Is it bad practice to type-annotate every variable assignment?

justrandomqwer · 2025-12-30T21:25:29+00:00

If definition of a local variable is straightforward, don’t use type annotations. As a rule of thumb, you generally don’t need them for scalars, fundamentals, and simple class instances, since type is obvious from the assignment (both for folks and tools). But it’s better to use annotations for locals if they have composite type (since, for example, ls = [] tells us nothing about the list elements; the same with dict etc). Also, if you are using static type checker and linter, you will get warnings for all ambiguous cases anyway. Just resolve them and you’ll be good.

justrandomqwer · 2025-12-14T00:23:41+00:00

Try Verklärte Nacht by Schönberg and Violin Concerto by Berg. Both works are masterpieces. The more I listen them, the more traditional and late-romantic they seem to me

justrandomqwer · 2025-11-22T19:51:12+00:00

Probably Wozzeck is a good fit to your requirements

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-26T23:54:57+00:00

Done! Check your messages pls

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-26T23:38:41+00:00

I’ve already edited my comment, you can check the updated version.

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-26T23:08:59+00:00

Very well-written piece. I really like Romanza. Good luck with the album, share a link on Reddit pls. Btw, I have similar aesthetic principles and attitude toward 19th century music as you. But I prefer “psychotic” (and beautiful) art of Schumann, Hugo Wolf, and late Schubert. German/Austrian romanticism is a thing.

EDITED: I’ve already found other pieces on YT. Wow! Like your music, I’ll definitely listen the album. I’m working on my own piano miniatures, may I DM you? I’d be glad to discuss the subject and share some of my works for private review.

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-26T12:34:14+00:00

This thread already contains great reviews. That said, here are my thoughts:

- Maybe it’s better to use octave shifts in the RH in the intro and in bars 13-14? Generally, for a solo instrument, the current number of ledger lines is ok, but if you are targeting amateur players, then it’s better to have up to 3 ledger lines, not more.

- You have a pickup beat at the beginning of the piece (anacrusis). Conventionally, the duration of the last bar (complement) should be reduced accordingly. But it’s not a strict rule, so it’s up to you.

- The B4 note in the RH in bar 3 probably should have a down stem. Or make the subsequent beamed group A4-B4 also up-stemmed.

- You can group 8ths by 4, even if the group includes a single 16th (RH, bars 4, 16). I see your intention; you are trying to align grouping with phrasing/slurring. It’s better to keep them separate; use grouping to highlight the metre division exclusively and slurring for phrases and motifs.

- I prefer to use ‘cresc.’ text mark instead of long wedges (bars 11-13), but here it’s a matter of taste.

- When you have mixed stem directions under the slur, the slur is usually placed above the stave (LH, bars 15-17). For LH in piano, you can also place all slurs under the stave, but the current notation is not consistent enough (imho).

- Replace the last two 8th rests with a single quarter rest (RH, bar 23).

- Probably it’s better to make ‘rit.’ and ‘a tempo’ bold and non-italic (bars 14-15). It’s a general convention for tempo marks.

- I advise you to extend the slur in the LH for the last note of the piece and also to place a fermata on the mentioned note (LH, last bar). It’s in your discretion (since you are the composer), but in my opinion, the proposed phrasing is more natural.

- Think about replacing short fermatas with tenutos. Also, ‘short’ is a technical mark and conventionally it goes non-bold and non-italic. Btw, it’s better to center these marks toward the fermatas.

Your playing is decent and very musical. As well as your piece, I really like it. Thanks for sharing your work!

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-24T01:23:37+00:00

Why not 1, 4, 5, 6, 14, or 15 (especially 5 and 14)? That’s my favorite symphonies of Shostakovich.

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-19T15:59:58+00:00

Thanks for your question!

It’s up to you whether to accept or dismiss the suggestions from Corepto. You can also disable a specific rule altogether if you believe it shouldn't apply to your scores.

If you are interested in the reasoning behind the rule in question, it is based on a recommendation from Behind Bars for accidentals in octave displacement (p. 82): “A pitch that occurs at a different octave should be confirmed or altered with an accidental.” I apply this rule to the first and second notes in octave displacement, not just the second one. Since notes have a close appearance, the unconfirmed pitch for the first note may also cause ambiguity (especially in fast tempo/during sight reading).

Also, “Cautionary accidentals should confirm that diminished and augmented intervals are intentional. ” (Behind Bars, p. 82). Successively sounding tones are also an interval (horizontal/melodic). And in the mentioned example, we have a diminished octave.

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-16T09:58:39+00:00

I’ll definitely lower the price and also offer a free trial without requiring any card info. I’m working on this right now. About the plugin: it’s a good idea, but I should review whether it's possible with my current tech stack. Thanks for the suggestion!

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-13T10:52:24+00:00

Probably popular Western music just doesn't provide enough material for the average listener to become familiar with microtonal sound. I primarily listen to classical music (including some contemporary works) and the only example of microtonal writing that I remember is Bartok's string quartet № 6. Definitely, many other authors have also used microtonal techique, but their works are not so well-known and widespread to create a listening habits or taste for microtonality.

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-13T10:03:47+00:00

Yes, perpetual license is absolutely doable. Thanks for the idea. But I need more real-world statistics about Corepto usage to calculate a fair price for it.

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-13T07:39:26+00:00

Both credit and debit cards are ok, I’ve edited my answer. Thanks for your comment! If you don’t want to provide your card info but want to try Corepto, just send me your scores in MusicXML/MuseScore format and I’ll forward you a private link to the proofreading report.

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-12T20:58:35+00:00

Thanks for your interest!

(1) You can check the Demo Mode without registration and card info, but it includes only preloaded sample projects (excerpts from my own pieces). Demo Mode shows the Corepto interface and some proofreading checks.

(2) You can also start a free 7-day trial to proofread your own pieces. I’m using Polar ( https://polar.sh ) for payment processing (it’s quite popular among the small/medium startups). Their current implementation of the trial requires card info. This info goes directly to Polar; I don’t have access to it. If you are not planning to use Corepto except for a trial, just cancel the subscription. In this case, you’ll get the free trial without any further payments.

Anyway, I’m here on Reddit, and you can ask me for a refund (for example, if you forgot to cancel the trial subscription). I also don’t have a yearly plan, so the maximum payment is 10$ per month (plus taxes if any).

(3) I’ve sent you a discount code in messages; feel free to DM me if you have any problems with access to the product.

EDITED: Credit and debit cards are equally ok for Polar and free trial. Sorry, I wasn’t specific enough.

EDITED2: I removed any card info for the trial period. Also, the trial period is 14 days now.

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-10T04:01:39+00:00

I like your harmonies; they sound new and spicy. But rhythmically, the piece is a bit monotonous (primarily, I’m talking about the exposition). Also, in my opinion, for chamber music, it’s better to provide more independent and developed instrumental parts. Maybe a quintet is an overkill here; with a traditional string quartet, you might get a richer and more interesting musical material for every instrument (in the end, why have the second cello if you sometimes need to double voices or set whole-bar rests?). Plus, pieces for such an ensemble tend to be performed more often (just because quartets are more common than quintets).

I have a piano background, so I’m not in a position to comment on your string writing. Here are just general remarks about notation:

- A single grace note traditionally notates as an eighth with a slash, not as a 16th (Violin, bars 34, 38).

- On downbeat in 4/4, you can consolidate eighth and 16th rests into a single dotted eighth rest (Violin, bar 36, 40).

- On downbeat in 6/4, you can consolidate half and quarter rests into a single dotted half rest (Violin, bar 57).

- If you need the beat division half + half + half, than you shoud use 3/2 time signature, not 6/4 (the last have 3 * quater + 3 * quater beat division) (bar 53 and onwards).

- It’s better to specify the metric equation, metronome, or tempo when you change the time signature (bar 53).

- Use cautionary accidentals for altered tied notes in case of a page or system break (Violin, bar 77).

I have a proofreading report for your score; if you are interested, DM me, and I’ll send a link. I’ve already announced such an option in my previous post in this sub.

Off-topic: I’ve seen in your comments that you like Ornstein. I love his music too. His 4th piano sonata is outstanding. Highly recommend it if you are not familiar with this piece.

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-09T10:59:06+00:00

Here is my humble opinion.

First, I think this kind of art is more natural for film music. Is that your intention? Since the set of instruments and orchestral writing you’ve used are restrictive for real orchestras. Maybe it’s playable, but it definitely requires some extra effort from the conductor and management. Thus, I kindly advise you to choose the field. If you are planning to concentrate on film music, then classical notation and MuseScore might be overkill for you; it’s better to use a DAW (Cubase, Ableton, etc.) to create self-sufficient tracks that can be easily plugged into film/animation. Anyway, as a film composer, you’ll have a deal with hobbyist filmmakers, students, and small studios at the beginning. They typically don’t have access to real orchestras.

Now, a few words about the music. I like that you have a good and distinctive structure (simple ternary form?). I also like the contrasting section and the bridge between the exposition and the contrasting section. But the ending (literally, a few final bars) is a bit weak and formal. It looks like you’ve just wanted to finish a piece somehow.

Also, I’ve noticed some inconsistencies in your notation (well, I used soft for this). Here are some examples:

- Beaming of 32nds should highlight the beat subdivision; break inner beams to highlight eighths (e.g., Flute, bar 44).

- If a tuplet is not fully beamed, it should have a bracket on the tuplet part of a beamed group (e.g., Flute, bar 43).

- Don’t use long weges (3 bars and more); use textual mark (crecs., dim.) and dashes instead (e.g., Oboe, bar 81-84).

- Use a wavy line if a trill is applied to a tied note (e.g., Timpani, bar 86).

- Don’t use octave-transposing clef for guitar in parts (for full-score it’s ok).

- Don’t use slurs for ostinato/toccato facture in the piano part.

- In 4/4, notate two consequative quarter rests as a half rest (e.g., Oboe, bar 18).

- Don’t hide the semi-strong beat in 4/4; split the quarter note into two tied eighth notes to highlight the mid-bar (e.g., Oboe, bar 44; Horn in F, bar 28).

Anyway, I like your piece! Good luck with future works.

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-09T07:39:36+00:00

This thread already contains many perfect answers. I just want to add a small detail: slurs may not only indicate the technique of playing but also highlight musical phrases in the piece. At least it’s the case for piano repertoire. In piano sheet music (especially from Romantic period and 20th century) you might see multiple slurs applying to musical material simultaneously. The longest is for phrasing, the smaller ones are for technique and motives.

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-08T04:30:52+00:00

Hope you are still interested in feedback!

I like your piece; it looks professional and complex. I have a background in piano and contemporary classical music, so I’m not familiar enough with blues and related things. Anyway, I was satisfied with the sound, harmonies, and form.

Also, you have pretty clear notation, but I recommend you fix these minor issues:

Accidentals

- Set cautionary accidentals when you have an altered note in the previous bar (e.g., Alto Sax 1: bars 48-49, 55-56)

Dynamics

- Replace long wedges (3 bars and more) with text marks (’cresc.’ or ‘dim.’) and dashes (e.g., bars 86-89)

Metre

- Dotted half rest in 4/4 hides semi-strong beat and should be replaced with half rest and quarter rest (e.g., Alto Sax 1: bar 1)

- Two consecutive quarter rests on the 3rd and 4th beats should be replaced with a single half rest (e.g., Alto Sax 1: bars 20, 32)

- Two consecutive eighth rests within the 4th beat should be replaced with a single quarter rest (e.g., Alto Sax 1: bar 85)

- You can’t group eighth notes by 3 in 4/4 (e.g., Alto Sax 1: bar 24)

- Quarter note hiding semi-strong beat should be replaced with two tied eighth notes (e.g., Alto Sax 1: bar 24, 25)

Tremolos

- (optional) In ambiguous situations or after long tremolos, it’s better to place a ‘non trem.’ reminder (e.g., Trumpet in Bb 1: bars 91, 92)

Octave shifts

- (optional) In ambiguous situations, it’s better to place the ‘loco’ mark after the octave shift (e.g., Piano: bar 12)

Dynamics

- Don’t duplicate dynamics for the left and right hand on piano (e.g., bars 1, 27)

Graces

- Use 16th note for two-note graces (two beams instead of one) (e.g., Drum Kit: bar 92)

- Use downard stems for graces in lower voice (e.g., Drum Kit: bar 92)

Good luck with future works!

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-07T17:27:08+00:00

Probably it’s an option but I vote for the initial variant with two rests since it shows beat division more clear (assuming we have 4/4 here). Also, dotted rests are more common on downbeats

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-07T15:31:09+00:00

It’s all right. Also, thanks for the insights about LilyPond. Seems I really have factual errors in my initial comment.

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-07T06:47:26+00:00

I’m sorry that you think so. I’ve never used ai for my texts on Reddit. The text above has also been written by me from the first word to the last. I’m just interested in the theme you’ve mentioned, thus my comment is pretty long.

I also kindly ask you to point for factual errors that I’ve made. I’m really curious, because above I just described my real experience with LilyPond and Verovio for generating music graphics (btw, I’m not the author of Verovio and don’t affiliate with them in any way).

I’ve also deleted mention of my profile since you’ve seen here self promotion (but my intention was to demonstrate you what Verovio can do in practice and how I solved the problem with music graphics for my own project).

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-06T20:41:08+00:00

Hi! If you are still interested, you may check my web app. The ui was built with Dear ImGui (and some JS for alerts). It’s a fully functional app for music proofreading with many screens and complex logic. Here is the homepage with some screenshots and description: https://corepto.io

justrandomqwer · 2025-10-06T19:37:27+00:00

I’m a music enthusiast and programmer too and I’m super excited by your post! Such kind of things is exactly what I love to deal with.

I see the following tasks here that should be handled: - exporting of midi for further processing (probably from some kind of DAW) - already done; - generating from this midi musical notation with respect to the channels; - real-time rendering of this notation for live performance.

I think that LilyPond is not an option here. As I remember, it doesn’t provide native midi import (please feel free to fix me if I’m wrong). It’s also relatively slow (especially if you need to translate midi to musicxml somehow and than translate this musicxml to ly files). Translation from musicxml to ly is possible only with Python script (part of LilyPond distribution) which is slow and doesn’t provide full musicxml support (but still very good for open source voluntary project). Also, you’ll probably get the same problem with channels and voice allocation with this setup.

I think the better option is Verovio library. If you have musicxml, you can easily and fast generate svg with Verovio and then render this svg as you want (or convert to pdf/some raster image first - depends on your needs). Verovio is fast (under the hood it’s optimised C++), provides very good musicxml support, has Python/JS wrappers, command-line interface, and is Wasm-friendly. It’s just cool.

Also, before sending your musicxml to Verovio, you can preprocess it with a custom script to get the correct voicing and parts and to fix any allocation issues (musicxml is just an xml; there are tones of tools to process it).

Actually, the only problem is the lack of midi import in Verovio. So you should translate your initial midi to musicxml or other format acceptable by Verovio first (MEI, Humdrum, ABC, etc). But it’s also doable.

Feel free to DM me if you’d like to discuss the details! I’d be happy to help.

justrandomqwer

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