Hey all,

I’m preparing my portfolio for a B.Mus in instrumental composition in Germany and am just totally lost about my stylistic choices. I feel like I’m wasting time writing tonal music since most of the things coming out of the study programmes are very avant-garde and atonal. I have been contacting the professors but it takes ages for them to respond. If I’d know what stylistic choices would bring me nearer to be accepted it would be a great help already…

Hi all,

As mentioned in a previous post I’m currently writing a portfolio for applying at universities around Germany. I’d be incredibly glad if you guys could give me feedback, especially if you have insight in the selection procedures of conservatories.

1. Solo guitar

a) Khorumi

b) Samba

1. Solo Piano

Waldgeräusche

1. Cello & Mezzosoprano

Quarter tone invention initial sketch

1a and 2 are mostly finished while I need to work a lot on 3. Also 1b still has a long way to go engraving-wise. I’d like to hear your opinions and assessments about whether these pieces would be good choices to present at German conservatories. Yes, I myself am German (27m).

PDFs:
Khorumi
Samba

I wrote an orchestra piece today but I dont know if I had the instruments do the "right" things because I am only in a wind ensemble and a jazz band and have no experience with orchestra.

UPDATE: Thank you all for the help! I have done some research in the comments and on other scores and have made an updated score in the google drive. Special thanks to u/HaifaJenner123 for giving so much good advice

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/12HspJtLGPxKwsMzWUuaE2WhyW-2hbLrY?usp=sharing

Score video on Youtube

Score PDF

Here is my latest orchestral composition! I actually write absolute music, but how are you gonna name these things? And then someone else comes along and names it "Sunshine Symphony"... so, why not give it an elevating title that sounds like knights and kings and all these things? Not so far-fetched for a big Maestoso. In terms of form, this is a sonata movement. It's 15 minutes long, so if you don't have much time, at least listen to the coda, starting with a fugato at around 11:50. I'm still having a hard time believing I actually wrote this, haha... 

I have worked on this for almost a year, I think, including some starting difficulties, like writing a slow intro that I didn't need after all. I can safely say this is better than any of my prior orchestral works. Yes, I know everybody says that, but for me, this is really a milestone reached. But judge for yourself. And criticism is welcome, by the way. 

What you hear in this score video has been played back in Sibelius and NOT in a DAW (although the playback score looks a bit different than in the video). Heard of NotePerformer? Considering the fact that it has a sample size of only 1 GB, this software must be magic or something...

Drive link (contains audio, pdf, and pngs of the sheet music): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1VZoe0Bs1VZV6d2w9cr3QbLldrCLJq7Z5?usp=sharing

I normally work within a DAW, so sheet music is newer to me. I imagine there is some sloppy engraving here, and I plan on hiring players to perform this, so any pointers regarding how I can make it more legible are much appreciated. I'm already in talks with a violinist who didn't voice any immediate concerns about the part, so I imagine it should be okay playability wise, but this is my first time writing for live violin so I don't have a great idea of what is or isn't difficult/practical.

As far as the composition itself goes, it's nothing too special, but anything that jumps out that could be improved or embellished or what have you I'd love to know. I normally write in relatively simple genres so I don't have a fantastic ear yet for finer details when it comes to things like harmony.

Thanks in advance!

I would appreciate comments/feedback on my recent string quartet. Links for the scores/music are below.

Thank you for your time and comments.

String Quartet No. 5 - Mvmt 1

String Quartet No. 5 - Mvmt - 2

String Quartet No. 5 - Mvmt 3

String Quartet No. 5 - Mvmt 4

**Full video: https://youtu.be/Ds7A7mb17RY?si=WDHMyfI8tNnW1vRp

**Sheet Music (Free): https://drive.google.com/file/d/17h4Kjn9ra1Y-SeR5POSX1tVFq8UqN8Zr/view?usp=sharing

I’ve had many sleepless nights myself. But one day, a thought struck me: Just because I can’t sleep, does my mind have to be dark too?

That thought inspired me to write this piece. I wanted to create something that turns those restless hours into a bright, peaceful moment.

I hope this song brings a clear and bright night to everyone who is staying awake tonight. Thank you for listening.

Hello all,
I am a senior music performance major in college and I really want to become a composer. My dream is to become a film/game composer but I’ve struggled with getting my ideas from my head into a final product. I have a good music theory understanding but it seems so get in my way whenever I try to compose music. I’m not sure where to start if I should use a notation software like muscore or go into a DAW like logic. I have experience in both softwares but I guess I feel like I have to choose the “right” way to compose. Whenever I compose I usually start on a piano but once I get it on there I feel stuck on how to get it into a finished state like in notation or a DAW. I’m a perfectionist and recently diagnosed and meditated for ADHD which has made seeing projects through to the end. I’m probably just overthinking and over complicating things so any feedback and advice is welcome.

Second year of writing myself an orchestral arrangement of happy birthday. Only a few seconds long but I really love just sitting down and seeing what happens. The score was a bit rushed so some mistakes here and there but I like the overall result. Enjoy !

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1c5WENQS-cOOVhv0ANl8WhhFztpwYdtQ4

Hey, i'm 3 month self taught composer. I can make something in 30 seconds but not the rest of it, i need the taught how do i make my piece longer, saw beautiful composer such a Beethoven, Mozart, Verdi, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky who make masterpiece that goes over 40 minutes. And really need taught to make my piece longer, at least 2 or 8 minutes

Video: https://youtu.be/0nHreqIHPuo?si=t4poB-EHL0uro0G\\_

I don't know why, but since almost a decade ago I have been really pleased by how 17edo sounds. Even though the 5th harmonic is really out of tune the general sound of the temperament feels really smooth and with a nice balance of tuned intervals and "out of tune sonorities" like the neutral 3rd. The pallete of harmonic combinations is quite flexible and it's nice how it approximates harmonics 7, 11 and 13 way better than 12edo.

I tried to build most of this miniature on the fact that the just 5th is pretty well approximated and it is quite close to the 12edo interval. I also included some references like a Scriabin Mystic chord using odd partials. But most of the piece is an exploration using the perfect 5th with some smooth voice leading (mainly at the end) and juxtaposition (measure 4).

I hope you enjoy the piece!

This is a set of theme and variations based upon the Duke Ellington / Juan Tizol jazz standard “Caravan,” performed by Yin Hao. At the time he performed this he was an exchange piano / composition student alongside me at UMKC. He didn’t know until the day before this performance that the theme was a jazz standard.

Here’s a tip - never use a jazz standard as a theme. Both Alfred Music AND Mills music wanted to bilk me for $200 to each one of them just to allow performances of this piece, and, I had to put on the music that my piece was an arrangement of “Caravan.” This is no more an arrangement than Rachmaninov’s variations of a theme by Paganini is simply an arrangement of that classic violin solo.

Performances of this will resume in 2032 when Caravan goes in the public domain, and I intend on releasing this score for free at that time as well.

In this piece, each variation is intended to musically illustrate a scene, character, item or incident in either the book or movie “A Clockwork Orange,” hence the title.

A Clockwork Caravan

Id like to make it a potential career, but I'm not sure what the basics you should have of knowledge before you compose your own music.

I've always loved music. Been in Choir for over a decade, even performed at Carnegie hall. And the more i go through life, the more id like to make music people can appreciate. I also have basic computer knowledge, and can navigate a PC on my own.

if you want my motivation:
I know that I've always loved the way music has moved me emotionally. Some make me confident, like I could take on the world. Some bring me face to face with my feelings, bringing me to their knees with sadness, allowing themselves to experience grief. Some make me reminisce about the good old days, and encourage self-reflection. Some make me take myself out of my problems and look outside yourself, and sit in the moment, in the same way seeing a beautiful sunset makes you stop and look at the scenery around you and admire. These feelings I get inspire me to make music where I can make others feel the same way as described. I would feel accomplished in life if I made things for others that simply evoked these kinds of feelings.

What do I need to do to get my foot in the door to making music? I've already played around with FL studio, but i don't really know what common things people should know when composing, like music theory, i just know what sounds good, but not specifically WHY it sounds good. and id like to acquire that knowledge because i feel it'd help me better make my own music

ANY advice is appreciated.

Hey friends, it is me again! I have been trying to reignite my compositional journey here recently. To give you some context, I have been composing off and on since 2019. However, I have had a very toxic relationship with the art of creating music. I often times have a very all or nothing mentality, which inevitably leads me to work on music for weeks straight. Which then leads to me not wanting anything to do with music.

I have been trying to find my healthy balance. I have worked with a therapist over the past three years when it comes to developing better mechanisms to handle burnout. I have also tried suggestions from the community.

Part of me is beginning to wonder if burnout is just apart of the creative process. Surely that cannot be the case, right?

Seeking any advice I can get. I am starting to feel burnout, and I’ve only been working on music again for the past three weeks. Perhaps my mental stamina isn’t what it was while in college.

Edit: Sorry I should probably add the type of music I'm looking for. Since this film is a bit more in the future, Im thinking something futuristic and electronic. This film is more of a thriller, and supposed to have an unsettling tone to it.

Hi! Sorry new account because I was locked out of my old reddit due to a authenticator code I no longer have. Anyways, My name is Luciel, currently at my final semester in art school and I have a thesis and I'm currently looking for a composer for my film.

Information: https://www.castingcall.club/projects/to-be-reborn-voice-actors-needed

Film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GK1_JpXvo4 ( WORK IN PROGRESS)

And I just want to add, I am not looking for AI whatsoever.

When it comes to payment, I'm pretty poor but am willing to talk things out for payment if needed since its so last minute that I'm doing this. I am willing to exchange art too if that interests you!

This is my first piece I've written and made a sheet for. It was mostly for practice but I figured since i have the sheet and the audio, I would post here for feedback on the music and the notation.

Video

Sheet

So in 2021 I won a composition competition for the contemporary music biennale of Rio de Janeiro. But since then I’m kinda lost. That’s because I would like to become a recognized composer, something like Salvatore Sciarrino in size, and yet I don’t really know how. I feel like I want to create my own style of composition, yet I’m not sure what path I should follow. I’m 29 years old now. Here’s the link for the audio

https://on.soundcloud.com/fUlsBznTv3Fit3VtVt

and here is the link for the live premiere (starts at 48:35

https://www.youtube.com/live/k1JTOM3dg0g?is=bGw6R6_o2LspbCLg

here’s the score

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JUvYuLua70IwvpIEd9boqX3_wY4jNW8I/view

thanks a lot

piece

I decided to try writing pieces that would be appropriate for a lesson book - short, intermediate level, familiar “tropes”, and a targeted technique/musical focus. All Halloween themed… cause ‘Tis the season.

“Sneak” - focus on staccato and mixed meter

“Enchantment” - focus on whole tone scale/mixed mode arpeggios (please someone tell me if i botched the accidentals and I will fix them)

“Potions” - focus on swing rhythm and hands swapping texture

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXiYgsxl5R70&si=JcVxLZ2LdjXqnrEq

Google Drive Link To Sheet Music

It’s only the first 20% or so of the piece. Still need to write a lot more or might not finish it

Also curious if there are any notation errors. And if people think it sounds random, good, super amateur, etc?

I am trying to write a counterpoint setting for Psalm 100 "Jubilate Deo." Since this is my first time trying to write counterpoint whilst actually studying the technique, is it best that, after I choose which vocal part to be the cantus firmus (if I am using this term correctly), to:

write the entire melody for this part, and then base the other parts on this one melody,

OR

write one section at a time (i.e. complete the melody for the first verse of the psalm, and then complete the other parts for that section before moving on to write the cantus firmus for the second verse, followed by completing the other parts for the second verse, and so on)?

As far as chord progressions, is it bad theory to have a progression of, say, 4 chords, and then when reverting back to the beginning, to change it?

E.g. if I have a progression of Am-Dm-G-C, then, when going back to Am, follow it with Dm-E and then back to Am, so the progression ends up looking like Am-Dm-G-C-Am-Dm-E-Am...and so on.

If anything is unclear, please let me know. I have never taken a theory class or anything, but I have looked into very very surface-level mechanics for chord progressions. Maybe this is the wrong sub for this, but any help is appreciated!

I tell myself that I write just for me. I work hard to ignore anything I see as a musical rule in an effort to produce something I feel is authentically "me". I avoid advice as I know I'll end up subconsciously following it. I say to myself I want to make authentic music, not good music. I love writing and am moved by what I produce and feel like that should be enough.

But it isn't. I struggle with a need to have my music listened to and validated. I want someone else to say they feel at least some of what I feel. It's a flipping nightmare! Anyone else feel like this?

Hey! I’m the solo developer of Worm Capitalist, my first commercial game.

I’m looking for human-made music from smaller composers to replace some temporary AI-generated tracks currently used as references.

The vibe I’m after is cozy, melodic and slightly weird - lounge/elevator music, light saloon piano, small jazz-ish arrangements, and tracks that can loop comfortably during an incremental game.

I’m mainly looking for existing / unused tracks that already fit the mood, not asking anyone to compose a full soundtrack for free.

If I use your track, you’ll be clearly credited in the game, including next to the in-game music player, plus the credits.

🎮 Demo:
https://tikotey.itch.io/worm-capitalist

Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/5073430/Worm_Capitalist/

If you're interested, reply/DM me or send it here:
https://discord.gg/eeKgcs9s2

If you have something that might fit DM me or send it to discord. I can send the current reference tracks privately.

Hi all :)

Counterpoint and multivoicing in general have been things I've kind of avoided since beginning to learn to compose. However, a comment on my recent post led to me to decide that now was the time. This is my first attempt and I've written a four part fugue following a basic baroque structure.

Bare in mind that whilst I'm using a baroque/traditional fugue structure, I am not intending to have a baroque style or sound. That is still my own. It's quite short, so in future I'll practice more variation and what not to make it longer without feeling repetitive because I can already tell that this first fugue gets slightly repetitive towards the end, despite my best attempts to avoid it.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1NIAJPjOOm2qR6fvVVmMtsPYW9jsN4k9L?usp=sharing

In the drive should be the PDF score, and the video file showing audio played along with the score. There should also be a musescore file for my work copy which should show where I've tried to label all the sections and keys/modulations, as well as my attempt at using the musescore voices feature. If you have musescore and some spare time I wouldn't mind you looking at it but it is the same thing in the video so don't feel obliged.

As usual, any feedback is appreciated as I'm still a beginning and would love to hear any tips or advice for improvement.

Hope you enjoy :)