Symphony No. 1

True to the title, this is the first time I have really attempted to make a symphony. I'm not sure if it really is a symphony; if it is, it's a highly unusual one, but it does have about three movements including a scherzo. The instruments are, in no particular order (I didn't think to put them in concert order): Marimba, Acoustic Bass, Piano, Jazz Guitar, Vibraphone, Celesta, Strings, Cabasa, and Crash Cymbals. The piece lasts about 9 minutes and 40 seconds, and was written in Musescore 2 using the Compifont soundfont. I worked on it on and off for the past 2 weeks. The entire piece is of original composition, unless I somehow copied existing melodies without realizing it. In the mp3, there are popping sounds that I believe are caused by an issue with Musescore and the guitars.

The first movement is on the slow side, and transitions into the second movement which is the scherzo. The scherzo ends without transitioning into the third movement. The third movement is more or less the first movement, but in reverse. I didn't know how I wanted the third movement to go, but I did know I wanted to see how everything sounded in reverse. I went to a website that reverses midi files. The website kind of messed up some of the lengths of the notes, but that sounded interesting to me. I took what sounded the best, added some more things, and made the third movement.

I also drew a little logo on my phone to go along with it, since I also posted the piece on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cCfkm8Jsf0

Edited March 21, 20188 yr by kylebnjmnross
Explanation for popping sounds/ Added Youtube Link

PDF?

Here is the score. I didn't initially post one because it was a mess, so I had to completely rebuild it from scratch. It's still a mess from measure 175 onward, because the website that I used to reverse the notes ended up turning some of them into tuplets. I was forced to leave the tuplets in because it wouldn't have sounded the same without them.

Very smooth,  sometimes very relaxed, a touch of jazz. btw interesting instrumentation. (The vibraphone is nice!) You're right, however, that the score is a bit of a mess. It would be difficult for an orchestra to use. I'm not sure if all the changes in time signature are really necessary, especially between 2/4 and 4/4. 

Thanks for sharing!

Thank you so much for your feedback.

I posted the score on Reddit, and someone pointed out to me that the very first chord the vibraphone plays has five notes in it. I didn't even notice that this whole time; it was meant to only have four notes.