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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 17
Junior Member
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OP
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 17 |
Hi. I'm new here. Initially I joined this forum to ask a question regarding the quality of the baby grand piano I received for my 18th birthday about a week ago. (It's a Hallet, Davis, & Company piano.) However, I noticed that there was a forum dedicated to composers here, and since I (try to) compose I figured I should stick around. Expect me to post alot of (probably unfinished) music. I don't have alot of experience in music, so please, tear me apart in your criticisms. I've been composing for well over a year now. When I was a sophomore in highschool I took an AP music theory class, and, aside from 4 years of playing the electric bass, I have no other musical experience. I'm hoping to gain a little more experience here. I'll post a peice or two here so that this thread isn't out of place. this peice is my first and only attempt at a Waltz. I did it in one sitting, and it took about 8 hours. This was long before I had a piano, so I used finale 2006 to compose this. http://media.putfile.com/Waltz-in-D-flat This next one is quite different from the first. It's also not finished. It's part of a larger project that right now I'm calling the "Spider Concertos". The name is subject to change. Basically it's a series of 8 songs, the first of which starts in A minor, and each subsequent key will be in the key of the following scale degree. Each song will 'represent' a different spider. This first 'spider' is the black widow, and as I mentioned earlier, it isn't finished. It's for Sitar, Bass guitar, Voice, music box and drums. http://media.putfile.com/The-Black-Widow-69
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,154
2000 Post Club Member
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2000 Post Club Member
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,154 |
Welcome to the forums. Please do post your work - there's usually a lot of good feedback to be had in these forums.
As for the two compositions you posted, my first feedback would be that it would be much better to post a live recording as opposed to the format you posted in. I don't know what format they're in, but they had a very MIDI feel to them - having a more "real" performance might get you better feedback. Also it helps to post scores so people can follow along.
The waltz was pretty nice, though I thought it should be performed a bit more slowly. It just felt rather rushed to me. I wasn't too wild about the transition section around 0:45, it just seemed too boring. In general, I had some trouble latching on to the structure - it seemed somewhat haphazard in its progressions. The harmonic structure was nice, you seemed to have some interesting progressions in there. Perhaps a bit more dissonance might help it.
My first thought with the Spider Concertos was that I didn't like the name. The word "Concerto" evokes a certain type of compositional structure. To me, a "series of 8 songs" does not merit "concerto" in it's title. As for the music itself, again it would have helped to hear a more real performance. Your description of the instrumentation sounds intriguing, I'd love to hear it with real instruments. Again, a bit more harmonic interest/dissonance might have helped it - it never really strayed too far from a minor. I did like how it seemed to wander around - that seemed to work well for this kind of piece.
Good luck, and keep 'em coming...
What you are is an accident of birth. What I am, I am through my own efforts. There have been a thousand princes and there will be a thousand more. There is one Beethoven.
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,154
2000 Post Club Member
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2000 Post Club Member
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,154 |
What you are is an accident of birth. What I am, I am through my own efforts. There have been a thousand princes and there will be a thousand more. There is one Beethoven.
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 17
Junior Member
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OP
Junior Member
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 17 |
Thanks alot for your advice. Unfortunately I don't have the resources to perform the spider song and I don't have the skills to perform the waltz.
You keep saying to add more dissonance to my music to help it out. How do I do that? What I'm trying to ask is this: What is dissonance going to do for my music, and how can I use it effectively? At the moment I try to write songs with no dissonance whatsoever. I don't really understand dissonance or any of it's functions, so any advice in that area should help me out immensely.
Finally, what constitutes a concerto? I don't have alot of education behind me, so I know very little about terms or other technical things.
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,154
2000 Post Club Member
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2000 Post Club Member
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,154 |
Well, loosely put, dissonance is the combination of notes that do not go together within a chord. For instance, in the case of C major, your major triad is C-E-G, notes which all fall within the scale of C -- now throw an F# into that chord and you have a dissonance - F# does not "belong" in a c major chord.
As for what it can do for your music, it can make it more interesting to the listener and increase the psychological tension that is felt upon a hearing. You mentioned that you try to write music without any dissonance. Personally, I would find that extremely boring. On the other hand, a piece that is completely dissonant doesn't do much for me either. Dissonance and consonance work well when they play off each other. Moving from consonance into dissonance tends to increase the psychological tension, and moving from dissonance to consonance serves as a psychological "release". Adding in some dissonance can also keep the listener hooked - if they hear something they weren't expecting, it can increase their attention to your music. Of course, it's all about balance, and you need to find what works for you. I'm not suggesting you abandon consonance to the point of atonality, but I think you could try to expand your harmonic pallette a bit. As I mentioned, it's only my opinion - ultimately its your work, so do with it as you will.
As for the term concerto, it means (in general) a large-scale, multi-movement work in which a solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra. That's in pretty loose terms, but it gives you the idea. Based on your description and what I heard, concerto doesn't really seem to fit the bill.
What you are is an accident of birth. What I am, I am through my own efforts. There have been a thousand princes and there will be a thousand more. There is one Beethoven.
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Piano
by Gino2 - 04/17/24 02:34 PM
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Piano
by Gino2 - 04/17/24 02:23 PM
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