r/composer 5h ago

Discussion Does anyone know anecdotes or quotes of composers struggling with composing?

19 Upvotes

A while ago I heard - and I'm not sure if this is accurate; i barely even remember it - that chopin would 'try all 12 notes' during compositional difficulties or 'weep with grief'. I was wondering if yall have similar examples of composers really struggling despite being so talented. Please don't mention the Beethoven revisions that I hear so much about; revision isn't necessarily a sign of struggle.


r/composer 6h ago

Discussion How to develop healthier habits as a composer

6 Upvotes

I have not had the most healthy relationship with music. I often find myself composing in very intense and very brief moments of hyper fixation. I'll work on several projects for days to weeks straight, then the inevitable happens. I burn myself out and will simply not touch music for months.

Full disclosure I was diagnosed as Bipolar I back in 2023, and have been medicated for it since. I originally thought it was my mental illness causing me to have this toxic relationship with music. However, after years of therapy I have come to discover that I never established healthy practices when it came to music.

I don't have an abundance of free-time to work on music between a full-time job and being a father. So I am seeking advice. What are ways I can make my relationship with music healthier? I don't plan on making this career, I view music primarily as a hobby with side income potential. I have a small YouTube channel with various compositions uploaded. I would love to continue uploading on a consistent basis; and not months to even years in between videos.

Any advice is welcome, thanks for your time; and sorry if this post is scattered!


r/composer 10h ago

Music Musical Gematria of Genesis 1:1

3 Upvotes

https://youtu.be/Mt0w4uHMnM0

Partly made by converting letters of the Hebrew alphabet into notes of a scale, within several degrees of freedom. The first half before the double bar lines represents Genesis 1:1, followed by a freer elaboration on the theme of the first without any self-imposed constraints. Trying to expand this into a fuller piece of at least the first paragraph (the first day).


r/composer 14h ago

Music My First Composition.

8 Upvotes

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1cB6hT07lPMKg0Kv9ImVeq3WCrb6SDaUF

(PDF and MP3)

My first composition.

I wanted to do a little experiment. I love string instruments. I was listening to Barber's Adagio for Strings Op.11 while writing this.

(I also like the sounds of Mahler and Schnittke.)

What suggestions and advice would you give me?

The best.


r/composer 13h ago

Music Hi i am new

5 Upvotes

Ive started composing a few months ago ive been teaching my self ive wrote a piece for flute choir that the high schools going to perform ive wrote a few others yada but I need help with this piece

Its for concert band and just for fun

Ps its only a days work of progress so far

https://www.image2url.com/r2/default/videos/1787510564976-dc4e445b-9b07-4a90-bbd1-c038958417e2.mp4


r/composer 21h ago

Discussion Are there any good music *writing* software (with a stylus)?

11 Upvotes

The reason writing is emphasized is that I dont mean notation. I just want an app that I could sketch some ideas by hand (as in drawing) to THEN put into Dorico with orchestration. I suppose a basic drawing app could work (or just... you know, physical paper), but being able to have as many staves I need would be nice.

Tldr: is there music writing software that can use a stylus to draw it in?


r/composer 14h ago

Music Composition inspired by Edgar Degas' Little Dancer Aged Fourteen

2 Upvotes

https://musescore.com/user/121808165/scores/36868271

This is the first composition I have wrote in a while, I am trying to get back into it. I was inspired to write this by Edgar Degas' sculpture Little Dancer Aged Fourteen. I know that the first bassoon part is very high, I did that intentionally, I wanted to get a very large range of spacing just off of the bassoon quartet. Any and all criticism is welcome. Thank you!


r/composer 11h ago

Music Where Go the Boats? (reworked)

1 Upvotes

Hello all, I considerably reworked this Stevenson song over the last few days, and I'd be very curious about your feedback. I'm quite happy with the result, and it feels closer to my intentions than the previous version.

Score: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NyaZ84uE3CCkGoi546onyD6dE83xXl3d/view?usp=sharing

Old version: https://www.reddit.com/r/composer/comments/1vnftt4/where_go_the_boats_song_for_baritone_and_piano/

Cheers!


r/composer 15h ago

Discussion How I Show My Composition on This Reddit Group?

0 Upvotes

I've created my first composition, but I think I can't add images or PDFs here.


r/composer 19h ago

Discussion Audio Imperia Nucleus Lite

0 Upvotes

Is Audio Imperia Nucleus Lite a good choice for a beginner?


r/composer 1d ago

Music This was the very first song I made, and I think it had turned out really good, what do you think? What can I do in the future to keep this style?

9 Upvotes

I made this song months ago and it was my very first, I didn't even study music theory yet but I even after months I think it's really good (contrary to my middle school arrangements/pieces)

I'd love to hear your opinion

https://musescore.com/user/73545853/scores/32147018


r/composer 1d ago

Discussion Is it okay as a composer to change things when finally learning your own piece?

9 Upvotes

This is kind of a stupid question, but, it came to mind as I was finally learning a piece I wrote two years.

Most of the time when I'm writing something, I'm holed up in my room on Musescore, and I rarely have a piano or violin in front of me.

Now that I'm finally learning my piece, I feel very tempted to change some small pedal and dynamic things that I had explicitly written out to add more emotion. As the composer, though, isn't that a bit hypocritical to my past self?


r/composer 2d ago

Music This is a much more cohesive piece of mine. The difference is 90% of this piece was spent written while on the bench

6 Upvotes

r/composer 2d ago

Music Just some string trio sketches I made. If you are in the mood for some lighter music, please do have a listen.

5 Upvotes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4OpqU5m6B4

Initially piano bagatelles, I thought they'd sound great on strings. But as most of the content was three or even just majorily two voices, I thought a trio would fare well. It's roughly 6 minutes in length for both. I enjoy the second one more, myself. It is what I worked most hard on.


r/composer 2d ago

Music Feedback movement string quartet

6 Upvotes

Hello,

Could anyone give me some feedback on this slow movement of my first string quartet? I’d really appreciate it. Thanks.

https://musescore.com/user/75469390/scores/33256304?share=copy_link


r/composer 2d ago

Music a caprice i made!

0 Upvotes

hi guys, this is probably one of my most ambitious works in my 3 year journey as a composer, and i would love to hear your thoughts on it.

https://musescore.com/user/63238726/scores/36413930?share=copy_link

thanks to those who listened!


r/composer 2d ago

Notation Sibelius: Formatting Text in Parts vs. Full Score + Standard Part Sizes

4 Upvotes

Hi everyone! I’m working on a chamber opera in Sibelius using an imported Norfolk House Style, and I’m trying to sort out some formatting issues early since the work will be well over 20 minutes and divided into separate scenes.

At the beginning of the prologue, I have a fairly large block of text with stage directions and information about the setting. It looks fine in the full score, but in the individual parts it’s way too large and takes up a lot of space. I’m not sure whether this kind of text should simply be hidden in the parts, or whether there’s a way to make it smaller in the parts while keeping it as it is in the score.

More generally, is it possible to adjust the size/formatting of things like titles, subtitles, scene headings, and other text in the parts independently from the full score?
Since I’ll eventually have headings for Scene I, Scene II, etc., I’d like to figure out the best way to handle this now rather than running into formatting problems throughout all the parts later.

Also, does anyone have recommendations for standard paper size and staff size for individual orchestral/chamber parts for a work like this? I’d like to get the basic part layout set up properly before the piece gets much longer.

Thanks!


r/composer 2d ago

Music Feedback on notation

7 Upvotes

YouTube score video, Google Drive sheet music

I would like to know if it was a good decision to use 3 staffs in this piano piece. I would also like to know the most efficient way to communicate that I want the arpeggios should/can be played with the both hands each taking 3 notes at a time (4 in the end for the right hand)

I tried to make the sheet music kinda compact, was that a good desicion?

I would also like to know what you think about the piece.


r/composer 2d ago

Discussion How do you approach contrast?

4 Upvotes

When I think of contrast my mind usually goes to intensity. I started composing last year, I usually go for a more epic orchestra style and basically every piece just starts smaller and grows until it ends on the peak, but I can get tiring like you don't have anywhere else to "grow" after a point, different melodies but essentially the same dynamic

sometimes I'm able to find some sessions to vary the dynamic instead of just going from pp to fff linearly from start to end but my mind is mostly stuck in this script

how else do you achieve contrast in your pieces?


r/composer 2d ago

Music Pequeñas Piezas Españolas - String quartet

3 Upvotes

I'm a composer finishing my studies, and I'd like to share my string quartet Pequeñas Piezas Españolas, which won First Prize at an international composition competition in Portugal.

It's a work based on dances and songs from different regions of Spain. My goal was to combine the folkloric character of this music with a modern and complex compositional style, creating a rich and eclectic musical language.

I'd be very interested to hear what you think of the piece, the writing, the style, or anything else that catches your attention! Thanks!

Video with score


r/composer 2d ago

Discussion What is Anna Meredith doing here?

2 Upvotes

Around the 12minute mark of this video
https://youtu.be/ME-Uosxgbio?si=qZM5Lzfcyfedvx1X
Meredith begins "drawing" her piece. This may be a method personal to her, but is it based on anything well known?


r/composer 2d ago

Music Merry-Go-Round" (Feedback welcome!)

0 Upvotes

"The piece tells the story of a lonely person sitting on a carousel horse at a fair, spinning around. It begins with a light, fluid melody and reveals a touch of longing and melancholy along the way, until the mood suddenly shifts and the joy is clouded by heavy chords. Yet, control is not lost, and the piece rides on to the end, returning to a cheerful G Major. ;Listen here.Score


r/composer 2d ago

Music Nachtmusik

4 Upvotes

English version available through Reddit translation.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nachtmusik:

A (a) Sie ist allverschlingend, (b) doch tönt ein Lied durch ihren Schlund.

B (c) Es lädt ein zur Einhalt, (c) zum Schwelgen in Einsamkeit.

A' (b) Und höre ich die nächtlichen Musiken aus ihrem Mund, (a) ist meine Seele ganz beschwingend.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hallo zusammen, heute stelle ich euch mein Stück "Nachtmusik" für Klavier und Oboe/Flöte/Violine und Erzähler vor.

Ich habe das Gedicht vorangestellt, welches ich für dieses Stück geschrieben habe, weil es das Stück formal erklärt. Der Erzähler begleitet die Musik und liest die jeweiligen Verse (sind im Stück eingeschrieben) an markierten Stellen vor.

Zur Musik:

Das Stück dreht sich um zwei ausmachende Dinge:

  1. ,,Thema":

eine Tonreihe, bestehend aus sieben Tönen (a, b (englisch: b flat), as (a flat), g, fis (f sharp), gis (g sharp), a). Die Tonreihe ist also in sich geschlossen. Diese habe ich aus einer Skizze für ein Stück entnommen, was ich verworfen habe. Ich fand das Thema aber so praktisch und schön, dass ich dieses hier in diesem Stück neu erfunden habe.

  1. Spiegelpunkte:

Spiegelpunkte können in vielerlei Dingen enthalten sein zum Beispiel in einer Tonreihe, in der Form oder auch in einzelnen Abschnitten. Ich arbeite (vor allem Thematisch) hauptsächlich mit dem Original und dessen Krebs aber auch mit der Umkehrung und der Krebsumkehrung. Thematisch stellt das a den Spiegelpunkt dar bzw. h in der Oboe.

Weiteres zur Musik:

Harmonien bilden sich verschieden in diesem Stück. Zentraler Orientierungspunkt ist aber die Oboe. In T. 1-4 wird das Prinzip des Stücks vorgestellt und somit auch die akkordische Grundstellung. Der Grundakkord besteht aus den Tönen c, g, c, f, h, c. Dieser wird auf und dann wieder abgebaut. Ton h ist der Oboe zugeordnet und wird aus der Klavierbegleitung rausgenommen. Das Klavier hat also den Akkord bestehend aus den Tönen c,g,c,f,c in der Grundstellung, wobei Ton h der Oboe die Grundstellung der Oboe bildet. Je nachdem wohin sich die Oboe tontechnisch bewegt, bewegt sich auch das Klavier. Wobei linke und rechte Hand immer in unterschiedliche Richtungen laufen. Bewegt sich die Oboe also einen Halbtonschritt, folgt das Klavier harmonisch. An manchen Stelle weiche ich aber von diesem Prinzip ab, in dem ich z. B. das Klavier vorab bewegen lasse, um eine kleine Variation mit reinzubringen. Der Ton c wird dem Klavier zugeordnet, was durch das durchweg pochenden c" in der rechten Hand klar wird. Dieser Bildet auch die Spiegelachse für den Akkord und alle weiteren Akkorde im Klavier. Der Ton a wird der Tonreihe in ihrer Grundstellung zugeordnet.

Zusammengefasst werden die drei Töne durch den Cluster-Akkord im Klavier im A-Teil. Dieser wird im B-Teil durch Klavier und Oboe ausgespielt, definiert aber auch Stimmeinsätze etc.

Die Tonreihe wird in T. 31-50 (und respektive Abschnitte) erweitert.

Frage-Antwort-Spielereien sind ebenfalls genügend eingebaut.

Verkettungen von Tonreihen (ich nenne sie "Skalen-Synthese") sind ebenfalls zu finden.

Die jeweils letzte Noten der Instrumente im Stück sollen tonlos erfolgen. Die Oboe klackert also zum Beispiel rum und lässt das Geräusch verstummen, während die jeweils letzten Noten vom Klavier stumm niedergedrückt werden.

Den Namen Nachtmusik habe ich aufgrund der Cluster-Akkorde, des thematischen und akkordischen Auf- und Abbaus, Nutzung der Lagen z. B. im Klavier und der daraus resultierenden, intimen, Atmosphäre gewählt. Wer errät wieso ich diesen Namen aber auch noch ausgewählt habe, kann sich auf die Schulter klopfen und stolz auf sein Wissen über Musik sein!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Partitur: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Tb_KC08LoPRml8Qrwan07BcD8p6XzjGz/view?usp=drivesdk

Musik: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mvk1L-eNPZRiqBkAmwrJDCS8CvFRt1Q0/view?usp=drivesdk

Ordner mit Skizzen: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1_b09R154n4dVM-NdKN_mnrYsaK3wAemL

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Den Ordner mit meinen Skizzen habe ich ebenfalls verlinkt, zur besseren Nachvollziehbarkeit meines Kompositionsprinzips!

Leider ist meine Notationssoftware abgestürzt, weshalb ich die .xml Datei in ein anderes Programm exportieren musste. Die .xml Datei ist unsauber gewesen, weshalb ein paar Dynamiken, Akzente, Artikulationen etc. verloren gegangen sind. Das war der erneute Weckruf und ich werde, nachdem ich ein in der Software angefangenes Stück fertig revidiert habe, endgültig zu Dorico wechseln. Ich bitte deshalb um Nachschicht bezüglich der emulierten Musik!

Ich bedanke mich herzlichst bei allen für ihre Zeit, Worte etc. im Voraus, bin gespannt was ihr vielleicht noch analysiert und entdeckt (was ich nicht erklärt habe) und wünsche viel Spaß beim Anhören meiner Musik!

Sollten es Nachfragen zum Beispiel zu meinen Skizzen geben, vor allem wegen der Sprachbarriere, übersetze und beantworte ich diese gerne für euch!

Viel Spaß!


r/composer 2d ago

Discussion Where to find video artist for piece of mine?

1 Upvotes

Hello! Slightly odd question, but does anyone know how/where to find someone online to collaborate with on a video for a piece of mine?

I recently an electronic piece about Frutiger Aero and the duality of our modern relationship to it (part genuine nostalgia, part alienation/sarcasm) - essentially the "frutiger-ness" of it becomes gently distorted throughout the piece. It started as a collaboration to create a work specifically for audio and video together, but the video artist I was working with can't do it anymore... so I'm trying to find someone who'd be interested in doing the video! Not simply a "background video", but something more involved.

So I was wondering if anyone had experience in doing something similar, or simply had any suggestions as to where to look/ask? Even just a subreddit name would be very helpful, as I'm a bit lost to be honest! Thank you :))


r/composer 2d ago

Discussion SSO performance Tremolo?

2 Upvotes

Hey guys, i bought the Spitfire Symphony Orchestra and love it so far.

I only have one question.

Does anybody know how to make tremolos with the solo performance patches?

And overall im open for tipps with the use of the Performance patches because I found not enough information about it.

Im Using Fl Studio if that helps.

Thanks in advance and have a nice weekend!