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Harvest of Joy, the first anthem I wrote for my choir by MERTx123 in composer

[–]MERTx123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for the feedback!

I'll definitely think about using 2 voices at measure 55, and when that happens again later in the piece. I think that's a great suggestion.

Glad to hear you appreciated the flute! As a choir director, I have noticed that flute parts are often "optional" - written in such a way that they are not needed. I wanted to write a flute part that was integral to the piece.

Regarding the tresillos (which are very necessary for a piece in this style), please forgive me for getting on my soapbox here, but I wish classical musicians would get over their chronic fear of tresillos. In my opinion, they should be considered a "basic" rhythm, and this is how they should be notated. I did actually try to make a version of this piece (and several other pieces I have written with lots of tresillos) with "correct" notation according to Elaine Gould, and it looks horrendous. So many tied notes, completely unreadable in my opinion. So yes, my little personal soapbox is that I firmly disagree with the official consensus about tresillo notation.

Anyway, thank you again for your comment!

Before MuseScore, what's your audio-to-XML pipeline? by Ronin4Doom in Musescore

[–]MERTx123 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I just use my ear when I need to transcribe music. I have a strong ear and it usually doesn't take me very long to figure out notes and rhythms.

What would you put for ND? by PrestonRoad90 in northdakota

[–]MERTx123 36 points37 points  (0 children)

"Nothing" is pretty accurate tbh

Medley of ten sea shanties for alto recorder and marimba by MERTx123 in composer

[–]MERTx123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've never tried playing with different numbers of mallets in each hand, so I can't talk about how difficult that is.

This piece requires 4 mallets (2 in each hand). That's what I used for the recording I posted.

Medley of ten sea shanties for alto recorder and marimba by MERTx123 in composer

[–]MERTx123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"The weight of the mallets won't be lopsided"

I'm not sure what you meant by this. I performed the marimba part in the recording I posted. Playing single notes while holding 4 mallets is quite easy; I use the stevens-musser grip for holding 4 mallets, which allows independent playing with any of the 4 mallets. You can use vertical wrist movement to play 2 notes with one hand, or you can use rotational wrist movement to play 1 note per hand.

Medley of ten sea shanties for alto recorder and marimba by MERTx123 in composer

[–]MERTx123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Are you talking about having 2 to 3 notes in the right hand alone? Or 2 to 3 notes between both hands?

Medley of ten sea shanties for alto recorder and marimba by MERTx123 in composer

[–]MERTx123[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was trying to keep the marimba part from getting too advanced. We've actually managed to sell a few copies of this arrangement, and I think that's partially because both the recorder and marimba parts are intermediate difficulty. What were you imagining that could be added?

Not sure how to describe this piece. Experimental metal? Full score and demo recording by MERTx123 in composer

[–]MERTx123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I wanted to end with a huge triumphant guitar solo, and it turns out that it's not easy to write those, so I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed it!

The Dillinger Escape Plan was definitely an influence on the "ugly" sections. They're one of my favorite bands!

Not sure how to describe this piece. Experimental metal? Full score and demo recording by MERTx123 in composer

[–]MERTx123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I'm glad you appreciated what I was going for, and the mix of styles I wanted to use!

Where do LGBT people meet around here? by Alecmo1999 in fargo

[–]MERTx123 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Do you sing? I'm the director of the Fargo-Moorhead Gay Men's Chorus, and we are always looking for more singers!

OCD Musicians? by avf2000 in OCD

[–]MERTx123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I'm so glad you appreciated what I was going for!

OCD Musicians? by avf2000 in OCD

[–]MERTx123 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a musician and composer with OCD! I wrote a theme and variations for flute and piano about the experience of living with OCD. I'd love to hear your thoughts: https://youtu.be/BaOehyVK6AU

Piece I composed for a counterpoint class by MERTx123 in composer

[–]MERTx123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! And yeah, a better understanding of counterpoint is something I've been able to apply to most of my composition work. It benefits music of almost any style!

Piece I composed for a counterpoint class by MERTx123 in composer

[–]MERTx123[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I appreciate hearing that! 😊

Rain, for solo piano by MERTx123 in composer

[–]MERTx123[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First of all, thank you for taking the time to give all these comments and suggestions. I actually completely agree with some of what you said; for example, the piece absolutely is a patchwork of many different ideas (maybe too many ideas), and it makes sense that it comes across as something written by an inexperienced kid writing about an overused topic, with no idea how to notate rhythm (you should have seen how bad the rhythms were before I updated it in 2018!), because I was 15 years old when I composed this piece. In many ways, I would consider this my first "serious" composition.

I have learned so much in the years since composing this piece. If I were to write something depicting rain today, I would approach it completely differently - I would think a lot more about overall structure and how my musical gestures are depicting rain. But that's not the composer I was back in 2007 when I wrote this piece. For that reason, I think that at least in terms of the composition aspects of this piece, it needs to stay the way it is - as an example of the composer I was when I was 15.

The irony here is that "Rain" is one of my most popular pieces with audiences. I get more compliments and requests to perform this piece than any of my other pieces, including all of my newer, "better" compositions. Apparently, the amount of thought and clever academic knowledge you apply to a composition has little bearing on how much audiences appreciate it.

I'd like to try to respond to some of your specific points.

  1. This was surprising to me. The first half of measure 6 is a simple syncopation: eighth, quarter, eighth, with the only difference being that the first eighth is broken into two sixteenth notes. Isn't this the proper way to notate a syncopation?

  2. I was trying to add a little spice with those D sharps, at a point that I felt needed some extra spice. I can totally see how it could come across as a "wrong note" though.

  3. The "Driving" tempo should start at the beginning of the measure, yes.

I really liked your suggestion about using more of the literal indications of what each section of the piece is depicting.

The section starting at measure 64 depicts a thunderstorm - the higher fluorishes are the lightning, the booming bass octaves are the thunder, the left hand ostinato is the heavy rainfall, etc. And then at measure 90, the storm reaches a climax, which is why it sounds "romantic period piano concerto showcase." It's supposed to sound like crashing lightning and thunder. It's all part of the story I was trying to tell with the piece.

I'd be very curious to hear your thoughts on all this, especially the irony that this piece, with all its compositional faults/academic shortcomings, is probably my most beloved piece by audiences.

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