Thanks for taking the time to listen to my piece! I really appreciate it. In my other concerto's and not just the flute ones, I do more trade-off's between the main solo and accompaniment......Like in my Piano Concerto in Eb minor. I will post that once it is done. But thanks for the tips. I will try to put those to work. Thanks again I really appreciate it.

stephenc I really enjoyed your piece. I kind of wanted to hear a longer and more enthusiastic (it's not the right word but the first that comes to mind) climax of the song but I liked it a lot. There was repetition of the same pattern as previously mentioned but I don't consider that a bad thing. Just wanted to let you know I enjoyed listening.

wolf_the_rockstar..thanks for listening and commenting, that was greatly appreciated!

I also would 'like to hear a longer and more enthusiastic (it's not the right word but the first that comes to mind) climax of the song'...but at this stage I'm not the man for the job! (only a relative beginner).
One day I'd like to make a better recording (that was a bit rushed) and see if I can tighten and change it up a bit, and build more of a climax as you suggest.

Thanks again,

Stephen

stephenc, I couldn't get savefile to work the first time I tried to listen to your piece and only now got around to trying again. I just wanted to let you know that I really liked your piece. As you know I am a big fan of new age music, and I think your piece is strongly reminiscent of the style of Philip Glass and Einaudi, both of whom also rely heavily of repeating patterns. So I am not bothered at all by the repetition and instead see it as part of the appeal of the piece. I especially liked the part around 2:59 where you repeat the main theme with lots of dark energy. Maybe that's the part wolf the rockstar was talking about with respect to the climax. But I would leave your ending as it currently is...I like how it grows quiet again and the theme drifts gently off into space.

I'm looking forward to hearing more from you!

I love the mood of your piece Stephenc !

Best, John

I think it´s great to have a thread with a lof of compositions, so i felt like adding to the list. Opinions first tough:

Aurion: Link doesn´t work for me.

Stephenc: Nice mood, needs some contrast tough.

Johnny Boy: Great piece,

Tyler: Sorry but a 45 mb wav file is bit dificult for me to download, around here we have limits and if exceded we pay extra money. You should consider converting to mp3, google for "wav to mp3 converters", i bealive you will find some free ones.


My contribution is a prelude i wrote about 2 years ago, long before i started
to learn the piano. ( back then it was just a short piano piece, cause i didn´t even know what prelude meant in terms of form )

It´s virtual instrument and has some live playing incoerences, long notes no human being with only 10 fingers could
sustain without the use of the sustain pedal (another thing i did not knew existed at the time ), i fixed the score regarding that, since i´m planing to learn the piece in the near future, this version however is the original, anyway, hope you like it, any criticism is most welcome!

Thanks ahead

Prelude nº2 in E flat minor

Monica, Johnny-Boy, Pedro PR Silva

I have another 'new age' piece to share. It is called 'Turmoil'. I recorded it using the SF2 sample i mentioned in another thread which really suits the style of this particular piece to a tea IMO. Enjoy!!

http://www.box.net/public/6sysnnkt3o

Pedro: enjoyed the prelude - you have some interesting ideas in there. I would enjoy hearing a more "live" performance as I don't know how close the virtual instrument captured your intentions. Very nice.

Stephenc: enjoyed Turmoil, but do you think that's the right name for that piece? I didn't get any sense of turmoil from that piece. I am not a big fan of new age music, so right off the bat it wasn't completely to my liking, but for what it was, I did enjoy it.

8ude: Thanks for the reply, and yes i know, computer performance...it´s always tight and blocky. I would say the main ideia is there, yet it does need the caothic human element.

I hope to fill that part soon, and when i do i´ll post it. Thanks Again

stephenc: I think you come up with nice motifs, but i still feel the lack of contrast.
I dont know much about new age music, to me your pieces come across as cinematic, and using the analogy, i fell the need of some parts that can catch the espectactor (read listener) off guard and surprise him, weather that be using modulations or simply some more bold rithmic variety.
But like 8ude said, maybe it´s just a genre thing. A nice piece none the less, do comment on mine please.

8ude: Thanks again for listening and letting me know your thoughts! Firstly, you're right, it probably isn't quite the right name for the piece but that depends on the listener i guess, I do think IMO it is a sad song and conveys a feeling of hardship or loss or something similar. That said, naming songs is not my strength, when i write them i generally get my inspiration from the wonderful piano sound more than any internal feelings ( i would much rather call it a prelude, etude, sonata etc. etc. and be done with it!). I guess you'll be hard to please until I write something more classical. But as you say, for what it is (technically quite simple) it achieves its purpose.

Pedro: Very thoughtful thoughts, thanks! You're right, it does feel quite cinematic (maybe not such a bad thing), and probably would never catch a listener off guard. At this early stage of my composing and piano playing, I tend to stick to quite simple arpeggio's on the left hand so I will try and take your advice on board and incorporate some 'bolder' rhythyms...modulations on the other hand, that may be harder (what are they )

Thanks again guys

Stephen

Pedro, I really enjoyed listening to your prelude. You have some really nice elements and great variety in there ( i really like the section at about the 2 minute mark). As 8ude said, it does lack that human element which could really bring the piece to life. i wonder also if you could incorporate some big bass notes in a few places, like for example right near the end at 2.40 minutes there is a section just asking for some banging bass hits IMO. I think this could really build some tension and create some emotion which the piece maybe lacks just a little (no doubt though the midi render thing is partly to blame here). Once again though, a really good listen, I hope more is to come!

Thanks for the impressions stephenc, i know what you mean about the bass notes, sometimes (depends on the days) i actualy feel the entire piece is a bit to trebelish, i´ll be sure to remember your sugestion when i start feeling the piece with my fingers.

As for modulations, i´m not gonna pretend know a lot about it (i´m only an amateur with a litle over half year of piano and musical training), but i do know the basic concept is modulating (changing) to another key during a piece.

I think, tough i may be wrong, that you have a slight one at about 1:50 when you change to G, but for what i experienced, a modulation is truly felt, when it repeats a motif already established in the piece in a diferent key, but let me ilustrate:

i´ve took the liberty (hope you dont mind) of playing a small arrangement (well, maybe arranjement is an overstatement) of your piece with a sugested modulation just to make point, just the same chord progressions and whatever i could put in of your melodies inmpromptu.

a turmoil modulation

Your piece is in the key of A minor, your inicial progressions are Am, Em, doing so a couple of times, and then you go to C and Dm for the twist, and back to Am. I did just that once, and then repeated but instead of returning to Am, i modulated ( not very creatively but..) to Bm, and heald it there in order to establish it as the new key, so then i could play the main theme ( kind of ) in the new key, changing the Am, Em, progression to Bm, Gb, and ending it ( if you can call that an ending ) in Bm.

Now, all i´m saying maybe wrong, and a lot of people around here can tell you a lot of better ways to modulate than this, this is just a primitive ilustration of what my instinct tells me about the subject. Try it, play the chord progression, and then try to remember a piece where similar event ocurs, there are plenty i teel you!

Very interesting, thanks Pedro! I really liked where you were going with that short arrangement/variation, and I think you illustrated modualtions very well (unless of course you had it all wrong )
In any case,you illustrated your point very well, shifting keys etc can really make an impact on the listening experience, and when you did It seemed to open the door to many different melodies over the 'new' chord progression.

Ok so now that I have converted my wma format into an MP3 this Concerto will download a lot quicker. Once again, this is Flute Concerto No. 1 in D minor op. 6 Mvt. 1. Hope you like. Please feel free to constructively criticize. Thanks.

stephenc, while I liked your first piece very much, I think "Turmoil" is even better. The main theme is quite beautiful and has a strong melody that stays with you. The two bridges were not quite as strong, imo, but worked to provide a counterpoint.

I agree 8ude that "turmoil" is not the word I would use to describe the tone of this piece. I felt it more as representing a core of strength in the face of loss or sadness, so I might have picked a word like "courage" or "resolve" or "recovery" instead.

Pedro, I really enjoyed your arrangement of stephen's piece and even more so I appreciated learning something about chord progressions and modulations. Thanks!

Stephenc, Monica:
Glad you liked the short "tutorial", tough if you really care for the subject i advise seeking more reliable sources.(i know that´s what i plane to do )

Tyler:
I like how you gave such a scherzo feel to a usually such sad key signature.
First off, i like your main motif, i would just develop it a litle further and avoid all the evident scales, reminds of mozart´s k545 sonata nº16.
Like the modulation, altough i feel the section could use some more relaxation towards the end, as i also feel that would help the return to the key.
But overall a very nice, rithmicaly interessting piece, and like i said, with a cool insane mood! Good Work.
Do comment on my prelude posted above.

Thanks Monica!

Pedro: I really liked the prelude however I don't think the title of Prelude defines this piece. This entirely up to you. I also think the ending a little too abrupt especially for a prelude. Other than that listed above I would say very nice work. Keep it up. Was that you playing?

Tyler, i was under the impression that a Prelude was very free form, hence the name. But now you mention, it seems that every example i´m aware has some source of evasing ending, so i may just rewrite the ending of this nº2 with that in mind.
Thanks

Me playing? Not really... Quote from above:

Tyler

Sensational composing, your achievements are well justified and you certainly have a big future ahead!!.

I'm no expert with that style of music, but that sounded just as good IMO as compositions I have on a CD featuring many of the great classical composers pieces. I reckon it would sound even greater with a full orchestra behind it to.

I hope you post more of your pieces for us in the future