I’d like to ask whether my composition skills are strong enough to work professionally as a composer for instrumental music.

I’d like to ask whether my composition skills are strong enough to work professionally as a composer for instrumental music.

I don’t know how to use a DAW at all, so please exclude DAW-related skills from the evaluation criteria.

I originally worked in manufacturing, but due to a lack of overall cognitive ability, I can no longer continue that work, so I’m trying to make money by composing instrumental music

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by Scriabinian

Good day,

I had a listen to your work. It would really help providing info on your inspiration, intentions etc. Evidently - at least from the title - this is program music. What is everlasting Hegemony?

Regarding the music itself, it is of a medium that I do not understand and as such I am in no position to judge its quality. That said, from the perspective of my personal medium (tonal music/common practice) I struggle to hear anything memorable. The music sounds like a continuous mass of crunchy chords without much pause at all or distant melody. This is a problem for me at least. I prefer art with clarity and a relatable structure.

This piece is dedicated to the veterans, and to the countries that offered their support, who extended a helping hand to Korea during times of hardship—particularly the United States, as well as nations that provided assistance through the United Nations and NATO. The work was composed as an expression of gratitude for their sacrifice and support.

Many listeners have mentioned that the piece comes across as a continuous mass of dense, abrasive chords without a clear melody, and that they find this difficult to engage with. I understand this reaction and recognize that such a texture can be challenging for some audiences. From my perspective, however, the absence of a single, dominant melodic line was an intentional compositional choice, rooted in the conceptual framework of the work. That said, I am open to the possibility that this decision may still present musical issues that I have overlooked. I would therefore appreciate your perspective on whether the perceived density and lack of a clear melody pose structural or expressive problems within the piece, independent of individual stylistic preference. Thank you very much for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Thank you very much for your advice. Many of the people around me are not confident in their ability to judge music, so I truly needed the perspective of someone with a well-trained ear.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Scriabinian

9 minutes ago, Scriabinian said:

This piece is dedicated to the veterans, and to the countries that offered their support, who extended a helping hand to Korea during times of hardship—particularly the United States, as well as nations that provided assistance through the United Nations and NATO. The work was composed as an expression of gratitude for their sacrifice and support.

From a compositional perspective, I deliberately refrained from establishing a single principal melody. My objective was to distribute musical weight as evenly as possible across all instruments, thereby preventing any one part from dominating the overall texture. Accordingly, the absence of a clear leading line is not accidental, but a conscious artistic decision that aligns with the conceptual foundation of the piece.

Many people have said that the piece sounds like a continuous mass of dense, abrasive chords without a clear melody, and that this is problematic for them. Since evaluations differ from person to person, I wanted to ask and get another opinion.

Is it objectively correct that the piece is problematic because it sounds like a continuous mass of dense, abrasive chords without a clear melody?

Thank you very much for your advice. Many of the people around me are not confident in their ability to judge music, so I truly needed the perspective of someone with a well-trained ear.

With respect, your reply reads like something generated by AI. And I really wouldn't be surprised if the music was in fact AI generated.

It asks a good question, though: "Is it objectively correct that the piece is problematic because it sounds like a continuous mass of dense, abrasive chords without a clear melody?"

I did not suggest that my position was objective. I made it clear that I was coming from a perspective influenced by personal taste and training.

The atonal and textual messiness without clear direction or distinct character in this work is unlikely to become more than an intellectual curiosity that only you can only possibly understand. This is not objectively problematic, but when you consider the taste of your audience, it can become so if it does not align with broader aesthetic taste. A composer that does not need to care about that is surely privileged but not of much value to the experience of others.

And this inadvertently circles back to your question: "[are] my composition skills are strong enough to work professionally as a composer for instrumental music". In the professional landscape, you will need to compose in accordance with other people's vision.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by Markus Boyd