Joseph H.

Hi everybody. I know this forum is primarily focused on composition, but I am doing some research for my master's degree and I wanted to get some of your opinions on the finest schools for conducting in the USA (and in Europe as well), both conservatory and non-conservatory. Somewhere with a lot of podium/rehearsal time would be ideal... Thanks!

I agree with Jamie. For me, Finale is for after the piece is already done. Then, I will do playback a couple times and listen for typos, but as far as the music? Trust yourself, not the playback. There are many times where playback sounds lousy but with live performers, it sounds exactly as you intended it.

I am interested in film scoring too. Right now, I would save money, go to a large university, and do a B.M. in composition first (which I am doing currently). That way you have a real degree to build anything else off of (such as business or law. It's good to know the business end). Then go to either USC, UCLA, or Berklee as a graduate to make connections and learn the specifics of film scoring. But first, learn the craft.

This sounds interesting...I wish I could but I'm working on 2 big projects already, which have deadlines....

I think that for a first symphony this is great. I still haven't written a symphony. I need more work in quartets and chamber writing before I'd even consider attempting one. That said, my criticism is this: your piece needs counterpoint. It needs lines. It needs to be guided not by the chords but by the lines. Chords will result from the way that the lines collide. Sometimes they will be beautiful. Other times, if you want, they will create tension. This will create interesting harmonies and tension and relaxation. All great music is a careful balance of tension and relaxation.

Come on, get real. He is a brilliant composer and he has his own voice. Like someone else said, you can instantly tell John Williams from someone trying to imitate him. "he should not be called a film composer because all he does is take other things and arrange them for the big screen. None of it is original." OK. What did he copy from on this, then?

The xylophone thing he has been doing a lot more in recent years...I don't like it either. I think JW's film output from 1975 to 1985 was brilliant, though. How can you not love this stuff? YouTube - 1979 - Dracula: Main Titles and Storm The other great thing is that he inspired a lot of people and got a lot of young people hooked on classical music... And if you want to be fair, don't look at the movie "Star Wars"- in that case George Lucas made him stick closely with the temp track.

OK, I think I see now. Thanks everyone for the help!

No, not at all. Load it on. That's why I asked the question. The backing in the clip I posted didn't strike me as New Orleans, although it definitely has that flavor now that I listen to it again. I guess I need to do some research on the diff. styles of New Orleans jazz...I'm still not completely clear on the stylistic differences between them....

OK, thanks. I've heard Dixieland before, but wasn't sure if this was it. Thanks!

Hi everyone, Does anyone know what style of music backing in the first song in this video is? I know it's some kind of jazz but I really like it and I'd like to do a couple arrangements in the style. Thanks! Joseph

I have perfect pitch and for most things, it is incredibly useful and a great tool. In other ways, it is a drawback. Instruments like French Horn and saxophone (and trumpet and clarinet to a lesser extent) are extremely hard to read if not impossible, because our brains cannot reconcile the difference in the sound and the note on the page. In other words, when I press the fingering for a "D" and a note other than "D" comes out, our system crashes. While other people will accept a "C" as a clarinet "D", we can't do that....because we know better. We know that what we are really playing is a "C." So in playing transposing instruments, perfect pitch is a massive drawback. Of course, all this could be avoided if parts for every instrument were available in concert pitch. Unfortunately that's not the case. Now I'm a little confused, because I'm reading about people trying to learn perfect pitch. I didn't think true perfect pitch could be learnt. Even if you train yourself to be able to recall "C" without reference, you are still getting other notes based upon the "C" you remember. Those of us with perfect pitch hear and identify every note immediately without even thinking.

Thanks for your comments. I think all music majors have to take aural training through level 6. From the syllabus: AURAL TRAINING VI Objective: To develop the student

German is a particularly painful language to learn. The only other one that comes close is English.

Hi all. I'm entering college in less than two weeks, and one of the things I want to do is to place out of all the ear training courses so that I can take other classes and make better use of my time there. I have perfect pitch and I'll be using the fixable do system, because that's easier for me to learn. My question was just for anyone who has gone through all of their aural training classes: what are the hardest types of things you would be expected to do at the end of aural training 6 (the final course)? I want to make sure I'm fully prepared to place out of these exams. I've looked around but I can't find any sample finals on the net, and the only syllabi I can find aren't specific, or all they do is talk about the MacGuffin program (not sure what this program covers) Thanks a lot. This will be a huge help if anyone can give me some pointers. -Joe

Thank you for your comments Punkititi and Clark:) And thank you for the advice to more clearly denote pedaling. I was about as vague as you can get. I will definitely pay more attention to that in the future. I did make a quick recording on the acoustic piano using my laptop's internal mike. It's on the first page, but here is the link again: MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service I'm glad you liked the piece. Thank you again:)

Yes, I had this same problem trying to run Finale 2006 on Vista. Then again, I've had problems trying to run just about ANYTHING on Vista. What a crappy operating system...

I kind of agree with this. It is a hard piece to comment on because there are a lot of different styles going on. Very eclectic. I do like the piece, but perhaps some more unity or a more coherent style throughout might have benefited it. Maybe not.... I liked it though:)

I was in a very similar situation. I have played the piano practically my whole life, but I'm not interested in being a concert pianist; I'm obsessed with film and I want to be a film composer, despite the risks. At the advice of the department, I am double-majoring in composition and piano performance. It made sense in my case because since piano was my main instrument, there was a lot of overlap. So really for only a few more credit hours more it seemed foolish not to. But every program is different. Either way, definitely don't drop the piano. Continue to study:)

I like these pieces a lot. Great job. Nice voice leading, nice melodies, and what is best is that these sound not just like exercises but true music- not boring and predictable. I really have no criticism- all 7 are beautiful.

"Allegro Barbaro" is not my favorite piano piece, but what you did with the orchestration here is wonderful and gives it a lot more subtlety than the original piece. I especially like the way you use the reeds and the other winds as well. Very very nice job.

Thanks very much for the feedback. I hate the MIDI; it is nothing like how the piece should sound. I didn't even want to post it. There is rubato in the wrong spots, too long pauses, no dynamics like you said, etc. I will try to make a quick recording myself on the piano and get it up by the end of today. Thanks again:) ---------- EDIT: I found a piano and made a quick recording: Prelude Thanks again for your comments.

OK, no problem. Sorry for my impatience. Thanks for your response. I will review other folk's pieces as well. I just feel that, being new here, I don't know how qualified I would be to critique other people's work. But I will give a try. Thanks:)

Lyrics aside, the song sounds like funk from the 70s. Which is not a bad thing. Don't know if that's what you were going for....

That bad, huh?