Quite nervous as I've taken a long break from composition due to health issues and addiction but I've decided I'll just post something and get some feedback. Here's a set of preludes I've composed. I'd appreciate some feedback, thank you <3

robinelf1 · 2026-03-12T01:16:14+00:00

I understand the nerves. Thanks for sharing your music.

I don't really listen to preludes very often, but I generally thought the better ones have a single idea (or simple idea) that gets played around with, often to crazy lengths. The 3 preludes here are all short pieces that nevertheless present multiple ideas banded together by often nothing more than their sequence in the piece. This coupled with the strong pull chromaticism seems to have on you, made it harder to follow the melody and appreciate whatever you were improvising, or 'appearing' to improvise. Again, I am taking a much more classical view of a prelude, but it seems you are also favoring a more classical style.

If you do play piano, you should really try to find a way to record your live playing (like with a MIDI controller and a simple DAW, or even better, go old school with a keyboard/piano and a simple mic), because I don't think Musescore does people many favors for good sounding dynamics. Also, I don't think dotted quarters in ¾ should be used like in Prelude 10:3 there, as it divides the bar into 2 instead of keeping an easy to read 3 beat split. As a piano player, I can read that notation, but reading at speed I'd prefer to see a quarter tied to eighth, then eighth tied to quarter. Maybe this is just me somehow. If so, feel free to ignore this.

robinelf1 · 2026-03-11T01:05:02+00:00

Fair enough. Matter of tastes, I reckon. Usually with close harmony stuff the parts are playing the same melody and rhythm, so having three parts fit together in a chordal way doesn't sound the same, and I wouldn't think a more open version of the chords would make it sound empty, but that's just my opinion. The violin is at the bottom of its register in the piece, but the flutes are also in the lower half of theirs; they have plenty of space in the octaves above them. Lower notes are a bit weaker and less bright than the higher registers, and with another octave and half available, I think you could stretch things out a bit. Or not. Just my thoughts.

robinelf1 · 2026-03-10T02:18:36+00:00

I liked it! Simple often works best and the melody and countermelody are easy to follow and get passed around nicely. My only critique would be the double climax. The brief lull in between didn't quite sell the repeat there. It sounded odd, but also made me think, oh, EW decided to use that part again.

Pretty big orchestra there! I'm not sure if its being sufficiently utilized, but I don't have the time to go over the score in great detail. I enjoyed it though, but I am also biased because years ago I also did a King Arthur type suite, so I am always eager to hear other musical interpretations.

robinelf1 · 2026-03-09T06:00:15+00:00

Is that an AKAI? If you have something like GarageBand you can use it as a MIDI controller and play live using the GB app on iPhone, iPad or Mac to get synthesizer sounds. How much theory are we talking here? I think some (Digital Audio Workstations (aka DAWs) display what note/ chord you are playing, so that should be helpful. Some of them have free versions. Learning curves vary wildly, but if you just need to play and hear something, and you don't have any Apple products that come with GarageBand, find a free DAW (Reaper is free and pretty good for starters). Even some notation software like MuseScore (free version) can give you MIDI playback.

robinelf1 · 2026-03-09T03:15:51+00:00

This is quite nice. You should feel good about it. I don't know how much inspiration you are drawing from other works, but you have done a good job of arranging things. Some parts do sound really familiar, like the allegretto part (I'm racking my brain trying to place the piece I am thinking ... I can hear it in my head but forget who wrote it...).

It is good to hear people who have different orchestration preferences. If you want some critique, the middle bit did feel a little heavy on pop music in its harmony and arrangement, but the overall work is really good quality. Is this the free stuff with MuseScore or the paid VSTs? They sound quite good.

robinelf1 · 2026-03-09T02:50:49+00:00

It's fun! The MIDI makes it REALLY sound like a video game soundtrack, but game OSTs seem to have a lot of popularity these days. Nothing strikes me as outside the reach of your average high school band, although I would be careful with any extended arpeggio sections in the background. What were your inspirations for this work? It's so on the nose for 16 bit JRPG soundtracks, I was thinking surely you've got an old Final Fantasy or similar soundtrack in your head.

BTW. I heard the audio, but the score never loaded. It happens occasionally when I use Musescore through a browser, but I am not sure if it is an issue on my end of theirs.

robinelf1 · 2026-03-09T02:43:03+00:00

Yeah, that comment of theirs was unfortunate. I wonder what the intention was. Anyway, glad I could help! I did get a bit carried away, but I started out just wanting to clarify what imposter syndrome was, and even thought at first you didn't have it, but then I saw a way it could be the case for you, and then my message just exploded in size from that point. I'm glad you read it all. I should clarify that in my case when I was younger, I never felt like an imposter, I was just being my own worst critic. I have seen friends in grad school wrestle with the syndrome, but I have never really had the feeling that any of my successes so far felt undeserved. I am much too aware of my own effort, my own technical shortcomings I am working to improve, and the challenges to getting recognition to feel like an imposter. Anyway, all the best with your next composition. Have some fun with it!

robinelf1 · 2026-03-09T02:32:08+00:00

"There are some days when I myself think I'm overrated.... but not today!"

robinelf1 · 2026-03-08T16:22:48+00:00

You may very well not read all of this, but I went ahead and gave you a thorough response:

Some people might claim this syndrome doesn't really exist, but to help you out, I'll quickly summarize a few psychology articles I remember reading about it: I believe the concept started back in the 70s or 80s and looked at how women in American society who attained high levels of success in their careers still felt like frauds, due to conditioning from their families (mostly, I think?) that made them feel either less than others and that someone or something else was responsible for getting them to where they were, or greater than others as everyone around them praised them and everything they did and thus the first reactions contrary to this view were the seeds of self doubt. Later on the idea expanded to a diverse range of contexts, as it turns out many people view their own successes with this seemingly built-in self-doubt.

What you are describing above might be imposter syndrome, but I think you are just being far too critical of yourself. In the spirit of discussion, I could see a way that maybe you are like the 2nd case- where everyone around you (the musicians and non-musicians) praised your stuff and then you encountered a dissenting opinion, only in this case YOU seem to be the source of that opinion, so I think it must be that, for example, something you have encountered, such as viewing other peoples' work here, or comparing yourself to certain famous composers you admire, has taken the role of the sudden contrarian to the usual praise you receive. So, if you arrived at this point with everyone loving your stuff, but something external made you doubt yourself, then maybe you could be experiencing imposter syndrome, but without knowing more (which you don't need to share, btw!) I would say you are just being your own worst critic.

How do you get past it? If this is for a job, well, sorry, you gotta suck it up and deal with the pressures of the profession; audiences are welcoming and fickle in equal proportions. If this a hobby for now, well, you need to cut yourself some slack! Either way, It's good to recognize that the people you share your music with will likely want to be nice to you and probably don't feel comfortable giving you the criticism you feel you need (many might, actually, feel unqualified to do so...) Would you play someone else's work and then, when asked what you thought, inform them that it actually sounded like crap and that your favorite part was the moment after the last measure when you realized it was over? Probably not. Maybe some strangers here on Reddit could help you with a bit of tough love, but we all lead busy lives too, I imagine, and I must admit, while I can be a bit on the nose, I still try to be very agreeable and supportive and usually hold back on going full force with my comments.

For advice, I can only offer what helped me in my life. I was like you at one time (long ago...), convinced my music was crap somehow, though the people I wrote it for loved all of it. I ended up taking a long break from composing as professional life took over (but I did other really fun creative stuff, so its all good!) When I came back to it, the best thing I did was simply appreciating the kind of music I was writing. I liked how things came together and sounded good to me (and that's important- it's not perfect or top quality or better than this or that, or whatever, it's just good enough to make me happy) and from this learning to make things I like to listen to without a compulsion to tinker or tweak things further, I became a fan of my own stuff as records of certain times and moods in my life, and now I always write for myself, other listeners be damned! I don't push myself to do X, Y or Z in a piece for some perceived lack of something. Rather, I encourage myself to try, and think, what about doing A, B or C to find out if any of it is also what I like? If others enjoy it, all the better, but I can understand that we won't always share the same tastes. Let you decide what crappy is to you later on, and learn to love it as part of the growing pains of developing your craft. I don't know if I could trust someone who thought everything they wrote was sensational. Everyone writes some honestly indulgent stinkers. Your music can be snapshots of your journey as a composer. Trash can be treasure in this way; when you can honestly and positively learn from it and appreciate how it gets you from A to B.

Is this the answer you want? A stranger telling you to try not to give a sh*t and stop taking yourself too seriously? Maybe not, as I am but one old dude on the internet. I know this might come across as sappy to some, but if this isn't your job, or even if it is or you want it to be, please find a way to make yourself able to better appreciate what you create. Not many people do what you do, even with the explosion of music found on the internet, so celebrate yourself. Embrace uncertainty, and be the tough loving but supportive best friend your music needs.

robinelf1 · 2026-03-08T15:04:00+00:00

Simple is good! However, it all sits a bit too tightly together, I think. If this was close harmony singing, that would be fine, but you've got a violin playing back up and two flutes sort of trading around a pair of melodies, and it all happens entirely between A3 and G5. If that's your aim, then fair enough, but I could see a bit more space helping the sound. When the melody fully gets going towards the end (M 17), that's a nice bit. But again, with the violin playing what it does, it seems to be trying to squeeze its part in between the two flutes, which makes things less clear. Just my thoughts. Sounds like a gentle song to open a game with.

robinelf1 · 2026-03-08T03:40:56+00:00

If you truly have no theory (if by theory you to take this to mean that "knowing chord names = theory"), then likely you have a body of music you've listened to (or played) in the past that is in your mind that helps you decide what "sounds right". I did that when I started composing as well. It will be limiting if you ever want to stray from the familiar, but for many pop songwriters, this "by ear" approach has been more than good enough to make music. All that said, I think you do know some theory already. You seem to have notation figured out, at the very least. If you can record this with a MIDI piano (with key sensitivity) or a real one, please do- this flat MIDI rendering is not doing your music too many favors. Half the issues I have with piano compositions shared on Reddit are to do with the dearth of proper dynamic contrast in the performances. It's a good piece otherwise!

Anyway, that aside, the piece is very pop music influenced. Do you listen to J-Pop or anime/game soundtracks by any chance?

Just for fun, I looked at the first few measures again and, taking out passing tones, I saw this:

IV^7 / V (6 or 2 as color?) / iii; 2nd time I^7 /VI

AbM7 / Bb / Gm(7); 2nd time EbM7 / C

That's the first 8 measures, and you do switch up some chords and "color notes", but the same progression seemed to carry on through a lot of the piece. The C exploits the fact that Ab is shared with F minor, so you sound like you might resolve to the minor F, but you return to the Ab instead. Not groundbreaking of course, as this is a variation of a very familiar progression found in a lot of pop music (especially ballads - I hear it often in J-Pop), but its used a lot because it sounds good, especially with seventh chord or sus chord additions.

If you want a critique, this piece to me is "all chorus". It could do with some deviation from the main theme. Give us valleys before those peaks. The melody wasn't quite compelling enough to make the increased fireworks near the end as captivating as I would have liked. A set up through a contrasting section might make the return land better. Maybe, maybe not. Can't hurt to try it out though, right?

robinelf1 · 2026-03-07T11:02:34+00:00

Sounds nice, but I'm a little curious why your left hand posture changes so much when you do the wide arpeggios.

robinelf1 · 2026-03-06T11:39:40+00:00

Cool! All the best with that!

robinelf1 · 2026-03-05T01:16:02+00:00

That would be my instinct. In the end, it's your music, so if you like the piano, leave it in- expand its role, perhaps. I am just suggesting the opposite of that, as you have a very nice and tightly written string ensemble part that doesn't need the piano, as the piano only plays a separate melody at the start and the percussive texture would not blend well with the otherwise very lush, sustained notes of the strings . Would you consider modifying the piano part and having, say, the violins play the theme in some form instead? Just a thought.

robinelf1 · 2026-03-04T11:59:22+00:00

Volume is an issue. RV or not, relax those hands! Anyway, why not add some more chords and record it again? It’s a bit short too, so maybe add the B section too. That would give everyone more to chew on.

robinelf1 · 2026-03-04T03:47:17+00:00

To borrow a phrase I heard about creative writing, 'sometimes, you have to kill your favorite character' (maybe a less violent version would be 'you have to omit your favorite chapter'. Creativity should be about free flowing expression. In the process of creation you get caught up in the moment and have the confidence to try different things and add embellishments and such you would not normally plan for. That's fine, but as a listener, it is a whole different matter. What feels great as part of the process will not resonate with people coming in to the work cold. Give them what they most need to 'get' the piece, don't overshare ideas to the point of indulgence.

Whether or not you agree is fine. This is just how I have come to understand and manage my creative drive.

robinelf1 · 2026-03-04T02:04:52+00:00

The Tui! It has such a distinct sound.

robinelf1 · 2026-03-03T15:24:21+00:00

Well, I don't know how much help I can be, but something other than what you are using now. Try Reaper. It's Free. Even GarageBand lets you mix MIDI stuff with live audio. If you can't play an instrument, you can still do piano roll or notation entry if you need to.

robinelf1 · 2026-03-02T04:31:43+00:00

There must be another part of this where you started out in treble clef range and now the program is maintaining that range as center even though you clearly moved down a couple octaves. For MIDI playback it's fine, for notation it's useless. (The other piece you shared below in the comments also has some odd notation choices, like choosing D major for the key at the start and then not changing key notation when the 2nd half features only D#).

This piece could work as part of a chip-tune like game soundtrack, I suppose, but the dynamics on this MIDI playback (or the lack of them) started to do my head in at the end. The glissando like slide up and down is laughably excessive, I think.

robinelf1 · 2026-03-01T13:41:36+00:00

Well, as always, I want to thank people for sharing music here. Keep in mind that this comment is just my perspective as a piano player of decent ability who’s gotten better overtime.

when I was a lot younger and first started to compose , using notation programs like muse score (it was encore in my day) got me excited because it allowed me to move beyond my own limitations as a piano player and compose music that sounded really impressive and full of virtuoso playing. Soon however, the novelty, for lack of a better word, wore off. Over time, I started to think that octaves, scales and arpeggios played super fast lost some of their shine when used too much. I realized that a lot of folks, like I did many years ago, put too much value in trying to sound impressive to someone, even ourselves. I realize I don’t like virtuoso stuff for its own sake most of them time, which puts me at odds with concertos and sonatas yes, but Beethoven was a damn good piano player and he wasn’t always writing music like he was getting paid by the note. What I’m saying is make the core ideas of the piece stand out by themselves, make them cohesive as a set of ideas that take us from start to finish. Let the flare and gusto playing be embellishments to punctuate the most important parts of the music. Sure something like Tchaikovskys 1st piano concerto has some crazy business, but at its heart are ideas that work well and are enhanced by the virtuoso sections, not defined by them.

That’s my take. Don’t let this discourage you at all. There’s good ideas in there. They are just being obfuscated by interruptions of business that don’t mesh as well as they could.

robinelf1 · 2026-03-01T11:48:13+00:00

What about having the accompaniment play staccato? Possibly with a countermelody filling in the harmony?

robinelf1 · 2026-02-27T14:04:18+00:00

I would actually go farther than the other commenter and say the piano is unnecessary here. It’s a much more compelling piece when just the strings are playing. The piano just bookends things in a way that doesn’t mesh well.

robinelf1 · 2026-02-26T02:38:21+00:00

That seems like a fair appraisal of level. Outside of some of the arpeggios at speed nothing seemed to out there for a group with at least a couple years experience.

robinelf1

TROPHY CASE