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You are currently reading a thread in /mu/ - Music
You are currently reading a thread in /mu/ - Music
/comp/
Composition general
!Expanded 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.
Post clyps, and please post accompanying notation so we can accurately critique your composing from a theory perspective
>Theory
http://tobyrush.com/theorypages/index.html
>tl;dr version
https://gumroad.com/l/tldrmusic#
>Basic composing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWbH1bhQZSw&list=PL341D841389B2FEC7
http://composer.rowy.net/
>Fux's Counterpoint
http://www.opus28.co.uk/Fux_Gradus.pdf
>Free Notation Software
https://musescore.org/
>Score Preparation Guide
musiciandevelopment.com/2016/05/16/how-to-prepare-a-professional-score/
>Orchestral Preparation Guideline
http://mola-inc.org/article/Music-Preparation-Guidelines-for-Orchestral-Music.pdf
>Takadimi: A Beat - Oriented System of Rhythm Pedagogy
http://www.takadimi.net/documents/TakadimiArticle.pdf
>>65386389
Extra Resources:
>Teoria - Music Theory General Guides/Articles
https://www.teoria.com/index.php
>Musictheory.net - General music theory with accompanying exercises and tests. Great for practice.
https://www.musictheory.net/
>Succint but insightful theory up to contemporary techniques such as serialism and set theory
And feel free to expand!
http://learnmusictheory.net/
First for sonata a shit
http://www.mediafire.com/download/qb974juh35nggsa/Fugue_Lesson.pdf
This is a nice pedagogical fugue from youngcomposers.com
>>65386389
If dubs this thread will be dead without reaching 50 posts
If trips anyone who ever posted in a /comp/ thread will never become good at composing
If quads I kill myself and stream it
>>65386938
rerolling
>>65386389
Hey comp, I'm writing a [spoiler]sorta[/spoiler] fingerstyle guitar intro for a song (pic related), any comments?
>>65387025
Looks fairly playable. Where are your dynamics? Still figuring them out? Same for articulations etc
>>65387170
Yea, I'm just making the basis now.
>>65387241
Not much to say then. Are you looking for any specific feedback? Counterpoint? Harmony?
>>65387263
Well, I don't really know what I expected when I asked for feedback, now that I think about it, but I was planning on adding a baritone sax part at the point where the theme repeats, and I'm not sure where to start.
>>65386996
>>65386938
lel atleast you tried
>>65386389
threadly reminder that if u cant authentically improvise an approximation on your instrument (piano), you cant compose it.
>>65388405
What if I don't play piano?
Can someone here help me forgive out what is happening in stella by starlight? I can't make sense of the relationships between the chords
>>65388405
thinking I can is just as good
For those of you who write orchestra's and the works what do you do to actually hear it being preformed?
>>65388645
What do you mean exactly? What you have is a melody line written out in a staff, and above it you have fakebook telling you which chords to play along with the melody.
>>65388766
I was wondering how the chords relate to the key of Bb major.
>>65388816
Ah ok I see. More than likely they're secondary chords (i.e. V7/V) or even modal mixture, you'd have to analyze it thoroughly, but that's your starting point for analysis. First, look at all the diatonic chords, write them out, then make assumptions based on that.
How the hell do you guys use anything but whole tone scale? Whenever I use major/minor scales they always either sound bad or boring.
>>65388874
>>65388816
In fact, I'll give you something I found just now by simply looking at the first couple of chords. You have a C7, which is a V7/V, going into a V7 (the F-7), going into a I (Bb). Thus, you have a secondary progression leading to a dominant-tonic movement. Fairly straightforward.
>>65388895
delet this
>>65388645
its jazz, aint gotta explain nuttin
>>65388895
Pfft, the prometheus neopolitan scale is clearly where it's at
>>65388998
HAHAHAHA
>Memequal temperament
>good
Alpha scale is where it's at
>>65389136
>anything other than equal temperament
>not archaic dogshit
top fucking kek
bach embraced it for a reason, son
>>65389220
Oh so folk music from across the globe is archaic dogshit?
Allrighty then!
MUH ART MUHSEC
we should come up with a bunch of composing exercises and then compile them
come on
>>65390569
Face it - there wont be another active /comp/ thread for at least half a year
Give it up
>>65390702
nah
>>65388645
i recently tried to arrange this for piano but just got bored and moved on to a modal version of summertime. you need to substitute this a decent bit to get a nice solopiano version.
it changes keys a lot. starts in fmaj/d-, dips into Bb in bar 3, and then to Eb and then back v7-I back to Bb.
remember -7b5 chords are unique to a specific key, and they are built from the 7th degree (in maj). e-7b5 screams fmaj, but in a few places you find a 251 resolving on D-. the c-7 -> f7 is the ii-v7 of Bb. but you then turn f7 into f-7 for a 251 to Eb.
e-7b5 -> a7 -> d-7 251 in d-. and then recenters to relative major (F).
then again a- d7 g+ now we in Gmaj for 2 bars.
you need to work on harmonizing your major scales and paying close attention to what chord qualities appear where, and where those chords are found in other keys. ie c- is found in Bb, Eb, Ab. note that those are all neighbors in the cycle of 4ths/5ths.
learn this tune in all 12 keys.
maj9 a best tobehonest
any tips for string arrangements?
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0ZQdWD7KDEP
what do y'all think
>>65392134
horrible trash
>>65392332
the bass is terribly mixed
the melody is not good desu
the progression is generic as fuck
but ur on your way
>>65389547
Yes
>>65392449
let's do it then
>>65392529
I don't know any
>>65392428
disregard this opinion it's shit except the mixing
(altered it a bit) Just finished this today. Looking for feedback from people with knowledge on song structure with a good ear for catching generic bullshit.
I want to make stuff that is accessible but different form typical indie stuff
https://soundcloud.com/kludgybrain/boys-girls
I recommend earphones to hear the bass
>>65392985
I think the instrumentation is okay desu. I don't know about the mixing. I just don't really like it too much because it feels like I've heard the "pop song beginning with creepy bassline that repeats as other instruments are layered over it and occasionally change/are taken out" thing a million times before. It's not bad, though.
>>65392985
the bass fucking hurts. lower the mid frequencies or ask prod idk
>>65392985
So, when thinking about form, ask yourself a few questions:
>What is the form?
Literally, how is your music organized? You should be able to delineate clear sections in your head when you're listening to it, and have some map of it.
>What's the shape of the music?
I said this in the last thread, but think about the peaks and valleys in your music.
>Is it going anywhere?
Is one section leading to the next? How so?
>How is this piece developing and progressing?
Is there a logical and observable change happening throughout the piece?
>>65393367
I see. Thanks for the feedback. I do think you're overestimating how many indie artists do the style that I do. Not to too say that I'm the only one doing this but it's not at the bedroom/dream pop numbers if that makes any sense.
>>65393768
Yea I know these are the things I ask myself as I'm making tracks. I want to others to run through the this list and see what checks out.
>>65388760
notice me
>>65388895
>sticking to one scale
>ever not boring
Hey /comp/ as I'm learning theory more, reading books and doing exercises I'm realizing it would be useful to be able to sight-play stuff.
I play guitar already, but I can't play off notation unless I painstakingly map out each note one by one I know you can learn to sight-read with guitar, but it seems like it'd be easier on keyboard, as it's just laid out more clearly.
So the question, should I learn to sight-read using guitar, which I have experience with but seems like it'd be more difficult, or start learning keyboard which I have no experience with? Let's say the only goal is to be able to play music examples I see in books and aid in composition.
>>65397772
Learning piano is a valuable skill regardless. Also, if you want to learn to sight read, play your music incredibly slow. Play slow, and when you're sight reading, don't stop when you mess up.
>>65388895
>whole tone scale
enjoy your memes and dreams i mean chords and melodies
no but seriously, just did what charles ives did and give up on rules completely while being incredibly beautiful at the same time. this shit has no barlines and no specific key whatsoever https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXPSU1gOjL0
>>65389547
Somebody in the last thread suggested doing exercises collaboratively, which seems like it'd be really fun. I found a few services online but I haven't tried any yet.
DON'T DIE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rEqrPwVITY
check this channel out
also would somebody mind expanding on what he says? especially non functional harmony
Does anyone have experience composing without using their hands? I was in love with music but now have chronic tendonosis; even now I am typing via mouse face tracking
>>65391749
jesus christ there's people that actually know what they're doing on /mu/? today was a good day
>>65399803
Found that guy not too long ago. He's got some really good stuff. Although, when he talks about keys being brighter/darker than one another, I don't think I agree with him. Maybe there's a misunderstanding, but what I pulled from that part is that C is inherently brighter than F, which is false. Because of equal-tempered tuning, all keys are the same. None of them have any qualities that change their color or character.
>>65400560
I think he means the farther away the notes are from the tonic, the brighter the mode is
Fuckin nerds
>>65400695
yo, still there?
ggkvg
>>65401943
let the poor thread die in peace
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0dmmcnwzh7S
>>65402509
oo, I like it. the rhythmic pulse is kind of bland though, but I assume you were going for a classical sort of vibe
http://vocaroo.com/i/s0PHBiMUm62K
>>65388760
Enter competitions, especially young composers competitions if you're under the required age. Submit pieces to composition workshops if you can find them.
Being at university or being part of your national / local composers guild / composers association will help you find these opportunities. There's lots out there, constant calls for scores all over the world, many international competition, or workshops open to all countries.
In second year at uni I submitted a piece to a young composers competition and was selected as one of the top 10 entrants, and we all got out pieces played and recorded by the top orchestra in the country. Great experience, but once I would never have been able to do, or even known about had I not been at university. Thankfully I already knew how to read sheet music when I started, and had already been writing music for 10+ years, so all I needed to do was some score study of orchestral scores like Mahler, Brahms, etc. to ready me for actually writing for a real orchestra.
>>65389220
Ignoring techniques is stupid. Microtones and non-equal temperaments are a technique that can be very effectively used if you know what you're doing.
>>65386389
I would add this channel too:
https://www.youtube.com/user/artofcounterpoint/playlists
Great counterpoint and harmony lessons, pretty comprehensive too.
Bumping with fllawless modulation
>>65404391
>inversions unmarked
What are some developments in functional tonal harmony unique to the 20th/21st century? Preferably later on.
I'm the one who asked about the Otaka Cello Concerto and the nonstandard dominant chords used in them yesterday.
>>65405218
Maybe look at Rautavaara or Grisey or Murail?
Spectralism has interesting ideas on harmony and function.
