I've finished my first piece of significant length. It's an organ prelude type deal. The three movements get progressively better, so don't give up too early. I finished the third and final movement in under 24 hours, so tell me if it sounds rushed. I'm eager to hear what you think. Enjoy.

First movement: Should be played with diapason stops. Not too loud.

Movement two: Should be louder and played with more reed stops.

Third Movement: Exuberant and happy. Lots of reed stops with the occaisonal diapson. (And for you non-organ folks, when I say reed stops I don't mean the synth "reed organ." That will sound like poo.)

- good improvements in the first two; nothing big to pick at this time around
- just one question: three movements to one prelude?
- I don't believe I've heard your third before, so I'll talk about that a bit
- it's not bad; I was surprised to hear something this upbeat (such a contrast to the other two)
- however, I personally feel that the piece itself and the style of it are not fitting for an organ; it's just that this movement is so different from the other two
- I noticed some Mozart influence (from the movie, "Amadeus"), am I right?

If there is Mozart influence, which I hope there is, it's because I've really studied his and Handel's music more than anyone else's. But there wasn't anything intentional. Thanks for your comments. And feel free to rate them (anybody).

EDIT:
By "them," I mean my songs, not Alphonse's posts. I bet you were smart enough to pick up on that though.

Sorry I wasn't being clear. I spent last night reviewing most of the songs here, so I didn't feel like going into detail, haha.

About the Mozart influence: Have you seen the movie, "Amadeus"? In one scene, Mozart did some improvisation on Salieri's piece in front of the emperor. There just happened to be one small part that sounded very similar to yours, that's all (dotted notes moving upwards in a sort of broken arpeggio). I believe that improvisational song was taken from Don Giovanni (one of the marches I think).

- just one question: three movements to one prelude?
Yeah, I guess it's a bit excessive. I just wasn't satisfied with how sadly it ended in the first and second movements. I guess it's not a prelude. What should I name it? It doesn't really follow traditional sonata form.


I personally feel that the piece itself and the style of it are not fitting for an organ
Yeah, I think the first movement is best as an organ piece, the second I don't know, and the third would definately be best as an orchestral piece, but I don't have that kind of skill yet.

Thanks for the critiques. You've been really helpful with the first two movements.

I know that Alphonse has given really great, specific comments, but feel free to just rate it. You don't have to be that precise.

@ the 1st movement:

-Very good opening piece
-Sounds just like you would think a prelude should
-Although you say you've studied primarily Mozart/Handel, I feel as if this first movement is Very Bach-ish (but sans the Fugal properties)

@ the 2nd movement:
-This is my favorite! It has a VERY catchy theme and sounds very thematic to me
-The chord progression once it slows down is very intriguing, and afterward, the theme is introduced just at the right time :D
-I very much like how it seems to start out as a minimalist song (one part at a time... :))
-The low part (with the pedals, I'm assuming?) is a bit out of character of the piece, but it leads the piece gently into a tangent which is just the right move to get the listener set-up to wait for the main theme again
-The different parts seem to weave together well, especially with the underlying theme
-The ending is ok, I would've liked a cadence myself (you know me! :P), but for a prelude it seems well-suited to the rest of the piece
-Near the end, when all chords (whole notes? half notes?) start up, I would've liked to have heard a few more V7 chords, but maybe I just couldn't detect them if they were there
-Overall a very good piece. If it were my piece and someone told me to revise it, I would tell them they were nuts! :)

@ the 3rd movement:
-Interesting introduction (sounds very Messiah-ish to me... :))
-When the theme enters, it seems a bit too bouncy to me, but I guess it's because it's a midi, or because it's intentionally supposed to be that staccato
-This piece sounds very Mozart-ish at some parts, which is always good! :P
-The transition parts sound just as good as the rest of the piece
-Overall, very professional. :D Well, done!

Wow! Nearly nothing you could possibly improve upon, in my opinion! It sounds very complete, and by the end, it feels as if everything has been brought to a close gracefully.

What key is this in? :think:

It's in D minor for the first two movements and D major for the last. Thanks for the feedback!

Ok, I'm gonna be taking a break from the whole forum thing for a few days until I've crancked out this thing for strings and piano. I'll post it here when I'm done.

@ 1st Movement

I usually don't like organs at all, but the introduction of this prelude is very good. Then it develops and the left hands gets more to work on. It pretty much kept my interest up. It also sounds professional, but I don't know much about organ music. The ending parts are also good, the parts over 2:10 are good, and the song's ending is pretty good too. So it kept my interest, but I didn't think too much of this movement.

@ 2nd Movement

Impressive introducion! The parts after 1:00 are my absolute favorites, well done. I didn't like the parts after 1:40 though, but it kept my interest going. The parts after 2:10 were better, and steadily went on towards to the end. I like the theme in this movement, it's catchy, good variations too. I wasn't prepared for this kind of ending though.

@ 3rd Movement

Link broken. :boo:

-----------------------------------------------

+ Variation
+ Professional sound
+ Structure
+ Exciting
- 1st Movement's themes

-----------------------------------------------

So for an overall rating, I didn't find much that i didn't like. Although, I think you can do even better in the future. This is a good piece, and have i mind that I don't like organ music, so that's a good thing. ^.^

78/100 - Great

Huh. The link should work. It does for me anyway. I'll go redo it. Thanks for the comments and the rating!

Ok, here's some chamber music with themes that I salvaged from my ill fated requiem. It's not quite done, so I'd appreciate rating and ideas on how to continue. Thanks.

I'm in a hurry right now, hehe, so just a short note: I love the strings/piano part. The rest was good also, but the 00:40 - 01-40 part was very well done.

Here's an aptly named "Baritone, Cello Duett." Once again, ratings and suggestions are appreciated.

Mmm nice soul-soothing church music, planning on becoming a priest? ;)

I'm assuming you're talking about the Duet. Yeah, it's not too dramatic. The Organ Sonata is. Especially the second movement. I play cello and my friend plays baritone so I just wrote it for some fun little chamber music.

Here's my Dies Irae for my failed requiem. It's just SATB, and the parts are played on the piano.

I'm not sure what to say about this one. Just one question, what is the listener supposed to feel, listening to this song?

Dies Irae = Day of Wrath

So I guess doom is the feeling for this song . . . nice stuff, but it could be a bit "bigger" in my opinion, to make us feel like shaking.

Yeah, some accompaniment would make it sound fuller. I'm not too fond of it. I guess it might be more impressive if you could here the words being sung to it instead of just a midi program. And what's really sad is that was probably the second best movement out of my abismal requiem. I salvaged the melody from the best one and put it in that piece for piano and strings orchestra. It was orgininally my Recordare.

This post is an accident. I would delete it, but it seems that power has been revoked from the common popular. Delete as you please.

This is a transcription from my small scale oratorio for SATB, organ, and assorted soloists. This particular song was for solo soprano, SATB, and organ. The organ part remains intact, the solo soprano is a solo violin, and the SATB is a strings orchestra. Tell me what you think!

Nobody replied? What a shame . .

Violin in midi sounds horrible to me . . but somehow it fits with the organ. Nicely done overall, especially with the balancing between all the instruments. What's the text for the soprano? I like the opening mood . . middle section was unexpectedly contrasting, but still good. I couldn't really hear the SATB that well. Probably the organ was too overpowering?

Originally posted by Alphonse@Oct 13 2004, 10:39 PM
Violin in midi sounds horrible to me . . .
I despise midis. I really do. Especially strings. The string orchestra voice is tolerable, which is what I generally use, but I had to have a distinction between the solo and the ensemble. It was the only way I could get it up here. I know there's that midi conversion thread, but I can't get it to work.

The SATB is only in the middle part. The soprano comes in at the end of it.

Big contrasts are a problem in most of my music. For some reason I can't help myself. I don't think I've ever written a piece without a big stupid contrast. In fact this oboe/cello duet I'm working on just got a big contrasting section added to it yesterday. I should work on that.

I had accepted this threads defeat, and then you came along and added to it. Thanks for the reply.

I went outside the other day and felt how lovely and cool it was and decided to write this. Tell me what you think. Oh, if you can, this sounds best if you're using SB LIVE! out put device. Soft synth is not as good.

EDIT:
In case you're wondering, it's written for a cello and oboe.

I like the oboe melody line, but the cello arpeggios you've used at the beginning sound a bit dodgy because you're finishing and starting on the same note. The cello solo is okay, but the staccato emphases(sp?) feel like they've been placed at the wrong place in the phrase, and there's that thing with the same finish/start note. It's the same when you transfer the cello line to the oboe. I like the call and response between the oboe and cello - I know the whole thing would sound nicer if played live. The structure seems a bit unlinked, though - as in, it jumps from one style to another a bit. The repeated oboe notes and cello chords sound a bit heavy - perhaps vary the oboe notes a bit as it sounds a bit like the midi's jammed. I really like the fast oboe solo - good use of the instrument's abilities - but the bit after that is a like what preceded it - heavy and a bit repetitive. I think you've got some nice oboe melody sections - there really aren't enough oboe pieces out there at the moment - but it doesn't sound much like a waltz, and there's heaps more you can do with the cello accompaniment :) 6-7/10 overall, but have a bonus point for feeling so inspired because it's not often one sees something and then goes straight away to put their feelings into sound!

Sorry, but it doesn't sound like a waltz to me =P well, if I try hard I can somewhat imagine a slow and graceful dance, but we need to hear the beats to truly feel it. But then again you are limited in instrumentation, so that's understandable. How about renaming the piece?

I liked the flow/breakdown of chords and how you did that while alternating between the oboe and cello. They complement each other nicely especially when the harmony is perfect. There was one part near the beginning which I didn't like: you had this nice flowing movement of arpeggios, and then you suddenly ended on a chord before moving on to your next section. It was too abrupt for me.

You've been working on your contrasts, eh? Your different sections seemed to flow together . . try to expand your ending a bit. I didn't realize your song was going to finish until it actually happened.

Thanks for your ideas. They're helpful.

I understand that this is not a brilliant piece, but it gives Schoenenberg the finger. He said that you can't compose step by step, it must all come to you as one great revelation. Well, for this piece I thought, "it's nice outside. I'm going to write a cello/oboe duet about it." I picked a chord progression, manufactured some melodies to go along with it, decided where to place some accidentals to give it more flavor, and tweaked with some variations. Eat that Arnold.

Ok, here's my genuine, first composition that I actually bothered to put on paper and didn't throw away. It's "Pont Commun," which means "Common Bridge," because of the repeating bridge that links the piece together. It's my longest single piece or movement- just over five minutes. So if you sit through it all and pay attention, and give me a reply, I will love you forever. If you want the MUS file to follow along, I'd be happy to upload that too. That's the only way I can really pay attention to a MIDI, if I can see the music infront of me. So yeah, it's a duet between Cello and Piano. Pont Commun.

You should always keep a copy of your score =)

The flow was pretty good following the intro. There's a certain rhythmic section I particularly like, which you've repeated a few times. I thought the balance between the two instruments was well-done (I have a fondness for this particular pairing). They worked well together, plus they had their own moments to shine. Be careful though in the solo sections, because if there's a lack of accompaniment, the piece may appear slower and dragged out.

Perhaps if I had the score (I can't read mus files) I'd be able to analyze the structure of the song. Although everything moved along logically from one part to the next, and although I know you had a common bridge connecting the parts, I still wished I knew where everything was going. I was surprised when the ending came, but I eventually realized it was going to happen when I heard those rhythmic chords . . so try to let us know in advance that the song is finishing off =P

Ok, I've been working on a new piece and I'm stuck. But, if you'd be so kind, rate how I've done so far. I'll warn you, there are two chords that sound a lot like this part from FFVII. I'm sorry. I discovered that after I'd written it. It's enough to dodge copyright infringement, so C is for Cookie and that's good enough for me.

Here's the Midi

Oh yeah, it's a concerto for piano and strings orchestra. Here's the MUS.

I recomend the MUS over the Midi.

You can download FinaleNotepad free and legally from thise site: http://www.finalemusic.com/notepad/

Enjoy.

i like that little section after 00:40. and at point it sounded like final fantasy prelude. but i enjoyed it... best work so far. i dont know much about classical but i'd give 6.5/10.

I like the beginning part where it's sort of like call and response between the piano and strings, you know, where the piano would play a flourish of some sort and the strings would interject with a loud chord.

You have some awkward pauses/periods of silence here and there . .

You've demonstrated 3 case scenarios so far:
1) piano solo or strings solo with no accompaniment
2) piano melody with string accompaniment
3) string melody with piano accompaniment

Now perhaps you can try for a 4th: both the piano and strings together in counterpoint, or something like that. Only a suggestion, but I'm just trying to think of ways that you can maximize the piece's potential.

Yeah, those odd pauses are where the Double Bass has a little solo, but it's undetectable in the midi.

Here's a zipped file of my emaculatized Pont Commun. I know I've posted this before, but that was before I added these sound fonts which turn it into a totally different piece.

Rate it, if you please!

Enjoy.

Great job! Have you tried adding [more] reverb to it? It'd make the cello part come out even better. :) What was the synth program? The piano part around 4:50 and beyond was particularly interesting to me. :) I like how it started out so melancholic, only to end so happily! The parts where the cello hands the melody suddenly off to the piano really keeps my interest. Imagine how good that cello part would sound if it was someone like Yo-Yo Ma on there.... ;) Also, the piano part around 2:40 really caught my interest well. :)

To make this piece sound even better, I recommend you add lots of reverb! Also, what piano SF is that? Bright Acoustic? Acoustic Grand?

Keep it up. I think this piece would be even more interesting if you were to add backing orchestral parts where the cello has solos. I can just picture the flutes and horns fluttering in the background softly as the cello takes over and the piano backs off for a bit. :)

Keep on going! Your results are quite admirable thus far. :)

^ Especially considering that this was my first composition. I just added shinies to it.

:blink:

Originally posted by yellowmonkey121@Mar 9 2005, 02:22 AM
i like that little section after 00:40. and at point it sounded like final fantasy prelude. but i enjoyed it... best work so far. i dont know much about classical but i'd give 6.5/10.
Yeh, that's what I'd though too; I think the harmonization was pretty close too, but such coincidences happen all the time. I think the piece is pretty decent overall, but the phrasing is way, way too rigid. Most your phrases seem to only be two measures long, and I kept expecting a more free-flowing section... which never came. I know it's hard to write flowing passages that don't go off on a tangent (lot of my video game styled-stuff is very repetitive in that sense as well), but unless you are going for a minimalistic approach (which this does seem to lean towards), try to add more variety. I think the problem might also due to the lack of a melody- most of what you have are just chord progressions, done in a variations manner. A melody would likely help you to make your phrasing more fluid.

As for the Pont Commun piece, it sounds rather nice for a first composition, I guess (though personally, I'd try to make the recording vary more dynamically). It was a bit hard to follow for me, outside of the repeated motifs. Maybe it'd be better to vary the harmonic textures some more as to add more distinction between the sections, or tightened up some of the long solo phrases. As Al said, the ending came a rather abruptly; it was hard to pick up any build-up or climaxing sections, with the whole piece flowing around in circles or whatnot. Even if that was your intention, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to make the ending a bit more distinct.

But what's been done has been done, so I hope you take these considerations to heart in your future works. Keep at it.

Ok, here's a new piece that was supposed to be for flute, oboe, harp, glockenspeil, French horn, Trombone, 2 violins and cello. I was radically displeased with the soundfonts so I did it with some kind of pitched percussion, 2 flutes, a harpsichord, horn section, and cello. It's called Story Time because it reminds me of the kind of conflict in bedtime stories and the overall feel of them. I'm not really pleased with the ending, though.

Enjoy. Story Time. Oh, yeah, when I converted it to a smaller WAV file, it lost a lot of its quality. I'm sorry.

^ Wow, I guess it was boring. Anyway, here's some counterpoint practices I did after finishing the first section of The Study of Counterpoint a few weeks ago. It's a melody from the book with counterpoint I added in the upper voice. I then do a few variations on the counterpoint. Enjoy.

Story Time:
I love the instruments used in the beginning, you bring out their effects very well. Good delicate harmony. Ah, when the harpsicord came in, I didn't like it at first, because it was almost as if it destroyed the essence of the opening. But when you brought in the cello, and it felt right again, haha. But I don't like the brass instruments (I'm not a fan), but I did like what they were playing. It sounded really happy. The next faster glockenspeil seemed out of place to me, perhaps if you led into it? I realize you're mixing bed time stories together though, and that section in itself was still good though. As for your ending, it would have been nice if you kept to the flute/oboe part, instead of repeating the theme with the brass. Just my opinion.

CPT2:
Gnomish? =P You're the expert here, why don't you tell us what you think? Haha . . as for me, I think you should make it into a real song. That's what comes from practice, right?

Yeah, I did a no-no with the glockenspeil part. I had written that as part of a piano piece and thought, "hey, I can squeeze that in!" It does kind of jerk you. I couldn't find a suitable oboe sound-font. Otherwise, I would have used it a lot more. And the Harpsichord part was orginally for the harp, but same sound-font story. That really did sound awesome when it was the MIDI harp, but I can't figure out how to mix that preset one with my other sound-fonts.

CPT2:
Nice use of counterpoint. :) Have you tried using your own cantus firmi? I think perhaps next, you should buy The Study of Fugue (also partly by Fux, compiled by Mann), if you wish to go to the next level of contrapuntist virtuosity. :) However, it did seem a bit like you were not quite utilizing the kind of chord resolution that is expected in contrapuncti at the penultimate measure. Maybe I heard wrong? Keep it up. :)

No, I didn't don't like to follow parts of their harmonic structure. I find it to be tremendously limiting and cripiling to certain styles. I mix the rules for movement with more modern harmony.

Here's some counterpoint I added in the lower voice to a couple of Lullay themes.

Ok, here's the sappiest, syrupiest thing I have ever written. I started writing it when I was severely depressed, so I guess I write romance-movie music when I'm sad. Anyway, here it is. It's kind of a Canon, but not really. It's in E-flat major.

CPT1:
Yeah, I feel that sometimes, bending the rules is okay, as long as it sounds nice, and it does here.

Canon:
The beginning sounds more like a minor key, so that was interested how you shifted to major with the addition of harmony. Actually, this sappy sort of thing I quite like! Wouldn't mind hearing more of these from you in the future. The bass rhythm was nice, giving flow to the piece and helping it to move along. I felt that when you got to the end of the piece, you could have finished it off with just the bass by itself, fading away or something.

^ Thanks. I know you have a discerning ear. And, by the way, you rock. You not only review everything, you give the best advice and counsel. You're one of the best things about this forum.

EDIT: here's the MP3 of my canon. I finally figured out how to go from MUS, to MIDI, to WAVE, to MP3. 'Tis a joyous day. Voici the MP3:

Ok, here's a brief movement for a piano concerto for piano and strings orchestra. That's the midi, I'll get the MP3 up soon.

Canon

In the beginning, I found it quite difficult to tell the meter and key of the piece, but the manifestation of the melody and harmony parts really clarified that. I like the chord progression, but it was very difficult for me to grasp the canonic viability of the piece, and I don't think I ever did succeed at figuring it out. I like the "sappy" quality of it, and the high violin parts later on in the piece truly capture the movie-quality of this piece. It seems like this composition would fit well for a farewell theme for two characters (in an RPG or movie, etc.) who finally have to part ways after a whirlwind affair of love. The ending sounded sort of unexpected, and I would've loved this piece even more had you implanted a Baroque apoggiatura before the close of the final cadence. But this piece was a very nice improvement on your part. :)

Concerto 1

Driven melody and rhythm, and the beginning sounds like a fine mesh of Baroque progressions and Romantic expressive qualities. This song has a touch of Vivaldi, or so it seems. It's very hard to make a nice piece for piano in the foreground with an orchestra behind it, but somehow, you managed to hold my attention. :) The piano arpeggios and quick scaling on the keys add a nice effect, and the high string parts add an enchanting peril to the song in whole. Wow, you sure did a nice job of melding so many styles together! Near the last 3rd, the semi-fugal part is a great addition, and the quick LH broken chords are well-orchestrated. At the ending, when you repeat the high-pitch chord in the piano part three times, I wonder if it would benefit the piece if you would affix one last chord (making chord number 4 being pounded near the end) LOW in the LH register to reinforce the ominous feeling of the piece...? :think: Anyway, this is a wonderful piece, and you're the most serious classical composer I've ever met!

Good job. ^.^

It's funny how you so hit nail on the head. My major influences for the concerto are Bach, Handel, and Tchaikovsky. I was looking at how Handel set up the chords in the strings for "For Unto Us a Child is Born," Tchaikovsky's 1st piano concerto, and Bach's various Violin concertos. This isn't as good as any of them, but it's a shot.

EDIT:
Oh, and lest I forget, Fux was indespensible! He's manifested his influence in everything I've writen since then.

:lol: I was thinking of putting in Tchaikovsky's name, but for some reason I decided not to. :P

Fux was worthwhile, then? :) That's great! Have you thought about picking up "The Study of Fugue"? It contains a large excerpt of Fux's treatise about fugal composition, and it further explores contrapuntal pursuit to perfection, especially in a Baroque manner. I've got a copy, and it's very nice. It also contains theory inserts by Martini, Marpurg, and Albrechtsberger on the subject of Fugue. Additionally, it contains an extended chronology of how contrapuntal style evolved into the fugue and, in turn, the canon.

Here's a composition for classical guitar I did for a friend. This gets the award for the fastest I've ever composed something. 45 minutes for 3 minutes of music.

Here's the MP3, which is vastly superior to the MIDI.

And here's the MP3 for the concerto. Once again, vastly superior. I especially like the Contrabass sound font. It adds something that the midi horribly lacks.

Concerto: You've done a really good job of keeping the balance between the piano and strings. The drive and energy is great, giving us the direction needed for the piece, but you have nice contrasts between the fast and slow parts. You've got to think big to write big, and you've done just that. I would have liked the transition into the fugal section to be more smoother though. And part of the fugal theme itself reminds me of a children's song I once heard as a kid, "I am slowly going crazy, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, switch! Slowly crazy am I going, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, switch!" Something like that, you probably don't know it, hehe . . I was hoping for a bigger bang for the ending though, I believe you could built up to it more.

Guitar: Ah, this would be extra nice if accompanied by strings or something, the main theme is great, you've got a real feel for the instrument . . the middle section I felt was weak, because the melody was running around without harmony or direction. You should use your flowing accompaniment to lead into the ending, rather than make it so abrupt.

^Yeah, I'm half ashamed of the middle section of the Guitar piece. And it appears I have a chronic problem with having weak endings on my pieces. I really need help in that area.

*sheds tears of happiness*

wow, its beutifull! i can only remix and add a longer melody to music, and im tring to compose (I started one not so long ago) have you tried to make an orchristra composition yet? just take one of your standing songs you wrote already and add like crazy, and layer and play and layer ect

here is a very good example of an orcistrated song thats actualy very simple, i listened through it to pic up each part and theres only like 4 or 5. (when i mean part i mean like diffrent melody type things played durring one time)

PS. its not my work and i give all credit to the composer (its from princess mononoke!)

hmmmmmmmm, a double post. sorry, i didnt do it on purpose, probably some mess up

better use it to good use!

I have a good keyboard but i might get (i mean my parents might get me) a better piano, not a keyboard, but a digital piano. the diffrence between a keyboard and a digital piano is a digital is better and gives out better quality everything. its pritty expensive but not as a real piano. it comes fully equiped with built in leg post and a built in leg peddal. hundreds of midi and mp3 voices/beats, very elabrate demos and song (not just songs that use the built in beats but pree programed orcastrated somgs!)
and instead of plugging it into a comuter through a cable, you can upload and download
music and programs via flopy disk's and maby even cd's in a more expensive version!

with that digital piano you can compose and layer mutilple times ALL ON THE PIANO!! the lcd screen is huge, 5 by 5 inch or even more because im just guessing, i cant really remember but its that big!! thats the paino for you alfonso!

That piano concerto with strings orchestra is the only thing I've written that really approaches orchestral. I feel like I need some more education before I start trying orchestration. Hopefully I'll be getting that at college. Right now I'm completely self-educated, and it shows.

i wouldnt notice if i didnt know it was you! its very good...i love it. it actualy isnt hard, i tried it with my keyboard. you know the keys that sound good together and after/before each other? well you probably do. just swich some of the notes with diffrent insturemts and add more, listen and change untill you brain says stop. i know that isnt a good way to start doing a huge song but its a start. you should try remixing songs first, it makes it clear what things sound good and what doesnt before you try free hand.

Originally posted by Alfonso de Sabio@May 20 2005, 12:00 PM
And it appears I have a chronic problem with having weak endings on my pieces. I really need help in that area.
There are different ways to go about composing an ending. One way would be to think of an essay. The finale would be analogous to the conclusion, right? And generally, the conclusion of an essay ties up all the points from the introduction and the body.

Or another approach is to create new material, but to make it flow from what you've previously written, so that it leaves no doubt in the listener's mind that the end is coming. That's as best as I can explain it, it makes no sense, because each song is different :heh:

speaking of a good ending, a good way (i got this idea from listening to the ending to Princess Mononoke) is to start off slow and moody, then make it have that strong feel with hard pressed notes, then soft. make it seem like it might end but just restart from somthing that is very similar to the begining or just restart. then at the very end, play some chords that are medium in strength and make it only treble clef chords and end it with a chord for the first note played. it works and ive tried it on some songs i wrote!

I need to learn the music term really bad.....i forgot them all

I'm having a recital Saturday, and this is a piece I wrote for it Wednesday. I have two friends who are playing flute and piano with me and they do an awesome job. The cello solo in the middle sounds weak, but that's because there's a whole bunch of spots where I do impromptu. In the score it says "ad lib." This sounds so much better live, but here's an MP3 of the midi.

Recital Piece

Nice double-stops in the cello part. The flute part creates a wonderful layering with the cello, and the chord progression in the piano part is a nice one, indeed. :) Too bad the impromptu couldn't be inserted in the middle cello part, because it sounds a bit abrupt just leaving out the other parts so suddenly. Once the solo cello part gets moving, the double-stops kick in again and make a wonderful self-accompaniment! And the rhythm is so catchy. Great job there! And the downward arpeggio at the end really lets my ears know that there will be more instruments coming in soon. Good variations in the flute part. Just as I thought it might get repetitive, the flute part switches from dotted rhythm to longer note values. The piano part is just the right volume, just in the background and filling in the harmonic holes that the two solo instruments can't fulfill by their lonesomes. :P The ending is tad bit unexpected, and it sounds slightly odd not hearing a traditional cadence implemented, although I suppose one shouldn't be expected, considering it ends on a solo part. But the fact that the piano/flute left off without resolving their chord left me hanging. Overall, great creativity with those cadences and the piano's accompaniment! True music from a true composer. :)

Nice job, Alfonso. I enjoyed the parts with the Cello and the Flute. However, the piano part became a bit annoying in the begining, and the part at around 1:08 a bit too sudden for my tastes. Afterwords, I was very bored with the peice until 2:18. Then you hooked me right back on. I think that a bit more variation with the piano would really make a most pleasant difference. Going into the cello for the end was a bit...sudden, and also it sounded a bit bland.

Anyways, overall, I think you did a rather respectable on this song. Good job, and keep up the good work! 7/10

Nicely done =) . . on the whole I agree with Gnomish's and Nightmare's comments, hehe . . the best best best part was around the 1 minute part (before the cello solo), when all three instruments were playing together equally, blending perfectly! As for the cello, it's a shame we can't hear your piano impromptu, because I wanted to complain about the lack of a piano solo. Although the piano was great as an accompanying instrument, I would have liked to hear it share the spotlight as a main theme-r =P (x.x where's my vocabulary these days?) Hmm, the transition from cello solo back to the main section of the piece seems awkward to me, but then again, it's probably because I can't hear the piano . . I think that because of the piano's strong drive, we were all expecting an exuberant ending, rather than your cello solo cut-off (but at least it wasn't abrupt, hehe) . .

Good luck on the recital! It's always great to have your piece performed in front of a live audience!! =D

Yeh, I have to agree about the lacking cello solo - it sounds more like all the piano and flute just decided to stopped playing (work on the transition some more), but the cello just keeps on going with it's business... Try to make it more meterless and improvisional sounding if possible; making it faster and more rhythmic might help too. The flute adds a nice texture, but you could try to balance the parts more so that it doesn't just sound like it's being used for brief effects. Overall, it's a nice piece, but with some puzzling discreptancies.

Thanks everybody for your comments, compliments, and criticism. I made some minor adjustments. I smoothed out the ending and gave the impromptu some good transitional spots to link it in with the rest of the piece. My friends made me title it, which I'm not fond of doing, so here's my title: "The Tortoise's March to and Triumphal Return from the War." I started laughing in the middle of the performance because of the images it invoked.

The recital as a whole was a big success. I played four selections from Bach's Six Suites for Solo Cello, my piece you just heard, Saint-Saëns' "The Swan," Fauré's "Sicilienne," and Schubert's "Ständchen." I had so much fun and my friend did such a great job on the piano. We polished our timing well, which was really hard on "Sicilienne." If you haven't heard it, I recomend downloading it legally. It's so beautiful and I think you'd like it even if you don't like classical music.

Congratulations! Glad it went well! Haha, I'd laugh too the performance =P

Ok, I'm working on a second and third movement for the piano concerto as well as a suite in six movements for piano, cello, and flute. I'll be using those as well as my organ sonata (on the first page of this thread) as my audition pieces for the Composition major. Keep an eye open for them; I'll post them as soon as possible. I'm about half way through the second movement of the piano concerto. That should be up in about a week. And I just started the suite. The suite is called "The Gentle Movement of the Day." That comes from the Bayard translation of Faust. I'll explain more of that later.

I love your music Sabio! Im all like :music: But with out the headphones. Im very surrprised such a young person could make such good music. Lets just wait untill your like 40, and then see what you make :D

Here's the MUS of mvt. #2. I plan on making some corrections. Like the cello solo during the piano's runs ends before it should. In a few weeks, I'll put up the MP3 in all of its corrected goodness.

Here's a little experiment I did with counterpoint with one of my all-time favorite melodies. The theme comes from Dvorak's New World Symphony. Oboe and cello. Also, feel free to comment about the concerto above.

Dvorak

Such a solemn and hopeful excerpt you chose. :) The strings are a really cool addition, and the counterpoint is fairly well-executed. Good use of motif and variation, as well as accidentals.

I'd listen to the above concerto mvt, but I require a midi or MP3. :unsure:

Ok, here's an mp3 of the concerto's 2nd mvt. It doesn't have very good soundfonts, I can't add those until I get to my home computer, which is over a thousand miles away. That will be in about a month.

Crap, my MP3 is too long. You'll have to make-do with the rancid midi.

EDIT: The midi doesn't even do the pizzicato. Total crap. I'm sorry. The MUS is definitely the preferable version.

Piano Concerto - 2nd Mvt.

Good introduction, and I like the counterpoint between the cello and high strings a lot. :) Oooh! That part where all the strings come in finally is superb! I like the inner movement in the parts. Good transition to the fast LH piano part, topped with a great RH part to highlight the complex and moving harmony. Really energetic theme about 1/3 of the way through. I like the steps that the cello takes under the quiet violin part. Great ornamentation in the piano part about halfway through. A lot of exciting descending parts in the piano over all those wonderful string harmonies. Like the trill in the piano part; it's hard to find a composer that uses them properly anymore. :D The motifs in all of the parts are concise and pleasant. The ending is very well-defined and pronounced. If I didn't know any better, I'd daresay say you've got a bit of Tchaikovsky in your blood. :P

You've improved to the pinnacle of classical composition as far as I'm concerned, and that's quite an accomplishment! Keep these WONDERFUL compositions coming! :)

Wow. Thanks. I hope the composition "jury" agrees with you. Now all I have to do is write the third mvt., a six movement suite, and learn a concerto and sonata for cello. All of this is due in January.

Where did the attached files go?

They went kaputt.

yeah, where did they go? I was going to listen to some of Alfonso's stuff, and its not there! I miss his music, it was so good... :cry:

You'll have to re-upload them. The conversion to vBulletin caused all attachments to disappear.

Ok, I put the 2nd mvt. back up and I'll try to put the rest of them up today.

To all of my devoted fans, I'd like to say that I'm not dead. I just got really caught up in other things and the third movement of the piano concerto is slow in coming. However, I did crank out this fun little organ piece in about 20 minutes today. I'm trying to revive my dead requiem, and this piece would be the prelude. There's kind of a problem with the triplets towards the beginning. They're not very pronounced. Oh well. Review and rate, por favor.

EDIT:
I took the attachment off of this post. Go check out the revised version a few posts down.

I didn't like this song very much. I dunno, I guess it sounded too... uncreative, maybe?

Don't know how to put it. Kinda like no emotion. :heh:

I have to disagree to all Marlon said. Although it's not your best work, it surely beats the majority here on this forum.

I liked this one. The second half of the song I found to be more pleasing though. :)
But still great job.

Yeah, I'm going to revise the first half. I'm not a fan. It would be mediocre if it was live, but since it's synthesized, you can't hear the principal notes and it just sound like loud chords.

Ok, I fixed the beginning.

I think Marlon was making a crack about creativity since I said I thought my pieces were creative in the music theory thread. Even if he's not, it doesn't really bother me. I like it. (haha)

O...K... :huh:

I didn't; I was just commentating what I thought about the song. And my objective was not to bother you, it was more or less so you can hear what a person thinks about your piece.

I'm glad you enjoyed being told your piece was uncreative (no, I'm not being sarcastic), why ever that may be. :huh:

No no no. I didn't think you were trying to bother me. I thought you were being clever. But, even though that wasn't your intention, that's fine too.

What I was saying is that it's fine if you think it's emotionally void because I like the piece. Not that I particularly enjoy being told I'm uncreative. I really don't care either way. Sorry, inflection doesn't transfer into writing.

Oh O.K. ^_^

I guess I understand.

This song needs more BASS!!! I just felt like it needed more substance in some of the bass clef! Organs are so good at making a bass sound good so that is what I think you need! Besides that, this is a little short for an organ solo and it doesn't feel like it has an ending.

Ok, I'm not doing this thread anymore. It has too much junk in it, and let's be honest. I'm never going to reload all those files. So would some kind Admin lock this and I start a new one?

It shall be done, then.