Just Like RainDrops

hey party people..this is my only fully completed choral peice so i hold it close.I've tried something new that i have seen before in choral music and put in a spoken text part. i re posted it because i may have a chance of recording this soon and i really really want to fix any tweaks or things wrong about it. I Need anybody to comment this tell me what they think and even if someones said it already say it anyway so i'll know how important it is.. please. I wouldn't go anywhere but here for help. thanks a lot

i've posted the pdf,mus,and the audio on the link below.

please tell me wat you think about it.

Just Like Raindrops.mp3 - File Shared from Box.net - Free Online File Storage

Chorus.pdf

Just Like Raindrops.MUS

im very excited to hear it, ill listen to it later tomorrow.

I liked it. It was very playful and fun. It seemed at the last two pages it lost its tonal center I dont know if thats what you were going for, but overall I enjoyed it.

Upon one listen, here's my knee-jerk reaction. There's a way to notate speaking, and putting a lyric under a rest is not it. That was rather confusing at first. But it looks like an interesting idea that could be used well.

For those most part, I thought the melodies and harmonies were enjoyable, went fun places, though lacked focus in some points and felt to be wandering.

My biggest thing, and it seemed you only did this in the alto part, but you had them singing WAY too high. Altos up there hitting Fs and Gs? That's got to be re-written, or split the soprano part, but that's way to high to have altos singing. Give them something rich and round to sing under the sopranos. I love that the song starts with alto, right in a good resonating spot, but then you take them all the way up there... not gonna be pretty.

It's very mono-rhythmic, even with the addition of the triplets, and while I understand that it will be somewhat remedied with live performance, it's still something to watch out for. I'd go back and revisit your words. You have a part where you have the tenors come in on the second syllable of "precious," which would work much better as the word "Just" - same vowel, and it makes sense with the line.

High G in the alto line? That'd require a solo-choir with opera mezzos to do. Your average choral alto will not be able to sing that blended. In fact, the whole alto line runs up pretty high. It'd be much better to add a second-soprano part, rather than pull the 1st altos up so much.

You have several moments of beautiful and surprising harmonies. However, you also have these moments where the texture thins very suddenly, with little or no relation to the text that I can see. Consider these carefully.

thanks alot guy i will surely make changes

The G in the alto as well as the high C in the soprano are both probably too high, though the latter you might be able to pull off. Also, you have some weird doublings that seem to have no purpose in spots - like in measure 38, you have the soprano split into divisi to hit a note the altos are already hitting, on the same syllable even. That seems to just be...sloppy is the word that comes to mind. Perhaps you had a purpose for that, but it is definitely not apparent.

And I just noticed the Eb above the staff in the bass - also probably too high. Try to keep all voices but alto within one ledger line above and below the staff. That's certainly not the hard-and-fast rule, but it's a decent estimate most of the time.

thanks a lot dev I don't know why i did that split i just feel like it should be.

and i've been getting a lot of response about the range of the perts and where i take them so i'll be sure to change that

and what did you mean by "through the latter"?

though the latter - as in, the second thing I mentioned - the high C - might be acceptable depending on the choir.

o okay thanks a lot

Unfortunately I can only go by the score. My biggest concerns are the following:

Check how your lyrics align with the notes. Seems notes missing for text. Second, dynamics and tempi above notes for vocal parts so that the vocalist can read the words easily. Also, when you have an e flat in your key signatutre, you do not require a D# UNLESS you are moving to e natural and implying a tonal shift. Third, I think there will be a problem with "love of" around mm 59 - 61. Love is a dipthong which with the word "of" may sound like a stutter. Fourth sing all of your lines! It seems in some sections you did in others you didn't . One of the most important things about writing vocally --- even if you aren't a vocalist, at least you will get a rough sense what is difficult and what is easy.

I understand what ur saying....thanks a lot..you've pointed out some things i really need to fix..and i will most definatley sing my lines over

Hey tariq,

Nice stuff and ideas here. Some score isses though. Watch the crowding of the staves, make sure they dont overlap. Also, the note head for spoken text is an x, look on fianle to try to find it. Finally, dynamic for singers always go above the staff. :).

A lot of the chords are nice, like everyone has been saying the alto line is say to high. Consider some revoicing of the chords. Some of the chords around mes. 47 were a little sudden for me. The end as well was really sudden and abrupt, i dont i just felt weird.

Other than that pretty nice.

Thanks scott i'll be sure to apply all of the necesary adjustment thanks a lot man

You did a good job on this piece. The harmonies flow very nicely and since I am a bit of a harmony nut, kudos for you! The lyrics were well written and I liked how they were sung at differing moments. However, like myself all too often, you have gotten yourself in a bit of a dreamy, slow rut. The whole song flows wonderfully, but there is nothing standing out from the piece. Music is tension and release, so while there is release in 'Raindrops', there is very little tension. Overall, though, this is an excellant piece of work. Great work!

thanks a lot hefree. I see what your saying that nothing stands out ...but could you explain urself as far as "tenision" ....but still thanks a lot

what i mean by tension is that some parts should hold a bit of suspense to keep the audience interested. then that suspense should be released, relaxing the listener. think of an action movie, the scenes where the hero is about to die some grotesque death keep the viewers on the edge of their seats, but then he saves the day and the audience feels relieved, yet satisfied. Music should be the same way, although, depending on the song, maybe less melodramatic, get my point? Did I clarify for you?

ues now i get it..thanks a lot i'll be sure to revise ..thanks a lot everyone is picking up on something different and it will help me a lot

my last comment was really tariq talkng,

i hate the school computers... lol

thanks scott...could anyone give me a place in which they feel that the song seems to lose direction

Please give advice for recording coming up people..please!!

Just one more thing about the voicing. In the last measure you have the second tenors singing lower than the basses. There's no reason why that should be, in my opinion. I would have the tenors sing the D and the F and the baritone and bass sing the B and the A. The D sharp when the key is in B flat. Voicings are just weird

In a couple of places - like the tenors in m. 16 - you have a note that doesn't fill the measure but no rests following it, like a dotted half note in 4/4 time with no quarter rest.

That doesn't effect much and is really just for cleanliness sake and to make it less confusing, but there it is.

In m. 25, in the alto part, you have the singers sing the second syllable of a word but not the first. This isn't really breaking any rules but it's generally good to have singers sing complete words and or phrases.

m. 31-34 in the tenor part, you have the lyrics above the staff...why?

m. 38 the soprano drops below the alto

Whenever a syllable is sung on more than one note, like in m. 43 the tenors, you need to put a slur connecting those notes. M. 43 is not the only place you didn't do this

m. 47 in the alto part, those 32nd notes may work better as grace notes, but that may or may not work with what you ha din mind. Just a suggestion.

I quite like the chord progression in 48-49

m. 64, in the bass part, the third note you have "lovelove" as the lyric there - was that intentional?

altos in m. 65 have "LOve" - again, was this intentional?

m. 76 you have "Lon ging" which should probably be "Long-ing"

Also in m. 76 the altos go above the sopranos

reiterating that the last measure's bass/tenor part needs fixing.