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Band Piece

Discussion in 'Critique & Feedback' started by Cody Ortz, Dec 1, 2021.

  1. #1 Cody Ortz, Dec 1, 2021
    Hey everyone! I just finished a piece for symphonic band. The client approved it, so it'll stay as is, but I'd love any feedback/criticism that you could give me that I could apply to future projects. Link below, and I'll add the sketch too. Thanks!!

     

    Attached Files:

    Sylvain Provenzano likes this.
  2. #2 Mike Verta, Dec 2, 2021
    I was going to write a bunch of stuff about this and then I realized it would be perfect to reduce to two-handed piano and submit to Unleashed 7. I think many people could learn a lot from this, truly. I mean, you might want to have a stiff drink first, but it's all good. This shit ain't easy.
     
    Cody Ortz and David Healey like this.
  3. #3 Cody Ortz, Dec 2, 2021
    I am actually in the middle of doing a reduction of it right now for that very purpose!

    ...and then running to the liquor store to prepare.
     
  4. #4 Cody Ortz, Dec 2, 2021
    I'm wondering, should I try to keep all of the textural stuff in there? Or just block out chords and melody?
     
  5. #5 Mike Verta, Dec 2, 2021
    Part of the beauty of two handed piano is it forces you to omit whatever truly doesn't matter. One thing I can give you in analysing your own work - which is of course the ideal skill - is to just play your melody starting at bar 4, with nothing beneath it - just the melody notes - and ask yourself if you can detect any harmonic motion or infer any chords from it. Does it maximally pique your interest and engage? A huge percentage of the time, if a motif doesn't inherently carry something at least approximating its context within itself - that is if you need chords beneath it for it to work, it's probably not that strong an idea. By contrast, try the Raiders theme, or Star Wars, or E.T., or the Force Theme, or Leia's Theme... I can think of hundreds of examples. They are inherently engaging; they broadcast their chords without any chords being present. This is a feature common to virtually all enduring motifs, and for a reason.
     
    Rohann van Rensburg and Cody Ortz like this.
  6. #6 Cody Ortz, Dec 20, 2021
    Mike, thanks for the great feedback on Unleashed! I definitely have some more work to do reducing the piece, but everything you were able to pull from it was spot on. I'm still working on learning how to use suspensions, so that info was awesome to get. I'll work on playing some reduction of the piece and submit that here. Thanks again!

    If anyone else was interested in the feedback given, it's here:
     
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