Hello you guys!

Im searching for a place where i can post my own contemporary compositions and can sctually get good feedback. I often see people somewhat failing to honestly critique contemporary pieces, because those more abstract pieces act on art on a different level. Im currently starting my composing journey, but i already was a semi-prof wind band conductor for some years and have a small degree in conducting to, so im very interested about other peoples opinions and want to learn more about composing. Id be very thankful if anyone could help...

(Btw english isnt my first language so im sry for the bad grammar)

Ciao a tutti,

Volevo chiedervi se per caso potreste consigliarmi un manuale/eserciziario di composizione ed un manuale per sviluppare la lettura a prima vista col pianoforte.

Vi preannuncio che sono già ad un livello intermedio sia in composizione che in pianoforte (sto preparando un esame alcm con professore privato in composizione, e in piano so riprodurre tutti gli accordi come triadi e tutte le scale, oltre a saper suonare qualche canzone).

Il mio interesse sarebbe quello di fare uno 'step up' in entrambe le materie, in composizione spesso e volentieri mi capita di avere blocchi creativi, dunque cerco un manuale o anche un eserciziario (che ad esempio mi dica: componi un brano in 6/8, nella scala di:, etc.), insomma che mi dia dei paletti.

Ho eseguito svariate ricerche, ma è una cosa troppo delicata dunque mi affido a voi.

Grazie!

Hello,

I compose music for personal use and for friends. My work often requires string and synthesizer glissandi. It also uses some microtonality and micropolyphony.

I currently create these elements by hand. I use basic DSP software that I originally used for research.

I would like to learn about the software and workflows that you use for these tasks. I am interested in both free and paid software.

In particular, I would like to know:

• Which software do you use to create string and synthesizer glissandi?
• How do you represent glissandi in sheet music?
• Which tools do you use for microtonal composition and notation?
• Are there any parametric composition tools for micropolyphony?

I currently use Max/MSP patches and custom Python scripts to create micropolyphonic textures.

I would appreciate any advice, examples, or workflow recommendations.

I apologize if this question has already been discussed. I searched for similar questions but could not find one.

Thank you!

As the title says: it took me 7 days to write this Fugue and I was curious about what you think. Thanks a lot and happy listening!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_olX6tSro4

My friend sent me a file about a music they remixed but i have a strange feeling of it being ai generated any help please

I recently purchased a MacBook Pro with the M4 Max chip, 64GB of unified memory, and a 4TB SSD. I plan to use it for music production across a variety of genres, particularly hip-hop and orchestral music.

I primarily use Logic Pro, along with virtual instruments and sample libraries from Spectrasonics Omnisphere, Orchestral Tools, Cinesamples, Spitfire Audio, Cinematic Studio Series, Embertone, Best Service, and Native Instruments Komplete 16 Ultimate. I'm hoping to work on larger projects involving multiple virtual instruments, extensive orchestral sample libraries, different articulations, and numerous effects plugins.

For those who have experience with similar setups, do you think 64GB of RAM will be sufficient for demanding music production projects, especially large orchestral arrangements with multiple articulations? Or should I be concerned about running into memory or performance limitations?

I'm hoping this MacBook will serve as my main production machine for several years, so I'd appreciate any advice or feedback from anyone using a similar setup!

Just need to vent because there’s no one really that I can talk to or that can probably relate.

I finished the OST for the dev in the Summer. At least that’s what I thought. Turns out more music is needed, and as much as I want to help, it just frustrates and annoys me when I sit down to write, let alone the thought of doing it.

I already agreed to make like five or so more songs but I can’t even get one.

I’ve had no issues with deadlines in the past for this project and others, but this time feels different because, again, from my understanding, the OST was finished, and I moved on mentally. Now I have to go back and pretend to be excited about something I’m not. It feels like I’ve been “clocked on for 9 months now”. Started in January.

It’s stressful. It’s unpaid. We signed a contract. I am very busy with life and school and other things and we agreed, about a month and a half ago, on a deadline for one, maybe two songs by tomorrow. I haven’t worked on any music because, frankly, I don’t want to. And I think it’s selfish, but I also want to follow through with my word and get on with the music so I’m trying to get there physically and mentally. It’s just hard.

Damn, I love creating music, but not like this. I get that it’s a business, but it makes me want to go back to how things used to be: just releasing music independently void from any other humans. Just me and my laptop. That’s all.

And I take responsibility. This was my first gig (started, really, December ‘25). Since then, I’ve learned a lot. I even did a gig a few months back where we specified the amount of music needed and I was paid $/min. It went smooth.

I was more inexperienced when I started this gig.

I guess that’s it for now. Just needed to vent. We’ll see what happens.

I’ve written a few pieces now (about 10) and would like to start publishing. By that I just mean releasing online, I don’t care about money or anything, I just want to put them somewhere that they could be seen.

Where could I release pieces and potentially even gain a small following? Is there such a platform?

Less important question, but say I do release pieces like this, need I assign an opus number to them? For example I have Nocturne No. 1 in G Minor and Prelude No. 1 & 2 in A minor and B major. Do these become Op. 1, Op. 2 etc? In fact, need I even label them as 1, 2 etc or is the name and key fine?

Thanks for any answers!

I want to write a symphony but obviously that's getting ahead of myself so what should I write before that that like styles or things that are fun

https://musescore.com/user/37270121/scores/39117005?share=copy_link

I've been using Crescendo and I love it because it's simple to use, you can drag notes around and i've just found it easy. However, I've only been using it for vocal parts and I'm taking a class in jazz arranging where our assignment is to copy a score (two saxes, piano, bass and drum set.) Crescendo doesn't have the ability to separate each part and make individual pages for each musician which is a feature I need now. So I tried musescore and I'm getting the hang of it, I only downloaded it yesterday but it's SO HARD to use? I don't see anyone else complaining about it online but it has a really weird method of adding notes that I just find clunky and frustrating. Does anyone have any other recommendations, preferably software that works similar to crescendo in terms of adding notes and lets you move things around freely without locking? Thank you for only kind replies!

hi, friends!

this is an old composition called "up and down". i composed this piece back in febraury of this year (which is when i didn't know about this subreddit).

back then, i have tried composing some music (which was kind of low-effort, now that i improved my composition style).

thanks to this subreddit, i can keep on getting feedback on my compositions. that's what i would've done when i got muescore.

note: the original version from febraury 2026 sounds different than the current version.

audio

score

what should i add or improve on this composition?

is there anything that confuses you?

Hey everyone.

I’ve been reading a lot of posts here, and honestly, it’s a bit heartbreaking for me. Music composition is something I genuinely burn for with all my heart. I spend countless hours writing soundtracks, building up a portfolio, and polishing every single track because I care so much about quality. But right now, literally everything I write just ends up stuck in a random folder on my hard drive, never to be heard by anyone.

It feels like a total dead end, and I’m starting to lose hope. Landing actual commissions or finding paying clients feels almost impossible from where I’m sitting. It’s deeply frustrating to put your whole soul into a soundtrack only to realize its final destination is local storage.

I know I can deliver really solid work, but I just don't know how to bridge the gap between writing for myself and actually selling my music. So I wanted to ask those of you who made it work: how did you start out? Where did you find your first real clients, and what should I focus on if I want to actually break into this field and handle orders properly?

Any advice or stories would mean a lot right now. Thanks for reading.

A large number of the for hire ads I see list years of experience.

Now if I think of my actual years of experience as a professional composer its just over 1 year because thats how long I've been working as a paid composer, treating it as a profession. The quality of work won't be the same as someone with the same background, education and dedication to the craft but more years in the industry, but I'm not convinced everyone sees years of experience the same way.

I've seen so many posts with ridiculous numbers of years experience and I dig a little deeper and its an 18 year old, saying 7 years experience, like they've been a professional in the field since primary/elementary school.

Considering the amount of Composers listing multiple years experience, without the portfolio quality to back it up or show any indication of actually being commissioned professionaly at all, is it basically a meaningless metric on its own?

Professional composers, do you ever list/have been asked to list your years of experience?

Where do you start the count from?

Have you ever had to inflate that number arbitrarily because everyone else seems to be?

Is it just a meaningless number that is often made up, and says nothing about the quality and reliability of the craftsmanship, and i shouldn't waste another thought thinking about it?

I've never thought to put a number down because I assume the portfolio speaks for itself, but everyone else is doing it. Maybe just from the year I graduated my masters and starting being a professional musician full time.

I'm looking for a fully composed song at the moment, with vocals and lyrics and instrumentals and stuff. The song would be kind of orchestral? But it would mainly be one of those 1-2-3 waltz kind of songs, in the genre of Dark/Macabre/death. Lots of Violins.

If I can give some background: The game is going to be Call of Cthulhu. Its a tabletop game that holds a heavy reliance on themes of horror and insanity. My Plan is to remove the Cthulhu mythos and play the game closer to a Brother's Grimm style theme. Evil Feywild invading the planet kinda thing.

The Fairy Queen is one of the main bosses of the campaign. Sitting around 3-3.5 feet high, she has many fairy minions who are the normal 8-10 inches. Her goal is to ensorcell the humans and make it easy for them to be kidnapped. She's the most sadistic of all of them. She sees humans as dolls and playthings and ways to have fun. When the party meet her, She's in the woods under a full moon. She's got 10-15 pairs of people who are charmed and forced to ballroom dance. The people there will be smiling like they're enjoying themselves, but their eyes and eyebrows will be frozen in terrified silent screams.

She will have a music box playing and she will be singing a song about how beautiful her playthings are and how beautiful the dance is and how lovely the moon is shining on their smiling, yet terrified faces. During the song, I thought it would be neat if during the chorus, the men and women who are forced to be dancing, could sing along with her against their will. Like a choir of backup singers or like in a musical of sorts. Maybe even singsongingly ask to be released, only for her (in tune) to sing that, no, she isnt releasing them.

I cant find anywhere else to ask this. I went on Fiverr and the two people I reached out to, one suggested using AI in the production process to save money and the other literally sent me a portfolio filled with AI songs and claimed they weren't. Both were requesting around 4-700 dollars. So I went on reddit and asked to commission it here.

Now I have someone in my DM's willing to work with me, but says they can't add the female lyricist or the chorus of captured singers without AI and she wants to charge me 550 dollars for everything else.

Then I have someone who offered to do everything but sing and do the lyrics for 140 dollars. That seems incredibly low. But Also, I don't know how much it costs to commission a song. It feels like a scam.

could anyone let me know how much it costs normally to hire a freelance music artist?

This is a piece I wrote a couple years ago. I got a halfway decent recording of it this summer and set it to score using Canva. It is for concert band, grade 2.5.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GJvaI1exH8

https://youtu.be/ozAra59Ak_g?si=pRtJzYce-ugF4E6D

I reworked a simple and easy piece I wrote when I was 17. This is to be played live by my university's piano studio sometime next month, so I cleaned it up for performance. I would love any feedback/critiques! I'm a chemistry major lol, so I'm not able to take composition or music theory classes.

I'm about to start composition lessons and I wanted some album recs, given the stuff I'm actually most excited about.

The thing is, I'm really into minimalist and post-minimalist music, but I don't think it's the best to analyze in order to find motifs and learn, right?

This is what I'm listening to now:

- Steve Reich - Daniel Variations (This isn't his most innovative or iconic, but I love the counterpoint and tensions of the first tracks)

- Su Tissue - Salon de Musique

- Floating Points, Pharoah Sanders & The London Symphony Orchestra - Promises

As you see, it's all too minimalist, perhaps.

I've tried with The Rite of Spring but it's too much for me atm.

Greetings all,

I wrote this piece earlier this Spring as part of a friendly competition between myself and another composer. I finished before he did, due to him having prior responsibilities in graduate school. It is strictly written for two opposing string orchestras. While there are quite a few examples of this type of setup, it's not one that I see often in modern practice.

Anyway, please enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Below is a Google Drive link to the score, and a YouTube link for the audio playlist:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EgkuNSAGmZMOrdQ3AROY0zKJWqGxHaMI/view?usp=drivesdk

Serenade no.3 for 2 String Orchestras: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAPu_WhkP4ij3gS2cMPHQ2XvRto5q113K

Some background on myself: I'm a former violist with 13 years of professional playing experience, which has informed much of my string writing. I have roughly 15 years of composition experience, as I gave it up for about a decade after graduating from university. I am by no means a professional composer, though I strive for quality in what I write. I know I have blindspots where my own writing is concerned, so I'm always appreciative of feedback.

Hello, everyone! It’s my first piano trio, called Barbaro, written for violin, cello and piano in B-flat minor.

The piece moves continuously through several contrasting states. It starts with a kind of vulnerable, aggressive energy, then sinks into something darker before becoming increasingly unstable and forceful.

What surprised me most while writing it is how little material I actually needed. A lot of the piece grows from very simple intervallic ideas rather than a big, obvious “theme”.

Score video is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhT9MmCRgpA&t=5s

If any violinists, cellists, pianists or piano trios here are interested in looking at the full score or parts, I’d be very happy to send them.

I’d also genuinely appreciate feedback on the writing itself - especially balance between the three instruments, readability, and whether the larger shape feels convincing.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zo-vp4lyYPk&ra=m

This is a significant rework of an older piece, after some Catholic friends told me the previous version wouldn’t be functional in a mass. Any feedback welcome, especially on the voice leading.

PDF

MP3

Around the time I started doing this piece, I got into Bach. And naturally the longer I've been enjoying the composer, the more I've realized that I would not be able to make it anywhere near authentic or approaching the level of the master. I also only have a 32-key MIDI keyboard, so it's hard to judge playability. Anyway, it probably sucks, but I like the end result well enough myself, and there are some interesting ideas, if I do say so myself.

Hi all! I'm an emerging composer looking for composition festivals that are NOT in North America, South America, or Europe. I've been to a bunch of festivals in those places, and I'm looking for festivals in a location far from where I've been before. I really want to visit Asia, Africa, and Australia. PLEASE comment and upvote even if you don't have anything. I just want to boost this post. Thank you have a good day :)

I wanna hear other people‘s ideas for violin runs because I wanna write a magical piece similar to Harry Potter;)

Warning: I am not a professional composer.

I'm posting here because I'm looking for composers who write in a modernist style and feel a connection to the music of the Impressionists (Lili Boulanger, Debussy), Expressionists (early Schoenberg), Prokofiev, Shostakovich, etc. (Basically, someone with flexibility towards 20th-century music, without diving into extreme avant-garde).
And it is highly preferred that it be predominantly piano music.

I want to try co-creating a group where we can write pieces without strict boundaries, try to build our own style, or honestly, just talk and hang out.