Mockingjay

This is my second completed composition; my first attempt at writing for a large ensemble. I composed it for my high school band, and we performed it last Friday as part of our spring concert (I don't have a good quality recording yet). I'd love to hear your comments on and critiques of my work! Legend (REVISED)

This piece was very interesting to listen to. I enjoyed it in spite of the fact that the style is completely foreign to me (I mostly listen to film music and classical music in styles such as those of Beethoven and Chopin). I particularly liked the allegro melody starting at measure 150. The andante section also stood out to me. For some reason the first 149 measures were less appealing to me than the second half of the song, but I'm not certain why (as I said, I'm not at all familiar with this kind of music). It's not that I disliked measures 1 - 149, it's just that after a while it started to drag a little bit. Nice work! :happy: Edit: ...I'm listening to it a second time, and I'm liking the first half of the song much better on the second listen...

@Peter - The major chord felt out of place to me, so I recommended the minor. I didn't really have a technical reason for it.

Nice work Alpha Orchestra! I enjoyed listening to this. However, since there is no score available and I'm not very familiar with this style I can't comment more than to say it was entertaining to listen to.

Beautiful piece Elizabeth! I really enjoyed listening to it. The two recommendations I have are basically echoes of other reviewers: change up the left hand a little bit rather than just arpeggios and change the final arpeggio to a minor chord rather than major. Both of those recommendations are merely personal taste though, not really necessary. Excellent work!

Thank you, MF. I'm glad you liked it! Yes, it is written specifically for my band (which is currently missing a Tuba and tenor sax). I'm not sure what type of trumpets my band has - I mistakenly thought C was the standard...haha. I think I remember seeing "Trumpet in C" on our conductor's scores, so I'm not sure...I'll ask the band director next Thursday. Although this first version is written specifically for my band, I'm planning on writing a version for full concert band or orchestra at some point in the future. I really like some of the themes I came up with, so I would like to develop them more sometime.

Hello everyone, This is one of the first compositions I've written (and by far the longest and most heavily orchestrated). 01 Victorious.mp3 Victorious.pdf I'm going to have it played by my high-school band in about a month, so that's how much time I have to complete it. As of right now, the first four pages and the last four/five pages are nearly finished (the ending is not). The five or six pages in the middle of the piece are quite skeletal and need work. I've been working on this quite a bit for the last couple weeks, so I'm going to take about a week's break from it and work on some other compositions. This will give me a chance to hear it with a (relatively) clear mind, since I won't have been listening to it constantly. Criticism is welcome. I'd love to hear your opinions on the piece and/or recommendations for it. Feel free to be harsh - as I said, this is one of my first compositions, and there are probably at least a few blunders that need correcting. Also, do you have any ideas for another title - I'm not sure if I like my current one. Thanks :happy: , Micah

Hello, There are three dashes which go diagonally across the stem of each note you want to be rolled. If you own finale, they will be in the list of symbols. Good luck with your composing!

That depends on your dedication and talent. If you practice for five hours a day, skipping meals and such to practice, you could be playing well quite soon. As in maybe a year. On the other hand, if you are like me* and on occasion devote 30 minutes of your precious time on earth to practicing your skills, it will take a considerably longer time. As in maybe seven years. Film scores tend to be fairly simple arrangements, so it shouldn't take more than two or three years to be able to play them fairly easily if you practice consistently. Micah *I play at an intermediate/early advanced level, but I have been playing the piano since I was almost 8. I'm 15 now. ;)

So, is it OK to still do all the notation in Finale, then upload the midi to Reaper for dynamics? Or should I notate the piece in Finale, and then copy it note by note to Reaper?

I think I would like to have Chopin's Nocturne in C minor. Or maybe his "Raindrop" prelude. Or maybe "The Breaking of the Fellowship," by Howard Shore (Lord of the Rings). Or maybe Jupiter by Holst. Or maybe... So many songs to choose from, only one funeral... =P Anyway, I suppose that when I become a more skilled composer, I will probably compose a song or two that would be fitting for my funeral.

My original idea was just to add another set of competitions, but it doesn't really make a difference to me. Either way would be fine. I'm newly returning to YC (after a small amount of activity over a year ago), so I'm just suggesting a setup I thought may help result in regular competitions with more participants - and therefore a higher level of competition - than the current monthly competitions. If my idea catches on and people decide they'd like to try it and see how it goes, I'm perfectly OK with those who have more experience with competitions than I do deciding the final rules, scoring deadlines, etc. of the competition. Micah

@ Peter W. You may be right that three months is a bit long for a competition, and I would have no problem with a bimonthly competition. However, it seems to me that a month, although technically plenty of time to write an excellent work, winds up not being enough time because of school, work, other compositions, etc. After reading your comment, I agree that my judging guidelines were too confining. What would your recommendation be for a set of scoring guidelines? The one thing I disagree with you about is the voting. Yes, we run the risk of winding up with the same ensemble for each competition, but if that increases the amount of participants, I think it would be worth it. Also, I really don't think that people will vote for the same ensemble over and over. If I had just spent two months crafting a piece for string orchestra, I would probably vote for brass choir or something I hadn't just been working with. Micah

The styling constraints can be removed - I just thought it might help the judges by giving the compositions something in common other than instrumentation.

Well, it would be similar to the monthly competitions. The only difference is that it would take place over longer time periods (giving more time for quality works to be crafted, as well as making it easier to make sure we can run the competitions correctly and effectively), and the instrumentation for the competition would be chosen by popular vote rather than by one person a month, who may or may not have an idea that people care to compose for. This may result in more competitors for each competition. I've read several replies from composers saying that they don't want to compete since the time is so limited in the monthly competitions. I also think that several competitors wind up dropping out of the monthly competitions due to unfinished compositions.