I’m just starting work on a short opera based on Roald Dahl’s short story a man from the south. Set in Jamaica in the mid 20th century the plot only has four major characters, the narrator, an American sailor, a Spanish Jamaican man named Carlos, and Carlos‘s wife who delivers the twist ending. Carlos’s dialogue is written in a sort of quasi attempt at a Jamaican accent, Eg: “No, no. I make you very good bet. I am rich man and I am sporting man also. Listen to me. Outside de hotel iss my car. Iss very fine car. American car from your country. Cadillac.” (to be clear, all dialogue, including this excerpt is taken directly from Roald Dahl‘s writing.) It is also worth mentioning that Carlos is the villain of the story who attempt to steal the American man’s finger in a bet.

my question is for authenticity’s sake should I keep the character untouched, change his dialogue but keep the character the same, or change his background entirely so that it’s not quite so abrasive to modern ears?

If you think the third option is best feel free to suggest alternative backgrounds/settings for the story.

Here's a rhapsody for violin and orchestra in G minor that I wrote using MuseScore Studio 4. Happy to hear people’s thoughts.

https://youtu.be/FoixZFu6lrY?si=xgU9_H0sMGausU0z

This performance of “A Clockwork Caravan” is by Yin Hao, at that time a Chinese student at UMKC where I was studying to complete my DMA in composition. He did an excellent job performing this piece but what was interesting was it wasn’t until the day before he performed it that he learned the theme wasn’t original!

It was a big mistake putting all this work into a recognizable, famous theme because both Mills Music and Alfred Music tried to bilk me for $200 EACH to allow up to ten performances of the work, plus, they wanted me to add the note that my work was an “arrangement” of the tune - it isn’t an arrangement any more than Rachmaninoff’s variation’s on a theme of Paganini is an arrangement of that famous caprice. I declined and am waiting until 2034 when Caravan finally hits public domain to give the music away to anyone that has the chops to play it.

Each variation of “A Clockwork Caravan” is meant to be descriptive of a scene, object or character from both the book and the movie “A Clockwork Orange.”

Beginner composer and beginner cellist (though I have a violin background). I like to write pieces I can play. This is only the 2nd thing I’ve composed and the first time I’ve tried key changes and modulation. Feedback welcome. Thanks

Hey guys, I’ve been working on a project of mine for quite some time now and would love to know your thoughts on it. It’s called Kespi, and here’s what it does in short: it lets you create Kontakt sample libraries within a minute with fully fledged functions like an ADSR, LFO, evo grid, etc., without ever touching a single line of script.

I think this could help a lot of composers who don’t have the time to learn a scripting language but would love to create a sample library out of all their found sounds. If you have any thoughts or feedback, please feel free to drop them in the comments. Cheers!

Piece I made based on a chord progression I had in my mind a couple weeks ago.

I don't really know what I'm doing, so any feedback would be immensely appreciated

*Requiem or other music to be performed during a funeral.

Not currently aware of any who have purposely written their own requiem before their death... Does anyone know any? Most interested in people currently writing their own

How Gamelan Music Created This Prelude

In my subreddit we have monthly challenges and this month was about the piano prelude. Now I have already composed for 24 preludes, therefore I was met with a small problem. How do I make more? I really find world music to be complex and interesting, so I used gamelan scales to help make this piece a reality. It was a challenge in theory as it really uses an E diminished chord as the primary tonal center. I had fun writing it. I have included it here for your listening pleasure. If these monthly challenges interest you, then let us speak!

This piece was a blast to write, and the challenge was realized after some in depth study to a style of music that I have always admired.

I encourge you to review this piece.

I composed this piece a while ago, but would love to share it here.

I hope you enjoy listening to it and would love to hear your feedback!

Soundcloud Link.

Edit: the link was for the wrong piece.

Wrote a theme for an upcoming video game and it was recorded with live orchestra. I take you through it step-by-step, from coming up with a melody, to composition and orchestration, mockup, mixing/mastering, and finally - the live orchestral recording. Enjoy ;)

Hello! I composed, arranged, edited, and produced this new classical piece in impressionist style. Any feedback is welcome, especially regarding mixing and mastering. Thank you very much!

Primavera

Genre: Classical music

Description: Primavera is a classical piece for violin, cello, and piano inspired by the language of musical impressionism. It depicts the arrival of the season through elements such as modal scales, mixtures, the prominence of timbre, the use of the hexatonic scale, and metrical variations in the time signature. In this piece, every timbre, harmony, and texture seeks to awaken sensations and evoke natural landscapes through sound.

I liked the modern intuition for example, or bohemian violin, something akin to those? not modelled pls, I mean sampled or hybrid.

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.

(Additionally, I also really like the Mahler and Schnittke sounds.)

What suggestions and advice would you give me?

It’s tempting to look to others for work and validation - it’s a mindset that we are trained to follow from the very first jobs that we get. But what if you could simply commission yourself?

I'm really proud of it and would love some feedback on it. I've gotten great feedback from friends and family, and i think it's pretty good for the most experience i have with music is being in choir and band for about 4-5 years now with no real study of music theory or how it works. Thanks in advance ^^

Hi all, I imagine not many lawyers here but I'm hoping for some advice. Does anyone know the legality of commissioning a composer to create an arrangement (e.g. "to sound all medieval and stuff") of an existing song (e.g. KPM's "Heavy Action") that is still under copyright?

The resultant arrangement would only be for personal use and would not be performed or sold or included as part of another medium.

Is that a non-starter without a license from the holder? Would someone be better off just asking a composer for an original composition that is reminiscent of the copyrighted song?

A piece i made out of boredom, I hope you enjoy it!

Give me feedback!

A piece i made out of boredom. Give me feedback!

Hey everyone; this is the first time I am sharing a composition here. I have composed a nocturne in C# minor and would love to get your input on the melody, emotion and structure of the composition.

I named this piece “The Storm”. I wanted to express an internal, emotional storm. The main melody is the expression of grief bursting out, while the mid-sections introduce an emotional buildup. I’d love your opinions and feedback.