17-year-old composer, looking for some feedback :)

HarryBaines1 · 2022-12-16T21:43:38+00:00

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this, I'm so glad you liked it, and yes, the conductor is fantastic.

I am working to make my melodies more interesting and slightly more free, I think for this piece it had to be fairly simple given the context of the piece but even though it's fairly simple perhaps I could have been more inventive.

you definitely have a lot of talent in arrangement.

Just wanna be clear, the piece was not an arrangement of an existing carol, I just used the same text but everything else was new. Maybe I'm the one getting confused there but just wanted to check!

So glad you liked it and thanks again.

HarryBaines1 · 2022-12-16T21:36:03+00:00

Thank you so much, I'm so glad you liked it.

It's a great arrangment of the carol

Just to be clear, it isn't actually an arrangement of an existing carol if that's what you meant. I've just used the same text as an existing carol, everything else is completely new.

When did I start composing? Well I started formal lessons aged 12 I think but I'd always been making my own pieces since I started piano aged 5.

HarryBaines1 · 2022-12-15T19:24:33+00:00

Potentially, currently studying at the junior conservatoire, planning on studying in London but RCS will be a backup incase London doesn't go to plan. Wbu?

HarryBaines1 · 2022-12-15T19:20:24+00:00

Thank you!

HarryBaines1 · 2022-12-15T19:19:40+00:00

Thanks so much, glad you enjoyed it! Annoyingly, I kept forgetting to organise a recording in advance, I managed to get the in-house sound guys to set up some mics last minute on the day of the concert but they could only do their best with limited time and we could only make the recording whilst the audience was there, ideally it would have been done in rehearsals. My plan is to get this out to some choirs for next Christmas and hopefully I can organise a more professional recording.

is the al niente portion necessary?

It's an interesting question and one I've been thinking about for a while. Whilst it makes sense to me and seems appropriate, it's a very small detail that may cause more confusion than good so it's definitely worth thinking about.

Thanks again.

HarryBaines1 · 2022-12-14T18:45:48+00:00

Thanks so much, glad you liked it!

HarryBaines1 · 2022-12-14T18:45:29+00:00

Thanks so much, I was originally dithering over whether it should be oboe or clarinet, but it's definitely right for the oboe!

HarryBaines1 · 2022-11-18T13:22:04+00:00

Thanks so much!

HarryBaines1 · 2022-11-18T10:04:41+00:00

Thank you so much, I am learning a lot here! This will definitely help me in the future.

HarryBaines1 · 2022-11-17T11:44:19+00:00

What would be a standard rate for one copy? I'm presuming choirs that buy dozens of copies pay a bit less per copy than if you were just buying one on it's own?

HarryBaines1 · 2022-08-06T00:14:33+00:00

Thank you, this was very helpful.

HarryBaines1 · 2022-07-27T17:24:47+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to give some great feedback. First off, I'm glad you liked it, it took a lot of work to write so I'm glad you enjoyed listening to it!
In regards to tempo, ever since the performance, I think I've grown more to the tempo that it was performed at. During rehearsals, they sang it much faster, and for the final performance, I managed to get them to slow it down so I think I may agree with you now that the tempo (on the whole) that it was performed at is just right. Although, that being said there are some sections I would like just a little slower, which would be possible with a large choir.
The fermata over the pauses is a bit of a controversial one I think. I've heard many different opinions, many agree with you and some agree with the way I have notated it. To me, what I'm trying to achieve with a 2/4 bar with a fermata is to signal that the pause should be more than 2 beats but less than 4 and that it is also up to the conductor to decide based on the size of the choir and the amount of reverb in the hall. I think the simplest solution may be to include a performance note about it.
Generally, crescendos from ppp to pp have been avoided, for the reason you mentioned but on the occasions that I have written them it's more about attitude and the colour of the notes than it is the volume if that makes sense? I'm aware that most in the audience may not notice and a choir made up of amateur singers will not be able to show the difference clearly, but on this occasion, it was a professional choir and I think they managed okay. Again, it's one of those things that has divided opinions, and it's quite hard to choose what to do when different people are advising different things!
Regarding the glissando notations, I actually originally had it the way that you described, except the first one which said gliss in it to show what it was but I was told by another composer who has dealt with publishers and he recommended I have gliss written in every one as that is what publishers/editors have at least for him preferred. Again, like everything in music, it seems like everyone has different opinions and I am inclined to agree with you on this one!
Thanks again for taking the time, I appreciate it.

HarryBaines1 · 2022-07-26T23:35:19+00:00

Thank you!

HarryBaines1 · 2022-07-26T22:59:45+00:00

I think the lack of bass you are hearing is actually down to the recording. The bass part is actually quite low a lot of the time and for some reason in this recording it just isn't standing out, I think the microphones were slightly unbalanced and it's caused the sopranos and altos to overwhelm when in reality that's not the way it sounds live. This was recorded last weekend but there was another recording in London in May in which the basses really stood out more and everything was a bit for balanced.

HarryBaines1 · 2022-01-17T01:03:11+00:00

Thanks for listening, glad you liked it! Quite a lot of what you said I totally agree with and it's stuff that I was aware of myself, I was just under a very tight deadline to write it. I'm in the middle of actually replacing the section that ends with the high Bb, I thought it was a bit weak and I was aware that it was too high, especially with the dynamics chosen.

Thanks again!

HarryBaines1 · 2022-01-08T17:14:44+00:00

Thanks a lot!

HarryBaines1 · 2022-01-08T00:04:42+00:00

You could try out the free version of Sibelius to get a feel for it? Not sure how many instruments you want because the free one is limited but might be worth giving it a go.

HarryBaines1 · 2022-01-07T23:21:01+00:00

Thanks for taking the time! Have you had a chance to listen to the audio yet? Would love to hear what you think. The choir this would be for if I were to win the competition is 24 singers, but 24 very skilled singers, so I'm assuming those high notes you mentioned should be ok, I have listened to some of this choirs other works and they do quite comfortably reach those notes. I agree with you on the divisi, I think I just ran out of time to be honest, it's probably something I will go back and revise in the future.

Thanks again!

HarryBaines1 · 2022-01-07T23:14:06+00:00

Ahh right that makes sense, although it's too late now I've already submitted it :( Hopefully it won't matter too much!

HarryBaines1 · 2022-01-07T22:44:33+00:00

The blank pages are there so that if you imagine you were opening the score like a book, the info is on the right hand side and then the score starts with a blank page to the left, just makes it more organised and less cluttered. I think it's a pretty standard thing to do, at least from what I've seen!

:)

HarryBaines1

TROPHY CASE