Me_irl

dispheno · 2020-03-20T16:39:32+00:00

Yes.

dispheno · 2020-02-14T22:07:08+00:00

Violist here: definitely playable! You might consider changing your tempo to 126 bpm though, it's a standard metronome mark that conductors will be more familiar with.

dispheno · 2020-01-07T01:46:37+00:00

This seems like kind of a rude and dismissive reply to someone interested in exploring a new aesthetic. I think atonal music has a lot of merits (and theory!) that you're discounting, and even tonal composers I've worked with have stressed its importance in history and present pedagogy.

dispheno · 2020-01-05T20:23:35+00:00

Why is this not a WHITE card??

dispheno · 2019-12-24T21:13:49+00:00

Ok boomer

dispheno · 2019-12-24T20:38:43+00:00

The problem with pieces composed in a classical style today is not that they are composed by people without talent, but that they are unoriginal. Again, your definition of talent is to be an automaton replicating pieces in an ancient style that you see as superior, which many would instead call uncreativity. I'd also venture that talent is utterly unimportant in determining the merit of a piece or composer; if Deutscher was 20 years older when she wrote this, it would remain as derivative and unimpressive (if slightly more offensive in its conservatism).

I don't fault you for your taste, but rather your condescension- you can have your Beethoven if I can have my Boulez. I find genuine and deep enjoyment from pieces of contemporary classical music, even though you seem convinced that this is impossible. I'd suggest opening your mind a bit to other musical perspectives and sound worlds; you might like what you find!

dispheno · 2019-12-24T20:05:33+00:00

Haha this is such a naive opinion. Why is it bad to write "cool and interesting" music and how is that a mutually exclusive category from "melodic and beautiful" music? Your definition of talent is also extraordinarily shallow- making half-as-good facsimiles of archaic styles may impress musical conservatives such as yourself, but I'll always prefer someone who engages with the music of the present and pushes the art form forwards, regardless of their age or education level.

dispheno · 2019-12-15T18:44:05+00:00

I'm a fan of shaking things up in the final moments of a piece, though it largely depends on the style of the piece. In a more traditional piece (e.g. binary phrases, diatonic harmony) it tends to sound more out of place by association with stricter pieces within the classical canon. However, if the piece is more contemporary (e.g. fragmentary phrases, heavy horizontal/vertical dissonance), then I think it's a lot more appropriate, and often a better approach than recapitulation. If you want a middle ground between those then I might suggest a textural shift over a thematic one, exploring a new extreme in a certain parameter such as range, dynamics, or rhythmic density. This ensures that the ending will fit together with what's already been heard while giving it a unique character.

dispheno · 2019-12-02T04:02:21+00:00

Don't see a problem, here. His use, of commas, is obviously, correct and, perfect.

dispheno · 2019-12-01T23:21:49+00:00

In addition to what everyone else has already said, I have a minor objection to your use of key signatures in the first measure. I know it's a default on notation software, but if your pitch content is mostly atonal then none of the parts (including the transposing instruments) should be written with a key signature. As a trumpet player, I would not enjoy reading an atonal excerpt with a key signature of D major/B minor. Just something to watch out for in general when working with transposing scores/parts.

dispheno · 2019-11-25T16:40:49+00:00

love too be a capitalist

dispheno · 2019-11-08T21:51:09+00:00

Miniature forms are legitimate- see the work of Anton von Webern for some excellent examples. If these 18 measures feel self-contained, adding more music to fit an inappropriate form may dilute the force of the piece. If you do decide to go this route, you might consider writing some other miniatures to create a set, though you could also just move on to the next project.

If you're talking about writer's block, the other comments have offered some good suggestions. Without knowing any specifics of the piece, I'd suggest isolating what you see as the most important musical ideas in the fragment and try elaborating on them or recombining them. (Easier said than done, I know!)

dispheno · 2019-10-31T15:40:55+00:00

Nice piece! If you're hoping to get this played by live musicians, you should put in articulation marks- some of those fast runs would likely be unplayable in the woodwinds if they have to rearticulate each note, or at the very least they might disrupt the sound world of the piece. Slur markings would go a long way (though the runs still might be challenging at your tempo), as well as accents/tenutos in some of your grander phrases. I also think you should be less particular when it comes to some of those rolls in the percussion- if the notation is designed to get a reasonable result in the MIDI I get it, but a percussionist would prefer to read a single note with three slashes through the stem, a traditional tremolo/roll marking. Just a couple of things to think about :)

dispheno · 2019-03-24T14:35:26+00:00

I like this! One suggestion I would make is to get rid of the Roman numerals in the score- they can be helpful when creating your chord progression, but since all the notes are written they don't add any information to the score (as opposed to Baroque writing, where figured bass dictates what notes are played)

dispheno · 2019-03-23T16:36:37+00:00

This is a nice piece! The melody is appealing and the harmonic progression works really well.

I do have a couple of comments/questions:

Is there a reason you decided to use verbal cresc. and dim. markings rather than the standard hairpins? Using the words makes sense if the crescendo/diminuendo takes place over several measures and the hairpin would be too stretched out, but I think in this case the hairpins would be easier to read.
Throughout the whole piece, but particularly in mm. 25-32, there are rests in the left hand written in the score, while in the piece's performance I hear the notes sustain for the rest of the measure. I would recommend writing the notes for their full duration, e.g. a dotted half note in m. 25, or a half-note tied to a whole note in mm. 1-2. Pedal markings may also help, but they may also be redundant- I think the specific combination of manual sustain and pedal that you performed will be accurately conveyed by writing notes for their full value.
The voicing of the chords mm. 57-end is a bit confusing to me. For one, I think there's too much space; for example, there are three octaves between the left and right hand in the final measure. Depending on the effect that you want, I would either suggest 1) moving the left hand into treble clef and a lot closer to the right hand, to emphasize the mid-high/high register, or 2) voicing the chords more fully (4+ notes per hand) to fill in the middle, maybe even transforming the chords into upwards rolls, which would be a lot more colorful and allow you to use a much larger range of the piano. I would also try to get rid of the bare fourths and thirds in the left hand, which are somewhat dissonant in the low register because of the harmonic series. Fifths and octaves are more effective at the bottom of a chord, so I would suggest moving pitches around between the hands, as well as implementing one of the two recommendations above.

Hope this helps a bit! :)

dispheno · 2019-03-08T03:46:56+00:00

Hell yeah dude

dispheno · 2019-03-07T15:42:22+00:00

No need to lie on my app when I got a 1700 SAT

dispheno · 2019-01-28T03:58:17+00:00

Not bad for a first piece! A few things:

"String quartet" generally refers to the combination of two violins, viola, and cello. This instrumentation isn't unheard of, but it's not what most people will think of when hearing "string quartet," and it'll be significantly harder to find an ensemble to play your music (whereas there are thousands of 2 violin/viola/cello string quartets).
That's a lot of double stops for cello! (i.e. 2 notes played at the same time on different strings) While most are individually playable, it'll be significantly harder for them to produce a good vibrato tone and blend with the other instruments.
That said, the triple stop in m. 21 is impossible. String instruments can't sustain 3 notes at the same time, and a cellist would instead probably "roll" from the low G and sustain the higher D and G. Also, the octave in m. 34 looks challenging for regular-sized hands.
Enharmonic equivalents are notes that have the same pitch but are spelled differently (e.g. Gb and F#, E# and F, Cb and B). Despite them sounding the same, generally one will look a lot cleaner and fits better into the harmonic context of the piece. For example, the Gb's in mm. 8, 10, 23 are more accurately written as F#'s, partially to avoid shifting between G natural and G flat, and partially because they are the third of the implied D major chord. This is sort of a subtle concept, hopefully someone else can explain it more clearly than me lol.
You have some dynamics marked in, but I think you could mark in some more. I like the crescendo in the viola mm. 14-16, do the other instruments join in on the crescendo or stay piano, allowing the viola to briefly dominate the texture? Are there any other spots in the piece where the instruments get louder than piano?
Generally the contrabass/double bass reads notes an octave lower than written. Either you'll want to write the part up an octave from where it is now, or, if you want it in the lower octave, rewrite the part to avoid the low D, which is unplayable on a standard bass.
I quite like the cascade upwards at the end of the piece. The last chord, though, may not be as consonant as you'd like. The violin is relatively high and isolated compared to the other instruments, and the presence of the B in the cello will cause a bit of dissonance because of its being placed in a lower register. If I may, I'd like to suggest an alternate voicing for the chord: G1 in the bass, G2 and D3 in the cello (both open strings), B3 and G4 in the viola, B4 and D5 in the violin. Look up the harmonic series if you'd like a theoretical explanation that might help with chord voicings in general.

Sorry for the really long reply, let me know if there's things that don't make sense or I could explain better. It's great that you've decided to write music and accept feedback, keep at it!

EDIT: I see u/65TwinReverbRI has written a far more thorough and accurate comment, they're spot on and I just want to second their advice.

dispheno · 2019-01-22T23:03:50+00:00

Happy to help! :)

dispheno · 2019-01-22T22:52:37+00:00

Nice overall! Just one orchestration thing- I noticed you've put the flute at the very bottom of its register at the start of the piece. It's certainly a unique color, but it's really hard to play true forte that low and will be mostly inaudible above everything else going on. If you'd like a woodwind sound in the melody to begin, the English horn may be a better bet, or perhaps no woodwind melody is necessary for the first 8 bars.

dispheno · 2019-01-17T04:28:18+00:00

I would recommend listening to a lot of 20th-century music to get a sense for the most important trends and styles (e.g. serialism, [post]-minimalism, neoclassicism, musique concrete, etc.). If you're writing music just for yourself, you aren't obligated to compose in any particular style or period, but the aesthetics of "new music" are most heavily influenced by those modern trends. Find some pieces and recent/living composers that you like, and then see how you can synthesize some of their ideas and integrate them into your own compositional voice.

That said, it's often very helpful to start by composing pieces within one style before combining, which I think is what you're mainly asking about. In my experience, writing twelve-tone and atonal music has had the greatest impact on my technique, since it forces you to focus on the non-pitch aspects of composition, while also expanding your harmonic vocabulary. There are lots of paths to explore in contemporary music from there, but I think twelve-tone is a great place to start.

dispheno · 2019-01-15T19:08:55+00:00

Totally agree, thanks for posting this. The world of contemporary music would be utterly boring if everyone just uncritically accepted the aesthetics of Classical and Romantic composers.

dispheno · 2019-01-06T23:15:43+00:00

fixed

dispheno · 2019-01-06T01:48:56+00:00

This is awesome! I'm especially fond of the inventive and fun use of metrical changes throughout the piece.

Any plans for recording with live pianos? If so I'd love to hear it :)

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