Hey faggots, this is the last one of these I'm gonna make so I hope it gets noticed. If you're interested at all, post questions, thoughts, even your own compositions if you want. Come on, we won't bite. Alright, some of us will, but it's all in good fun.
Copypasta:
An experiment in a pen-and-paper composing general, made for all the theory autists
This differs from /prod/ in that it is more focused on art music and music theory. That is not to say /prod/'s electronic music is unwelcome, by all means, post here! But follow in the footsteps of the classical composers of the 20th century who experimented in electronic music. But remember, this is NOT /classical/. Any art music, such as jazz, is acceptable
Post clyps, and please post accompanying notation so we can accurately critique your composing from a theory perspective
I'd like to compose a load on her tits wink wink nudge nudge say no more
Ryan Hill
then do it desu
Blake Moore
what's the point of modal harmony? like, isn't dorian E the same as C major? why would I ever use dorian E instead of C major? sorry if this is a retarded question, I'm very new to this
Oliver Murphy
Whipping up a yet another fugue. should be a goodie
What does she mean by that pose? Is she trying to say the her breasts are like captured maidens, and that I should release them from their cotton prison?
Noah Scott
Bump
Hunter Gutierrez
counterbump
Grayson Torres
TIPS ON MELODIES PLEASE. Its all I need, I want to make more catchy but good melodies, help.
Mason Wilson
so if you're writing music for multiple different instruments, all of which may vary in volume, should you write the dynamics as if, say, mezzo forte is a constant volume for all instruments involved, or should it be instrument specific, i.e. fff means "the loudest you can play" and "ppp" means "the quietest you can play"? I primarily compose in notation software which may be the cause of a lot of my confusions desu
Dominic Roberts
Keep posting these threads OP, I contributed to the pasta so I'm going to keep these going
Grayson Fisher
I've posted a couple and they were buried like a motherfucker. You can carry the torch for me if ya want.
Cameron Gonzalez
it should be instrument specific. Its worth learning a bit about orchestration (which covers how instruments sound at different registers and dynamics)
My composition tutor at university told me not to trust the playback dynamics in notation software, you have to use your acquired knowledge of how loud each instrument will be.
For example, flutes are very quiet in the low register, even at fff. Whereas in the upper register they are extremely loud and piercing, even at p or mp
Each instrument has unique features like this, its worth getting a book like Samuel Adlers "Study of Orchestration" and the audio CDs that come with it and going through each instrument and learning its registral qualities and the various special effects each one can do. It will help your writing greatly, and give you an insight on colors, combinations, darker and lighter chords, blending, etc.
Try not to think of mf as the same across all instruments. its going to be a different dynamic depending on the specific instrument. mf on a violin is much quieter than mf on a tuba for example.
Repeating the same note in a melody helps it become catchier, supposedly.
Ideally you want to come up with a melody in your head, and keep humming / singing / whistling it over and over again until you get to the point of "damn this is so catchy, I better write it down to try and get rid of it!" For some people this kind of inspiration just doesn't happen, if thats the case look at fux or some other theory book that has good tips on writing melody.
William Morris
It's usually understood that, depending on the instrumentation (i.e. if it sticks to traditional ensembles, orchestra, quartet et al.), the dynamics are somewhat relative. However, you must understand that some instruments cant play certain dynamics well (if at all, e.g. a cor anglais playing ppp is pretty much stupid on the upper registers), and if that's the case then for smaller and even mid-size ensembles you might want to add equal amplification to the instruments.
Kevin Perez
Different tonic leads to different ways in which you can manipulate the piece as it progresses.
Ryan Gonzalez
ah, okay. spose i have to rewrite a lot of the stuff that i've written, thought it was the other way around. to be honest a lot of it was really ugly anyway. would it be worth it to get myself some sheets of music paper and learn to write on that rather than stick to notation software? it feels like a crutch to me at this point. i think i'd be able to understand it, i'd just (understandably) be a bit slow at first because i've relied on the notation software for so long.
Lucas Ward
handwritten is only good if you're writing at the piano or something. using notation software is fine. And performers prefer it over handwritten. If the end result is going to be printed, type set notation, there's pretty much no reason to hand write it.
I only hand write if I want to capture ideas more slowly, or if I'm writing at the piano / other instrument
Kayden Butler
I recommend learning to write it by hand because this supports more involved writing. However, software notation is crucial and you need to be able to make a score look good, it's standard to use printed notation. Handwritten notation however can be useful in certain situations like improv sessions.
I don't really know much music theory, I mean I know some but not enough. Still I dabble in classical. Here's some I made, please critique from a theory standpoint -
Basically using different modes give you a different feel within the same scale. It's all about that tonic note.
Joseph Sanchez
I really enjoyed this, would like to hear the entire thing
Jordan Wilson
umm... are you the owl in Zelda? fucking lol
Nathan Lopez
Great thread
Joseph Young
E Dorian is the same as D Ionian, not C Ionian
Levi Fisher
damn sick microtones bro
Nicholas Murphy
thank u
Jeremiah Morales
No I'm this guy
Carson Reed
Anybody here have dabbled with serialism? Dodecaphonic or otherwise
Colton Long
Yeah, I've tried it. It's hard fuckin work man. But sometimes it's worth it. Usually when I end up using it, I use it in the context of a non-serial piece, just to spice things up a little. I've never been very interested in making full length serial pieces though, as I consider serialism a point of no return, beyond which you can only make music that sounds pretty much the same. That isn't to say I don't like the sound of it (I actually love it), I just see it as a means rather than an end in and of itself.
Elijah Harris
I prefer to just write in "atonal mode" like pseudo-serialism. Its faster, give you more freedom, and has a very similair effect on the listener. If you look at the score its nowhere near as "tight" as actual serialism - ie no retrograde inversions of the tone set etc, but to the listener its pretty much the same thing. We've had serialism and atonality drummed into us since childhood (via horror films, cartoons, etc) so Its pretty easy for us as composers in the 21st century to emulate that kind of style.
Its definitely a good compositional practice to fool around with tone rows and compositional techniques.
Also I move that /comp/ have regular music-related tits in the OP picture
Andrew Gray
>Also I move that /comp/ have regular music-related tits in the OP picture OP here. What kind of tits do you recommend?
Ryan Thomas
music related tits.
Ideally tits and sheet music? or like a hot composer chick? There's not a lot of those kind of images around unfortunately
John Bell
Does anyone know common interval rules for rap/trap? Experimenting with guitar
Noah Brooks
Is this good?
Don't quite know what you mean by "common interval rules". Clarify?
If you're playing guitar for a rap song, try doing something funky. Go with some jazz-esque (extended/weird) chords, but play them rhythmically. I don't know about trap. Usually with that there's some creepy-sounding melody that repeats over and over as instrumentation is layered in.
Lincoln Taylor
what I'm saying is what are some common themes in those spooky/dangerous melodies. So far I've been relying on major scale melodies (particular perfect and diminished intervals) then ending on the parallel minor or the 7th
Excuse my description if it's confusing I'm self taught
Kayden Kelly
pretty decent!
just listen to lots of Dr. Dre and Cypress hill
Lucas Carter
If you're going for a spooky melody, try to use a lot of chromaticism and tritones, or arpeggiate spooky chords (augmented and diminished generally). Beyond that, learning to write a specific kind of melody is just about practice.
Alright. I was originally thinking about this being the last thread because the other ones died pretty quickly, but I might post another after this. Btw, do you have any snippets of compositions you'd like to share? I won't make fun of you if it's bad desu
Asher Wilson
You need a lot of work on your melodies. The violin chords going on in the background of the first one are good, but the piano melody has a very awkward, jumpy rhythm to it that doesn't seem to fit with the style of the piece. The violin melody is the same. Listening to all three, you don't seem to understand the flow of your pieces, and your melodies seem to suffer from it. You have good things ahead of you, but only if you keep practicing.
Josiah Jones
Hello everybody. Was looking for prod, but I don't like a lot of electronic music so. clyp.it/0lixue20
Here is an actual "classical" composition I made: clyp.it/5nz1umki
Tell me what you think friends!
Jacob Parker
whos that
Dylan Miller
>clyp.it/nmbodau0 Wow you're pretty good. I tried some stuff with counterpoint melodies. I'm ok I guess but I don't stick to the rules. I'm this user:by the way. Here is a kind of Fugue like thing I've made. I'd like to know what you think: clyp.it/xjl3zvl2
Logan Nelson
Hitomi Tanaka
>clyp.it/5nz1umki The first melody that started it off was kind of weird, so I was cynical initially, but I was somewhat pleasantly surprised upon hearing the rest of it. The first part doesn't fit at all, though. Regardless, you should make sure you understand the instruments you're using & their limitations. Some of it didn't sound very realistic.
Always a fifth above huh. Hmm I'll check it out. But honestly man thats what I never liked about fugues and stuff. Kind of restricting. What's the fun in that? I'm more of a Frank Zappa guy I guess. Frank Zappa wasn't a classical guy but he was a lot of fun to listen to you know.
James Moore
Oo, another Zappa fan. Have you seen Dweezil live? He's actually really good, and he always brings really talented musicians on.
Isaac Allen
you can still have a lot of fun within the framework of the fugue, its only really the exposition / first 30 seconds / minute that needs to be strict, and its 2016 so you dont even need to be that strict. Guys like Anton Reicha had methods of starting fugue entries all over the place, not just a fifth above or fourth below.
Thomas Bell
Ah Dweezil is nice I guess. Never saw him live in front of my eyes but I have seen some videos. Can't say he's better then Zappa though. Anyway I love almost all of Zappas stuff. Especially his last albums when he started messing around with electronic instruments. I love Jazz from Hell and this one song in his last album called Put a Motor in Yourself. Amazing man. Some crazy shit. Bro you should listen to it its awesome. Here: youtube.com/watch?v=DzNVKdqz4sE
Hmm alright. I've always liked counterpoint so I'll definitely check it out. Just some thoughts going through my mind.
Camden Wilson
Bumping with what are your thoughts and opinions on the dimished 6th scale? Is it a viable alternative to conventional chords?
Isaiah Martin
Damn, Jazz from Hell. Good fucking album. This is a pretty good song as well. I always loved his weirdo early rock experimentations, Freak Out and Absolutely Free in particular. It wouldn't be enough to send you a song or two from each, you really need to listen to them both from start to finish.
Cooper Long
Ah yeah its great man. I never really finished my music education all the way when I was a kid so I guess it made me be open to a bunch of this crazy shit. Couldn't listen to Zappa first though. Then as I started slowly getting into fusion bands I was eased in zappa. Thats why you shouldnt condemn anyone who cant "get" any piece of music. Sometimes their tastes still need to mature. People's tastes change over time you know. Freak Out is nice. Personally I really like Joe's Garage from his more band albums. This one song called Fembot in a White T-Shirt, Zappa just cuts the song midway and does this big unison melody with all the instruments, then goes back to the beat. He does that all the time. I've always loved how he does that. Just overall great music. honestly If I ever made a band it would probably be some weird hybrid of jazz fusion and progressive rock with very small hints on classical music sprinkled on top of it.
Justin Myers
Honestly at this point I'm just trying to make a song composed entirely of hooks.
Ryder Anderson
not sure if this belongs here but modern jazz / free improvisation with poem.
Joe's Garage was great, too. Used to think it was his masterpiece, actually. I'd listen to Watermelon without end, because it was such a beautiful solo and it ended such a beautiful album. I remember when solos used to move me a lot more. At some point, though, I totally lost that feeling. Don't know where it went. Maybe I was just spoiled as a teenager, because I got to listen to a lot of great guitarists. Maybe it's depression or something, I don't know. Either way, because of that I just couldn't listen to rock anymore unless it was harsh, or had some memory attached to it, or was experimental. I still listen to Zappa, of course, but not for the same reasons I used to. Sometimes I wish I could take away all of my musical knowledge and listen to Frank Zappa again without knowing what the fuck's going on or even what instruments are playing.
Nah, but this guy is pretty good. Reminds me of Ron Jarzombek if he stopped playing Metal. Very nice, kind of jazzy mixed with a bunch of other stuff. Great stuff. Don't know man, but music is endless, so I don't think there will ever be a point where you've listened to everything. Maybe it'll be harder to be surprised since you've been there, done that, but sooner or later you'll find something new. Add me on skype @ tehsmf if you want, you seem like a pretty chill guy, might want to hear your stuff too, seems like someone like you with varied tastes would make interesting music.
I have written fugues for organ, harpsichord, strings etc. but I always come back to piano. Its cold and lifeless, a perfect neutral ground for the extremes of expressiveness and sterility in fugues
Lucas Johnson
bump
Xavier Barnes
Bump for justice
Christopher Gomez
I seem to only be able to write what I myself can play. I've extensively studied Alfred Blatter's book on instrumentation, but every foray into writing for instruments other than cello, piano and voice has failed miserably in rehearsal. On top of that my piano parts are all simple and adagio, because that's what I can play without much practice.
How do I get past this limitation?
Lincoln Diaz
Yes, for an assignment one time in high school. It was bizarre but fun in its own way.
I was more interested mathematically, though, and ended up discovering a specific type of rotationally symmetric tone row. (I really want to elaborate, but I get the feeling it'd be and off-topic.)
Jeremiah Cruz
This is actually pretty cool keep making these threads you fuck I wanna learn more
Carson Walker
Analyse Schuberte melodies, also cognitive aproach to species counterpoint.
Tyler Nelson
You should describe what you are saying as explicitly as possible especially in non common orchestations.
Liam Reyes
Im in the same boat as you. The progress ive done is to avoid using the piano as a compositional device and more as an inspiration tool, using the computer and imagination more and for exploration
Cameron Torres
Someone mentioned /comp/ doing compositional challenges, right? Let's start with a simple one.
Write a round in which the Neapolitan sixth chord is tonicized for at least one full measure.
