Trumpetman252

A very nice piece. I really enjoyed the beginning! It flows very well, and even reminds me of Vincent Persichetti's music. You seem to have a good sense of harmony. However, although I can understand that you want to "focus on the sounds," the purpose of music is to be performed. It is a language that uses sound (not the Finale Softsynth sounds :P) as its medium, so, if you do not write within the ranges of the instruments, or if a certain lick is completely impractical, etc., then the chances of a performance greatly diminish. Without performances (the sources of the sound), there is no music. There are only dots and lines on a page. When a composer says, "I'm writing music," what he really means is this: "I am putting a set of instructions onto a piece of paper that will tell the performers which sounds to make." The sounds are the music, not the symbols. The computer can interpret these symbols to a degree, but the piece would be less likely to have a life outside of your computer. That said, the piece fits together quite nicely, sound-wise. It strikes me as being a simple song of contentment. Well done! Are you a woodwind player?

Sounds really cool! Very good use of rhythm and counterpoint (jazzy rhythms seem to pervade all of your music). The independent parts work very well together, and I particularly enjoyed the bell-tones. The piece sounds like an eclectic blend of pop/rock and contemporary concert music! The only issues that I found were these (these have more to do with personal taste than with any "hard rules"): 1.) At times (usually where the low brass have sustained low notes), the rhythm seems to kind of "plod along" without much variety. Adding some counterpoint, or even just putting some rhythmic accents or syncopations in those parts would really make it dance more. 2.) Near the end, when the saxophones play the motive again, it gets lost because you have orchestrated too thickly in the brass instruments. You might consider having the brass put in mutes in sections where this is the case, or possibly having just one player per part, or even reorchestrating it so that the low woodwinds have the background figures instead. 3.) The ending didn't seem to have enough build-up. It seems like you just kind of threw an ending in there because you had to. :P It is really a very fun piece of music. It sounds like it could be used for a variety of events, as well (marching shows in particular). I think it would be really cool if Symphonic Band would perform it!

Hehe, yeah I made the switch to Sibelius last semester. With Finale, it felt like I was drawing the music onto the page, but Sibelius feels more like a word processor; I can just type it in, so it is much faster! I used a sample library I bought last semester called EastWest/Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra (EWQLSO) to get the sounds, and used a sequencer called SONAR 8 to do the editing. I'm still learning how to use them, though. I highly recommend it. :)

It's called aleatoric music, although I'm not sure if that's what you meant. Do you mean the "real" name for it, or the name that Sibelius gives to it? I basically just went to the line tool and selected the box, and then resized it to encompass the entire measure, and then used the thick, squiggly line to cover the rest of the measures (just a bunch of click-and-drag). Did that answer your question? :P

Hehe, this is an old piece that I posted a while ago. I would definitely agree with everything you said; I just need to give the player some room to breathe. I'll definitely look at that flute/percussion piece! Seems like an interesting ensemble.

Hmmm...OK. The idea was basically to have a "shimmery" effect in the background, so I suppose any kind of fast, liquid, high-range harmonics would do. Although perhaps I notated it incorrectly; I was trying to tell the player to play all of the overtones of the A string. Have I not written it the right way? Good luck with that repertoire, those are difficult pieces for sure! Thanks for the advice. :)

Wow, thanks! Glad you liked it. I wrote it for Morteza Rabii (you may have heard the name) and John Bond (a very talented pianist), and it will probably get performed some time next semester (hopefully I can finish the other movements by then). By the way, I really liked your flute piece! Wish I could have heard it live. Are you getting anything performed on the May 7 Composers Guild concert?

Haha! That happens to me as well! You?

Sorry to sound impatient! Not trying to come across that way at all. I see what you mean about the harmonics. Are you a cellist yourself? As for the titles, I guess I'm kind of a mystic (I see scenes and colors in my head as I write music; it's part of my technique), but since it seems a little cheesy I might shorten the titles to something like "Flight" or "Rainforest" or something along those lines. Thanks!

Bump. Would appreciate some critiques, please. Thanks a lot! :)

Hmm....Eugene Bozza's "Caprice" and Joseph Turrin's "Caprice" are both great pieces.

A good start, although I would have to agree that a triple-stop for the cello is a bit difficult to play on those pitches. I would say that you have a good first theme here. Although you've said this is an intro, it would probably seem to the audience to be more like an actual opening melody, so you might want to develop it as such. With some alteration, parts of it might even work in canon (with the answer on the fourth beat of the measure, if you're using the motive from the first 2 measures). Also, the block chords in the cello make the piece seem very static. While this can be a cool effect sometimes (I've used that myself), it seems like this passage needs some counterpoint in the cello and viola, even if they just arpeggiate the chord on 8th-notes (or, perhaps a legato, syncopated countermelody might do the trick?). I think this would add motion to the music without making it lose the effect you seem to be trying to achieve. I would love to see the rest of the piece when it is finished!

A very well-written piece. You seem to know the instrument quite well, although I can see what you mean when you say that that was not the way you personally would have performed it! I thought you did a good job fo capturing the feeling of loneliness. The only part of the piece that might need some fixing would be the ending. You recap your motives, but they seem to go by too quickly (perhaps they are too short?) for the audience to recognize them, so the ending feels a little abrupt. Just my 2 cents. :)

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't posted on these boards for a while! Anyway, here is the first movement of a four-movement work for 'cello and piano that I'm writing for a couple of friends. Each movement depicts a different scene that played out in my head as I wrote the piece. The first movement, "Mythical Rainforest With Birds," depicts a very bright, pastoral setting within a forest. A stream can be heard flowing in the distance, as well as quiet birdsong. Small "droplets" of brilliant white light float around, and the landscape and sky outside of the forest are pure and serene. I have the concepts/images in my head for the other movements, which I will probably compose over the summer if I have time. NOTE: The audio file is far from perfect. I'm still learning how to use EWQLSO and SONAR 8, so please don't judge the piece based on how the computer plays it. Thanks for listening. :) Sound: Forest.mp3 Score: Mythical Rainforest PDF3.pdf

Although I can appreciate the desire to write a piece that challenges the performer, the Bb trumpet is generally rather squeaky and dry in its extreme ranges (although some jazz trumpeters can play very high with no problem at all). The range of this piece makes it rather impractical to perform. Also, why have you notated everything as if it is in 6/8 time? You've written the piece in 3/4, but your 8th-notes are grouped in 3s rather than in 2s (or, you could just group all 6 of them together). Although beaming them in 3s is OK if you want a hemiola effect (a la Stravinsky), it really does sound like your beat emphasis is 1-&-2-&-3-&, rather than 1-2-3-4-5-6. As far as the tune goes, the melody is very nicely put together, an the harmonies and counterpoint seem to work very well. Good job. :)

I quite enjoyed this piece. Your use of awkward rhythms and time signatures really gives the piece a kind of "off-ness," but without alienating an audience. Your form is also interesting, although in some ways I would agree with Bolanos. Perhaps, instead of simply repeating the theme, you could radically reorchestrate it each time so that it sounds completely different. At measure 49 (the osinati on the clarinets), I'm wondering if muted trumpets might give you the "insistent" effect that you are looking for. Frankly, clarinets don't do accents as well as brass instruments. Horns might work as well, but they might be a little too dark for that section. In some sections (can't remember which ones), it might be interesting to makethe timpani more active as well. Keep working on it, it's got potential. :)

Hey, I enjoyed your use of minimalistic elements and rhythm in the piece. You seem to have a very good grasp of rhythmic counterpoint and ostinato technique! I really like how the different parts played off of each other. Particularly near the end of the piece (measure 92 comes to mind), your 16ths are beamed a little strangely. Normally, they should be grouped in 4s, rather than in 2s with just one beam to connect the groups. It sounds the same but is a bit more performer-friendly. At measure 63, also, the beaming is a litle inconsistent (you have the 1st Marimba grouped in 2s, but the Xylophone grouped in 4s). The rhythm at measure 58 in the Marimba parts is written in a bit of a quirky way and might not be easy to read. Re-notate it maybe? Just my thoughts. I really enjoyed the piece overall!

Thanks! The slow intro is really only there because the performers asked me to write it, but I agree it probably needs some spicing up. maybe I could make a mysterious intro with muted sforzando effects? Like echoes? Thanks for the comments. I'll look at those pieces you recommended!

Perfect Pitch Ear Training SuperCourse: Name Notes & Chords by EAR. This product has helped me a lot with both perfect pitch and relative pitch, and although I don't have a fully-developed absolute pitch yet, I can distinguish pitches enough that I can tell if someone is out of tune without needing a reference (it just "sounds wrong" or "a little off"). It's rather expensive, but if you've got the cash it's well worth the time it takes to develop it.

Thanks everyone for the comments! I'll do some editing and hopefully get it cleaned up by the end of the week. Hey Jason! Sorry about the sound link, I just fixed it. For some reason the MIDI file cuts off the very last note... What are you writing right now?

Anyone? I would really appreciate some feedback on this. Thanks! :)

Beautiful job! I really liked how you used added-note and extended tertian chords, and I thought the piece really conveyed a sense of wonder. I don't know much about scoring for choir, but the only part that I had a problem with was the section in which you started using 8th-note triplets. They seemed a bit out-of-character with the rest of the piece and kind of gave a "what the heck?" feeling. Other than that, I really enjoyed it. Please post more stuff! :thumbsup:

This seems to work very well for strings and is very playable. The melodies and your harmonic language are very effective but still simple enough to hear. This would probably be a good piece for a junior high/high school string ensemble because of its playability. Just one question, though: the double bass plays back as pizzicato. Is this an audio or MIDI error? If you want it pizzicato (plucked), you have to write "pizz." in the score. :thumbsup: Also, you might consider experimenting with some different harmonies, as it seems that your style is stagnating a little (I've listened to your orchestra pieces as well). Although your harmonic and melodic language makes sense and is easy to understand, you might try listening to some Bartok, Barber, or Stravinsky (especially Barber) to get some more ideas. Also, check out Vincent Persichetti's book "Twentieth Century Harmony." I've been using it in my composition lessons and it is working wonders. My style has matured incredibly since I started doing the exercises in it and I think it will help your musical language to evolve as well! This might also help you spice up your melodies, since sometimes the audience likes to have a "curveball" thrown at them. Other than that it's quite a nice little piece. Keep 'em coming! :)

Hey guys, I haven't posted on here in a while. Anyway, a couple of friends asked me to write them a trumpet duet to take to a contest and this was what I came up with. The problem is, I'm really not very happy with how it turned out, but I can't quite figure out how to change it for the better. I'm a college student studying music composition so this is rather embarassing, although I'm a bit of a neophyte at composition I suppose. What really made this project harder than writing for band/orchestra was that it was for high school students and (2) that I couldn't use complete chords since I only had two instruments to work with. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks in advance! SOUND: http://www.mediafire.com/?jrnnaytytfm EDIT: I just realized that there was something wrong with the MIDI file. I don't know how to fix it, so please take the sound with a grain of salt! SCORE: A Short Piece for Two Trumpets PDF SCORE.pdf

Jimmy, is this OK? I was writing something else, but it's not going onto the page very well and I won't be able to finish it by the Jan. 16 deadline. Here's something I wrote in high school, and it's actually an extract from a larger piece. I know it's short, but you said you wanted a nice beautiful melody so I thought this might fit the bill. :) Let me know if there's anything you want changed. SOUND: II. LamentREAL.WAV SCORE: LamentPDF2.pdf EDIT: I forgot to write "Cup Mute" in the score originally, haha. II. Lament PDF.pdf