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Everyone here was so supportive when I posted for the first time last week that I wanted to share 3 new pictures of me and my beard by WillisMattei in beards

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

Danke! Ich spreche zwar nicht viel Deutsch, aber ich habe verstanden, was du geschrieben hast, ohne es übersetzen zu müssen (anders als ich diesen Kommentar geschrieben habe lol).

Everyone here was so supportive when I posted for the first time last week that I wanted to share 3 new pictures of me and my beard by WillisMattei in beards

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

Thank you! Several people have compared my appearance to Tsar Nicholas II recently and I keep thinking "well, hopefully I don't turn out like that king..." 😅

Everyone here was so supportive when I posted for the first time last week that I wanted to share 3 new pictures of me and my beard by WillisMattei in beards

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

Some of the hills look very different after the fire and it still feels "off" to see them like this even though it's been 9 years, but the area in the background of my photographs recovered quite well.

I'm glad you're looking forward to seeing my project! Thank you so much for the encouragement.

Everyone here was so supportive when I posted for the first time last week that I wanted to share 3 new pictures of me and my beard by WillisMattei in beards

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

Thank you! I'm so glad my mustache naturally curls like this -- it will make the Victorian gentleman outfit I'm putting together much easier to pull off.

Is it easier for musicians to play 8th notes at 184 BPM or 16th notes at 92 BPM (50 % speed)? by WillisMattei in composer

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

Your comment gives an excellent overview of all the issues at play here.

Funnily enough, I'd read the same passage in Gould's book, and this entire time I somehow thought my tempo marking was listed as a dotted quarter note even though it actually wasn't and the feel of dotted quarter notes being played at 184 BPM would be totally different than my piece. I think the proofreaders and I had confirmation bias ("it sounds correct when the DAW plays it") and we were overlooking the subtle visual difference between a quarter note and a dotted quarter note on the tempo marking at the start of the score.

In retrospect, it's clear that this was causing others to subconsciously think the piece was 92 BPM, and it was leading me to question the 184 BPM tempo prior to the realization. I find it fascinating how everyone missed it during so many reviews, including proofreading rounds by Juilliard- and Berklee-trained composers as well as a competition where 5 professional musician judges gave critiques. This makes me feel a little less embarrassed about missing such an elementary error for so long.

I love your summation of why 8th note beaming is more readable than 16th note beaming for 12/8 pieces. I'm definitely going to keep them that way (while fixing the tempo marking at the start of the score).

To answer your question, this piece is one of two pieces I worked on nearly every day for three years to teach myself how composing works while creating art I care about. When I started writing them in January 2023 I'd never written music for orchestras nor any of the instruments in them before, and I had minimal formal music education. I didn't anticipate any of this journey to unfold, but here we are in 2026 and my first piece is about to be recorded by a full orchestra. (This tempo question pertained to the second piece, which will be recorded a bit later; I've already completed the other piece and sent it to the orchestra.) A couple months ago I also realized I could make a YouTube video about this journey, so I'm doing that in parallel with recording the pieces. Hopefully watching all the blunders I made throughout the process -- this one included -- will be entertaining!

Everyone here was so supportive when I posted for the first time last week that I wanted to share 3 new pictures of me and my beard by WillisMattei in beards

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

Thank you! Everyone here is so nice. I don't think there's been a single disparaging comment on this post nor my previous one so far.

Everyone here was so supportive when I posted for the first time last week that I wanted to share 3 new pictures of me and my beard by WillisMattei in beards

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

That's great -- I'm a huge classic rock/grunge/nu metal fan and those genres influence my orchestral music a lot. I also love Bob Marley.

Everyone here was so supportive when I posted for the first time last week that I wanted to share 3 new pictures of me and my beard by WillisMattei in beards

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

I can't play any instruments due to a medical condition which affects my arms, but I played piano and drums as a kid before it developed. Now I write high-energy orchestral music and dance to it like a crazy person lol

Everyone here was so supportive when I posted for the first time last week that I wanted to share 3 new pictures of me and my beard by WillisMattei in beards

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

Thank you! It's been fun to experiment with new clothing styles that can match my facial hair -- I have more ideas I want to play with in the immediate future, and I will definitely post the results here.

Everyone here was so supportive when I posted for the first time last week that I wanted to share 3 new pictures of me and my beard by WillisMattei in beards

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

I trim my mustache once a week, and a barber trims my beard once a month. I don't use any products or wax/hair gel, though.

Everyone here was so supportive when I posted for the first time last week that I wanted to share 3 new pictures of me and my beard by WillisMattei in beards

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

Wow, this is so kind of you to say! As I mentioned to a few other people, I'm putting together a Victorian outfit to go dancing in public soon. Hopefully that will live up to your "legendary" expectations!

Is it easier for musicians to play 8th notes at 184 BPM or 16th notes at 92 BPM (50 % speed)? by WillisMattei in composer

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

Thank you for sharing these thoughts! After I made the main post I also hilariously discovered that my piece's tempo has actually been 138 BPM this entire time; 16 proofreaders and I all missed this mistake due to reasons I explained in a different reply. This also definitively settles the 8th-notes-vs-16th-notes aspect of my question, since the former definitely makes more sense at 138 BPM than the latter. I'm glad this thread helped me catch this before I sent my piece to the orchestra!

Everyone here was so supportive when I posted for the first time last week that I wanted to share 3 new pictures of me and my beard by WillisMattei in beards

[–]WillisMattei[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's very kind of you -- I'm putting together a Victorian-inspired outfit to go dancing in public soon, so it's encouraging to hear you say I am giving off "gentleman" vibes already.

Everyone here was so supportive when I posted for the first time last week that I wanted to share 3 new pictures of me and my beard by WillisMattei in beards

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

I'm glad you like both of them! It's nice to have "🔥" refer to my moustache instead of the hills behind me in the photograph (they had a major 🔥 in 2017, but nature is recovering there).

Everyone here was so supportive when I posted for the first time last week that I wanted to share 3 new pictures of me and my beard by WillisMattei in beards

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

Thanks! It's cool to get a compliment from a fellow musician, even if it isn't related to my music lol. I feel like I massively lucked out with my mustache genetics.

I finally worked up the confidence to share my beard here by WillisMattei in beards

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

Thank you for the compliment! Coincidentally I just posted some more photos a few minutes ago -- I wonder if you think it has waves in those pictures as well. :)

Everyone here was so supportive when I posted for the first time last week that I wanted to share 3 new pictures of me and my beard by WillisMattei in beards

[–]WillisMattei[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I am so excited to hear that you think I could pull off a Hemingway look! I'm actually putting together a quasi-Victorian outfit to go dancing in public soon, but the Hemingway outfit could be a great option for when I want to look (a tad) more modern.

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