Opus Cogniai

[I<3thebox]

So after much wrangling with the FTP and such I have finally post my first finished piece for Concert Band (actually my first real playable piece I've ever finished) so... without much further ado I give you

 

Opus Cogniai

 

A little background - I started taking "music theory" lessons suggested by my BD when i showed him some of my music - over time the lessons have developed into more "how to write music and fix what you've written" but anyways I was talking to my PL teacher and I realized I don't want to write music for a living "when Im all grown up" (hopefully I'll continue it as a hobby) and unless I become rich and famous and can fork over $10k a pop for an orchestra to play my piece, I won't ever hear my work performed - so I asked my directors if maybe I could "premiere" a piece with one of our bands and they gave me a tenative yes - so I set off to work on this piece. Originally it was supposed to be around 5minutes and was inspired by a Marimba solo called "Process of Invention" - hence the name Opus Cogniai or "work of the mind" in Latin (if any of you take Latin and know the correct translation for Work of the Mind ... please tell me) then as I worked through it, it kinda ballooned to the 10 minutes it is now, but oh well. I took some inspiration from Profanation by Bernstien, some music by Rammstien (a kinda hardcorp German rock band), and Moby - who I guess is a kinda eccentric rock / indy/ new age music stuff. The slow section is also kinda inspired by John Williams and Eric Whitacre.

 

So....

 

Tell me what you think! I'd love to get some feedback!

[trumpetman1288]

OOOO...an opportunity to be a music critic!

 

I like the feeling that the piece creates and I think it is very well written. Let me just point out these things I didn't quite agree with...

-A few of the transitions in the piece from one section to the next aren't very good. A lot of them are, but there are a select few that really stand out.

-A few of the parts that are not the melody tend to become distracting because they don't quite suite the rest of what is going on.

 

I really like your work, though. Keep it up, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You have amazing potential and I think that in time you will eventually become something if you work hard enough for it. The music industry isn't for everyone, so be sure to give it your all if you eventually decide to go that route.

 

Many props to you.

[I<3thebox]

OOOO.... thanks!

 

Actually I've been told alot that I need to work on my my transitions - my music doesn't flow well enough and such

 

and I see what you mean about the non-melody distraction stuff - most of it is "effects" and it might be the midi but yeah I like ostinatos and such lol

 

cool that you liked it - woot

[Fortisimo]

Alrgiht, let us see what we've got here...

 

NOt bad beginning... lol, I'm not sure what those portamentos are supposed to be played on, but nevertheless....

You've generated a nice chill track here. Happy, but not cheesy. I can definitely respect that. It seems to have a bit of tropical or jungle (not the techno genre, lol) influence too. I really enjoyed the section right before and after the 2 minute mark. Lots of action before, and a nice french-horn line after wards, pretty good brass work after this too.

The next secion... first off, if you can, get a better tubular bell synth. Lol, but a mundane detail this is. Anyways. The imitation is alright, but a little over used for my tastes. At around timestamp 3:40 you start a build up, and starts out well, but it sort of peters out before it finishes. I wold suggest you go back and take a long hard look at the end and see if you can't get it to continue increasing intensity at at least the same rate as earilier in the buildup. After this you follow up with a nice, bare section. I like the feel there. Afterwards, you have a more marching show type section, fanfare/opener feeling thing. I like it pretty well- this style is a little overused in my opinion, but well written here nevertheless. The next section, the slower one, is quite nice as well. Lol, more imitation at 6:35, but this time it is in more of a counterpoint/canonic context, so it is much more interesting. Good interactions between the imitations- very well done here. A good, but not outstanding slower section afterwards. I do like the next, more atmospheric part where the flutes begin arpeggiating; it's got a nice smooth texture. Full band entrance afterwards... nicely done. The non-diatonic notes near the beginning of the trumpet solo further in sound out of place (timestamp 8:39). I understand you were probably using them to try and introduce a new sound and pull into the next section; however, throwing them in to such a harmonic section without altering the chords in other instruments at least temporarily to match is a little jarring, at least to me(although I must say the very first solo entrance it hsa I like the small but noticebal tension it brings- after this first one though, you went a little too far with it in my opinion). However, after this it seems to go very smoothly, slowly pulling towards the end. I like the section at 9:51- cool background runs etc. to accompany the tubular bells etc. The ending is sufficient; however, after such a long piece I would think you would want something a bit more epic, or louder, or perhaps quiet and mysterious rather than just finishing the motif as you already have many-a-time. I could be wrong though.

 

Overall a very nice job. Only a few fairly minor problems, but hey, definitely an excellent first piece posted. I enjoyed listening to the piece and I hope my critique helps you out. Look forward to more.

[I<3thebox]

Hey, thanks for the comments I read it in depth earlier but didnt have time to comment, and only have a minute now.

Whats a portamento?

 

lol "chill track" my theory teacher actually told me Im "almost minamalist" which at first I kinda freaked out, but idk my styles have changed a little bit. I kinda rediscovered this Symphony that I'm 80% done with (I think it stands at around 30 minutes right now) and I had forgotten how cool it sounded, I'll probably post one of the movements tonight... but if you listen to it, it has a LOT more ostinato kinda stuff, a lot more "minamalist" if you will

 

anywho thanks again and btw I think your SOAC is pretty TRIPPIN lol

[Nancy08]

Wow this is slightly old but I just now litened to it. Unfortunately I'm a big picture person so don't expect too detailed of an analysis.

 

Generally I stick to classical music and I don't like to step out of the box, but I really enjoyed this piece. Your use of percussion effects were impressive. That's one of the things I struggle with so I really respect that. I agree that some of the transitions were rough but it wasn't too distracting to me. I think the ending is the strongest part of the piece.

 

What program did you use to write this? It sounds much more real than my finale audio.