Hello to all! This is averagecomposer15. Here is one of my compositions from about a year or two ago. I have just gotten the chance to enter it into Finale Notepad from hand written sheet music. I will attach it to this message for you all to freely critique and enjoy.
It is a completely unfinished work and can have MUCH more done to it, so feel free to add on to it and change some things and send it back to me. I would certainly enjoy some ideas flowing in, for I am drawing a blank! @_@ It has been so long since I last worked on it, I don't know where to go from here...
Please, please PLEASE!!! Send in your ideas for me. I don't want just one or two.

Can you provide a midi please? Printmusic keeps giving me BS about an uncompatible version. >_>

It's not that great. There is no significant melody a.k.a. everything is entirely random and makes no sense. When there is a chord progression, it's always in stepwise motion... which is only good in moderation.

What you have so far...doesn't have any feeling to it. I feel that what we have here is a lack of an important artistic factor. This being the melody is poorly written. Why? What make a good melody? ANSWER (http://forums.ichigos.com/showpost.php?p=367514&postcount=2)

Study some more and try again. ^_^

It's not that great. There is no significant melody a.k.a. everything is entirely random and makes no sense. When there is a chord progression, it's always in stepwise motion... which is only good in moderation.

What you have so far...doesn't have any feeling to it. I feel that what we have here is a lack of an important artistic factor. This being the melody is poorly written. Why?

I have good reason for this...
Finale NotePad does not give any feeling to the playback of the piece, so I had to do my best to try and portray the basic idea in my head. It's supposed to have a mysterious twinge to it, but Finale doesn't do a good job of portraying that. Thank you for the constructive criticism, though.

This is because you need to download Finale NotePad 2008 on to your computer. This is the program I used to make it, so an older version of Finale NotePad will not be able to read it. You can download it for free here: http://www.finalemusic.com/notepad/
You just have to create a free account with them on this site. It's completely meaningless, but it is necessary to get the download. Otherwise, it will ask for a Username and Password. Trust me, the accounts are completely safe and you can make all your information unavailable to the public, so there is very little chance of identity theft.

Just download the new version to your computer and you will be able to read and listen to my music.

Here's how I see your piece:

It doesn't flow well. It seems to be split into four sections: the intro, the G Minor part, and the two C Minor parts.

To me, it's not the playback. Even with Finale's Auto Expression set to 100% (with rubato, diminuendo on long notes, and other things), it still won't play well. Why? As Porsche said, there needs to be a better melody (which I agree with), and there needs to be better harmonies, especially right after meas. 4. The mood also needs to be consistent; meas. 1-4 contain 3 of the 5 instruments playing, and then there is just a Piano Solo that starts at meas. 5. I suggest studying more on harmony and melody.

--

EDIT: Sorry, I've been in not such a great mood lately. >_<

Okay, so I just figured out something: the file I posted in my first message...wasn't even a song I wrote. Somehow when I was viewing other peoples' music, I accidentally saved over my own piece that I was working on, but it still displayed the name of my song. So, I posted that one on accident (it probably looked familliar to some people). Anyways, here is the ACTUAL song that I wrote. Hopefully, it won't come up with someone else's song again...

Best of Hope! *~*

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa... whoa! I didn't know that Finale had an Auto Expression feature! Can you show me how to turn it on or turn it up? I have Finale NotePad 2008 if it makes any difference...

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa... whoa! I didn't know that Finale had an Auto Expression feature! Can you show me how to turn it on or turn it up? I have Finale NotePad 2008 if it makes any difference...

Notepad does not have this feature, nor does Printmusic, Songwriter, or any of those, except for Finale (the $600 version).

(It's not $600 dollars if you know where to buy it!)

Get the academic version (Must be student and permanent resident of U.S.) and muster up discounts wherever you can find one. Use fatwallet as well. Use google checkout and get $10 back if it's supported. Some companies pay you when you shop online for example. Anything really.

Get the academic version (Must be student and permanent resident of U.S.) and muster up discounts wherever you can find one. Use fatwallet as well. Use google checkout and get $10 back if it's supported. Some companies pay you when you shop online for example. Anything really.

Holy cow! That's a lot to take in *~* Oh, well, I guess I don't really need it that badly. I just got the free download of what I need (Finale NotePad 08').

About your piece...umm no offense but it was kind of boring and repetitive. But nonetheless it sounded like a magician.
Things you can work on: A nice distinct melody and a non-repetitive harmony.

About your piece...umm no offense but it was kind of boring and repetitive. But nonetheless it sounded like a magician.
Things you can work on: A nice distinct melody and a non-repetitive harmony.

Thanks for your comments, Music Otaku! :] I appreciate your honesty.
I really needed to be told that. I kind of thought the same thing myself. I'll take your advice and change some things. If possible, could you help me out a bit with the melody?

So, I have been writing this one pretty recently - about the past month or so - and I need some opinion on how it's going so far. I'm sorry that it's in Finale '08 format in .mus, but I will try to provide pdf for those who don't have it.

"Behemoth Emerges" is not the official title of the song...kind of cheesy. For now, it is UNTITLED.

A random question: Has anyone every composed something that they can't play themselves? There's obviously those who compose orchestra music who cannot play all of the instruments at once. I can just barely play this one - only because of the speed. Just an open thought...

Hmm, it's...okay. It sounds like something you might hear in Final Fantasy or something. The beginning is very nice. One thought, about measure nineteen it seems like an inconsistenet change a major key or something. It just feels a little odd at that point.

Has anyone every composed something that they can't play themselves?
YES. Most of my piano pieces :P. I think the worst part of yours would be the last chords, though.

The first part of the piece was kinda interesting (although the notation was strange), but it really didn't go anywhere. There was no semblance of melody or form, and the chords at the end seemed especially random.

Yes, I know; the ending chord progression sucks. First, I'll say that - through the feedback from my older sister - I am going to save that ending part for a completely separate song. It doesn't flow well, I agree, and I obviously cannot make it blend in anywhere else so far, so I'll scrap that part and try something else. Anyone have any suggestions?? I could use the input.

Hmm, it's...okay. It sounds like something you might hear in Final Fantasy or something. The beginning is very nice. One thought, about measure nineteen it seems like an inconsistenet change a major key or something. It just feels a little odd at that point.

I will take that into serious, deep consideration. I am hoping to have some fun working on this song during the summer. I don't want it to end! lol

Another quick question: How do you make a song satisfyingly long, but not too long as to make someone completely bored of it? I would like to continue in my song for as long as I can, but would like to know when to stop. (Some input required)

I've been working on it for a long time - and I will continue to work on it over the summer - but I have finally completed the first draft!! I'm really excited! :D Thank you all for your critiquing so far, and I look forward to what you all will say about the first complete draft of my song.:china:

I was talking with my older sister again and as we were talking she gave me brilliant inspiration for a title: "Pacing the Rain" Amazingly fantastic, no? :lol2::teeth:

1)Be VERY careful with parallel fourths and fifths.
2)The harmony in the low register is not working very well.
3)The second half seems pretty random.

Okay, now I have made some last finishing touches to my song "Pacing the Rain." Here it is in Finale Notepad format and Midi format. The midi sound file quality sucks for some reason, so I'll try to do some things different to make it sound better...(hopefully).

That's not too bad. I'm a huge fan of ostinatos, but I think it may have been overdone a little in places. Maybe try changing it up or lengthening the actual repeated phrases to add interest. The ending needs some work too I think. Again, nice job.

It's actually pretty good, though there's certainly a big jump in music type at 0:37 (from the midi). But then again, I haven't heard a good piano piece in a long time; the best I've heard was "Rondo a la turk" or whatever that thing is. :lol:
Also, 0:37-1:05 seems a bit weird, regarding the rhythm :unsure:

It's actually pretty good, though there's certainly a big jump in music type at 0:37 (from the midi). But then again, I haven't heard a good piano piece in a long time; the best I've heard was "Rondo a la turk" or whatever that thing is. :lol:
Also, 0:37-1:05 seems a bit weird, regarding the rhythm :unsure:

I'm glad you brought that back into question for me. I didn't realize how much of a dramatic change of rhythm that is. I remember I had a lot of trouble finding a way to make this blend. I will try to work on this more, but I would like to see if you have any suggestions on making that blend better (that is, between 0:35-0:39 on the midi)? You can edit directly on the Finale Notepad file I have, or you can try to verbally describe what I could do to change some things. You can send me a personal message if you need to.

Thank you all for your comments on my music, and please continue to do so.