r/composer

Hey guys, i am learning music composing and i have made a few scores but sometimes i struggle to get even a single idea to orchestrate, any tips and tricks to get better?

Hi!

I’m a high school AP music theory teacher. Now that the AP test is over, we’re just kinda hanging out until the end of the year. I’m trying to get some info about careers in music, not just performing and teaching, for students.

If you have any info about the music industry or composing (where to find jobs, how to get started, where/if they need college etc..) that you want to share I would be very appreciative!

Thanks!

When i plan on making a song, i can’t find any good instruments that fit for what i want. Let’s say i want to make something that’sa theme that makes you feel like you’re being chased down, or i just want things to sound fitting, just imagine any other type of theme i would like to make. How do i find the right sounds for any type of music direction that i want to follow?

Not sure if the flair is correct

Hello again everyone!

I've recently finished one of my pieces titled "Bakunawa" (thanks to the people who helped me in my last post) which is now sent to our conductor/composer for critiquing.

As of right now, I'm planning to compose another piece which reflects our corrupt government in my country the Philippines (very shosta-coded I know lol). While I was composing/harmonizing a melody I made for the piece, I've noticed that my harmony wasn't really going the way I want it to.

To be fair, I wasn't really thinking about chords that much, I really thought about the chords when I look for triads and all that, avoiding tritones when I don't need them to be there, yada yada. I noticed that most of my chord progressions don't really have a "flow" for the lack of a better word.

How do you guys typically harmonize? like, do you have like a framework? furthermore, do you have any video recommendations that helped you learn how to make chord progressions? Any help works, thanks in advance!

EDIT : This piece, titled "Buwaya" (which means crocodile in my native language, representing our very corrupt government) is for Rondalla, which is an ensemble composed of bandurrias, octavinas, guitars, and a contrabass

I began to write a Study for piano, but I think maybe it's better some like a sonata? Or anyway some with a more structured form?

Donc pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas, NCS est une chaîne YouTube assez ancienne avec 34,2 millions d'abonnés, et l'idée est de soumettre des musiques que l'on a écrit afin qu'elles soient examinées par les Administrateurs avant validation.

J'aimerais travailler là-dessus et je voulais savoir comment s'y prendre correctement, comment soumettre une BONNE musique, ce que NCS cherche en ce moment, quels styles sont convoités, etc.

Des conseils ?

I need some help with which symbol to use, as a lot of information online is confusing to me regarding this.

If I want to keep the beats the same tempo as they move from 6/8 to 4/4 (i.e. each of the two beats of 6/8 being same same duration as each of the four beats in 4/4; going from say 70 dotted-crotchets per minute to 70 crotchets per minute) which of the two metric modulation markers should I use? A or B?

A - dotted-crotchet = crotchet

B - crotchet = dotted-crotchet

Thanks in advance!

Back in college days, a composition instructor once told me "You don't have to love every piece you put out there." That's always stuck with me, primarily because I've never been able to adhere to it. I have to have a mad crush on any piece of music I compose that anyone else ever hears.

All these years later, and it occurs to me that I've always suffered from that. I hold myself up to lofty standards every bloomin' time. So if anyone ever hears anything of mine, they can be certain I once, (and possibly still do), wildly adored that piece.

It's certainly a big part of my lack of interest in going commercial. The last thing I want is to have to half-ass some piece of music because there was a deadline and a budget and a customer that wanted something I didn't want. That sounds like hell, and I'm coming to think that might be my downfall and not all that common.

On the numerous occasions where I was writing a score for theatre, film, etc., I was able to do it, but I agonized over all of it the entire time. This sort of never ending "OMG, something that isn't note perfect has to go into the world! I can't let that happen, I must work overtime to ensure I love it before the deadline."

So I only do what I want to do, and work it until I love it, finishing maybe 25% of the projects I start. And other people only ever hear maybe 2/3 of that.

So I thought I'd post the question here: Do you madly love everything you finish, or do you work on and finish pieces you aren't very happy with? I'm excluding all those who do work for hire for someone else's project. I'm talking mostly about people who write whatever they want.

Band scores often have either trumpets, cornets, or both. I understand the role of the flugelhorn because I also like low, warm trumpets. But as for trumpets vs. cornets, I'm a little confused. I am in two amateur and one semipro band, and even only 1/6 semipro ensemble members bring both a trumpet and a cornet; everyone else in all bands brings trumpets. When wind ensemble composers score either or both, I'm not exactly sure what they meant. All the composers I see today using Musescore or Sibelius, only score for trumpets.

The first track in a chronology revealing my worldbuilding project through sound. Best enjoyed at higher volumes.

The Far Beyond:

A realm with no inception and no terminus. A white void with a dreamlike appearance. Home to the root concepts of reality. Inhabited by a race of primordial beings known as the Abstracta. The outermost layer of the World Circle.

Hello people,

I’m curious to know if often clef changes are irritating or okay compared to other options. For context, I’m writing for cello and it has spikes of going high above the ledger lines. It seems I can change to treble clef but then it goes low again and I have to keep changing from bass to treble. Should I either:

1. Keep the treble clef and have low ledger lines for areas where spikes are more common (perhaps 10-15 bars in treble clef at a time)
2. Switch freely between clefs when notes go above bass clef.
3. Switch cautiously. For example, spikes that have only a few really high notes leave in bass clef and performers work out ledger lines (I’m talking 3 or more ledger lines)
4. Use an alto clef (I imagine performers would hate me for this)
5. Don’t change clef. They can figure out the ledger lines.

I direct a small church choir, and I regularly compose music for them. This was the first anthem I composed for them, shortly after I took the job. At the pastor's request, I adapted Psalm 126. This anthem features a prominent flute part and a challenging piano part. I play percussion in addition to piano, and in the refrain, I tried to make the piano part feel more like a hand drum part. Please let me know what you think, and thank you for listening!

SCORE VIDEO: https://youtu.be/\_vD-jGq31vY?si=lnwWkQFGCjLBaU1q

i write my own stories and working on my first composition, 4 months into piano btw can play multiple pieces, into westren classical btw, got 5 stories at the moment, lemme know if ye wanna read and also suggest me what should i do? Everyone that has ever read my stories tells me to continue working on stories and quit composing and quit the piano, btw i can play van gogh by virginio aiello, intersteller, love story by Francis lai, passicliaga, marige d'amour, golden brown, and much more, I've got 5 stories and 2 of them are based on my real life, confused and idk what should i do,