Hey, well by now you should've probably guessed that this thread is for my compositions/arrangements.

I'm pretty much new at this whole composition thing, so go easy on me...

No, but seriously, I would really like your input on any of the songs I post in this forum.

Anyways, here is my first composition posted!

I enjoy the melody- it is just very repetative. Is it played in 6/8 time? I'm just asking because I've never actually heard a piece played like this. However, It is rather good for a new composer. Welcome to the club! I'm new at composing as well, I just am yet to actually write out my songs. Anyways, keep up the good work.

I enjoy the melody- it is just very repetative. Is it played in 6/8 time? I'm just asking because I've never actually heard a piece played like this. However, It is rather good for a new composer. Welcome to the club! I'm new at composing as well, I just am yet to actually write out my songs. Anyways, keep up the good work.

Yeah, I agree about it being repetitive, and even thought about writing another part, but no ideas came to mind. Anyways, it is played in 6/8 and I have uploaded the .mus file so you can see the arrangement. Thanks for the comment HuggyBear, and I'll be sure to look for your works sometime soon!

Here is the download: (The song is meant to be a beginning piano duet played on two pianos.) Enjoy!

bacarolle, maybe?

Untitled #1

This piano piece has a New Age feel. Not much of a melody to speak of, though. The repetitive broken chords make it feel like an accompaniment to some other melody (violin or voice, maybe?). Perhaps some of the reason that this work sounds a little bit monotone is because of the constant droning of F through all of the main theme (partly because it's the common tone between the tonic and subdominant chords you use so frequently), though I'm not implying that it's boring, as it isn't. :) My favorite part occurs at around 0:25 (and again at 2:06), where new harmonies are finally introduced. Pretty cool style, and it's got a catchy quality. I look forward to hearing more!

(Btw, sorry I couldn't view the .MUS file; I only have Finale 2006.)

bacarolle, maybe?

Yeah, I guess it does sort of sound like that style... thanks!


Untitled #1

This piano piece has a New Age feel. Not much of a melody to speak of, though. The repetitive broken chords make it feel like an accompaniment to some other melody (violin or voice, maybe?). Perhaps some of the reason that this work sounds a little bit monotone is because of the constant droning of F through all of the main theme (partly because it's the common tone between the tonic and subdominant chords you use so frequently), though I'm not implying that it's boring, as it isn't. :) My favorite part occurs at around 0:25 (and again at 2:06), where new harmonies are finally introduced. Pretty cool style, and it's got a catchy quality. I look forward to hearing more!

(Btw, sorry I couldn't view the .MUS file; I only have Finale 2006.)

Unfortunately when I wrote this piece I intended to write the melody in the piano part, but as I composed the song, I realized that there was no melody. I'll definitely try to create a solo part. I agree with your comment about the constant droning, because I pretty much only used two chords in the beginning, but hopefully it won't be that apparent with the solo part. Thanks for the comment, and btw, those two sections you mentioned are my favorite parts too!
(Sorry about the .mus file... Is there anyway to change the format of the Finale file, so older versions can view it like yours?)


Anyways, I worked on transcribing this Zelda piano piece, though I'm not really sure what its true name is...:\

This piece is a fast march, slows to Adagio, and back to the Fast March. Intro, Adagio, and Ending were composed/arranged by me, while main melody was transcribed by me! Enjoy!

Comments/suggestions are always appreciated!

A lot of this sounds really nice. However, when I first listened to it, the first thing I heard was a lot of unpleasant dissonance. If I were you, I would try for some more consonant chords at the very beginning. My only other comment is that if you ever want this played, you should know that it has a few parts that would be very rhythmically challenging, most notably the part with 16th notes in the left hand and triplets in the right. That said, that part of the piece was my favorite. :P

Overall, nice work, and I hope to hear more in the future. :)

A lot of this sounds really nice. However, when I first listened to it, the first thing I heard was a lot of unpleasant dissonance. If I were you, I would try for some more consonant chords at the very beginning. My only other comment is that if you ever want this played, you should know that it has a few parts that would be very rhythmically challenging, most notably the part with 16th notes in the left hand and triplets in the right. That said, that part of the piece was my favorite. :P

Overall, nice work, and I hope to hear more in the future. :)

Thanks for the comment. The dissonance in the beginning was supposed to create a strong and mysterious beginning, however, I agree with you so I will probably change the beginning to lead up to that part. Yeah, I've been told that my piano parts would be really difficult to play (you'll see in the next piece), but I think I'm just going to continue writing difficult piano parts, so sometime later I can arrange it to an orchestra or band, and keep those parts. Thanks for the input, and btw the 16th notes/triplets are also my favorite parts.

Anyways, I have a new composition to post on the site today! Yay!

The song is written in 6/8 and features more rhythmically challenge piano parts. It is a duet for two pianos, so enjoy!

Oh, and I'll post the Zelda .mus file so you can view it!

These pieces sound very nice, and it isn't how 'hard' they are, but it seems that you are very unsure of the piano's true capabilities with busy parts. They're good, but it sounds very amateur; I would really listen to a lot of Rachmaninoff, Chopin and Liszt for (not only my favourite) some true masters of the piano.

Happy composing.

Thanks for the advice Mazeppa! Best way to learn is through example I always say... Thanks!

I'm currently listening to Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor. I understand what you mean now.

So, anyways... I was digging through my old Finale files and found two pieces that are not finished yet. The first one is an orchestra movement containing a round. The second is a tone poem for band based on an Africa feel. I guess I was wondering if these would be worth working on, or should I just toss them?

Comments/Suggestions are always appreciated!

Orchestra Mvt. 2

I thought the orchestration was rather poor in most part. Firstly, strings are voiced too closely together causing everything to sound thick and tiring to the ears. Secondly, your piano is too prominent and because it's playing merely the same notes over and over again, it gets annoying. You also seem to lack a feel of melody in that piece. I can't really define any themes either, it sounded more like a 'wave' of sounds.

Tribal

The first 20 seconds were okay, nothing much wrong with that xylophone/marimba (I can't define poor Finale samples ><) thing going on. But afterward, your clarinets and flute comes in and smudges the entire atmosphere up. Eventually, as it progresses, it lacked that 'African' feel (though you didn't have much African influence other than the use of the xylophone/marimba, to be honest). Again, same with your other piece, the orchestration felt quite weak. For a next step, I think you should take a step back and write for smaller ensembles or just solo instruments to get a good grasp of most details in music.

Sorry if it sounded too harsh, but it's like they always say, it takes a lot of will, effort and determination to be good at something. But keep at it either ways. ;)

Thanks Sir_Dotdotdot for the honest review of my two pieces. I agree that my orchestrations are weak, but I hope to learn through experience. I'm definitely going to try harder to establish certain styles of music. I took your advice of stepping back and writing for a smaller ensemble with this next piece. Thanks again.

This next piece is just more of a practice working with the orchestra (ie pizz/arco) and creating harmony.

Comments/Suggestions are always appreciated no matter how harsh;) (thats the only way I can improve)!

This is quite good. Very nice use of multi melodies. Sounds like game BGM which loops, this piece has a beginning but no end.

I hear some improvements. You have a clear melody, though, again with the orchestration: it's still weak. I suggest that you should look into buying some orchestration books, if you are eager to learn about orchestration.

Good stuff there, bud. It's a good exercise for composition/orchestration me thinks. And do what you're doing- listening to Dot. He knows what he's talking about when it comes to orchestration; probably the most knowledgable one here other than Noir and such.

This is quite good. Very nice use of multi melodies. Sounds like game BGM which loops, this piece has a beginning but no end.

Thanks, and it was really only for practice, so I didn't really feel like it needed an ending, but that probably also would've been good practice too. Thanks again for the reply.


I hear some improvements. You have a clear melody, though, again with the orchestration: it's still weak. I suggest that you should look into buying some orchestration books, if you are eager to learn about orchestration.

Thanks, I'm glad to hear I'm improving. Which composition book would you recommend?


Good stuff there, bud. It's a good exercise for composition/orchestration me thinks. And do what you're doing- listening to Dot. He knows what he's talking about when it comes to orchestration; probably the most knowledgable one here other than Noir and such.

Thanks for the comment, and yeah, I'm definitely going to listen to Dot. He's extremely honest and will help me improve my technique.


Anyways, thanks for the comments, and people who listened to my comps. This is my new song to post on this forum. It was actually written last year, and like my other piano works, it is another duet. Anyways here is Relapse. Enjoy!

Any Comments/Suggestions are always appreciated.

A great orchestration would be The Study of Orchestration by Samuel Adler. It has literally all you need. Though, once you get acquainted with that, you can look into other orchestration books like Principles of Orchestration by Rimsky-Korsakov, Orchestration by Piston, Treatise on Orchestration (and I forget the writer's name), and an orchestration book by Forsyth which name I forget. Well yeah, there's lots, but the first one is the way to go if you ask me.

Hmm.. Some dissonance, that actually isn't good disonance in this case. You also have too many 'four note' chords in the base of the piano, which makes it sound REALLY mashy and unattractive. I like the concept of the melodies, but the dissonance at those pitches (and right next to each other) makes it sound more like mistakes that 'intended' notes being played. I like a lot of your progressions in this--I actually use some of them.

As being an apprentice to masters of the piano like Chopin, Rachmaninoff and Liszt, I would really recommend make 'simplier' chords for each piano, and making them sound more natural, not all this mashing and odd-dissonance. I know many people love those 9ths, 7ths and 11ths in their chords (as I do) but they do not know how to play/write them correctly. Make all the changes at least a few notes lower, and a good compliment in the left hand; I'm writing some pieces that contain A LOT of these, in which I've been experimenting over the last three months by desprately trying to master the piano's capabilities by not even being a master virtuoso yet. Lol.

If you need more detail and such, PM or ask me on here; the piano is my love and passion.

- Maz

Relapse

Overall, much of the whole piece sounds a bit too low in register for me, with the chords in the lower part being a bit "muddy". It does manage to keep a pretty cool fleeting feeling throughout it, however. From 2:45 to the end, there are some great uses of octaves and ostinato passages. This work leaves me with remembrance that it is flighty and urgent at times, though we aren't really given a solid melody to cling to once the piece is done with. What's the significance of the title?

Sir_Dotdotdot...
-Thanks for the suggestions on the book. I currently have The Study of Orchestration on order right now (couldn't find it at any of the book stores by me :() Hopefully I'll improve soon.

Mazeppa...
-Yeah... I'm still trying to master chords, and its pretty much coming slow, due to the fact I have know idea of what chord I'm even using. Most of this is all by ear. I really agree that the entire beginning is dissonance, unfortunately, I was trying to add a second piano part, but I think it just made it unclear. I'll definitely take your comments into account for the edit of Relapse. Thanks again for the input!

Gnomish...
-I was definitely trying to create a build up to the end, but unfortunately I never settled on a true melody... oh well. The song is named Relapse, due to the motif that is repeated during the song, and at the very end, it suddenly stops, only to start again. Hopefully I can fix the muddiness of the song. Thanks for the reply!


So this is my newest song for the piano. This one is actually playable, and features a piano cadenza in the beginning. Unfortunately it doesn't really have an end...

Any suggestions/comments are always appreciated!

Hmmm, I personally think a bit more sustain is in order, and I don't like that cadenza in the beginning that much. I like a lot of the other content, though.

Hmmm, I personally think a bit more sustain is in order, and I don't like that cadenza in the beginning that much. I like a lot of the other content, though.

Thanks for the comment! I agree with you on the cadenza, I was never really satisfied with the opening, so I'll probably change it later. Thanks again!


Hey, its CmplxAud to bring you a new composition in a slightly different approach. This song is more like a loop, than an actual song. It would probably be used in a game or something while your walking around... mysteriously. Anyways here is the song! BTW, it features time signatures in 4/4, 3/4, and 7/8! Enjoy!

Comments/Suggestions are always appreciated!;)

Anyways... the first composition is a quintet for piano, 3 clarinets, and Bass clarinet.

The second and third songs are for my composition class, both are only about a minute long. They're both supposed to be contrasting, one slow, and one fast... so anyways enjoy!

Oh, and Comments/Suggestions are always appreciated!

Ummm... Hey... Is anyone out there... :huh:

No, but seriously, I would really like feedback on my pieces. Anyways, I know this is a triple post, and all, but seeing as no one has replied, and I have a new song, I might have to bend the rules a bit.:(

This new song is actually pretty short, and can actually be played by a pianist...:)

This song is named La Lumiére Interdite, or The Forbidden Light/The Light Forbidden...(either way you look at it, its just the same...:lol:). So here's the files! Enjoy!

Oh, and Comments/Suggestions are always appreciated.^_^

Hey, sorry people haven't been posting comments about your work; let alone listening to them really. I'll get to doing all that myself quite soon, so don't worry how many times you post (I've actually made a 4-poster in the past before due to the lack of comments).

La Lumiére Interdite- Nice piece, easy to follow. I like it, however, the bottom notes get really repeditive, and gets to the point of boredom and even annoyances. The rhythm also gets to be the same way too. I would at least change your chords up a bit so people will actually continue to listen closer to the piece. . .this might also be considered an interlude since there isn't a real distinct starting or ending, and it has a 'fantasia' feel ot it as well.

Keep it going, I'll comment on your other works in your past two posts too. ^_^

EDITs --->

Lucid Dreaming- Since this is used to background music, I tend to look for how easy it is to follow. . .usually when it's hard I like that, so then it doensn't get to be an annoyance. Again, change your bottom notes to vary it up a bit. It may be just background music, but make sure it's also music that has a little more to it than that; Zelda is a great example for good background music.

Excursion- Nice opening, yet when the clarinet rhythms came in with the melody, it REALLY started to fall apart from what I though this piece would be like. .reminds me of how the later Beatles their stuff, really cool in the beginning, then really happy-go-lucky after. Anyway, I like how you made the clarinets technical-side come out, yet it's your signature style (something to look out for, it's killing you); you tend to "keep the same chord" going throughout the song, or at least ones that don't give us a big distinction from one to the next which makes the listener happy. . .I enjoyed the more lyrical section starting around 1:40ish(?). Then the dynamics kicked in, and it kinda lost the feel. Keep working with the melodies with the piece, they nice.

Slow Song- Very pretty, but the base chords need to be changed a little more; just got to be a more melancholy-annoyance.

Fast Song- The opening was distinct, but then it got random almost. >.< This is a big thing I just hate to say, but do simpiler stuff if it's come to be that your stuff is random somehow.

~~

Overall, I think you should work on making your basic chords distinct enough to fit your melodies. A melody is nothing without a good base backing it up and keeping it going. . .Even Chopin's Berecuse left hand didn't get boring, even though it plays the same thing for 5 minutes straight. Lol, still, I would work on giving your pieces a little more base to give it a more professional sound to it.

Good luck, happy composing!

La Lumiere Interdite actually has a lot of potential, I can see it as an almost impressionistic piece if you developed it much more, but for now it's a little on the weak side.