Clowns on the Ceiling March- Mvmnt III

Hey, this is my first post up here, and I love this forum. This is the third movement to a symphony I thought up, and it's a demented circus..lol. About me, i'm 19, attended (why is tuition steady going up, geez) Norfolk State University as a music education major. I have no teachings in composition, and only Music Theory I in high school. I sit at my full time job desk doing nothing but reading about composition and fugues, etc and my goal is to get into a school so I can get my degree in composition, and write scores for movies. (Wish me luck! ;)) I've attached a "Piano" midi file, a crappy 03 Finale Midi file, and the score (which has detail more on the interpretation, since midi files can't do that lol). Please help me, and let me know what you think!

Hope you enjoy!

psst... what's Notification Type? I chose "Instant email Notification"... does that mean people can directly send me emails?

Clowns on the Ceiling- .MID

Clowns on the Ceiling- Movement III.MID

Clowns on the Ceiling- Movement III.MUS

so is there something special i have to do to get a response?? or is it jus that bad?

Your piece has only just been "visibled", so it was not seen by members for some time.

In any case, learn to be patient - reviews take time.

thanks, that's why i was just askin, didn't kno'??

First, welcome to YC.

It is an interesting piece. It looks like you have put a lot of work into it.

When you have this many instuments playing at once, it helps to use more dynamics. Otherwise, the quieter instruments will just disappear in the cacophony. Just labeling the entire list of instruments P or F will not always work.

When I compose I am always trying to remind myself that less is more. An instrument heard all the time is tuned out by the brain.

Lastly, make comments on other people's music here, be patient and in time they will return the favor.

Norfolk State? I go to CNU. Interesting piece, You're orchestration is a little odd/unorthodox for an orchestral piece. It looks more to me like a wind ensemble with strings. Some of the parts playing wise would be difficult even for professionals, the Finale Con Brio, in the Flutes and Clarinets. Another thing about that particular section is the the way you have it orchestrated you wouldn't be able to hear the Flutes and Clarinets because you have nine brass players against 12 upper woodwind players (with the flutes specifically at the bottom of the register). Also try and sing/tongue that Clarinet lick at the Finale Con Brio, thats pretty interesting. I'd have to look at it some more, but for now you might want to try scaling down the orchestration, get rid of the saxes, euphs. , maybe some of the 1,2,3,4 violins (div. between 1,2) and the multiple cello lines. or if you want keep it a wind ensemble/ concert band piece and ditch the strings altogether and just put their parts in other instruments. Nice piece overall, just have a lot of cleaning to do.

Thank you soo much, i figured i needed to reorchestrate it after doing some reading, it's hard to convert from "marching band" writing to "orchestral" writing. But thanks for the input, it's helped alot. Is the overall structure of the piece ok?