also help cut down on the mud/distortion: Next is an example of another young composer who was coached into writing a cinematic piece from a sketch. Then finally, “How to Orchestrate…” is the pro composer’s version, starting from a more complex 2-piano sketch. I hope that in giving high quality feedback, I might be able to receive high quality feedback when I post something:)

How does this actually work in the field? I’ve had/seen multiple arrangers say that as long as you’re not selling commercial recordings of the music, big companies won’t bat an eye. My HS Band Director arranged songs for MSU that were aired in National Television, and I assume many music students there do so. I haven’t heard anyone directly say that selling arrangements without copyright permission was treated as fine, but how would composers make nearly any money after hours of skilled labor when up to 50% can be claimed by the copyright holder, and up to 50% can be claimed by JW Pepper? Any referrals to actual MB Arrangers would be much appreciated, and thanks in advance:)

Hey, did you somehow get the MIDI playback to include pronouncing the words? I haven’t heard of a program that does that (Musescore only has “Choir Aahs” or “Choir Oohs”). If so, what program did you use?

This is so wonderful, and I think you composed the joyful/playful sections very well:)