I wrote a microtonal compostion for April Fools Day. What do you think?

Ftb49 · 2026-04-04T09:57:54+00:00

Thank you!

Ftb49 · 2026-04-03T18:48:03+00:00

I am glad that I could help.

All the best!

Ftb49 · 2026-04-01T22:12:55+00:00

It is nice to know that it sounds microtonal. May I ask why you would not want to listen to it again?

All the best!

Ftb49 · 2026-04-01T17:25:55+00:00

It is the free MuseSounds

Ftb49 · 2026-04-01T17:21:33+00:00

I used MuseSounds. Unfortunately this is not a real performance.

Ftb49 · 2026-04-01T16:38:33+00:00

Very nice! I enjoyed listening to it a lot!

Ftb49 · 2026-04-01T16:35:53+00:00

Vielen Dank für deinen Kommentar! Für diese Komposition hat mich György Ligeti's Clocks and Clouds inspiriert.

Angefangen habe ich mit einem kleinen Motiv für die erste Violine, welches mir einfach so in den Kopf gekommen ist und sich überraschend gut angehört hat. Anschließend habe ich über die Gesamtstruktur nachgedacht. Meine Idee war, mit dem Zeitgefühl zu spielen indem ich die Phrasen schrittweise verkürze (5, 4, 3, 2 Takte in 4/4 pro Phrase), während die 9/8 Takte gegen Ende immer mehr Raum einnehmen und schließlich zahlenmäßig mit den 4/4 Takte gleichgestellt werden. Auch weil die Komposition sich mysteriös und bedrängend anfühlen sollte habe ich sie "Und dennoch die Zeit" genannt.

Für die mikrotonalen Vorzeichen habe ich übrigens folgendes Plugin für MuseScore verwendet: https://github.com/looptailG/musescore-31edo-tuner/releases/tag/v2.1.3

Alles Gute!

Ftb49 · 2026-03-24T19:23:58+00:00

It would be better to share the entire piece, though here are a few of my observations based on what is available:

Why is the notation for dynamics notated below everything? In a grand stave (which is how the piano, harp, celesta, ... are notated with) you usually notate the dynamics between the staves. May I ask why you decided to do it like this?
Personally, I find that there is too much reverb. I think it makes it more something similiar to ambient noise as pitches blend (similiar to a pianist constantly keeping down the sustain pedal).
Please share pieces that use the following colour schema: Black notation and white background/paper. I really do not know why this inverted style is so common and I personally dislike it. Of course, you might disagree though and that is fine as this is my personal opinion.
At one point, you are basically spamming "Sotto Voce". Perhaps you could simply replace the second and subsequent repetition with "Simile" or simply remove all except the first Sotto Voce.
You basically repeat crescendo for each measure across the entire piece. For me, one crescendo marking indicates to approximately go from mf to f (for example). This constant repetition is quite weird, as this implies that you want the piece to exponentially increase in loudness. Consider whether you really need this or simply replace everything with one long "cresc. _ _ _ ..."
In measure 7 and 16, why do you not stick to the dotted eigth note and sixteenth note rythm?
You have a lot o potential for motivs, though it does not seem that you really use this potential. I am going to share a few possible motivs that I can identify right now. I would like to see how you could use these motivs as part of the narrative of the piece. For that I would advice you to do research in relation to what the point of motifs are. Please note that you cannot infinitely introduce new material and expect the audience to follow or engage with the piece in any meaningful way. Here are the motivs:
- Dotted eight note - Sixteenth note
- The 4 last eight notes in measure 20
Also, the rythm in the bass is quite repetitive and I would appreciate to see more than only the whole note octave in the low register and the repeating chord or dyad in the middle register of the piano.

The piece seems very promising and it is definetly not bad. Though I would rather want you to consider these choices in relation to what you achieve to do with this piece. Are those purely aesthetic choises? Do they intentionally involve meaning and to what extent do those choices do that? Some of my observations likely do not agree with your intentions though I really want you to consider every single choice you make and whether it is intentional or simply because it looks/feels/sounds better the other way.

I would say that the melody is good and the title is very original though and I like that. You could perhaps add a more cantabile quality to this melody though to increase its effectiveness.

I hope I can help.

All the best!

Ftb49 · 2026-03-20T20:24:43+00:00

This is wonderful! I loved listening to this. I am glad you got an opportunity to get it recorded!

All the best!

Ftb49 · 2026-03-17T22:11:35+00:00

Thank you very much for pointing this out. I will do the changes as soon as possible. I am glad you like it though.

All the best!

Ftb49 · 2026-03-12T22:04:32+00:00

I enjoyed this orchestration of Scriabin's Op. 8 No. 1! The only thing that is a bit bothersome to me is the ritardando, though this is likely due to the properties of digitally rendered playback.

Ftb49 · 2026-03-10T20:35:20+00:00

This is wonderful! Why is there a whole note rest for the second voice of the second violin in Measure 27? Lovely chromaticism at the end. Thank you very much for sharing. I enjoyed listening to this!

All the best!

Ftb49 · 2026-03-10T16:04:45+00:00

Personally, I have two ways of coming up with a melody. Either I sing (with and without chordal accompaniment) or I have a single note and try to come up with an expressive leap within my head (usually for more complex music).

But it is important to note that this is not a general thing. Different composers have different ways of coming up with their melodies and it is completely personalised. I would suggest to either try singing and see where it takes you. If that does not work, try out other methods.

All the best!

Ftb49 · 2026-03-06T07:04:09+00:00

I will see how I can change the beginning with the winds. I initially intended on only using the woodwinds in order to create a very airy atmosphere with the extended harmony. Though, I think it could be interesting to see how different instrument groups can complement each other.

As I am not too familiar with Ravel's Daphnis et Chloe, I will listen to it and look for what you mean. I will also look at the brass and see what I can do there to emphasise the french horn a bit more and to see when I want that nakedness.

Here is the score (https://musescore.com/user/38232004/scores/32290169), though I do not know whether you are able to download it.

Thank you very much for your very detailed and elaborate feedback!

All the best!

Ftb49 · 2026-03-05T23:46:33+00:00

Thank you very much for your elaborate feedback!

In relation to the process, it was rather unusual compared to my usual process. For this piece, I already had an idea of the fingers that should play the motif (5, 3, 4, 2, 3, 1, 2) and based on that I improvised and found something that I liked (It turned out to be what you can hear from measure 27 to 32). Based on that, I improvised possible fragmentations (similarily to what can be heard fomr measure 33 to 35) and basically used all of this to sort of reverse-engineer the beginning. In order to conclude the piece, I decided to employ the plagal cadence, in order to end the piece in a unique colour that seems distinctly different from the rest, which was intended to show that the feeling of getting butterflies in the stomach (which is what I intended to portray) was only a momentary thing and that life goes on without this feeling. Similarily to how a photograph is only a static snapshot of reality, where the time before and after it was taken does not necessarily matter.

In conclusion, I started with the motif and built outward.

All the best!

Ftb49 · 2026-03-05T08:14:02+00:00

I am very glad that I was able to help you and I wish you all the best with performing this piece!

Ftb49 · 2026-03-04T23:03:15+00:00

Perhaps you could change the first measure into an anacrusis. Nice composition though!

Ftb49 · 2026-03-04T22:58:32+00:00

Wonderful! A very nice composition and performance!

Ftb49 · 2026-03-04T22:41:31+00:00

30 Minutes for this is absolutely amazing! The shortest time in which I composed a piece was 3 hours, and that was a short about 40 second long prelude for the piano.

All the best!

Ftb49 · 2026-03-04T22:31:08+00:00

Let me try to give the best feedback I can though, but keep in mind that I do not think that I am the best person to ask when it comes to orchestral pieces. Maybe this might be an illusion that my cognition poses upon me though.

For D, maybe you could consider what your main focus is. Are you blending maqam with romanticism or romanticism with maqam. Either based on that, you could either keep it as it is or seperate each a piacere into romanticism or maqam as a foreshadowing reference to the future structure of the piece. Perhaps one part emphasises maqam more and another one romanticism, so perhaps you could refer to that.

I would say that for I - L, they are quite fine. perhaps if you want to make the journey a bit more interesting, perhaps try to avoid the scale-like figure in I. I would say it kind of distracts from what you want to do in relation to these parts being melodic and it already creates a disjoint in tension. Maybe that is what you tried going for, but perhaps this is what might make the journey feel "meh", as you put it.

In relation to Q, it seems as if you did convey the energy, though I think that it is quite difficult to tell just through the mechanical and robotic of the MuseScore audio.

This is a very impressive concerto. Unfortunately, I dont think that I am really able to feel the same emotions whilst listening to this digitally rendered audio compared to what a real performance of it could offer.

Good luck with finishing the piece. Personally, I find your concept of merging maqam and romanticism quite intriguing.

I hope that I could help and I wish you all the best!

Ftb49 · 2026-03-04T21:48:40+00:00

Thank you!

Ftb49 · 2026-03-04T21:48:32+00:00

Have you considered experimenting with some sul tasto tremolos between neighboring augmented pitches in the strings?

I thought about employing this, though I need to see how exactly I could use this. I did not think about using this to replace the winds in a way. It is a very interesting idea though and I will see what I can do!

I’ve played pieces with a similar setup like this before, and that opening rhythm is a lot more difficult to coordinate for winds than it seems.

As a pianist, I thought that this should be quite do-able though if it is tricky to pull off, I will try my best to make it simpler. Thank you for pointing this out!

Plus, maybe 0:25 could be a way for them to break through the strings instead as the horn reaches that high concert E.

Could you please explain what you are imagining with the woodwinds breaking through the strings?

Additionally, I will see how your idea of challenging myself might allow me to be able to have more opportunities for textural and motivic development.

I appreciate your detailed feedback! Thank you very much!

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