January 5, 201115 yr This is my (winning!!!!) entry for a composition competition in my university which asked for a 2 min long piece to serve as a theme to the studying of the 'palliative care needs (end of life) of children, young people, and their family's.' The keywords were: Upbeat, Clapping, Celebratory, Joyous, Children, Families, and Care. I didn't want to make it too cheesy in a way that disregarded the underlying serious nature of the topic, which is why I brought the texture down at the end of the piece rather than finishing with every instrument playing. It's not like me to write happy pieces, but I think I did a good job here of making something uplifting and memorable. Hope you like it, ill edit this page to say where I came in the competition after the 10th of Jan which is when they let us know. EDIT: VICTORY IS MINE! Handprints
January 16, 201115 yr Congratulations! Interesting topic choice. If they didn't give you those keywords, I would be lost at what to write. Piano could use a little less reverb. It gets in the way of your bongo drums a little. I think it covers your strings a bit too. The layering's pretty sweet. If you could bring the flute a tad closer to the centre like +24 it would be a lot more audible. If you turned it up too, that would be great! In the future, I think you can break up your piano ostinato a bit and return to it later. Say you repeat it 4 times, what about modulating to a new key with a new texture? I think the piece is even more joyous this way because the listener is being pleasantly surprised with your new material. Nice work, pilgrim! -John
January 16, 201115 yr Author Congratulations! Interesting topic choice. If they didn't give you those keywords, I would be lost at what to write. Piano could use a little less reverb. It gets in the way of your bongo drums a little. I think it covers your strings a bit too. The layering's pretty sweet. If you could bring the flute a tad closer to the centre like +24 it would be a lot more audible. If you turned it up too, that would be great! In the future, I think you can break up your piano ostinato a bit and return to it later. Say you repeat it 4 times, what about modulating to a new key with a new texture? I think the piece is even more joyous this way because the listener is being pleasantly surprised with your new material. Nice work, pilgrim! -John Thanks :D Ill bear your advice in mind for future things like this :)
