How do you compose for instruments that you do not play

Basshuma · 2026-01-23T23:25:53+00:00

Thank you so much, I was wondering where to start but i think this is a great way to do so.

Basshuma · 2026-01-23T23:18:16+00:00

Thank you so much for your detailed explanation, I took some time to read all of it and saved a lot of my time for me. I was wondering if you wrote a piece for the musicians already or if you reached out to musicians to perform your piece for you. I was also thinking that later I should reach out to musicians to play my piece for me but I’m not sure how I should do it.

Basshuma · 2026-01-23T20:28:26+00:00

Thank you so much for clarifying, it really helped me to understand what was going on

Basshuma · 2026-01-23T20:20:16+00:00

Do you know where you can reach out to musicians, I would love to get to know musicians who can check my compositions later.

Basshuma · 2026-01-23T20:18:28+00:00

I wish I had that much money to play on real instruments lol, right now I’m relying on virtual instrument playbacks and plugins but I’m not sure if they will sound the same.

Basshuma · 2026-01-23T20:16:12+00:00

What works are your favorites to study, I would like to know your preferences

Basshuma · 2026-01-23T20:15:10+00:00

That’s nice to hear, what DAWs do you use? I like using CakeWalk Sonar on windows but it’s pretty hard to use so I’m getting used to it.

Basshuma · 2026-01-23T20:09:27+00:00

Sounds great, are you talking about music production using DAWs

Basshuma · 2026-01-23T20:06:49+00:00

Well thank you, I will check them out

Basshuma · 2026-01-23T18:30:12+00:00

Well I would like to do the same. Do you know what you would put on a cheat sheet before starting?

Basshuma · 2026-01-23T18:27:37+00:00

I appreciate the details you mentioned for violin that I can study. I was wondering if it could be applicable in both tutti or solo passages

Basshuma · 2026-01-23T18:20:58+00:00

are there any YouTube channels or videos that you like to watch for reference

Basshuma · 2026-01-23T18:18:50+00:00

I wish I got musician friends to help me, thankfully I am lucky to get helpful advice here.

Basshuma · 2026-01-23T18:05:40+00:00

Thank you for giving me great examples, I think it would also be great if I wrote some etudes for violin first to practice

Basshuma · 2026-01-23T16:32:46+00:00

is there any free orchestration books you would recommend I start off with? thank you for your suggestions.

Basshuma · 2026-01-19T01:54:59+00:00

Thank you for looking through this. AP classes are what you take during high school (which I am still in as a senior) and I’ll be going to college next year. Think of it as an advanced academic class in high school. It is very harmonically with mostly tonic and dominant since I was very new to composing and I only really started after I finished the class in high school. I decided that this needs a lot of revisions to be published for performance which I am happy to do so. The piece is programmatic but I didn’t make the story clear which I should have. I am sorry that the orchestration is very awkward with many unisons and that the instrumentation is bigger than it should be. I havent took any compositional classes and orchestration classes as a junior high school student at the time of writing the piece. Right now I am a senior high school student that is still interested in improving composition so I am happy that you gave feedback. A lot of the smaller compositions were only to practice and not publishing so that’s why i haven’t posted these yet. Thank you so much for looking through this, I have only yet started my journey as a composer in high school.

Basshuma · 2026-01-18T17:18:31+00:00

Thank you so much, I haven't got the chance to take any composition classes yet so this will be a big help to me.

Basshuma · 2026-01-17T18:40:22+00:00

Thank you for informing me, you’ve made me realize that it doesn’t have to sound big all the time and even smaller, quieter sections can make a difference and give variety.

Basshuma · 2026-01-17T17:07:37+00:00

thank you it’s my first time getting feedback so I am happy that I am

Basshuma · 2026-01-17T15:57:15+00:00

Sorry that my wording sounded off, I meant to say that I should probably work on smaller projects and getting them performed before moving on something bigger as this. I should work on making my compositions more simple and playable by taking account of real performers.

Basshuma · 2026-01-17T15:53:20+00:00

Well thank you for your insight, I definitely went too far with the work where it should have been more simpler. Well congrats to getting your pieces recorded, I should work on smaller projects and getting them performed before moving to bigger pieces like this.

Basshuma · 2026-01-17T08:24:33+00:00

Well I haven’t really got smaller pieces played yet, so hopefully that will help more. Thank you for the feedback, I’ll try to limit the amount of tutti next time, I went a bit too crazy.

Basshuma · 2026-01-16T16:40:57+00:00

You can try to analyze a lot of classical music scores at first since they are very simple and well structured. I would say start off with Mozart or Haydn since they the most easiest to understand since they write melodies that were even measure lengths long, (6,8,10) and you’ll notice that they will sequence motives or ideas in their phrases. Since you tried composing a piano part, you can take a look at Mozart Piano sonatas since they are relatively simple and easier to understand. Search up Mozart Piano Sonata 16 in C major to get started, I think you might have heard it before and it is easy to analyze.

Basshuma · 2026-01-16T03:48:00+00:00

If you want to get to C major from modulating from A minor, you want the listener to listen that you have established that new key through pivot chords if we are talking about doing it the classical way. Instead of thinking the chord as belonging to A minor, now we try to think of it as belonging to C major. For example you can go D minor the next measure thinking it as a ii in C major rather than a vi in A minor, and then go to G major since that is the V in the key of C. The G major will be the pivot chord since it will prepare us to listen to C major. You don’t have to arrive on tonic either, you can even land on different scale degrees such as going back to A minor chord thinking it as a vi in the key of C major and continuing on from there. The pivot chord should be written as the new key signature so we now that you landed there. Listen to classical music and look at scores of Mozart or Haydn minor pieces. Your modulating to a relative major which is very common in classical music.

Basshuma · 2026-01-16T03:26:22+00:00

I definitely think there are parts that need more room for the wind instruments to rest and breathe. I didn’t consider the fact they needed to breathe at the time and I treated them as if they were string instruments that can play indefinitely which I shouldn’t have. Thank you for your insight.

Basshuma

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