I have been composing and selling my pieces for several years now, and I have joined this site not too long ago to meet some other musicians. My compositions have been very successful, and if any of you are meeting complications while writing music, I think I might have the solutions you need.

Keep in mind that I am no mind-reader, and your provided information must be sufficient. I am here to help.

Yeah! Hey, I'm kinda new to all this composition stuff and I really wanna get good at it. So I was wondering if you could take a look at my stuff and tell me how to improve cuz it doesn't feel quite right just yet. Also, there's one song in there that has lyrics... I was wondering if you were a lyricist too and give me a few pointers on that too. Thanks a bunch!

~|{3\/1]\[~

Could you post the midi files instead?

Of course! Here, I'll do it right now..... uhm...

By the way, thank you so very much for taking on a charity case like me :heh:. I am, at this moment, partially indebted to you. But anyways, past the formalities. Uhm... If you don't mind, which I guess you kinda do because you gotta read this, I've heard somewhere that it's easier for people to help you if you tell them what you think you have yourself have problems with so I'll just lay out the songs that I've composed so far and self-critique them... and then have you hammer me with your helpful advice, which I know they will be because I'm sure that you're a wonderful composer. So anyways, down to the nitty gritty (I'll go in the order that I composed them in from oldest to newest).

1)Song name: Trombone Piece

Comments: This was for a class assignment. Oy vey, I'm embarassed for composing this, but my teacher was all like, compose a song with the instrument that you play. And was like... what could be lamer sounding on the computer than the trombone? Jeez louise. So yeah, I was very unimpressed with the structure of the song for one (actually structure and transitions I think are a big Achilles heel of mine) and I would take it back if I could, but it's like being a sketch artist, you can't throw anything away.

2) Song name: Trial

Comments: I know, what a boring name, right? I'll tell you why it's boring, because it's another class assignment. And LMAO I swear, the glissandos sounded much better in the older versions. Personally, I just wanted to experiment with different sounding instruments and put them together to hear how strange the would sound. So I figured it out... never put a clarinetist and trombonist in the same room together, naw... I'm jsut kidding :lol:. Okay, so about what I think... hmm... I think it lacked substance... and this was really the first time I used a different sort of left hand rhythm or w/es so I was minorly proud of it, but I still couldn't get past the fact that the trombone sounds terrible on Finale.

3) Song name: Trial2

Comments: yup, you guessed it! another class assignment. And guess what else! It's not complete. So that's obviously a problem. I think a big problem in this song was the fact that the transitions lacked... variety. I would find that going from one section of the song to the other was veeery brutal and painful and had to end up resorting to fermatas which made the song seem like it was ending which wasn't good. On the other hand, I was impressed with the fact that the left hand notes corresponded a bit better with the right than in most of my future songs, meaning that it isn't just the same rhythm over and over again. So, I would prolly need loads of advice on innovative transition techniques or stuff if you wouldn't mind of course.

4) Song name: Trail3

Comments: I swear, this is the last class composition! Again, not complete, well it sounds complete because of the fermata transition thingy again. So that's no good. It's super short... BUUUT I really like my attempt at a melody line! It would be one of the only coherent and familiar melodies or whatever they're called that I would compose... Or well.. it sort of inspired me to stick to a sort of methodical return to a chorus/melody sort of thing which sort of got me into this irrevocable cycle of using the same structure (hence my cry for help).

5) Song name: Lamentation

Comments: Ugh... arpeggios much? Yeah, I just whipped this up cuz I was bored and just spammed 16th notes so I didn't like it all that much. Overall, this deserves a garbage rating, I think. So, I dunno, you could take a listen and give me some feedback if you want, but I think that the mistake of composing it gives me an aim of what not to go for.

6) Song name: Serenade

Comments: Again with the arpeggios and terrible transitions. And the ending was absolutely horrendous! Oh well, I like some part of it, it seemed to have a few slash infinite chordal mistakes on notepad but putting it on a midi file sort of wiped out all those errors so I guess that it's all ok.

7) Song name: Morning Brilliance

Comments: I can probably imagine what's going through your head right now... WHAT'S WITH THE TERRIBLE TITLES!! Yeah.. I know... it's kinda strange but I just name the songs whatever I'm thinking about... So, I wrote this in the morning... haha? Anyways, I was really proud of this. I dunno why, you probably won't share my opinion but I think this was the first real breakthrough in my composition "career". And from here on, all the songs are composed in D Major... I'm just more familiar with that key... I know, I gotta break free of that habit too... Oy... uhm... If there was anything wrong with this, I would say that my left hand rhythms only alternated between two different rhythms. Which sucks... so I dunno... I guess I gotta play more piano and see what other rhythms there are... but if you could share some, that'd be cool too!

8) Song name: Midnight Sky

Comments: For some reason, I have some sort of sentimental attachment to this song. It's because I wrote lyrics and they mean a lot to me. As a song, I think it lacks substance... like again with the repetitive structure... it's sort of like... abcbca... or something... whatever the real techie people are like. So, this was the first song I tried putting lyrics in, and I liked this one a lot too.

9) Song name: Angels

Comments: I tried writing lyrics for this one too but that failed and I was thinking of Angels at that time... don't ask why... Uhm... I really liked this song actually.. Uhm... I thought that the weight in terms of chords was very evenly balanced between (what's the opposite of dissonance again? I wanna say consonance :sweat:) and the melody line. I really wished that this varied in structure though... and the key signature was again... D major so that sucks... ugh...

10) Song name: Path (Piano and Vocal)

Comments: The composition of this song would bring along a long saga of different variation of instrumentation of this song... which I'm pretty sure you've already started to dread. But I really liked this song too, I really tried to break free of the chaos of fictional playing (like passages that are impossible to play) and split the piano part into two parts so that it's a duet. Also, I've put lyrics in this which mean a lot to me. also, the melody really made me happy... because I made it lol... But if you don't like it, I don't want you to hold back cuz I can't learn anything if people are being nice to me.

11) Song name: Path (Violin)

Comments: So this is me trying out different instrumentation. I really wanted to use violin because it has a very dominating and sad sort of sound to it and it sort of epitomized what I thought this song was about. So this trial was really just for me. hehe...

12) Song name: Path (Instrumental)

Comments: So this is the last one. This is me going for the big Kahuna and putting together a string ensemble and failing at it miserably too... ugh... the chords where much too heavy everywhere. and some of the instrumentations don't even sound like they're supposed to. In notepad they were all tender but on the mid. it's all droning and everything, but I guess that's what I get for going crazy with the chords on the cello.

So yeah, that's it. I hope you still wanna help me and not be daunted by all this writing you know? Uhm... so just a basic outline of EVERYTHING.

I wanna little help in the:

1) Structure (not just returning to the same chorus)
2) Transitions (no more fermatas or switching back to a similar line already used in the song)
3) Different Key (A little more familiarity in the different keys and what each attributes or like... minor and stuff you know?)
4) Instrumentation (What goes well with what, you know?)
Finally, the big one,
5) Chords that go well together! Agh! I can't stress that enough. I've been pretty lucky so far not to have totally crazy notes that sound like crap in my songs but essentially, I'm just guessing at what sounds good. So if you could just lay out basic stuff like: 3rd and 5th go well, and 2nd and 4th don't go well together and stuff like that, that'd be about the most awesome thing ever.

Again, thank you so much for taking on this daunting job of helping me. In fact, you already helped me. Because I'm not much of a techie sort of guy, why you asked me to put them on mid.s I thought you meant that I had to play them myself. And here I was with my video camera and my sister was all like... you don't need to tape yourself to get this on a mid. file. And it turned out all I had to do was save it as a MID file. So wow... you've already got me covered in one area.

If you wanna back out of helping me, I don't mind, but it would mean a lot if you could because I really wanna improve and know what I'm doing half the time if you know what I mean, eh? So thanks a lot!

~|{3\/1]\[~

Holy jeez, after all that writing I forgot to attach my songs :heh:So... here they are. Wow... that's kinda embarassing...

So, apparently you can only go 5 at atime... oh well..

I sure hope this ain't spammin'...

In order to assure you a quality assessment, I will take my time with this. I stopped all of my projects, so this could take til' next morning or possibly a few days.

Thank you for wanting my help.

Are you the same Maestro from the NewGrounds audio portal? I would highly doubt it, but am curious.

As far as music is concerned, I am a young composer and could use any advice available. I would be very appreciative if you would listen to the following piece and critique it accordingly. I know little about orchestration.

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/160860

Specifically, I'd like to get any advice concerning orchestration. While anything would be helpful, that is my main concern. Also, do you find the snare to be too overpowering? Are the chord transitions smooth enough?

Thanks in advance,
~Blaze

The Trombone duo.
Though this piece may sound awful to you, it reminds me of modern string quartet music. No, it isn't perfect but it isn't awful. I'm not going to say your great yet, your other pieces will factor in on that. Some times things get too busy and random in the accompaniment. Check from 1:25 to 1:55. But if it was developed and improved as far as its harmony stands, it could really work. I really support this piece, but my real help is what follows.
Develop this into a mixed ensemble piece. ( Massive potential as an overture )


Morning Brilliance.
I make it a habit not to say things like this, so remember this. You have written a true masterpiece. I have listened to it over and over again, and I could not find any great flaws. It is in the form of a nocturne. It is easily the most memorable melody I have ever heard.
Your talent in piano music is my equal.
My advice? Copyright that piece so nobody here steals it.

Midnight.
We have another winner !
You should make the last one the first movement of a set. And let this follow.

Angels.
I'm not getting lazy in my review, but this work is close to perfect. As far as composing goes, piano music is your strong point. I must ask this, do you play ?

Lamentation.
This piece seems very familiar to me.
This might seem ridiculous, but could you listen to some ' easy listening ' music. If you want to compose, that industry could make you very successful.
My advice is that you keep to writing piano pieces.

This is as much as I can say, but accept the following passage of support. I'll even tell you about my career.

I wrote my first piece on the piano at age 5. I started violin at age 6. I took on the cello at age 8. I worked on playing the viola at age 10. Now I play violin in my state orchestra. I also play cello in a Mozart tribute string quartet. I give pianoforte concerts around the east coast now and I travel with my family alot to perform in string groups. To date, I have written just under 400 pieces for string quartet, 14 symphonies, 17 waltzes, 9 concert overtures, and about 3000 pianoforte pieces.
( This isn't too bad for someone nearly in their 20s)
This is just my way of showing you that I know what I'm talking about. You have talent and real potential. I really appreciate meeting a composer that shares my enthusiasm for music.

These pieces are great, and your life will be very prosperous in works of music. Thank you for your time. Please respond to my writing.

BlazingDragon. There are a few errors in the chord sequencing. Could you upload a score so I could see exactly what you are doing.

Also, Maestro, my alias is my codename for this site only.

I use other web pages, like the one you suggest, but you will not recognize me with my name alone.

C'est quoi?!?!?! :unsure: I didn't know that I was dealing with such a hot shot. Whoaa... now I'm really grateful that I asked for your help! Jeez, really? in your 20s and you did all that? Wow.... I'm jealous :lol:, well now I know what to strive for.

Well, since you were nice enough to give me some of your info, I'll tell you a bit of mine... not nearly as impressive, but I think that it's... uhm... dull, yet... inspirational, you know? Like one of those memoirs that people write but nobody reads? ;) Yeah... so here it is:

At a ripe young age of 16 I have accomplished very little musically, but bear great interest yet have stirred very little attention in my direction. You asked if I play piano? Uhhh... well, I DO play piano, but I am self taught and can play to a high degree with enough ethusisasm but lack the technical abilities even a low level piano player can master with ease. So that may be a problem. I first started piano 3 years ago. As for music classes, I only take them in school, so music hasn't really been much of an influential factor in my life as of yet but I'm aspiring for great achievements (isn't everyone ^_^?) So, yeah, I started out with the french horn at the age of 11 and moved experimented with the trumpet for a bit and then settled down with the trombone in grade 8 (so... I was 12... I think...) and then I went on to high school and got invited to play at some pretty cool concert halls :) with really high up people like Karen Donnelly (the trumpet player). Also, I've been consistently been called up to play for Alumni bands and All-star bands. In fact, last year, I played second chair trombone for my school production pit band (I know... it's not that great but I'm guaranteed to do better this year) and I've only just recently taken up the Baritone horn, which is like the trombone but BETTER SOUNDING! W00T! Yeah... I know a little too excited.

Anyways, enough rambling, I'm so glad that you replied so briskly and with such encouraging words. It's really gonna help me move forward with composing and stuff. But there are a few details that I'm brooding over in my mind:

When you said that I should turn my trombone piece into an overture piece or whatever it was that you said, I'm not entirely educated in that area of music, I'm not even familiar with that general style. If you could drop me a crash course on that topic that would be lovely.

And also, while your compliments are much appreciated, I was wondering if you could also offer me a few pointers that help you out when dealing with one of the problems that I'd previously listed.. like transitions and chords and stuff, because they really are just guesswork on my part.

So, again. Now I am deeply indebted to you, not only for your aid but also for your generosity in giving such encouraging comments to a simpleton like myself. :P.

Also, I would love to hear some of your pieces if that wouldn't be too much trouble on your part. To have a hot shot musician like you, I'd hate to miss out on this opportunity to hear some of works!

~|{3\/1]\[~

I feel a little rude for the joke of my phrasings earlier, I said I was nearly 20, but in all honesty, I am only 16. My father is also a musician and I follow him on concert tours. It could be said I stretch the truth. I sometimes make it sound like I'm older because I don't know who would listen to a kid.
I'll start a post soon about overtures. But for now, YOUR CHORDS AND TRANSITIONS ARE FINE.

The Concert Overture in
Sonata-Allegro Form


Sonata Allegro form was a development of the classical era. It represents a more open form than many of the earlier Baroque forms such as fugues, rondeau form, etc.

While there is a formula that can be applied, there was not a rigid, formal concept for the form. Rather it evolved over the classical era and beyond.

Haydn was one of the early exponents of this form. It was named "Sonata Allegro," because the final Allegro movement of a Sonata was most often created in this form. It is by no means restricted to this general rule, however. In fact there are no hard and fast rules in writing a Sonata Allegro form. However many trends can be attributed to the form generally.

Sonata Allegro form can simplistically be described as an "ABA'" form.
The first A section is called the "Exposition." ( This section is repeated verbatim in classical performance, actually making the overall form "AABA'").
The B section, or "Development" follows the Exposition. It usually uses some material from the Exposition, but in a more or less radically altered way.
In the A' section or "Recapitulation," the A material returns relatively intact.
Each of these sections has a relatively complex internal pattern as follows:



The Exposition
states the main thematic elements and has its own internal form as follows:

1. A Primary key section which contains:

a. the Principal or Primary Theme which is a phrase or more in length and establishes home key.

b. a Transition between the Primary Theme and the Related key section. The transition can do any or all of the following:
- modulate to the new key
- develop ideas of first theme
- change mood in preparation for related key section through mood metamorphsis
- introduce new material, possibly contrasting with both primary and related key sections
- anticipate of ideas in second theme
- be omitted
- produce a deceptive modulation
- be non-modulatory if in major

2. A Related key section which contains:

a. the Secondary or Subordinate Theme which is most often in the dominant or relative key, and can be similar or contrast in content to the Primary Theme. The Secondary theme is:
- typically in V if major, III or v if minor (There are plenty of exceptions, e.g., Beethoven, op. 31, no. 1, Op. 53)
- sometimes in more than one key
- typically closes on authentic cadence (again, exceptions)

b. the Closing section (or closing theme) typically:
- confirms the new key
- may be derived from other themes
- may have new melodic material
- may be figural (non-thematic)
- can end with a transition which serves double duty, if the exposition is repeated
- can have a character of its own or use motives derived from either the primary or secondary themes
- commonly features a tonic pedal in new key, reiterating V and I harmonies.
EXAMPLE- Haydn's Symphony 104 Exposition
The Development
is an open and free-form section of the Sonata Allegro movement, usually based on thematic materials from the Exposition.
The Development can:
- be varied in length, sometimes short and little more than a re-transition to principal theme, sometimes a large dramatic section containing a theatrical climax, sturm und drang
- be modulatory, derivative
- pay special attention to shaping factors in pace, texture, tessitura, plan of key relationships, order of melodic material, etc.
- conclude on a dominant pedal, a signal that the recapitulation is about to take place
- contain a return to home key and first theme
- be a fanatasy derived from earlier material (themes, accompanying figures etc.)
- be a complete digression from stable structure
EXAMPLE- Haydn's Symphony 104 Development


The Recapitulation
returns to the material in the Exposition.
However the Recapitulation is almost always different from the Exposition in that it remains in the home key (i.e., second theme stays in the home key rather than changing).
The recapitulation can also sometimes be varied from the Exposition by
- being condensed (some parts shortened) or abbreviated (some parts omitted)
- a variation of the exposition
- rearranging the order of its parts
- being expanded, often with the addition of an elongated "Coda"
- combinations of the above

References: (1) Frumm, Sonata as Dramatic Procedure , MQ
(2) Cone, Musical Form and Musical Performance , Norton, Chap. III

- THIS IS FROM MY RESEARCH PAPERS FROM 2002

Also, if you could put a link to the Finale file for the trombone piece, I could help you by telling you exactly how I would develop it.

I have a couple things to throw at you if you don't mind. :heh: Two drafts of songs for my CD I'm working on. No scores unfortunately. They are reflective of Rainer Maria Rilke's first two Duino Elegies.

http://www.zshare.net/audio/11188817e50eb3fa/

http://www.zshare.net/audio/1379054375c95a3a/

BlazingDragon. There are a few errors in the chord sequencing. Could you upload a score so I could see exactly what you are doing.

Also, Maestro, my alias is my codename for this site only.

I use other web pages, like the one you suggest, but you will not recognize me with my name alone.I am unable to upload a score, unfortunately. I composed this with a friend using FL Studio, which does not have notation capabilities. What exactly do you classify as "errors"?

If you don't mind my asking, what is your NewGrounds user name? I'd love to hear any music you may have posted and perhaps drop a review your way. It does seem a bit misleading to say you are nearly 20. If you are a great musician, however, age should not be an issue. Just listen to some of Liszt's (sp?) compositions from when he was merely 15.

Also, would you take a look at the following song when you have a chance? It is quite simple, but I was trying to convey a very specific emotion. Any comments would be appreciated.

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/160919

God Lord so much. :blink:

Oh wow, you gotta be a person with a higher level of comprehension to take be able to that in and apply it. Oh well, I'm pretty sure if I really try, I'll be able to pull one off someday. Really?!?! 16?!?! I'm sorry, it's just too impressive. I'm really impressed actually. Hmm... well, I'll try to keep you posted on my compositions and again, I mean it, you've been loads of help.

~|{3\/1]\[~

Oh yeah, for sure.! That would help so much! I only read your later response after I wrote my other one, sorry, so here's that trombone piece.

There must be something wrong with this system. Ichigos's wouldn't give me access to the file. Can you send any other type of file? Maybe try again? Sorry.

Fo' sho, I'll just uhm... send it in a pdf because I don't know what else to send it as and I'll just try sending the finale one again.

I feel terrible now. I noticed another error in my 'career' data. I hit another 0 by accident. My piano music works number around 300.
I am so sorry.
Please forgive me.

This would have been easier with measure numbers.

The Trombone Overture sketch-

Exposition-
Half notes create the Principal theme. Remember that this section is supposed to establish the key. To give you a an extra hint at my vision, this theme sounds heroic.

At about :50, the high note reminds me of the key, but you have no real transition to what I would consider the secondary theme.

The Development-

The bottom and final measure of the PDF second page.
That motif could be used a lot more than it was. If you could set up an evil sounding melody to put over it, the return to the theme would be dramatic.


The Recapitulation-
As soon as the listener hears consequtive half notes, they will know exactly what is happening. The piece ends with the symbolic virtue passing and defeating evil. It's Brilliant!

But do you understand?

By the way Kevin, I considered writing the overture out myself, but you wouldn't learn anything from that !

Try to write it out for yourself in a String Orchestra template( no transposition) You have the common sense to know that violins would get the high notes, violas get chord and harmonic value tones, cellos get low notes (and the secondary melody), and basses are used for support.


I'll help you until you are content, or until the sun burns out.:)

I wouldn't keep it on the record if it was false. I am here to help.

BlazingDragon. I do apologize for being so vague in a previous post. I was busy with another person's work and I didn't pay full attention to your piece. I listened again, and I realized that your chord sequence was unbalanced, but in the end everything worked out. That was just a nice chord progression I'm not used to. Until I can finish my work with the concert overture, I might be unable to further assist you. If in one week I have not spoke of you in this forum, then you can assume my time is too consumed with both my projects and the projects of those I have helped to assist you. Let me give you a signal, though. Continue to my next post.

For help,

Start a new Thread and include " Maestro" in the title.

As lame as it sounds, I will come to assist you as soon as I see it.

:lol: you make it sound like it matters, naw,.. i'm kidding, the difference between 300 and 3000 is pretty substantial. I was like... I haven't even written 3000 bars of music... So the prolificness of your compositional abilities is now a bit more realistic in my scope. but nevertheless, after about the 100th song, you know that you're a music genius, so anything following that 100ths song has just sort of lost meaning and just becomes a statistic just like that saying.... you know the one. So dont' sweat the mistake.

~|{3\/1]\[~

Do You need any more help, Kevin?

Actually, that sounds pretty achievable as a task. Hmm... I think that it's really gonna screw me up in the sense that I'm not too familiar with the range of the instruments but I'll just check all that up, that shouldn't be a problem, but let me see... There has to be something I don't sort of a get before I get started... uh... Heroic, eh? :P That's a pretty awesome word for it. And uhm... for the recapitulation, are you saying that I should retain the ending that I'd originally composed for it or lengthen it and add more detail to it? Also, what would you say was the clear definitive line separating the exposition and the development, because if it was at the last bar of the second page, I'd never really thought about that as a development before but I could always give it a try by adding, like you said, an evil sounding melody over it. Could you give me a sort of idea on how I would go about that because as far as my compositions have gone, I have never really actually sat down and written an "evil-sounding" song before. But yeah, again with the instrumentation, I'm not really sure what to expect out of the viola, I know that you mentioned it provides harmony with but, I've never actually laid eyes on music for viola or even hear them play. Are they similar to the tenor role in the typical concert band, like half notes and the like? Because if that's the case, I was way off on my other piece where I'd experimented with the string ensemble. Okay, well, enough talk, I'll try to get a headstart on this. Thanks again for your devotion in helping me out, I really do appreciate it with all my heart, so I'll get back to you when I'm done, or when I've hit a snag, in the meantime, if you could offer me a few random pointers, I'm sure that, no matter how misplaced they are, it will offer that much more to the quality of my music.

~|[3\/1]\[~

I just came up with this in about twenty minutes.
It is a concertante in the style of Liszt.

Kevin, if you upload this, you will see my idea of the relationship of themes.

Also feel free to review.

Yeah, I don't think I'm really in a position to review yet, but again, you have yet to cease to amaze me. I think I sort of understand what I should be going for now. So far, I have achieved very little, I've only just transposed all trombone music into that for the violin, viola (a little lacking right now), cello and bass. Right now, I'm thinking of the development and the evil sound that I'm trying to make work with the accompaniment, but, I'm not gonna lie to you, it's not going too well. So, I'll just keep at it. Maybe, it'll hit me like lightning and I'll finally get it down and start a new chapter in my compositional abilities.

~|{3\/1]\[~

I put the second repeat bar at the wrong place.

I fixed it for this file.:sweat:

Also, for everybody here, I'm starting a review thread for my pieces so you can stop by " The Masterpiece Maestro " to upload and review. I'll put up the files later today.

BlazingDragon. I do apologize for being so vague in a previous post. I was busy with another person's work and I didn't pay full attention to your piece. I listened again, and I realized that your chord sequence was unbalanced, but in the end everything worked out. That was just a nice chord progression I'm not used to. Until I can finish my work with the concert overture, I might be unable to further assist you. If in one week I have not spoke of you in this forum, then you can assume my time is too consumed with both my projects and the projects of those I have helped to assist you. Let me give you a signal, though. Continue to my next post.It certainly isn't a "classical" progression in my opinion, and the form is quite simple. :P I did use a great deal of suspended chords and perhaps a 7th here and there. Perhaps this is what leads to the "unbalanced" feel? In any case, I am certainly willing to wait. Take your time and review the song whenever you have a bit of free time.

Ugh... MaestroOfTragedy, I am so ashamed of myself... I was working on that overture and I got completely stuck, like brain dead for about an hour... then I got distracted... then I forgot about it, and started composing this piano piece.

Uhm... So, yeah, I am so stuck, I have no idea what I'm supposed to be doing at this point, I tried to do a little research to hear what other overtures sound like, but learned nothing exceptionally inspiring. I don't know what to say, maybe I've just gotta put a little more effort into it, but it just seems so much easier to do piano music than music for strings.

Okay, so I'll probably working on that one for an extensive amount of time, so don't expect that one to be done yet, because it's moving along at a snail's pace, and I've decided to do it between other piano compositions, because I don't wanna completely stop my other projects in their tracks despite the importance of my understanding of the general overture.

So, uhm... here, I'll just post that piano piece that I composed, it wasn't even all that good so maybe it's just a bad day for me or something. Uhm... yeah, a few personal reflections on this song:

When I first started, I felt like it had a very "To Zanarkand" feel (like the video game theme music from FFX) and tried to break free of it by using extensive dotted rhythms. This became very prevalent throughout the rest of the song which lacked variety, which was disappointing. Also, near the end, the passages were far too heavy, and I still felt that my chords lacked innovation and accuracy, so I don't know if you agree, but I think that this piece was definitely less... good... than the previous four I had done (Morning Brilliance, Path, Angels, Midnight Sky).

In any case, I would still like to know what I could do to improve this song, so your help would still be required on many fronts on my count.

By the way, I just want to say that it's very admirable what you're willing to put on the line to help your fellow musicians. It's very honourable and beneficial to your "clients" (in search for a better word).

~|{3\/1]\[~

Okay, Kevin.

I understand your choice, and I have used your 'piece by piece method for my greater pieces. This is contemporary piano music. I could see credits rolling down a screen while I listened. It has the quality of, as I have said before, easy-listening music.

The listener should just sit back and enjoy the ride.
This isn't great, but my comments really are about what I would have done. I shouldn't tell you that, or it would be like I was programming a clone to write music my way.

Some advice?

Stop working on the overture for a few days or even a week or two. If you fill your head with other melodic and harmonic figures, when you return to the overture you will be completely charged. If you could master all of those climaxes in your piano music, you could write something beautiful that would make that overture come alive.

Also, I would greatly appreciate some comments in my Masterpiece Gallery.

alright, will do. Thanks for the advice. I'll continue to keep you updated. But unfortunately, I might have to put off composing for a bit because I'm headed off on vacation to exotic Beijing in three days. So, maybe after I'm back.

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a good plan.
Enjoy Beijing!

Thanks, I will! And be sure to post more of your songs, they're really interesting.

And oh yeah, sorry for not commenting, I had listened to them but didnt' comment on them because my internet was being annoying and kept on going on and off because of the rain, that ever happen to you? Well, anyways, I left a comment, and top in my records as always.:)

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Thank You !

General workshop threads should be contained within the individual composer's threads.

If you need something to be looked at, you should make your own thread with your user name in it and then wait for people to post comments about it.

If you want to comment on someone's piece, you should post in their thread rather than create a thread and wait for people to submit a work.

:lock: