SlowPokemon's Compositions!

[Bloop]

Still haven't listened to them all but ohwell.

Most of them reminded me of Professor Layton music, and we both know that's a good thing! :p The music in the Trapped series don't really give me the feeling that they should have (judging by the title), though. But still, everything's really well made

[FireArrow]

Most of them reminded me of Professor Layton music, and we both know that's a good thing! :p

Really? I don't even see a vague resemblance.

[Bloop]

Well, a bit chords and stuff. Can't point out an example right now

[SlowPokemon]

Well even if I don't know where you got that from its still a huge compliment haha.

I'm not really concerned with my older compositions though, I would really like feedback on the Worth Dying tracks if anyone feels like it.

[Waddle Bro]

I'll check these out when I get on my computer :]

[FireArrow]

Well even if I don't know where you got that from its still a huge compliment haha.

I'm not really concerned with my older compositions though, I would really like feedback on the Worth Dying tracks if anyone feels like it.

Bleh, I just wrote out like 2 paragraphs of feedback, then realized I made absolutely no sense. >_> language too hard

[SlowPokemon]

I appreciate the thought!

[mikey]

Bleh, I just wrote out like 2 paragraphs of feedback, then realized I made absolutely no sense. >_> language too hard

I hate that feeling

[Bloop]

Holden's Lament was the one I found Professor Layton-esque

About Worth Dying, I feel like the same chord for the first 20 minutes for the song is gets a bit tedious. Except for that; Loved it!
Loved everything else too :3 The Death Appears theme gave a nice vibe. Good job!

[SlowPokemon]

Ahhh I see, are you referring to the Ending track when you say the same chord? Thanks for the feedback, and yeah Holden's Lament is pretty Laytonesque haha.

[Bloop]

Ahhh I see, are you referring to the Ending track when you say the same chord? Thanks for the feedback, and yeah Holden's Lament is pretty Laytonesque haha.

Oh woops yep, I originally intended to say "as for the Ending(s)" but then I was like "no should be Worth Dying" and then forgot to say Ending again and derp.

But yeah Ending:p

[SlowPokemon]

Well look what the cat dragged in! It's my first composition in nineteen years or so.

[MP3] [PDF] [MUSX]

"Fanfare and Digressions for Trombone and Piano"

My friend who plays the trombone asked me to write something for us to perform. It's kind of a rough draft right now, but honestly I don't see the music itself changing that much unless he runs into severe performance issues. I really only want to clean up the sheet.

So, uh, my recommendation is that you look at the PDF and listen to the MP3, because the playback is slightly more accurate (basically, for the MP3, I added all of the cluster tones in the final chord because I couldn't get them to sound otherwise, then removed them for the sake of the sheet). Of course, it's Finale, so the playback isn't perfect anyway. I added the MUSX for those of you who just need to view it in Finale. So yeah, tbh this was a really frustrating exercise for me. I labored over it for a lot of hours.

I was really stuck on this idea of a motif (I call it a "fanfare" but it's only six notes) that doesn't know where to go. So instead of finishing, it goes into these "digressions" (NOT variations) where the performers kind of "make up" what should come after the first six notes, and of course you hear those six notes a lot throughout. My big problem is that the fanfare I wrote is really awkward melodically and doesn't lend itself well to...continuation. But I wrote it, and I got really attached to it, and I was kind of determined to brute-force my way through the composition process using that melodic germ.

Either way, I had a lot of fun with it after I hurt my brain working on it for a long time. The end result is something that makes me laugh, which is the mark of any music piece I've ever loved.

Please enjoy, and please criticize. I'm trying to kickstart my composing journey, and I'm well aware that I'm still only in the very early stages of the learning process. Any help is appreciated.

[Olimar12345]

Interesting. I like the ending and how it sounds like the piano keeps interrupting the trombone. A few compositional things I'd consider are:
-Be careful when you write for similar rhythms in harmony, as it is very easy for the piano to be overpowered by the trombone (a bell-front brass instrument). For example, measure 1 and 10 stand out to be lost. I would recommend that you double the voices for the new harmony and not double what the trombone has.
-You've got four unplayable glissandi in the trombone part: measure 16-17 Db-A, measure 45 Db-A, measure 52 & 56 F to Bb. When trombonists see stuff like that, nine times out of ten what they do is play the first note and then smear into the second note, skipping to the appropriate harmonic in between. You can keep them if you want that sound, but just know that it won't sound like an uninterrupted smooth transition between notes.
-Some of your time signatures could be simplified for better understanding imo. Measure 5 would read more easily as one bar of 3/4 and one bar of 4/4. Measure 6 would fair better in 3/4 and 5/8 imo. Most importantly, measure 8 should be addressed. You've got it as quarter notes getting the beat (7/4) but you've divided the measure up into groups of three.
-Just be careful when you consider your dynamic markings. Brass instruments are inherently loud due to the way they produce their sound, so forte to you could mean something much more to them (lol).

I'll check it out again tomorrow after I sleep lol.

[SlowPokemon]

-good point about the piano being overpowered, I tried as best I could to avoid that happening throughout but I wasn't sure how to get the piano heard at that point without telling the trombone to back off (something I really didn't want to do when that theme is blaring like that)
-THANK YOU FOR THE GLISSANDO INFORMATION! I've been checking with the performer to make sure the notes are good but I didn't even think to check on the glissandi. Helpful information.
-damn, I initially wrote all of those measures the way you recommend (seriously) and then second guessed myself because it was literally changing meter in every bar and I chickened out. I think you're right and I think I'll go back to the original way.
-I'm putting some thought into the dynamic contrast, but luckily the perks of working with a performer include being able to work that out during rehearsals and edit the markings.

Thanks, this is all really helpful!

[Olimar12345]

Not a problem. Feel free to pm me or message me on discord if you have trombone questions.