"Inventions" for Symphony Orchestra

[Stavrinski]

Dear all

Here is "Inventions", second movement of my new work "The Age of Humans" 

https://soundcloud.com/user-6203655/sets/the-age-of-humans

Season's greetings

Stavros

[agitato]

Hi Stavros,

All I can say is: nicely done!

Sorry if that sounds like an empty response to what probably took you months to write and years to learn to do, but I am not knowledgeable enough to say anything more. It just sounds good to my years, is well balanced and mature in orchestral texture, form and overall thematic progression. But I do not understand the composition any deeper (its not tonal, doesnt seem to follow a particular form) to say anything more intelligent, You obviously know what you are doing....must have studied for years in conservatory to write like this.

I particularly liked the first movement. Just one question..is the artificial sounding release of the string notes around 4:16 intentional?

Any description you could provide about the pieces would of course help in my learning.

Congratulations!

Anand

[jasensmith]

To be completely honest pieces like these can be difficult to give any honest constructive feedback because they're more like sonic experiences rather than a structured piece in the traditional sense with melody, counterpoint, etc.

I could say that it soundwd a little dry to me or that many of the samples used sounded out of the box without much molding or manipulation to shape them but all of that could be explained by the "intentions of the artist."

So really all I have to go on is what feelings or emotions did the piece evoke. Well i remember feeling scared, fascinated, confused intrigued, exhilarated and anguish. If that was your intention than well done.

Don't get me wrong there are a lot of interesting things going on here but for most on the forum I don't think this is their cup of tea.

But thank you for sharing nonethe less.

[Fabio Biolcati]

Count me not in the most of the forum, but I liked it. Surely it deserves a listen.

[jasensmith]

On second thought, maybe that "cup of tea" comment was a little harsh and far be it for me to proclaim myself the spokesperson of "most of the forum."  I think I mentioned that because Stavros' post was towards the bottom of the "LATEST POSTS" list and Anand was the only one who replied while Peppercorn's has almost two pages of replies.  My point was that some would find a piece like this hard to approach but that doesn't mean it's a bad piece.  Certainly not.

@Fabio Biolcati said:

Count me not in the most of the forum, but I liked it. Surely it deserves a listen.

So what did you like about it Fabio?

[Fabio Biolcati]

@Another User said:

So what did you like about it Fabio?

You already expressed it well when you say that «some would find a piece like this hard to approach but that doesn't mean it's a bad piece».
I admire how Stravros "held" the complex material together —following it for >5:00 is hard task for both the composer and the listener. He put great committment at handling this.

I agree with you that deeper CC manipulation will improve the realism of the rendering; I like the dried ambience, even just a little bit more should not disturbe me at all, just a liiiiiittle tiny bit.

Also, the contemporary tecniques in the string shows that you don't need dedicated libraries to achieve those kind of effects: you can rely on Good Ol' VSL for this.

Cheers

[Stavrinski]

Dear fellow forum members

Thank you all for your comments and feedback.

I am open to all criticism, since I "expose" myself by uploading my music.

Maybe a few more words will be helpful to understand my intentions and my point of view.

Firstly, it is true that I haven't used time in manipulating, editing etc. the samples- they are used pretty much "out of the box", for three reasons:

1. I am relatively new to VSL (The pieces were done with  SE1 plus only)

2. I have limited time and I prefer to use it in composing music and not programming, reading manuals etc.

3. I don't strive to make perfect mock-ups. The important thing for me is to present my music ideas and I think of these audio files as demos- not the real thing. I hope some day to find the means and way to have my music performed by a real orchestra.

Secondly, I am aware that my music is not easy, but I think that one should have the necessary tools to decode and understand it, meaning a basic knowledge of the great masters of the 20th century fx. Stravinsky, Bartok, Berg, Lutoslawski and of course B. Herrmann and Jerry Goldsmith to whom this work is dedicated. I was actually inspired by Goldsmith's landmark score from 1968 for the film "Planet of the Apes". The main idea for this work was to compose a kind of "soundtrack" for the human evolution through the ages, from caves to the outer space. I am currently working on the third and final movement "Transcendence".

In my view, it can be hard for someone not acquainted with the above composers and feels uncomfortable with non-tonal music, to follow and understand this kind of music, much like listening to poetry in an unknown language.

And yes there is both structure, melody, counterpoint but not in the "traditional" sense, whatever this means..

Anand: "is the artificial sounding release of the string notes around 4:16 intentional?"

What you are hearing is intentional and is a tam-tam roll- not strings-

Fabio: thanks for the tips

Best

[daniellumertz]

Hi! I really like your music!! It remaind me a little of stravinky( the ballets)  and a little of schoenberg (op.16 )

but for futures mockups and compositions: I think, maybe, deppending of the orchestra, the strings will sound with more volume than the mockup you made ( I dont know what your score is saying soo i cant know for sure ) ( that happen to me once in the mockup i could hear all in balance, but in live orchestra the strings just go soo loud! I would be carefull with strings becouse they sound in the sampler with the same volume as the others but in a real orchestra there are a lot of strings player and they can easly damp some melody to one wind instrument or your percussion) 
2) give a little more of reverb
3) really like some ritimc patterns that you use that seems to come from stranvinsky ballets ahahahhaha 
 
Daniel Lumertz

[Fabio Biolcati]

@Another User said:

2. I have limited time and I prefer to use it in composing music and not programming, reading manuals etc.

Same here, you don't have to feel alone.

[Stavrinski]

Hi Daniel

Thanks for your message and your input 

Good point on the rhythmic patterns. I haven't copied Stravinsky but I am using the same concept he used in The Rite of Spring, that is the augmentation or diminution of rhythms. In "Inventions" fx. I use a variation of the Hindu rhythm ragavardhana. I would like also to mention that the audio files are generated from Sibelius and that most parts are written in the score/not played manually

Thanks Fabio 😝 

Best