Original Composition - Prelude in C Major

[kakeithewolf]

For the longest time, I have had a specific little tune in my head, and I never quite put it to sheet until now, because I hadn't quite thought of a way to develop it.

Though I do still use MIDI as a base form, I decided to use a soundfont so it wouldn't sound completely terrible. I'm also going to attach the PDF for the sheet, as I'm having a bit of difficulty deciding where to use the pedal and where not to use it, though I do wish for the majority of it to use the pedal.

Criticism is quite welcome.

[pianoman53]

I can't really hear this as c major? I didn't listen to the whole thing, but the theme is certainly not in c major.

[kakeithewolf]

I can't really hear this as c major? I didn't listen to the whole thing, but the theme is certainly not in c major.

There are no black keys used in the piece. There aren't sharps or flats. How, then, is it not C Major?

[pianoman53]

So I take that as a "No, I don't study theory". No white keys can also mean a minor... and d dorian, f lydian, g mixolydia etc. Study theory, it will help you with composition.

[kakeithewolf]

So I take that as a "No, I don't study theory". No white keys can also mean a minor... and d dorian, f lydian, g mixolydia etc. Study theory, it will help you with composition.

Generally, for something like this, I wouldn't write in something like Dorian, Lydian, Mixolydian, or Phrygian modes. To me, it over-complicates what should be simple.

As for A minor, I didn't think about that until after I posted, but to me, I don't really find the two terribly different in characteristic.

[liszt1022]

I hate hate hate hate hate midis in the audition room. If you played it at half-speed on an out of tune piano recorded on a six-year-old camera phone, it would be a better fit.

The composition is oozing with naivete. You wrote a piece without any concept of music theory, and it's really obvious. Your harmonies, rhythms, and melodies are all very confusing and all I can do it reject them entirely. I don't think music needs to stick to majors and minors all the time, but your piece sounds like it wants to be tonal, or like a tourist trying a foreign language phrasebook without knowing the language.
It is (trying to be) in A minor, but if you want to avoid the discussion, don't include a key in the title.

Another drawback of midi is you can't see how unpianistic the writing is, it doesn't make sense to a hand.

[kakeithewolf]

I hate hate hate hate hate midis in the audition room. If you played it at half-speed on an out of tune piano recorded on a six-year-old camera phone, it would be a better fit.

The composition is oozing with naivete. You wrote a piece without any concept of music theory, and it's really obvious. Your harmonies, rhythms, and melodies are all very confusing and all I can do it reject them entirely. I don't think music needs to stick to majors and minors all the time, but your piece sounds like it wants to be tonal, or like a tourist trying a foreign language phrasebook without knowing the language.
It is (trying to be) in A minor, but if you want to avoid the discussion, don't include a key in the title.

Another drawback of midi is you can't see how unpianistic the writing is, it doesn't make sense to a hand.

I do find the analogy of the tourist to be very apropos here. I've said numerous times before that if there is a single instrument I can't compose at all on, it's piano. It is, indeed, a language I do not understand.

But that's part of the process here. It's not what you'd really call a final draft. There's still a lot of changes to make and parts to fix (like the pedal issue). I mean, honestly, I wouldn't really consider this complete, being fully with the pedal down. It just takes a while to fix these things. I have something I started in June, finished the rough draft of in July, and I'm still very far from done editing it.

Also, do remember it's a MIDI in name only.

[pianoman53]

Generally, for something like this, I wouldn't write in something like Dorian, Lydian, Mixolydian, or Phrygian modes. To me, it over-complicates what should be simple.

As for A minor, I didn't think about that until after I posted, but to me, I don't really find the two terribly different in characteristic.

Sorry, it not about what you think. C major and A minor are two different thing. Something in a minor is not the same as c major.

[kakeithewolf]

Sorry, it not about what you think. C major and A minor are two different thing. Something in a minor is not the same as c major.

I'm stating that solely because, when it comes to signatures, I happen to go by Schubart's views (Which I can't agree enough with).

[pianoman53]

yeah, Schubert made it clear if it's c major or a minor. He might modulate a lot but a piece that's clearly in a minor, isn't called c major.

Sorry to obsess a bit about this, but I can't imagine an actual composer (who writes, what s/he calls, original pieces) who doesn't know the difference between a minor and c major. Schubert might have been very flexible with tonalities, but that's a different case. He made c major sound gloomy and a minor shiny. You wrote this 'original piece' in clear a minor, and try to make it in c major, because you don't hear the difference. That's not what Schubert did.

[Bob]

I'm hearing a.  a Aeolian then?  (Can something be in a minor if there's no E dominant chord?)

Or it could be one of those concept pieces where the title is preparing the mind of the listener for something different. 

[kakeithewolf]

yeah, Schubert made it clear if it's c major or a minor. He might modulate a lot but a piece that's clearly in a minor, isn't called c major.

Sorry to obsess a bit about this, but I can't imagine an actual composer (who writes, what s/he calls, original pieces) who doesn't know the difference between a minor and c major. Schubert might have been very flexible with tonalities, but that's a different case. He made c major sound gloomy and a minor shiny. You wrote this 'original piece' in clear a minor, and try to make it in c major, because you don't hear the difference. That's not what Schubert did.

Sure, I can't hear the difference between modes and key often enough. But I have ears that hear well enough that I know this isn't "shiny".

I'm hearing a.  a Aeolian then?  (Can something be in a minor if there's no E dominant chord?)

Or it could be one of those concept pieces where the title is preparing the mind of the listener for something different. 

You're right in saying this is a concept piece. An incomplete one at that. I'm going to stop myself there, whilst I am ahead.