November 13, 20214 yr I haven’t posted anything to a music forum in a long time, but I figured I’d share something I recently wrote. I’m a pianist, but I’ve been listening to a lot of guitar players lately. I decided it’d be interesting to turn the piano into a fake stringed instrument (in this case, a “mandolin”), supported by a fake orchestra. https://app.box.com/s/9o21auov75u3eq08eb10g73pg4qy8xxm Thoughts/comments/criticisms always appreciated! P.S. I am aware of the very cruelly-spelled C/Bb at 2:53-ish, but I thought it was funny, and I lacked motivation to change it, so I left it that way 🤣 EDIT: someone said the mp4 link above was giving them trouble, so here’s a YT link as well. Edited November 18, 20214 yr by SergeOfArniVillage Added YT link
November 18, 20214 yr Nice piece. The tremolo is a nice way to imitate the sound of a mandolin. It has a slightly neo-baroque feel. if the mandolin part can be played it would make a nice arrangement for small baroque orchestra
January 4, 20242 yr As an amateur mandolin player myself, I'm always intrigued by unique approaches to instrumentation. Turning the piano into a "mandolin" supported by a fake orchestra sounds like a creative and imaginative project.
January 20, 20242 yr Nice piece - kinda sounds like an interesting mix of Sibelius' thick, powerful chords and Debussy's jumpy, playful rhythms and melodies.
January 20, 20242 yr Author @Albayrak thank you! I also think it'd be interesting to hear what a literal orchestral representation of this would sound like. I looked at this through the lens of "something orchestrated being reduced", except in this case, the reduction comes first, so it'd be funny to hear it *actually* orchestrated! I have no clue what that would actually sound like. @murphybridget thank you! I actually had a lot of fun writing this piece. It's a completely different approach from what I normally do. @Aw Ke Shen that's a flattering comparison, I happen to really like both of those composers. They both had a unique way of expressing themselves.
January 22, 20242 yr On 1/21/2024 at 4:32 AM, SergeOfArniVillage said: @Albayrak thank you! I also think it'd be interesting to hear what a literal orchestral representation of this would sound like. I looked at this through the lens of "something orchestrated being reduced", except in this case, the reduction comes first, so it'd be funny to hear it *actually* orchestrated! I have no clue what that would actually sound like. @murphybridget thank you! I actually had a lot of fun writing this piece. It's a completely different approach from what I normally do. @Aw Ke Shen that's a flattering comparison, I happen to really like both of those composers. They both had a unique way of expressing themselves. You're most welcome, I truly enjoyed listening to your work.
January 23, 20242 yr G'day @SergeOfArniVillage, Wow, this is pretty cool! How would you say you practically approach imitating other instruments?
January 24, 20242 yr 22 hours ago, Quinn St. Mark said: G'day @SergeOfArniVillage, Wow, this is pretty cool! How would you say you practically approach imitating other instruments? He made the impossible possible.
January 27, 20242 yr This is an interesting piece. I like the imitation of the mandolin. I think my favorite section is that begining around 0:40 (and the later repetition of the same idea) with the imitation of flute and harp. On the other hand, if I were to level a criticism at the piece, it would be that the section beginning around 1:33 (with the "horn" part in block chords under the "mandolin") feels a little static. With real horns, I don't think this would be the case, as they could keep the interest up with small crescendi across the whole notes, but with just piano that texture gets perhaps just a little bit boring after several measures. That's a minor complaint, though. Overall, I liked it a lot!
January 29, 20242 yr I take your point about the section starting around 1:33 and the potential static feeling, especially considering the limitations of using piano for the "horn" part.
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