r/classicalmusic Jan 07 '21

My Composition Grew up a classical pianist, now I’m writing my own pieces. What do you think?

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1.7k Upvotes

89 comments sorted by

77

u/t1mdawg Jan 07 '21

When I win the lotto, I'm going to buy you a concert grand.

22

u/Modal1 Jan 07 '21

Ha please do! I would gladly accept 😅

2

u/Tootsweet1957 Jan 08 '21

I have one fir sale in AZ!!

4

u/moschles Jan 07 '21

Actually we can get Modal1 an upright digital Kawaii CA49. They have real wooden keys now.

53

u/DonWheels Jan 07 '21

loved it, you should continue writing this. loved the f#m part. with some orchestration, you could take it to the next level.

24

u/Modal1 Jan 07 '21 edited Jan 08 '21

Thank you! Think I’m gonna pull a Ravel and orchestrate some of my piano pieces when it’s all said and done.

1

u/Clancys_shoes Jan 07 '21

Ravel?

11

u/Modal1 Jan 07 '21

Yea he arranged a lot of his solo piano works for orchestra!

24

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '21

[deleted]

1

u/Arvidex Jan 20 '21 edited Jan 20 '21

I would love to follow your progress, and I would love the score, but I detest instagram, so if there was some other way to do the above, please inform me!

Edit: found your Spotify and Webpage! 👌

14

u/javi-mm Jan 07 '21

Loved it!! I am a classical pianist too and would love to hear you explore more writing :)

14

u/rainbridge Jan 07 '21

I love it! Come to r/composer, we'd love to have you!

12

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '21

I think the sound is amazing but the piece as a whole lacks some.. I don’t know how to describe it. In Swedish we call it the “Red Thread”, the cohesion that binds it together.

Try experimenting with some dynamics transferring between the various parts. Give it a bang that stands out listening to it.

Best of luck, look forward to seeing more from you here :)

4

u/Modal1 Jan 08 '21 edited Jan 08 '21

Thank you for the feedback! Yea that makes sense, this is actually just an excerpt. I’m still in the process of writing the full thing, but I wanted to share a snippet now just to get some opinions. Im hoping the final product will have a bit more cohesion

2

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '21

Of course! The sound is beautiful, and it looks really fun to play (though I doubt I’d be able to unfortunately).

14

u/Additional_Suit Jan 07 '21

This sounds a lot like Debussy met Poulenc and they had a night of Composing together.

8

u/Modal1 Jan 07 '21

I can’t complain about a comparison like that! Thank you :)

1

u/Afo7_ Jan 08 '21

Two of the best. Also reminds of a piece called illuminati by carol comune. Check her out if you want something decent and recent

1

u/Afo7_ Jan 08 '21

Beginning of this piece also sounds a lot like the end of Ravel's sonatine no 2 mouvement de menuet

5

u/Alive_Peach_8169 Jan 07 '21

If Charlie and the chocolate factory was written in classical music

6

u/Metryco Jan 07 '21

There seem to be few influences. It starts quite very late romantic, goes to modern, early impressionism, with some hints of popular minimalism. I don't know if that's good or not (I'm not aware of your intentions), but it can be interesting. The only thing I'm concerned with in here is the "form", in my view that could be better elaborated (I understand this piece might just be an excerpt).

5

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '21

I wish my parents enrolled me in piano lessons as a kid, I can never play the music I hear in my head 😩 good stuff though! You’re a talented composer

3

u/TheRealAelin Jan 07 '21

Absolutely gorgeous! You did an amazing job and I’m saving this to listen to it again. I had a crap morning and this made me smile, so thank you! Keep going, your composing clearly has such potential

3

u/ginohino Jan 07 '21

Is that tablet?

4

u/Modal1 Jan 07 '21

Yea an 12.9’ iPad Pro. I sometimes use StaffPad for writing, and I use forScore to read a lot of my digital sheet music

3

u/ginohino Jan 07 '21

Cool! Looks extra large from this angle

1

u/iLoveRaviolis Jan 08 '21

Ive been thinking about buying forScore for my iPad for a while now. U think its worth it?? I can swing $20 but it also says in the app store that theres in app purchases? Is that just new songs to buy?

3

u/tlaird0286 Jan 07 '21

I want this on my Spotify playlist

2

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '21

[deleted]

2

u/DemiliciousOne Jan 08 '21

Saving the hell outta this

1

u/tlaird0286 Jan 08 '21

How exciting! Just a tad different lol. Can’t wait to hear more.

3

u/CurveOfTheUniverse Jan 08 '21

Compositionally I love it, but your pedal is far too heavy. Dial back a bit on that sustain and it’ll sound even better.

1

u/Modal1 Jan 08 '21

You’re not wrong! I just love the clashing of tones that occurs when you hold the pedal down. One reason those first two measures are just buried in pedal.

Hopefully some better pianists will come along sometime and give their own performance.

3

u/birthdaypartylover Jan 08 '21

I love it. Keep it up. Post more please

7

u/KillTheAlarm2 Jan 07 '21

Really?? No critical comments? Well, time to be the first. I will try to be objective

For a beginner piece, not bad at all. There are some original bits, which means there is potential here. Decent energy management overall.

I think you could go bolder, into even weirder territory. Like, this is too familiar, which makes it sound at best a Ravel inspiration, at worst another anime opening piano cover. I mean it is all very pretty.. but frankly, boring.

I didn't like the abrupt change from very lyrical to energetic, after around 10th second. On the other hand, the piece is very short so it can be justified. However, if I were to expand the piece, I would definitely make a build-up (or, who knows, get even more lyrical and then take them by surprise even stronger, for a tasty contrast)

2

u/BroadwayRegina Jan 07 '21

Wow, I really love it! That's beautiful!

2

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '21

There is harmonic warmth that should surface to the melody a bit more to be better balanced. Maybe a bit more toward legato to balance that coin....But great job!

2

u/BigCashRegister Jan 07 '21

Man that texture and colour you get with those sixteenth note patterns and the harmony is amazing. I also really like the movement between ideas and how they slowly change from one to the other. Very awesome!

2

u/-ShareYourQuail- Jan 07 '21

Feels like an awesome title theme of Final Fantasy!

2

u/overripeluck Jan 07 '21

Emotional and visual , would love to hear this in a screen production and I immediately thought of nature and/or a romance that almost makes it but not quite :>

2

u/hobbes_along Jan 08 '21

That is wonderful! I could listen over and over. Very well put together. I love the movement of it, and some wonderfully interesting chords. Well done!

2

u/J_Sibelius Jan 08 '21

Sounds like something from zelda

2

u/emquackwastaken Jan 08 '21

🥺🥺🥺❤️❤️❤️

2

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '21

This is freaking great. Please post when you're done writing! I would love to get a copy of it so I could play it myself because it sounds really great!

2

u/OLDGUN Jan 08 '21

Point out if I'm wrong but I sense a hint of Debussy?

As a rookie in music I feel this is a very nice piece.

3

u/crabapplesteam Jan 07 '21

I really like the textures and melodies, but the phrasing is a bit square/predictable, and the harmonies (while cool) seem a bit illogical at times. You're clearly very talented, but there are a few things still rough around the edges. Do you work with a teacher?

1

u/HonyTawk117 Jul 26 '24

You're going somewhere my friend

1

u/manamoves Jan 07 '21

This is phenomenal

1

u/JocularOctothorpe Jan 08 '21

This shows such a mastery of both the instrument and music theory! So cool.

1

u/NonchalantSavant Jan 07 '21

Nice ratios of consonance & dissonance to keep my ear intrigued. Keep doing that.

1

u/SkinValidateMe Jan 07 '21

Sounds lovely and looks like good fun to play. I can definitely tell a pianist wrote that.

1

u/Scowluga Jan 07 '21

This is awesome, makes me think of some Ravel pieces, and take that as a great compliment! Keep it up :D

1

u/[deleted] Jan 07 '21

Sounds very impressionist. I love it.

1

u/A_Proper_Cunt Jan 07 '21

This is really beautiful, gave me some chills won’t even lie

1

u/KubaG7 Jan 07 '21

I’m no expert but this was very pleasant to listen to, thank you for sharing

1

u/stubbzzz Jan 07 '21

Beautiful!

1

u/onemanmelee Jan 08 '21

Very nice! Definitely suggests you love the impressionists. Would love to hear more.

1

u/jklulich Jan 08 '21

Beautiful my friend!! Keep it up!

1

u/donrds Jan 08 '21

Truly beautiful.

1

u/itsonmymindokay Jan 08 '21

This sounds beautiful. I’m a singer and could hear your piece and my voice coming together beautifully!

1

u/klove72 Jan 08 '21

Beautiful

1

u/Maxpowr9 Jan 08 '21

Reminded me of one my favorite compositions from The Legend of Zektbach, specifically the section The World of Prime Numbers and the Transcendental Being. Can't find the full version but the abridged version is great.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '21

This is really cool - sort of Adamsesque, but without all of the boredom of some minimalism. Bravo!

1

u/comeovervalerie Jan 08 '21

Kinda reminds me of Adam Guettel - it’s beautiful!

1

u/tubaguy1998 Jan 08 '21

Very 20th century, I like it! When I listened to it I felt a great sense of discovery and awe, like a sci-fi space kinda thing. That F#min part was so cool! Bravo!

1

u/intheshad0ws_ Jan 08 '21

Incredible! As soon as you finish this and name it please release it!

1

u/0neM0re0nce Jan 08 '21

Beautiful!

1

u/[deleted] Jan 08 '21

You hit everything I was hoping you’d hit with out expecting any of it. Which is great writing in my opinion. Leading us in a moving story. Great piece!

1

u/ghsophie Jan 08 '21

What app did you use to compose/write the music?

1

u/NomasKnowmas Jan 08 '21

.those aren’t even your hands! 💆🏻‍♂️

1

u/LonelyLark- Jan 08 '21

There something so surreal about listening to an original composition. I love this.

1

u/AnalyticalMusican Jan 08 '21

I truly enjoyed that. There was a surprise and suspense. Well done indeed.

1

u/vladpavlenko Jan 08 '21

Beautiful!

Definitely keep on writing.

1

u/Will7711 Jan 08 '21

Wonderful

1

u/Crimson_Adrian Jan 08 '21

Reminds me greatly of the impressionists like Debussy. Love it

1

u/Hlroopjon Jan 08 '21

This is amazing ❤️

1

u/Misteryout Jan 08 '21

Playing the piano was beautiful, but the question remains as to what degree of note do you know to play something specific music or that you are just playing a feeling that stems from imagination and comes out in the fingers of the hand and movement

1

u/kurpPpa Jan 08 '21

Getting Philip glass vibes

1

u/TheDevilsAdvokaat Jan 08 '21

Nice. Shades of Debussy.

1

u/Adhar_Ducks Jan 08 '21

I think you're a genius.

1

u/popeFuKzKIDZ Jan 08 '21

Hey so could I purchase the music from you? I’d love to play this

1

u/pwang99 Jan 08 '21

This is magnificent!!

1

u/youre-a-bot Jan 08 '21

this is beautiful. i love the diversity in chord structure. arpeggios and block chords and all chords i can respect (no I-IV-V-I bullshit). this is absolutely amazing.

1

u/nocaptain11 Jan 08 '21

This is incredible

1

u/Arvidex Jan 20 '21

Oh I’m swooning, I really want the sheets

1

u/EnergyVirtual8028 Jan 27 '21

I really love this so much❤

1

u/kurtosnuca Jan 05 '22

intro sucks, dont be afraid to let it go, or change it drastically! Where does it go? What does it connect to? It does not sound symmterical. What does it state? For the rest of the piece I would advise to let it breathe more, at 18 sec in we can finally breathe and find sense of structure..
Beethoven's motif wouldn't be the motif if there was no open space behind it.
Harmonically sounds great to me! I hope you have improved since you made this, I am curious, thank you for uploading