PROF

COMPOSITION

SCORE

COMMENTS

Elevation

7.80

You got some catchy themes that easy to sing a long with, sounds a little familiar for some reason though. Great development throughout this song. The only thing that really bugged me was the consistent changing of style, texture, or key every four bars. It becomes to back and forth. Some elongated phrasing would be a nice change. Some of the modulations sounded great, but some sounded unprepared and abrupt - perhaps part of this could be because of the extreme textural changes at these times - it doesn’t lead to a very smooth transition. Nice sounding song though.

The 60s Blues

6.00

The beginning was really cliche, predictable, and redundant. Maybe doubling the distorted guitar with something else to give a fuller sound would be cooler. This song doesn’t really go anywhere with the repeating rhythm section and playing a different voice every section. Some of the solos sound great, low down and dirty... but just a little more energy from this song would make it more interesting.

Gaspains

7.10

Great work with guitars and organ. I sounded pretty similar the whole way through though, slow and dark. Maybe a little more variation would be nice.

Red Islands

7.20

This song had a nice laid back groove from the beginning. I wish the song went to new directions though rather than just some solos or melody lines. Some development and contrasting sections would have been nice. The muted trumpet really sounded great doubled with the jazz guitar, as well as the flute and vibraphone. Some harmony would have been nice, or at least a counter melody.

Piano Concert 1, mov 2

8.00

Very nice piece of work. Some of the voice leading and harmonic considerations you have use I find quite questionable. M13 to start, you have the 1st violins split into three as well as the 2nd violins, and many of these notes are being doubled. I suppose you are trying to bring out the root on the fifth in the chords, but this sounds really muddy with MIDI. You need to be really careful when doubling notes with MIDI, especially when they’re the same voice. Many times you also have the voices overlap. I can see your attempt for contrary motion at times, but sometimes the way you go about this with doubling some notes, it inconsistently brings out some tones I don’t think need to be emphasized. M38 - those parallel 5ths stand out like a sore thumb. More parallel 5ths in m54 in the flute part. Other than the few things I mentioned, it’s a very impressive piece of work. There were a lot high points in the song that I thought were really cool sounding. Good job!

Altman Sonata for piano

9.30

Well done! Very lively with a refreshing sound and great development. Good use of piano technique to keep the piece interesting and not so repetitive and predictable. At trills like the one at m28, it feels like to me there should be a slight delay on the first few notes of the trill and then build speed after that for a more expressive sound rather than a strictly metric trill. Nice effect with the trilling from m122-143, but maybe it was dragged out just a little to long. It would ruin the effect if it was too short, but it may be too long. Some delays between certain sections seemed a little too long as well... but of course these are just opinions and personal preferences. This won’t go against your score, but why so many jumble piano pedal controllers all over the place? For the most part this song sounds very life-like and was well written as well. Excellent!

Friday's Waltz

7.00

Sounds very robotic and everything perfectly together, not very life-like. A much more natural and lighter sound in the accompaniment part would be a nice improvement. Fun piece with the chromatic non-chord tones, but not much originality or variation in this piece.

Alien Wars

6.00

You had all the tracks on channel 10, therefore making everything percussion. I took the liberty to change the channels to hear the intended patches you had. My first impression is that everything is just to loud. Everything is blasting at the same velocity without any or little change. I think if you make some dynamic changes, it would improve the song 100% - particularly in the taiko drum part. Overall though, I enjoyed the excitement of the song. This song sounds like it could be for a video game though, like Donkey Kong... the melody line is light and cheesy like that. But other than that you had a nice effect overall.

Funk (A Brief Insanity)

7.90

A very unique style you have in this song. Interesting analogy to go with the song as well, seems to fit well. Beginning with an extremely happy, almost cheesy beginning and then progressing into something more. The percussion really kept the style from becoming to orchestral which is good since it is called funk, which is also demonstrated by some of the syncopated rhythms in this song - however I wish there were more. The tempo changes kept the music lively as well. Very nice.

Piano Concerto #6 Mov3 Op38

8.80

It has that nice piano melody with accompaniment touch you have in almost all your songs, but this one for some reason doesn’t have the magic that many of your songs have. At times it came alive and was great, but the piece overall does not strike my interest that much. This was well written though and the blending between voices sounds great. The tempo changes were nice effect for a natural sound. Great song, keep it up!

Accordions Duet Op42

7.50

The style and melody are both very enjoyable. At mm47-56 in track1 the top note is sustained throughout the measure and the chromatic passing tones that follow clash with it awfully. M76 sounds odd also, particularly the high Db. I don’t like the triplets in track1 of m97, the ending seems to lose it style that was set earlier in the piece - the very end sound sounds like piano music, not accordion music - I could be wrong though. Overall a very enjoyable piece, I really liked it aside from some of the comments mentioned above.

Trio No 1

9.00

A very cool sounding jazz piece. The harmonies, chords, and soloing in this piece were great! Might just be my soundbank, but it sounds like that ride cymbal gets a little loud in the middle of the song. Since it is a trio, maybe you could let the other voices have a turn with a little soloing. A bass soloing in the middle there would be nice. Maybe a short drum diddy in there somewhere too. Excellent piece of work!

Battle of Fleetzan 2002

7.60

I really like this song, it has improved some since the last time you submitted it last year. Has a lot of characteristic of war music. I like the disonances used. But it generally stays pretty slow the whole time, when is the battle going to get exciting? I listened to some of the song at double speed and many parts sound pretty good. You should try it and maybe make some sections faster. Especially the repeating section that starts at m41.

Horses of the Time

7.10

The percussive bass line sounded pretty cool in conjunction with the guitar and cello. I feel that the first half of the song progressed to slowly, at least till the guitar came in I suppose. Sure, you got to establish your chord progressions for the song, but you don’t really to drag it out or even play the whole progression at first. Just a segment to introduce the idea as an intro and then begin your ideas and development. My favorite part of this song was the style it laid out by the time it got section 8, sounds really cool.

Standing Man

6.50

The mood of the piece is pleasant, but a little predictable with consistent chord progressions. M25 was certainly odd, unless you wanted that timpani part to be a harp, it still ends abruptly at m29 anyway. Mm47-48 didn’t work out in the timpani part either, not even in the same key. It sounds very conservative and plain - I think what this piece could also use is some little flavoring effects like grace notes, trills, runs... just little accompaniment figures to set the mood even further. Most of the piece sounded great though, I enjoyed much of the solos and melodies.

Walk of the Grave

6.40

I like the dark spookiness of the song. There is not much going on though - just a repeating bass line with some doodling on top. It creates a good visual image, but goes on too long with the same ideas. Need to throw some fresh stuff in there to keep the listeners awake. A very nice piece of work though, it portrays what the title says.

The Eagle and the Child

7.00

A nice atmospheric sound you have laid out. The percussion sounded very life-like and stylish with the appropriate velocity adjustments made. Some harmonies would be nice, not just chords in the background, but some harmonies to the melody would be great the second time around. M70 was a nice change, sounds like spy music almost. I listened to the whole song on double speed, sounds cool like that too - try it. Maybe you could consider speeding up some sections.

Mary Edna

7.60

A very fun jazz tune with catchy melody. I wish there was more done with harmony though. At the beginning it sounds fine in unison, but it stays in unison the whole time. Breaking into some sweet harmonies and perhaps switching off between voices would make it even more interesting. The piano solo was a nice break from this, sounds great. The bass solo was nice, some nice solo riffs while still maintaining that driving quarter-note pattern. I only wish there were less accompaniment figures going on during the bass solo. The bass was brought out loud and clear, but most bass solos I’ve heard the rest of the ensemble really back off. The percussion may lighten up and simply the drum patterns, enough to just keep a jazzy beat going, maybe switch to brushes. Just an example. Need more harmonies and variation at the end as well, as I had mentioned in the beginning. Nice song though, sounds great!

Never Again

7.80

Sounds lovely. Very enjoyable. The fast section needs a little more velocity work though - you do have some velocity changes, but not enough to make much a of a difference - you need to really extend the boundaries to make it more expressive. Same with the rest of the song, but the end needed it the most. What might make it easier is if you split this into separate tracks since the right and left hand are always doing something different. Some tempo adjustments would also go far into making this MIDI more expressive. I felt the transition into m28 was not so good. Maybe if you have the top line ascend in to the high notes rather than going down then jump an octave... plus you make also think about the rhythmic considerations. Out of nowhere comes a bunch of 16th notes, maybe introducing them or preparing for them rhythmically would also lead to a smoother transition. I also think the high 16th notes are too loud, the lower material sounds more interesting to me. Perhaps with more dynamic variation with the velocity would help this. This section also bugged me because there were to many parallel harmonies, especially 3rds. A little but if contrary motion would be nice, and maybe switching the fast notes between the bass and soprano
part would make a nice effect as well - you know, a little trading off.

Piano Studio 3

7.30

Has a mysterious sounding style. Hardly seems to pass as a real song, but looks like a nice piece for technical studies. There are many motives in here that would be great to work around a make a full song out of. Maybe a little more development of the bass pattern there, gets a little repetitive there during each section. The ending was cut a little short, at least have something loud at the end so everyone knows it’s over rather than ending on the quiet phrase.

A Strange Song

6.30

I like the guitar accompaniment, sounds nice. I wish there was more done with the melody though... it’s the same throughout with just different voices. Needs a little more development and variation. It seemed like the part at m23 did sound a little strange.

Handel's Great Drunk

7.00

"Procedure: standard scoring translated to midi."? Does that mean this is not original? If this is actually a song by Handel, it is surely not one of his best. M62 sounds like the beginning of a new movement, but then it ends so soon. What is this section for?

Reinvent

6.50

For the sake of realism, perhaps giving the oboe a slight break to breath between phrases would be good - particularly in the last half of the song. How about a ritardando at the end? Sometimes it feels like some of the lines are just wandering around some scales just to fit in - kinda like the recorder part in m12, it just doesn't sound very natural to me... perhaps it just does not fit in with the parts you added. I think some more variation in the articulation might make this song a little more interesting as well... most of the note legnths are generally the same - there is no recognition of slurs, legato, or staccato markings or anything. Since you are using winds and strings instead of harpsichord, this can become a consideration. It's a little short, how about adding a contrasting section at the end and then return to your main idea again? Too bad I can't give you full credit for originality since half of the work is Bach's.

Circa 21

8.60

The constant quarter note patterns at the beginning become quite strident, heavy, and tiresome. A little tempo variation or maybe laying different rhythms with it might help, like 8th or 16th note runs or arpeggios. M27 was a nice change. I like the syncopated rhythms in the pizz. strings. Some of this music reminds me of Danny Elfman’s style. Maybe doubling the bass part with something else at m37 would add a nice touch - perhaps a bass trombone or piano. The music progressively gets more interesting and exciting. Some orchestral percussion would be nice - bells, timpani, chimes... it would be great to full orchestrate this piece. I feel like a guitar should be in this piece for some reason... maybe you can add that too. Now if you could just work on the beginning a and ending a little this piece would be out of this world.

Sister Ann Joins the Carnival

9.00

I have to admit the beginning seemed rather dull and ineffective, but as the song progressed it got more crazy and exciting. It almost portrays a nun joining the circus… the beginning sounds rustique and churchy. I suppose you purposefully did not add a bunch of controllers in this section but later. The music sounds rather dark, almost psychotic at times - is it an evil circus? I love the crazy flutes? What did you do to create that sound, just doodle on the key board, or did you layer certain patterns on top of another? I wish there were more brass, particularly trumpets. Sometimes the song just kind of fooled around for awhile with effects. Maybe there was, but I didn't hear one, but I wish there was a recurrant theme. You should take the first theme you had from the beginning make it circusy and change it around to the different styles you have displayed. Some times it feels like there are "too many notes" - abiguity dominates coherency. A solo at the end??? An impressive piece of work though! Very enjoyable!

Hungry Heart

8.40

Nice piece of work, a lot of style and attitude! It has a foreign sound to it that I like, but maybe it's not foreign to you. :) The tempo changes were a good addition to include. The overdiven guitar part in track 5, sounds great, but does not have enough body to it. Maybe doubling it an octave lower would help strenghthen it. You could put the octave lower on a separate track and soften it, maybe pan it on opposite sides. Cool song!

Pilate Shrugged

6.60

I wish the melody line had some harmonies with it at times, rather than just being doubled by the octave. Maybe even have a different voice trade the melody off with another. The ending was a little dry. A nice happy song with a tune that's quite catchy.

I Am Myself

6.80

It does kinda remind me of the beatles, cool. I don' t like the blending or instrumentation though. The contrasting section in the middle was a nice touch to add a little variety and interest. I think the song could be a little faster, it's rather slow at times. Needs more bass.

Shadowplay Waltz

Entrance of the Scholars

6.50

Strange piece. Most of it seems to work out, and it does portray what you want for the most part. But a lot of it just sounds odd.

The World is Round

7.80

Sounds great! At the beginning it would be easier to hear the melody if it was not all in the middile range, it's drowned out by everything else that is in that range. Maybe just subtly and quietly doubling it with another voice up an octave would help. I would like to hear a little more rhythmic variety from the melody. Maybe at the end where it fades out you should throw in a couple of licks from the melody track. Just a few notes here and there to remind the listeners that he's still there, instead of fading out with just the accompaniment.

Hallelujah Chorus

5.00

A litlte slow for the Hallelujah Chorus don' t you think? If you really wanted some points in this contest I recommend arranging and developing songs like this rather than just copying it. Originality always scores higher. But good job with the Midisoft program, I could never get that working right for me.

Chesh Lank

7.00

Kind of remind me of those old English tunes from Grainger… but his seemed to have triplet turns every now and then for embelishment, maybe you could throw in few as well. This song just keeps going and going with no rests or tenutos to end phrases or anything define phrasing. It's feels overwhelming in a way, hard to explain. Perhaps an introduction would be nice instead of just jumping in head first. The main thing that kept this at all interesting was the emphasis on certain notes with the velocity changes. Sounds like a fun tune though.

String Quartet mov 1

String Variations

My One and Only Love

n/a

My own song. No comment.

The Enchanted Storm

n/a

My own song. No comment.

Dawn

Boris and Natasha

8.80

Is this autobiographical? Just kidding. :) Very enjoyable tune and story line! Well done. Sometimes I wish some of the sections were elongated a little. I think the overall escape was over done in comparison to the length of the reunion with his woman, I wish this part was lengthened a little. The crecendos and decrecendos were great. There were tempo changes between sections, but I wish there were some more accelerandos and ritardandos to build anticipation, but the song seemed to turn out great anyway.

Scherzo on Bee 10

End of the Storm

8.10

A simple song, wish there was more done with it, maybe some woodwinds and some cymbals and chimes. But nonetheless, it is a very powerful song. Beautiful. Some notes are held out extremely long, and if there are any voice dropouts you're not going to hear that pitch until the next time it's played many measures later. Maybe just restating the note more often to reinsure that this doesn't happen my be something to consider. I also recommend splitting all the independant string parts you have into separte tracks. There are multiple benefits from this. Panning across for a live stereophonic sound. Organization. You can add controllers to each voice with out conflicting with other parts on the same track.

Symphony 2, mov 1

Symphony 2, mov 2

Gran Ciaccona

Concert 43, mov 1

Veliki Traven

8.00

Nice laid back tune. Also sounds great on double speed too… try it, it's cool! Could give you a few ides, maybe a faster section in the middle of the song and then go back to you laid back groove at the end - or just end fast with a slow introduction. Some pitch bend wheeling would be cool on the guitar solo would be cool, maybe a little vibrato (modulation) as well. If you do double the speed, maybe a bass solo would be cool. Makes good background music, but it feels a little to slow and laggy by the end. Need something new thrown in to keep the listener awake. I just read that you made this in Band-in-a-Box... you can pretty much generate full song in a few minutes with that program, hope yours is mostly original and not computer generated. Sounds great anyway.

Astro Odyssey

The Proposition

Fantasia

Rock on the Town

Chinatown

TOTAL AVERAGE

7.41