Chopin, I still have no idea what you're saying about my Fantasy, so I'm just going to let it drop, because I'm not really going to change that piece again (at least for a while).

As for Eulogy, pedal is how I meant for that chord to be realized; however, I decided this morning that in the interest of counterpoint I would change that slightly, which consequently gets rid of your problem with the chord.

Kevin, I'll send you the midi once I've done the edits that my professor has suggested.

BTW, the issue with my professor on the Lullaby is resolved; he admitted that a lot of the changes he made were a matter of taste and then explained to me the things that he thought absolutely needed fixing.

Chopin, I still have no idea what you're saying about my Fantasy, so I'm just going to let it drop, because I'm not really going to change that piece again (at least for a while).

As for Eulogy, pedal is how I meant for that chord to be realized; however, I decided this morning that in the interest of counterpoint I would change that slightly, which consequently gets rid of your problem with the chord.

Kevin, I'll send you the midi once I've done the edits that my professor has suggested.

BTW, the issue with my professor on the Lullaby is resolved; he admitted that a lot of the changes he made were a matter of taste and then explained to me the things that he thought absolutely needed fixing.

Cool! Waiting eagerly :)

Here you go!

Here you go!

YAY!! I will do it when I am at home and I remember! >< haha. Thanks :)

I really liked Eulogy. A lot. Great harmonies in there. =]
And with the guitar thing....
Technical thing. xD. Technically there lowest note is a E, since that is there lowest string. But if It can be tuned down, then it shouldn't be a problem. I didn't know Guitars could do that like a cello or bass could, but thats my own fault. Sorry. xD.

It's cool. My composition instructor apparently didn't know that either because that was one of the things he got on me about...

yea guitars players are crazy, I've heard of some people dropping the fundamental all the way to B and changing all the other strings to match. It's a very strange sound though.

For some strange reasons, I find it funny your teacher did not know that. But anyway, the eulogy create a wonderful atmosphere. Very nice deathrider, I enjoy this piece! The melodic movement, the harmonies, Its slowness, the mood.

Oh, measure 18 reminds me to my piece "failure" the G,D,C. :P

This is it :)

I hope it's ok sounding.. ><

Haha, thanks! I totally could do this myself now, though, because I am learning to use Logic. :P

Haha, thanks! I totally could do this myself now, though, because I am learning to use Logic. :P

Woa! cool! You have logic now!? I can create a file with a good stock piano and reverb loaded and send it to you if you want :)

Nah, I've got it figured out. I'll post my version tomorrow and you can tell me what you think.

Chopin, I still have no idea what you're saying about my Fantasy, so I'm just going to let it drop, because I'm not really going to change that piece again (at least for a while).

As for Eulogy, pedal is how I meant for that chord to be realized; however, I decided this morning that in the interest of counterpoint I would change that slightly, which consequently gets rid of your problem with the chord.

It's not only a problem of mine I believe, but these few bars needed a clarification because they were not clear as they were written, that's all. :shifty:

About your Fantasy, I didn't mean you have to change it (I can't do that without being disrespectful) but next time you want to compose something that sounds baroque you should take a look at this page. Hopefully it's already in English so I had the work already done.

This is Bach 1 Invention with analysis:
http://solomonsmusic.net/bachin1.htm
If you don't understand the symbols take a look at this:
http://solomonsmusic.net/formal.htm

This should explain what I already said. In counterpoint everything comes from the subject. In your fantasy did not. In counterpoint virtually nothing is a "free composition" even fantasias and inventions. When you said ”Fantasy for wind quintet in baroque style”, I was expecting something like this. ;)

Since I am a classical guitarist too I’m going to take a look at your Lullaby score this weekend. :P

I'm actually quite familiar with that particular piece (Bach Invention No. 1), and I feel that my piece draws upon a similar motivic structure more than you might realize. Nevertheless, you are right that it is not strictly Baroque; other people are more set on calling it Baroque than am I. I'm sorry if you don't agree with them.

I'd actually rather if you didn't criticize the Lullaby just yet, because my composition instructor already gave me a lot of possible revisions that I need to look at. When I'm done with those revisions it would be great if you would look at it, though, because I might need help weeding out what might be tough/impossible fingerings.

I'd actually rather if you didn't criticize the Lullaby just yet, because my composition instructor already gave me a lot of possible revisions that I need to look at. When I'm done with those revisions it would be great if you would look at it, though, because I might need help weeding out what might be tough/impossible fingerings.

Ok. I'll wait the final version then. Keep composing! ;)

Here's my logic rendering of Eulogy finally!:heh:

Awesomeness!! Are you using Space Designer?

Here's my logic rendering of Eulogy finally!:heh:

Neat little piece there. Really enjoyed some of the chords, especially in the second phrase. Seems to cut off before the repeat is done though. Also, grats on migrating to Logic :P - very intuitive program for music making. Lots of sounds and loops (if you are using pro), and flex-time lets you do a lot of cool rhythmic edits. The score view is a bit of the crappy side, but workable.

Yes I am using space designer. Logic is a lot of fun, but I still make the MIDIs with Finale and then import them. Still just learning it, though. That's weird that it cuts off...I'll have to fix that.

Let me know if you're having trouble ok? If you're running leopard then we can create a iChat account and I can actually remotely control your screen (with your permission) then I can actually show you some things haha.

Thanks! Unfortunately I only have access to it during my music tech class (which is why it took me so long to do that rendering; yesterday was my first day of class in a week and a half because I got the chicken pox and couldn't go to any of my classes last week XD). Luckily, the class is basically all about learning how to use Logic, so if I have any questions I can ask my professor.

Mad! Good luck!

This is a VERY rough sketch for my composition, which sketch is due tomorrow in Composition Seminar. It is scored for Oboe and Bassoon, and plays around with some ideas used by Bartok in some of his piano pieces. The melody uses a pentatonic scale while the accompaniment uses an altered Lydian scale (altered by lowering the seventh scale degree). I wrote this pretty haphazardly, but I think it's pretty interesting. We'll see what improvements I can make in the next couple of days...

Woa. Interesting! haha! The bassoon's basically playing a whole tone scale haha. I don't know what to say about the piece, but regarding the score, you could probably but a few "sim." markings on the bassoon part. Let us know how the seminar goes!

Well, it seems to be whole tone, but when the G finally comes in it's a G natural; however, this could be considered a modulation to G minor, too, so it's hard to say. I guess it's probably more leaning towards whole tone simply based upon the fact that the piece ends on the F#, which sounds great, but which would not make sense in Lydian...

My professor ended up really liking it, though, so mission accomplished!

Haha! Your professor is contemporary?

Uh...well by definition, my professor *is* contemporary simply because he is alive and teaching me...:P. Now if I had a ghost teaching me, that would be a whole different story.

The more I listen to it the more I like it. The theme is funny to me. XD

Cool! I'm glad you like it! The theme is supposed to be quite playful--I imagined the "Boggart", which is a creature of English mythology which plays tricks and steals food.

By the way, I just uploaded a new version in which I fixed some rhythmic stuff that was bothering me.

Yay, new version of "Ripples", which I wrote a while ago, rendered with Logic Pro! Now the beginning doesn't spaz out...

Yay! Enjoyable. :)

This gonna be on through the night tonight for relax me!

Haha, cool! I find it quite relaxing, too...it almost put me to sleep when I was working on the mp3 earlier! :P

This next one is not so relaxing. It's another assignment for Composition Seminar, in Phrygian mode. I can't decide if the organization is clear enough...

Cheers, I'm back writing comments! I think modes was quite effective. Thanks for the tips on the choir piece, sorry I just sort of disappeared that night lol. Personally, I thought it sounded like bgm to an 80's cartoon about 2 mischief acting on some little scheme. :)

Yay! Thanks. I'm not sure about the chromatic sections yet, but we'll see what my comp. teacher says.

Hmm... sounds like something that's begging to be industrial rock.

I agree...:P

For some reason while listening to this mode exercise I felt like I was playing Gameboy like the good olden days. XD

It sounds evil haha, what did your comp teacher say?

PS: Cute ending haha!

Thanks! lol... It is kinda "cute" isn't it?

My comp teacher hasn't told me what he thinks of the latest version, but he liked my first sketch of it.

That's funny that you think it sounds "evil". That wasn't exactly the emotion I was channeling for this one, though...:P

I share the same feeling with Porsche. :P And reminds me of Pharaohs. Silly ending, lol.

New piece I'm working on for comp seminar; I really like how it's coming along and my teacher and the students in my class seem to like it a lot. I've still got to fix some orchestration issues, so don't worry about those things.

Edit: sorry, I'm not sure why it disappeared...

*bump*

OK, new snippet. Thanks to Nyu001 for the motive that is going to be used in this piece.

OK, so basically, Maestrosetti (if any of you remember him; he shares his website with me) and I decided we want to take a single motive with a specified instrumentation (in this case the traditional "piano trio") and each develop it just to see the differences in how we would use it. I personally decided to go with some quintal harmony (I quite like quintal and quartal harmony lately... :D ) and some cool rhythmic effects.

I like the choice of harmony and how was placed. Now that I re-listened to it, it does not sound like "forced". But, the way it complement the motive is not yet digested by me, lol.

I am wonder how this will turn!

Trio had great harmony and colour. I think you can extend it a lot however. Quartal Quartet was interesting, but I felt that the harmonies were forced to work together, rather then meshing is just sounded really forced. Remember this is just my opinion.

Trio had great harmony and colour. I think you can extend it a lot however. Quartal Quartet was interesting, but I felt that the harmonies were forced to work together, rather then meshing is just sounded really forced. Remember this is just my opinion.

That is obviously only the very beginning of the Trio, so no worries, it will definitely be expanded. As for the Quartal Quartet, what would you say sounded "forced"? I am just a little surprised because my teacher and classmates seemed to like this one a lot (and I do, too)...

Oh, and Nyu, I'm glad you like it better now. It's only the first 4 phrases, basically, so it makes sense that it's hard to see the big picture from only that much. Thanks again for the idea! I hope you don't mind that I changed the rhythm a little to match how I was hearing it.

Oh it's not that I didn't enjoy or like it (haha), it's just that I personally felt that the harmony was blended in a way that made it sound like it was in a situation where there were harmonies and they were just being shoved together to work. Sorry, bad analogy. The non-live element might be having an influence, but I mean. Yeah. I still like it though ^^

Hmmm...OK. I was hoping you could be more specific, but I guess not. Oh well, we'll see what my comp professor says when I'm finished.

Where are you studying composition? I just went to a performance of composition majors in Provo, and this is what every body's compositions were sounding like--this is just a touch more...structured and melodic.

I study at the University of Utah, and none of mine have been performed yet (my recital for the semester is on December 11th). I can't decide whether that was a compliment or not, though...lol

How come you were at BYU?

Oh wow. The U. I hope we can still be friends. (Just kidding.) I'm a student here at BYU. I'm double majoring in Linguistics and German, but I'm in as many ensembles and whatnot as I can be during my free-time.

And yes, that was a compliment. I almost universally hated everything at that concert. It extinguished whatever regret I had for not majoring in composition.

Oh, and by the way, may the best team win on the 28th. (Given our track record of choking at big games, though, it's not looking too hot for us.)

Oh man, you didn't tell me you actually GO to BYU! I'll have to come to one of your concerts or something and we can meet up. I'm a little worried that the professors here are going to want me to start being something I'm not, but I'll find a way to preserve my own voice...

So yeah, when is your next concert and how much are tickets? And are you in any of the choirs?

The next concert I'm involved with is at the Provo Tabernacle on December 6th. It's something the German department is putting on. We're doing the choral movements from "Wachet auf" and "Aus der Tiefe" by Bach. It's supposed to be a folky-German-Christmas concert, but the director of the choir was a touch more ambitious this year. I'll be singing tenor and playing the cello (not at the same time, of course).

And then I JUST joined this renaissance group called "Musica Antiqua," but we probably won't have a recital until February.

And I'm auditioning for the orchestras next semester. So, I'll keep you updated.

Oh, and for sure post the specifics of when your December concert is.

This is an exercise in pandiatonicism and minimalism.

PS. Sorry I haven't been very active lately; I promise I'll come comment on things this weekend.

Koyaanisqatsi (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Koyaanisqatsi.aif)

I thought that was quite effective in general but I didn't like the sudden transition back to the first theme around 1:16.

Thanks for the comment! :)

Videos from my recital on Friday:

Eulogy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuD1tDjNvQM)

Quartal Quartet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvbBIM_vFl4)

I can't wait to get home today for listen to your pieces!

Oh well done!!!

Videos from my recital on Friday:

Eulogy (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuD1tDjNvQM)

Quartal Quartet (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvbBIM_vFl4)

Grats on getting your stuff performed, it was interesting to see how they came out live. Too bad the recording quality is kind of meh though :\.

Yeah, but it's ok because we'll be getting a real recording sometime over Christmas break that was recorded by ORTF, and it will be MUCH better, I hope! I have a video of Koyaanisqatsi, too, but I didn't post it because we didn't play it very well...:P

Congratulation for the performs Deathrider, I got a chance to listen to them now. Was cool to see your music live! But what happened with Eulogy that now is Piano and Flute? I thought was a solo piano piece. And where is the quintet piece? Still nothing? :(

I like Eulogy. I also like this WAY more than the stuff the BYU kids were doing at their recital. This actually has, you know, chords and form and harmony and all that good stuff. Bravo.

Thanks!

I just started a new composition tonight based off of a poem last week about some of the weird dreams I've had in my life. I'm trying to create a sort of ambiguity in terms of the music as to whether these dreams were good or bad, because even though some of the dreams may sound bad or scary when described, some of them were, strangely enough, good dreams in their own way. Also, the poem/song are supposed to be subtly humorous.

The piece is scored for Choir, Marimba, and Taiko Drum (ignore the flute, I don't think I'm going to end up using that; if I did, it would be a penny whistle, not a flute) I'm trying out pandiatonicism, polyrhythms/meters, and minimalism again in this piece. Here's the poem:

head on pillow

fast asleep
darkness stirring
creatures creep
monsters leap
spectres reap

head on bed:
full steam ahead,
zombie-led
train;
un-
dead!

head inside,
stay alive;
gonna die.
meteorite
hit the earth,
but I can
fly!

head in space -
b-ball game
in the same
shuttle-place
and little
red-riding
hood
on the moon?

head on sand
foreign strand,
gypsy band,
pirate
is-
land,
judging by that
naked man-
dible...

gasp!


Also, I've included the .MUS file of the piece so far (which is really only the first stanza, but I wanted to run the general idea past some people, so here you go).

I like the accent and bends. The piece sounds very emotionless at the start with the marimba. It create this weird sense that I like. It may turn interesting if you continue this. In special with those words for to be sung. My favorite part of the lyrics are: head inside, stay alive; gonna die. meteorite hit the earth,
but I can fly! :lol:

I wish I could write at least a verse of lyrics... Yesterday I was trying to write lyrics, but I just could come with: I lost my cake, the one moma baked... :heh:

Hahahaha! That's funny!

I wish I could write at least a verse of lyrics... Yesterday I was trying to write lyrics, but I just could come with: I lost my cake, the one moma baked... :heh:
Someone left a cake out in the rain...All the sweet green icing flowing down... [/MacArthur's Park]

This is the first in a set; basically, the assignment was to create a basic idea and then expand on it in several ways, and this is the first iteration. See if you can figure out the technique behind this.

Here are the official recordings of two of my compositions from my recital in December:

Eulogy (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Eulogy.aif)

Quartal Quartet (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Quartal_Quartet)

Hey,

I liked Eulogy so much that I took my time to make my own midi interpretation of it. There is one little clipping I think.

Thanks! I like it! I think I might just make some changes to the sheet music based on your interpretation! Do you still have the midi, and if so, could you post that, too?

I wish the pianist and flautist could have stayed together and kept the tempo going in my recording because it kind of drags... :(

I think you will be better opening it in logic or any sequencer. All is recorded in a single track. And I don't know if finale would recognize well the variate tempos. By the way, I removed the octave notes in the last measure for sound more like a closing.

Thanks! I actually didn't want it for Finale. I wanted it so that I could program it into my Disklavier.

Wow, I really love these two performances of your Euology! I know you said you wrote it based off of a Schumann piece called "Solder's March," but do you think you could be specific as to your thoughts as you went through the score writing it? I'd be interested to hear what inspired you to do the things that you incorporated into this score!

Um...I'll talk to you on messenger. That is a very complicated question, isn't it?

I enjoyed Euology as well. It is quite Undeathraidery, but I like how it reminds me of the songs you wrote a while back when I used to listen your work a lot. The chording is great, and the gentle accompaniment makes me think of slow, tiny waves rocking a small boat in the night. I actually don't have any more in-depth comments or critique, I think it works perfectly as it is. Perhaps you could make a better recording, but that's about it.

Thanks! I think it's very "deathraidery" in a way, though. It kind of reminds me of the composition I posted when I very first started here called "destroyed water" and later I think I changed the name to "cold reflection" or something. It was a return to my roots. It's kind of comforting to still be able to write in that style after being pulled in so many other compositional directions of late...

As to the recording, I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to make a better recording; the hall I was recording in and the recording equipment used were excellent, but for some reason the performers just didn't do the piece as well as they could have when it came down to the performance (they sounded wonderful in practice!)...

Maybe they got nervous? Haha^^'

An update on my Stravinsky-based piece:

MP3 (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Stravinskyidea.mp3)

PDF (www.crumble-onuts.com/music/stravinskyidea.pdf)

Edit: I added some more today (Feb. 14th)

I like the pensive part of your piece and the introduction with the piano arpeggio. That really set the mood of a thoughtful state.

I finally finished the rough draft:

MP3 (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Piano_Trio.mp3)

PDF (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Piano_Trio.pdf)

O_o This is interesting...
...Nice "ambient" feel, except it gets really excited at spikes during the mp3. ...It sounds really 21st-century; very... dissonant... I don't listen to 21st century music that much, so I don't know what to say; it's very interesting, indeed XP

More like 20th century, really. It was based on some pieces by Stravinsky (as well as his method of composition, as was the assignment from my composition professor) and had a little Ravel and Poulenc thrown in. :P

I totally understand if it's not your cup of tea. To be honest, it's pretty far out of my box, but I like how it turned out. :)

Hahaha, it was fun to listen to though! Gives me a break from all that classical -_-

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you were going for, but it definitely gave me a feeling of something eerie... like perhaps creeping through an old haunted mansion or something to that effect. It manages to change up enough to keep the listener on his toes, and it has a couple of moments where the volume spikes, but not necessarily in a bad way, in fact I think those little bursts add to the feel of the piece.

On a less professional level, I love this piece. I envy your ability to write music of this style.

Thanks! You know, I'm sure you have the ability, or can develop it someday soon. It took me 7 years of composing (and perhaps more importantly, composition lessons for the past few months) to get to this point, so no worries if it's not coming right away. :)

Hey, I made some fairly big additions to "Breath Eternal", so take a look if you want!

score (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Breath_Eternal.pdf)

mp3 (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Breath_Eternal.mp3)

BTW, the MP3 hasn't changed, because most of the changes I made wouldn't be able to play back in Finale.

Woah... that was epic.

...Sounded a lot like one of those old church hymns for some reason; the text also blended perfectly in with the music... looking forward to see this being performed XP

Me too! A director was thinking of programming it in a concert which is taking place this week, but obviously it fell through. :( Hopefully I can find another choir which might be interested in it...

Ahh man. Hell Nostalgic. It's still so beautiful :) Get choir soon please ^^

I want to so badly!

Love it!

I'd say with confidence that this and Euology are your best pieces man. It's when I think you use harmonic tension and release and a certain way it really shows a wonderful side to your craft.

Thanks! :) I just wish I could figure out how to apply that ability to the atonal stuff I'm having to write...

Look at Schoenberg. He wrote some of the most amazing books on harmony and because his knowledge of harmony was so advanced he could then apply it to atonality.

Just finishing up this piece for voice (represented here by a flute) and guitar entitled "Nightfall" (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Nightfall.aif). I'll post sheet music when it's finished.

i didn't have time to listen to all your songs... but think eulogy interpretation says it all. i really liked it. it's so.... sad and powerful, too.

Killing bandwidth with that AIF.. hehe. so much so I couldn't listen.. =.=

OK, OK, I guess I can post the mp3 (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Nightfall.mp3) now. And also the pdf (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Nightfall.pdf).

I just started an electronic piece using serialism. Here (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/obscurum.mp3) is what I have so far.

yeah cool. you have a sort of groove going on so try and start either moving away or developing that. are you planning to use melody? looking forward to hearing more.

That depends on what you mean by "melody"...

That depends on what you mean by "melody"...

xD Off-topic: I read this and I was reminded of a 30-minute debate that I started in my Music Theory class about the meanings of the elements of music (esp. avant-garde music). But back on topic, the piece in its current form has some potential, but I can't say too much about it due to its brevity - expand on it!


OK, OK, I guess I can post the mp3 (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Nightfall.mp3) now. And also the pdf (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Nightfall.pdf).

Interesting - I'm assuming you're deriving this from twelve-tone technique, right? xD I just started using it recently - about the piece itself, it gives the impression of nightfall very well (esp. with the glissando at the end). Staring at the lyrics, it seems as though you intend just to give an impression (i.e. not for the purpose of musical direction), which is fine. Otherwise, I don't have too much to say about this piece.

But back on topic, the piece in its current form has some potential, but I can't say too much about it due to its brevity - expand on it!
That's understandable. I will expand on it since it's due next week in comp seminar! :heh:




Interesting - I'm assuming you're deriving this from twelve-tone technique, right? xD I just started using it recently - about the piece itself, it gives the impression of nightfall very well (esp. with the glissando at the end). Staring at the lyrics, it seems as though you intend just to give an impression (i.e. not for the purpose of musical direction), which is fine. Otherwise, I don't have too much to say about this piece.

Actually this one is using what is, by some, called 'set technique', which may or may not be a part of twelve-tone technique. Basically you take a set of 3-5 pitches (in this case 0, 2, 5) and then you use those pitches as the basis for the piece. It's a little more flexible than classical serialism by itself; however, a lot of serialists sort of use it to organize their tone row.

Hey,

I liked Eulogy so much that I took my time to make my own midi interpretation of it. There is one little clipping I think.

Man this is awesome, excellent job.

Thanks! (and thanks again to Nyu001 for the recording)

PS. I really wish I had Logic Pro on my home computer...

I decided to compose the second movement of my piano trio using the same row as I was using for the electronic piece (which I started to hate, so I kinda just stuck an ending on it :heh:). This has a very different approach to the row.

MP3 (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Piano_Trio_2.mp3)

PDF (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Piano_Trio_2.pdf)

Triple post! XD

Here's the first edit of a recording I did yesterday. Tell me what you think!

Breath Eternal (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Breath_Eternal.mp3)

It's amazing! I want to sleep with it!

kinda interesting. i was really moved from about a minute before the second half of the song. it is dramatic, which i like... and sad, which i like sometimes.

i tend to attach a picture to a song... and from this song i got a history. to expound on it... i saw something happening to change its history. OR a portray of unchangeable history... OR :devil: :devil: :devil: vs. :halo:

Well the text is definitely religious in nature, and it's fairly personal. Glad you liked it. :)

Wow. Breath Eternal is simply beautiful. Reminds me of Eric Whitacre. Very nice recording. I loved the Shhs and the inhales and exhales. They gave the piece a mysterious atmosphere. My favorite part would have to be the caressing section starting at mm. 50. and I loved how you gradually died away at the end of the piece. Very nice. Someday I will have to finish looking at your Stravinsky based piece so I can give a review.

Yeah, the caressing part is one of my favorite parts, too. I wish we (the tenors) had been more in tune, though. :P

Everyone compares this to Eric Whitacre! Haha... I tried to be original.

I think there is a clear distinction between your style and Whitacre's. True, there are parts that sound very Eric Whitacre like, but there are very original outside-of-the-box things as well.

Thanks!

I just built a new website, so check it out if you get a chance and tell me what you think (this is to everyone, not just umshfmodec). It's the same address (ianmcdougal.com).

I think there is a clear distinction between your style and Whitacre's. True, there are parts that sound very Eric Whitacre like, but there are very original outside-of-the-box things as well.

I agree with this statement fully. One suggestion: it's either the recording or the fact that it's near midnight when I'm typing this, but I feel as if there could be more divisi as in Whitacre's pieces, e.g. Water Night. But that's just my opinion. Very nice piece. ^_^

Thanks! I don't think it needs any more divisi, though...unless you have a more specific spot in mind?

I love Water Night. :) Especially the string version!

Thanks! I don't think it needs any more divisi, though...unless you have a more specific spot in mind?

I think what I meant to say is that I'd like a lot more "color chords," as in Water Night, but then again, that's just my opinion. :heh: I seem to have an obsession with color chords. :sweat:

I finally got around to working again on the piano trio I started last year as part of an experiment with Maestrosetti. I'm thinking I might add it as the last movement of the other piano trio I wrote (which included "the Day" and "the Night"), and then calling it "the Blues". We'll see, though.

New project!

That was pretty much fantastic, except for one thing. Those 16th notes got really annoying for me, really fast. Especially at the beginning where it was just changing between 2 notes. But other than that, it was great!

I think part of that is just that it was midi. I think if/when it's done in a real space, the 16th notes will mostly fade into the background due to the reverb whereas in the midi they don't.

Then it should be great. I look forward to you finishing this.

I posted an mp3 with some reverb on it, so you can sort of the see the effect better.

the very last piece you submitted... one with the title that looks like "omens"... but "omnes" or something... was really great. i like the chord progression very much. in the beginning i didn't know what to think... but i kept listening to it because at one point it captured me.

Thanks! Hopefully I can finish it soon...

omnes is a very strong composition! i enjoyed it a lot though with understanding of course that the quality drops with the use of synth instruments.

that aside though i undertand that thte 16th notes are supposed to provide a sort of background pallete rather then be as definitive as they are here. the only thing that i disagree with is the finale of the track. to me it doesnt quite bring the conclussion as it should. though as i undertand this is still a work in progress? if so then if you continue to write it my comment about the conclussion does not count.

otherwise its great work man keep it up!

It is indeed a work in progress, and is only about 2/3 finished (at least in terms of actual writing of the music; there will be a lot more editing after I'm finished writing the music). That will most certainly not be the finale.

*double posts*

Edit: Finished the first draft!

pdf (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Gaudete_omnes.pdf)
mp3 (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Gaudete_omnes.mp3)

Fantastic!
Just a few, small things, that You will probably do yourself in your editing.

I would put a crescendo up to that High A in the sopranos at measure 73. Mezzo forte will still cut the mustard to hit it I think, but if you can make it louder, it would probably be hit a bit more confidently. So I would say just do a rise to up to it and fall down afterword. But thats just an opinion.

88-89. Why do the whole Gb to F# thing slurred thing? I know general rule of thumb says don't have both flats and sharps in a measure like that, but in this case I would just pick one.

Then finally, at the alleluias. I would put the D in another part just in case Low D's aren't exactly...available in what ever choir sings this. I'm sure you college choir can, but lets say this does get published, and a high school choir does it. Then you have some risky business. Same thing about the high A i mentioned earlier.

But other than those small things. It really was quite fantastic.

Well, I sort of had a specific choir in mind when I wrote it (and have already sent it to the director, who's looking at it tonight), so I'm not too worried about any of the performance issues you mentioned; even if a high school choir did eventually want to perform this, then most high school choirs should be able to pull those things off, and if not then they should probably be picking an easier song, anyway. It's not really my job to write a song that every choir could perform. Plus, high school choirs don't usually perform stuff accompanied by organ.

I'll think about the notation issue, but I think that I will probably keep it as it is.

Thanks!

Very interesting sir!

Its really interesting how you stay free of a specific key and everything keep modulating. The organ adds some nice tension with the choir. I think the organist may get carple tunnel in their right hand after the performance. XD

I think the organist may get carple tunnel in their right hand after the performance. XD

Funny comment. XD

And the choral, I just love it. Feels like to be in the heaven!

Yeah, I know. I'm trying to get my organist friend to tell me whether he thinks it will be possible.

I'm working on a humorous choral song cycle to enter into the Ithaca Choral Composition Competition. Here are midis of what I have so far.

Evil clone sheep... Lol. Fun arrange. The bridge is my favorite one.

I liked the bridge one too. Hahaha. Evil sheep.

Side note: I'm going to Ithaca. =]

i wanna see the choir in all black and a goth make up on when they perform the bridges piece. one can dream. ahah.

Side note: I'm going to Ithaca. =]

Nice! I'm trying to win so that I can get my travel expenses paid for so that I can finally meet one of my friends that goes there (Alex Rosetti, who I originally met on Ichigos, but who doesn't come around much anymore).

I know of him. Meaning, I saw he was also a composition major so I added him on Ithaca's ghetto social network thing. xD

I finished the rough draft of Einstein-Rosen Bridge. The idea of the song is that the new Hadron Collider (the gigantic particle accelerator in Europe) caused a black whole to open up over Europe, destroying the world. XD

Obviously, the idea surrounding the Evil Clone Sheep is that the cloning of sheep creates evil sheep which take over the world. ;)

I am now trying to decide what to do for my third and final installment of the potentially apocalyptic nursery rhymes. I was thinking about turning "Ring Around the Rosies" into a song about the Zombie Apocalypse caused by genetic manipulation of a virus, but we'll see.

I mean, Ring around the Rosie is already about the plague. xD.

So that would definitely be a good one.

Those things sounds like a lot of fun! I like your instruction in the last bar. That will be a nice effect.

http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/rosie.asp

In an unrelated note, this cycle is awesome! What a fun idea. I like how you get much more inventive than just sticking it in a minor key. Well done.

Thanks! I'm trying to decide whether or not I agree with that Snopes article...

I love the rehearsal note: "extremely slow, as if experiencing the effects of time dilation due to extreme gravity." XD

Clever and creative. That's all I can say about that piece (the Bridge one).

Since I don't have a ton of time and I was running low on ideas, I decided to go with an aleatoric approach for the last installment in the cycle of apocalyptic nursery rhymes. Consequently, the midi wouldn't be horribly meaningful, so I've just posted the sheet music. Enjoy. :P

Edit: I've also decided to include the rough draft of the entire song cycle plus the cover page/program notes. The deadline for the contest is this Saturday!

I think... the Extra-Terrestrial Encounter is my favorite. What a fun music this will be. ;)

Otherwise, you forgot to put your tempo mark in Evil Clone Sheep. :P

Haha, you really like it?

Fixed it (and a couple of other things I noticed this morning)! Here's a link (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Three%20Apocalyptic%20Nursery%20Rhymes.pdf) so I don't have to keep reuploading it here.

Yes, the effects you are asking the choir to make is just so much fun!

*double posts*

Edit: Finished the first draft!

pdf (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Gaudete_omnes.pdf)
mp3 (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Gaudete_omnes.mp3)

Just posting to say I really enjoyed this piece. That persisting organ ostinato in the first half or so really made the piece for me, and was a great addition to your usual solid choral writing. Only part that felt a bit was around 33, where it suddenly starts to change chords - it felt a bit abrupt to me as the past 32 had all the same pattern of notes. I think maybe doing something like cutting the ostinato off/sustaining it for momentarily at measure 32 may help build a sense of anticipation of change going into the next section.

Cool piece for sure, though.

Thanks! I can see what you mean, and I'll see if I can smooth it out.

I just found out that this piece is probably going to be premiered on October 6th! :D

cool! at where?

My old university (that is to say the one I transferred from last year), which is Utah State University

This is an orchestration/arrangement I had to do over the past couple of days for my choir director for a performance this Saturday; he needed me to arrange brass accompaniment for an originally a cappella "Spiritual" entitled My Lord, what a mornin' (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/My_Lord.mp3).

Nice. I like your use of timpani.

As a point of curiosity, do you prefer the U to USU?

YES! Definitely. I liked USU a lot, but the U has been SO much better for me in so many ways. The U of U Singers are a whole different class of choir from the USU Chamber Singers (although I still really love Chamber Singers), the U actually has a composition program, which I have really enjoyed thus far, and there are several other things that have been a lot nicer, too! The U of U School of Music is just so much better.

Should not be the timpani in the first page? xP Was this the first orchestration you did of the piece?

Well I don't know. I put it in the instrument list, so I figured it wasn't a necessity to have it listed on page 1.

No, this is not the first orchestration. The first orchestration I did was just for 2 trumpets, 2 French Horns, 2 Trombones, a Bass Trombone, and a Tuba...

Edit: My orchestration went beautifully, although for some reason they omitted the timpani part.

I think I've decided to do "God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen" for my brass band and choir arrangement. For some reason, I wasn't having much inspiration for the beginning, so I wrote the last verse instead! I haven't written out orchestration yet, so there will still be percussion and such added...

It starts at like 0:04 or something, right?

The background (brass?) sounds like a brilliant accompaniment to the melody, but at the end I was really expecting them to have a separate ending to add that... final feel? I dunno. :/

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean, actually.

Completely irrelevant post:

So, Alex Rossetii is pretty much the bomb deathraider. And I used you as a method to introduce myself to him. xD

I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope that I can win the composition contest so that I get to come out and finally "meet" both of you! I'm afraid I'm getting my hopes up too much, though.

I mean, I don't know any of the other contestants, So I can't add to that comment. But I do know your piece was good, and if nothing else, was very creative and will definitely be something of interest to the judges.

...Evil sheep. xD

This is awesome. The harmony in the brass almost sounds like it came from a heavy-metal band. I was fully expecting the Trans-Siberian Orchestra to take it away after that intro.

Haha! I'm glad you like it. Unfortunately, it's going to get scrapped for the moment because I found out that someone else is doing an arrangement for the concert and they're already doing this piece, so I have to think of a different one... XD

Happily, there's plenty of Christmas music out there.

I've decided on "Once in Royal David's City"...with a small twist. :) Dr. Allred wanted me to loosely model this (in form, at least) on the arrangement sung by the King's College Choir of Cambridge every Christmas Eve (which is a performance listened to by millions around the world every year in case you have never heard of it), so I started out with soli and then will expand more and more to using the whole brass band and choir at full volume (in other words, it's a processional).

It has a good start! Looking forward to your expansion of it.

You're going to add more variety to it though, right?

Yeah, although I'm not really sure how I want do that yet.

sounds like a peaceful city. maybe you should continue with that peaceful theme. actually... second time listening, with the title in my mind, it has that baptizing or, royal funeral feeling to it. cause i don't really believe that someone would just make that kinda of song for an insignificant event. not that i'm saying that "peaceful" is something insignificant, but the song makes me feel like something the whole citizen may come together to acknowledge the time. hope that makes sense.

Peaceful theme? The two themes going on are both famous Christmas Carols, the most obvious being "Once in Royal David's City", and the second being the Kirkpatrick setting of "Away in a Manger" (there are a couple of popular settings).

Edit: I forgot to say thanks! :D

so you're saying this piece is an arrangement of sort?

Yes. My choir director has asked me to do an arrangement for choir and brass band for our Christmas concert this year, so that's what this is.

Edit: also, they just announced the winners of the Ithaca choral composition contest and I didn't win. :( SOMEDAY!

There will be more opportunities.

Cheers, you keep gaining experience through contests and works.

Normally it wouldn't matter that much to me; I enter contests all the time that I don't win. However, I really wanted to win this one specifically so I could go to Ithaca. XD

:o You get to go to Ithaca if you win?


Anyways, at least there's next year (is there?)...

You should still come and visit anyway. lol

:o You get to go to Ithaca if you win?


Anyways, at least there's next year (is there?)...

Not the one in Greece.

i really really wish that i have more musical knowledge to give you some insight of mine, but i can't say that i know enough to really aid you. i know i won't understand some of the things you'd want to execute in your compositions, but if you know you're doing it and you know you did it, what matters do our opinions have... especially if it sounds good:\. i only say this as a warrior giving advice to a king what he should do for the citizen, for i also practice being a leader, and i say this purely as an analogy to what we do: make music, study music, and what not. i can't really go deeper into this subject, cause i'll be writing down a friggin' essay:angry:, so i'll conclude my thoughts on your compositions...

you are talented, but you should give more things the audiences want and majority of your audiences are stupid... just as i am. maybe not stupid, but simple... or at least longing for the best part to be grope-able (i'm sure that's not a real word). whoa. that's a load of thoughts... heh heh. :heh::sweat:

Uh, I think you mean grasp-able. Grope-able sounds dirty. :P

Thanks. I do my best to have a happy medium of things the audience will appreciate and things that I just want to experiment with. I realize sometimes I don't balance it very well. Is this comment in conjunction with my current arrangement or more just my pieces in general?

i can't really say the comment was for something, but rather it is from something, and it is from a not so musically knowledged person. you probably have a lot of people, who are more musically advanced, telling about how your pieces are, so... i guess i'm just trying to balance you out. haha. since i'm closer to the surface:lol:.

just for the record... i'm more of an "in general" kind of guy... but not defined by it.

That makes a lot of sense. Thanks for your input! :)

I sort of agree with what Anders is saying, but at the same time Deathraider, I want to encourage you to continue pushing into artsy and/or avant garde directions when you can, and not just trying to appeal to the masses. Some kind of good balance of both types of compositions, according to your own tastes as a composer, might be something to consider aiming for.

Ultimately though, you're going to compose what you want, so the rest of us can only give feedback. Just realize that if you compose too much of any one type of music (like choral), then it's possible that you'll be missing out on a large segment of potentially interested listeners. In other words, consider writing more mainstream stuff to get people attracted to your other stuff. Some elitists might call that "selling out", but how many elitists do you know who are successful?

Just keep your heart as a composer and don't ever completely sell out (which is basically what Lady Gaga did) and you should be fine (ie both successful and respectable). =)

Ironically, this next piece is purely experimental/atonal. It was mostly done as a joke for a friend, though. It's a fuguetta of sorts.

Edit: Nevermind. The link works now.

Now that sounds more pleasant with the woodwinds! Both voices got individuality with their different timbres unlike with the piano. I like the panning. xP

Ah, nothing to serenade a young heart like an atonal fuguetta for reeds....

I think her exact words were "the most hideous thing I've ever heard". lol!

A preview of my upcoming premiere of "Gaudete omnes": http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=479427848528&ref=mf

That particular recording had it ups and downs. But I have a strong feeling the actual premiere will be great! are you going to conduct it?


side note:
HAVE YOU HEARD JOHN RUTTER'S NEW ALBUM YET?
ITS THE BEST.

Yes, the premiere will be much better, I'm sure! The organ part is killer and that was the organist's first run, so I'm sure they'll work out the kinks. I felt like the choir sounded pretty good for the most part. No, I'm not conducting it--I have very little conducting experience.

Rachel's Fuguetta: Yay for post-modernism.

:V

(Also, I don't have facebook)

I'm so mad that I can't go to this. I have rehearsal with my troupe of crazy old ladies that night at seven. In Lindon. :ranting:

I have rehearsal with my troupe of crazy old ladies that night at seven.

I love this so much that I'm not even mad. :P

I have been working hard on my arrangement because the choral parts are due on Friday. It's coming a little bit slowly. I'm posting what I have, which is the first verse (solos) the second verse (women and brass), the first part of the third verse (SATB a cappella), the fourth verse (SATB and Brass), and the last part of a repetition of the first verse (SATB and Brass).

Edit: I just finished the rough draft (at 4AM XD ), and replaced the attached files with that. I'm still going to work on the transition before the recapitulation of the first verse because it doesn't work particularly well, but the choral parts are basically finished)

Triple post!!! XD

Here's the recording of "Gaudete omnes"! (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Gaudete_omnes_live.mp3)

Here's a video. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ehoP4Xufpg)

I'll say it again: this is awesome!

Dude, you need to start publishing so you can become even more famous than Mr. Whitacre! Seriously.

I said it on your YouTube video and I'll say it again. Awesome! B)

Thanks guys! I was just thinking about trying to decide whether I should send this in somewhere or wait until I hear back on the stuff that I submitted to Walton Publishing.

Dude, you need to start publishing so you can become even more famous than Mr. Whitacre! Seriously.

This, this, this, deathraider.

By the way, Gorgeous. :D

You've got me attempting to write for choir now. XD

Cool! I hope you show me when you're done. :)

i absolutely love the last few minutes of the song, where everything just comes to this... i don't know how to describe it.... maybe omnubus. yeah.. it's quite grand even though it's very soothing.

I love how the ending turned out, too! Thanks! :)

This is great stuff... the intro is very serene and the choir entrance is perfect in my opinion. Some of the chording is pretty noteworthy as well.

I don't regret rewarding you with that $100, after all. =]

Hey there, stranger! Thanks!

*double post*

Here's my rough orchestration for my arrangement! There's lots of work still to be done in terms of editing, but the music itself is close!

Very Nice. =]
That being said, I'm curious about your choice in transposition for some instruments. I.E, Trombones in treble clef. You also have some high notes in your Eb Tenor Horn parts. I'm not really sure about the range on that, or how it correlates to a standard F horn. But if it transposes like I think it does, It'll have you horns screaming up there, which you may or may not want. All this being said, I'm almost positive you were assigned this ensemble, with these transpositions. So.

But still, very nice. =]

You are correct, those are the transpositions I was assigned, and apparently they are standard for British brass bands. Actually, I might have written the tenor horns high in their ranges; I'll have to look over that again. I was thinking they had a better range than the French horn, but I'm not sure how much better. Anyway, I sent it in for feedback from the director of the ensemble that's supposed to be playing it (Utah Premiere Brass), so hopefully he'll tell me.

I'm just seeing a bunch of high E Flats, where are High D's on F horn. And usually the breaking point on F horn is the High C. But I'm not sure if there is an octave involved with this transposition.

But you'll find that out soon enough from the director.

Also, I loved the chimes.

Well, the Tenor/Alto Horn is written a M6th above concert pitch. I think the Tenor Horn range is basically a m3rd up from where the French Horn is, so Eb (concert pitch) is about the limit for ensemble writing probably. I just edited it so that it doesn't go above that, but he'll probably tell me that it will still be pretty tough. We'll just have to see, I guess...

i seem to grow very fond of your endings... or at least like a minute or 2 before the piece ends. i personally thought the chimes were introduced too loudly. i didn't expect that chime to be so loud, but obviously you quieted down. that's just my 2% of a dollar.

Thanks! Actually, you're right, the dynamic on the Chimes entrance WAS marked louder than I wanted. See, this is exactly why I posted the rough draft: so you guys could help me with the editing!

I reuploaded a fixed version. :)

New little loop for the title screen of a game:

Hospitalized (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/title%20screen.mp3)

the game is called hospitalized? I can kinda see the "press start to play" blinking. very fitting, i suppose.

the game is called hospitalized? I can kinda see the "press start to play" blinking. very fitting, i suppose.

I have no idea what the game is called. XD

This sounds like a travel theme to me or a preparation of a space travel, lol. I see astronauts, a spaceship and white colour with this. XD I like the music, the mixing sounds muddy.

I like that no matter how good you get, you still stay true to your roots!

True, true! That's why I keep posting here at Ichigos. :)

Another loop which is an arrangement/orchestration of another piece I wrote:

Lodune's Theme (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/lodunetheme.mp3)

OH NO! Triple post! :hey:

Here are three more loops:

All of them are really cool. Betrayal is the most emotional of the three. Evil tango (:P) The most cooler of the three. And Shadows is my favorite of the three. :P

"Shadows" really captured the titled. is that live?

Thanks! No, it's not live; it's the Steinway sound that comes with Finale GPO.

Also, I was going to mention that "Shadows" is entirely 12-tone!

you tricked me....

:shifty: In what way?

<_<

So I decided to rework the title sequence for the VG that I'm scoring because it just wasn't working with the mood and with what the video game creator wanted. I think the new version will work out better; however, I think there are a few areas in which it may still be lacking and was hoping for some suggestions. I haven't done the final mix yet with seperate reverb levels for each track, so it may be a little bit muddy. I'll clean that up when I'm done working on it with Finale and am ready to export it. It's kind of a pain to export the individual tracks from Finale and add reverbs with Audacity, so I put that off so I don't have to do it multiple times.

BTW, the game is sort of sci-fi/horror/mystery, so any suggestions as to how to make it fit the genre a little better would also be appreciated.

title screen (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/title.mp3)

I find the track quite smooth and flowing. Horror brings tension. Maybe you can try and have a section where you trick the listener by making him believe that something will happen but it does not happen? Or vise-versa. Placing notes in unexpected timings also. It would be cool if you could mess with the sawtooth and create different timbral effects... but I know that is not possible at the moment for you.

I like the track as it is anyway. Really good. :)

It would be cool if you could mess with the sawtooth and create different timbral effects... but I know that is not possible at the moment for you.

I keep wishing I could do that, too! I've been tempted to go use the school computers but it's so far to drive...

Did you take a time to try Reaper? It has a long trial I think, maybe you can do something with that if it is possible? I downloaded the trial last month to test a problem I am having with samples and it support VST.

I have been playing around with Reaper all night. It's actually pretty cool! I played with the timbre a little bit in the square/saw wave parts, but they still need some tweaking. Also, I need to tweak the reverb so that that it's loopable (looping is the bane of my existence!!!).

Something weird about the reverb in Reaper: I imported the "Ambience.dll" from my Finale folder into the Reaper plug-ins folder and for some reason when you use it with Reaper the presets are totally different than the ones that it lets you use in Finale. I actually really like some of the ones it gives you the option of using (there are a lot more of them).

By the way, here's a sample of what I did:
title2.mp3 (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/title2.mp3)

I've already commented on this elsewhere, but I'll just say it again, nice job!

Keep in mind a mp3 format normally will have a gap at the end of the track this will interrupt a loop.

Keep in mind a mp3 format normally will have a gap at the end of the track this will interrupt a loop.
Oh, I know. I'm not trying to loop the mp3.

Edit: I think I got the loop to work pretty well!

title2.ogg (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/title2.ogg)

I think the fade in/cressendo of the sawtooth at bar 6 sounded like rushed.

it really reminds me of "The Blade Runner". It's exactly the same genre, too, I think. In another word... Excellent.

Thanks! I'm not familiar with the music from Blade Runner, so I'll have to check it out now...

By the way, Nyu001, I fixed the beginning, so let me know what you think.

Now it feels smoother its entrance. :D

By the way, when will be done that project? Will be the music for sale? That would be cool! :D

There's not deadline on the project at this point, so I'm just doing the tracks when I can. As for whether it will be for sale, I am not sure.

I listened to Title 2 and loved it. The color at the opening reminded me of the aquatic level on one of the Donkey Kong Country games. The timbre of the synth did it.

I especially liked the root movement of the piece. Very fluid, and it somewhat reminded me of a Hisaishi piece at one point. What software are you using? The sounds are very SNES, but with more depth to them. Nice job, I love it! It is highly organic sounding.

Thanks! Actually, I'm currently just using Finale in conjunction with Reaper (see the free tools thread). The Finale part is kind of a pain, but it works out OK.

I fixed up an old composition and arranged it for piano duo (two pianos) instead of piano trio (one piano, a violin and a cello). I did it because I was thinking it might work for a track in the video game, but I don't think it will end up working for that due to the dynamic contrast; on the other hand, I really really like it!

I enjoyed the beginning. It kinda reminded me of FFX. I'm not saying it sounds like it, just saying that's what it reminded me of... and only the beginning. Speaking of other than your intro... I found it a little harder to grasp on, compare to the beginning. I know there aren't many things that are different... like from :29 it made me want hear more of an easier harmony... I'm not quite sure if that makes sense.

Thanks Ander!

I finally got my recording from Christmas! Here is my arrangement of Once in Royal David's City (http://www.crumble-onuts.com/music/Once_in_Royal_David's_City.mp3) for the Salt Lake Choral Artists and Utah Premiere Brass!

What can I say about this Deathraider? This is just beautiful.