A Symphonic Overture

Its Finished :)

A Symphonic Overture

I really liked this! There were some weird doublings (upper winds and bari sax?) i think some of those runs would have been better suited for the alto since they have a more similar timbre. Unless you wanted the high-low timbre contrasts which is what some composers such as Robert W. Smith like to do! Good job, you seem very good at writing and this is a great piece!

I like the opening rhythmic idea, very effective. I'll write more soon... laptop battery dying.

Hey, glad to see you're still writing, I thought you had left for a while!

Anyways, there are some great moments in this song, I especially loved the fast woodwind parts, and the intense ostinatos you created. The one main concern I have with this is your slim orchestration. You won't get the proper build-up you're looking for at places like 60 with just clarinets and horns (and some alto). And with that slim orchestration came the bad use of some of the band. I feel you used way too much horn, alto and clarinet, and left out instruments such as tuba, tenor sax, oboe - even trumpet except in tutti sections. So if you go through and add some more doubles and harmonies like you did so well at the beginning of the piece, I think this would turn out great. Nice work - 9/10.

Thank you everyone, well what im trying to do with small orchestration, is when the brass come in blairing at forte its supposed to be instant and big

I love this! 9/10! Some things keep it from being a 10, but it's very close. I agree with Impresario with the slim orchestration. I have problems myself with expanding my score out among different instruments, but try to spread things out to different instruments. Just listening wise, I would rate this a 10/10. I was very much into the music, and I was bobbing my head along. Nice piece!

Sounds a lot like band pieces of the slightly older years. John Barnes Chance's Dance from "Incantation and Dance" comes to mind.

First off, the piece is WAY too short. Its underdeveloped, especially in the fast section. You could have really gone for some wacky and crazy awesomeness but didn't. It thus felt terribly unsatisfying to me. I also think your final coda sounded silly with it so fast. The sudden introduction of 16th notes was quite abrupt and unexpected. There were also some orchestration errors (bassoons can only go down to low Bb, not A). I thought there was a bit too much copy + paste. By the third time I heard those opening bars exactly like they were every time, I was tired of them. Vary it up a little.

Notational problems: trombone and euph should NEVER share the same staff. Trumpets 2 and 3 should also be combined. The percussion parts aren't marked very well at all. Everything has to be very specific there.

I think the best part was by far the middle fast section with the upper wind solos and alto sax solo. It was very effective with the driving rhythm beneath and a cool melody to sit on top of it.

Do revise this and keep it up! :)

this is probably the nicest review i've seen tokke give in a while. (besides "adagio")

feel honored!

A. Bassoons can't go that low

B. Your best idea, the opening motive w/ the clarinet, should be the focus of this piece, rather than a refrain that is copy-pasted three times. The piece feels extremely sectional, rather than a single idea being developed. There isn't any flow from section to section, it really is like a verse-chorus structure. I'd cut the slow sections and toss them into the "ideas for other pieces" pile, then try to extract as much as you can from that one clarinet motive.

C. What's with Trombone and Euphonium on the same staff? Whaaa?

D. The staff labeled "percussion" - uhh, which percussion? The other three percussion staves are fine, albeit a bit cluttered, but you've given no indication of what instrument you intend "percussion" to be, much less which beater/mallet/stick to use. Plus, you use different notes, presumably different instruments, but with no labels at all. No matter what the playback sounds like, know this - there is no standard for percussion notation, you must clearly label EVERYTHING.