I haven't seen any new postings in "Composer's Lounge" for awhile.

So I'll get this started with "Turkish Fantasy".
http://www.artistcollaboration.com/~johnny-boy/Turkish%20Fantasy.mp3

Feel free to add your new compositions on this thread - please!

Best, John

Sounds like film music to a harem scene. Sounds like you had fun putting it together.

A nice magic carpet ride, good work!
The bass drum is a bit agressive tough, i´d make it gentler. So the listener never wakes up

Thanks guys. It's always good to hear that other musicians like your work.

Best, John

sweet stuff, reminds me of the music in the aladin sega game i used to play about 15 years ago. real nice.

John,

This is a very strong piece of music. The concept is very clear, attractive and appealing. I'll put this into my iPod. Thanks for sharing it.

Sincerely,

Couldn't be a better compliment than putting my music into your iPod.

Thamnks, John

Hello i'm a new composer myself. I don't practice much as I should, but i've worked with music enough over the past several months to take a stab at making an original song. It's pretty short but I think it has potential to grow. Excuse me for the obvious background interference, but i don't record in high quality untill i'm sure I have a finished product. The song itself can be heard quite clear so no worries. I would like criticism, comments, suggestions, or whatever you feel like saying. I would love feedback, thankyou!

http://www.snelserv.org/~jason/Aurions%20Song.mp3
-------------------------------------------------

Just incase no one has gotten around to review my composition. Here is an updated version of the one above recorded live with a crappy mic, xd! Thankyou for your time, it is much apreciated!

http://www.snelserv.org/~jason/Aurion.mp3

Aurion, links don't seem to work...

Hey great stuff Johnny-Boy!

So how did you record it? Where did you get the instruments from? Or did you use MIDI instruments? Or an electronic keyboard with the instruments on it?

Hi,

I have a composition I would like to share. If you'll excuse my playing and some occasionally obvious editing, hopefully you will enjoy it!. I think it has a lot of potential, but I've probably taken it as far as my skills go for the moment.

http://www.savefile.com/files/2384680

Stephen

Stephen - I thought your piece was nice, however it was a bit too repetetive for my taste. For virtually the whole piece (minus the middle section) you stuck to a-minor, against the A-G-F#-F progression. Unless it was your intention to write this piece as a passacaglia, I found it too repetetive. I think a little harmonic variety could help it as well. I did enjoy some of the variants you used on top of the bass, and the middle section (while still somewhat harmonically limited) provided some nice contrast.

Good piece - while it wasn't exactly to my liking I did enjoy it.

Hi 8ude,

thanks for listening and commenting! I agree, it does use that chord pattern a little often, and given I've never come across the term 'passacaglia', I won't claim to have tried to have written one! I think I'd like to pull it out in a year or two when i'm more experienced and rework it.

Nice, I look forward to hearing more.

Incidentally, a Passacaglia is a old musical form which contains variations played over a repeating bass pattern. It's similar to a chacconne - though to be honest I'm not exactly sure what the difference is. I believe passacaglias tend to be in the minor mode whereas chacconnes tend to be major, but there are exceptions to that. Anyway, if you're interested, some good examples of this form are Pachelbel's Canon (it's not a canon, it's really more of a chacconne), Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in c minor, Bach's Chacconne in d minor (which has been transcribed by a bunch of composers), and the last movement of Brahms' 4th symphony.

In a chaconne, the repeating line may move between voices, wheras in a passacaglia it stays in the bass.

SWEEEEEEEEET

Maybe semi-classical?

Till Death Do Us Part[/b]
http://www.artistcollaboration.com/~johnny-boy/Till%20Death%20Do%20Us%20Part.mp3

John

Johnny Boy,

I don't know enough classical music to say whether that was a classical piece, but it certainly was a classic! (i sensed a bit of blues at times) I really enjoyed that!
Great use of the pads to.

BTW Is that the Art Vista Virtual Grand Piano you spoke so highly of in a digital thread?, it really sounded tremendous. I think I'd like to get that product.

John,

I think the title should change from "Till Death Do Us Part" to "And Death We Did Part".

The Middle I found very Strong, and the background melody was a very nice touch as well.

I wouldn't be able to critique it as I would probably be wrong. But very enjoyable nonetheless.

Johnny Boy,

I really like your "Till Death Do Us Part"! Your background is perfect, what is that sound? Is it a gm on keyboard? You obviously are an excellent musician and composer.

Thanks to all! I appreciate the comments.

This is a live recording using a Yamaha Grand (acoustic).

Best, John

Johnny Boy I love them!! especially the second one "till death do us part". bravo!!

Bravisimo! Absolutely top notch music, sir--until now, I had not heard any music from a contemporary that I wish that I'd written myself. This piece should only have come from my pen.

What a moody, majestic waltz...I'd say that it is styled somewhat as from the Romantic period--post Schubert. The cascading chromaticism and ultimate resolution work incredibly well.

Awesome work!

I think Im ready for constructive criticism. This piece im posting is the first movement of Flute Concerto No. 1 in D minor by me Tyler Menzel. Keep in mind the instruments might not sound great cuz it was recorded using finale realization. This recording is flute and piano because the comp could not handle the orchestral version(the live recording). Hope you like it.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/j72g56

So glad you enjoyed it J.S.Bach VI. Yes, I love the Romantic Period.

Best, John

Thanks Kianna! I appreciate that.

Best, John

Nice sounds Jonny Boy in "till death do us part". Is the strings also a live recording? One of the drawbacks of the song is its too short lived. after i finish listening to it I forgot what I listened, it didnt have any lingering melody or musical phrases its hard for me to remember what i just heard in that piece.

Thanks Tonic.

The strings are synthesized but played "live".

Best, John

Hi All,

This information is incorrect, as anyone who is familiar with Bach's Passacaglia would know. Spend a moment with Wikkipedia and you'll figure it out. A passcaglia is a set of variations over a ground bass, but that melody does not have to stay in the bass. A Chaccone is a set of variations of a harmonic progression. There are other "rules" and even exceptions to these. Obviously composers are of an ilk likely to break rules as much as make them.

Hey Tyler, not bad. I'd advise you to work on more key modulations: you seem to hang around on the tonic alot, and where you do change key, like into your middle section with triplets in the accompaniment, the change is abrupt. Same as you come out of that section.

This music seems more thematic and rhythmic rather than having a melody. The little rhythmic figure you use is quite nice, but it doesn't allow you much scope for development, so you end up doing a lot of scales and stuff. If you can have a longer theme then you have more scope for interesting development.

Perhaps you could also consider some more interaction between the instruments: it's very much a flute with accompaniment for the majority of the piece, and I always think it's good to have some sort of interplay between the solo instrumnet and the accompaniment. It may be that this just doesn't come across in the way it's been recorded.

Incidentally, I saw your other post on accepting commissions and I think that's an excellent idea. Is this sonata typical of your style would you say? Or is this piece modelled on a particular style and you would normally write in a different way? Good luck anyway with your composing career.

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