It says it all in the title really. I've never composed anything before until this, which is a sort of practice AS coursework. It would just be really helpful if anyone has any advice on what I could improve on next time. :

The task was to write some film music with the title 'Darkness to Light'. It started off as just a piano piece, but ended up with increasing numbers of strings too.

This should be a link to it as a midi file. I would have uploaded a score too, but don't have sibelius at home, so that wouldn't work
Darkness to Light Midi.mid

Thanks,
Sarah

EDIT: I don't think the link above works. This one does though.

I don't know anything about composition, but would like to commend your hard work.

I only felt that the transition from darkness to light (minor to major) was a little abrupt, like you have travelled to the darkest end of a tunnel, and suddenly you are greeted with absolute bright daylight. Perhaps a little more to ease that transition? Just my personal, unprofessional opinion.

Just wondering, is the film related to vampires? The darknesss portion sure reminded me of bats and dark rituals in a rundown castle, against the darkest night with thunder and lightning. And somehow the strings in the midi file sounded like an organ to me, which completes the picture

Thanks for your feedback.

I think I definitely need to work on more subtle modulation, as like you say, it is very abrupt. I found it really difficult to change key without the new notes sounding 'wrong'.

I don't know what the films about, we were just given a title and I didn't really think much about it beyond the general feel needed I can see what you mean about vampires though.

Hi Sarah,
For a first effort this was not bad at all. I think that it is all rather fast and busy for a piece that begins with darkness though. Perhaps try a slow introduction on a solo stringed instrument first and let things happen more gradually. The minor key section could be much freer in harmonic structure too. Aim for the painting the effect that you want with a picture of sound rather then trying to stick to classical rules. A crescendo towards the light needs to be very gradual I think. There were some nice moments towards the end but the it was all rather four square for me. A good try though.

One more thought: Never throw away anything that you compose. Ideas are always useful for another project on another day.

Super piece

I'm doing A2 music at the moment. I don't know how your composition works; I know for certain exam boards you have to do it within a specific time..? But I always start out with a keyboard, then I can try out chords and melodies, and I always jot them down as well.
I'm quite creative in that I can build a whole piece from a couple of bars of melody quite quickly. I find that the key is to write down as many ideas as you can, and then begin to expand on them.
Also ask your teacher for the mark scheme as well. Then you'll know what you have to include.

Well done! I think the "Light" part in particular is very atmospheric, though I agree with petrat that the "Dark" was a bit too busy. Very good for a first composition.

I think your bottom part is very "samey". Could you maybe vary the minor chords by going up and down the chord after a while? Too much "123, 123"; I think some "123456" (with 4 being an octave above 1 and then coming down again) at around 45 seconds would help resolve some of the sudden transition feeling too, because when you then go into 4 it isn't quite such a big jump. For some reason, going up higher sounds a bit "lighter" even though it's the same chord.

I also think you're very brave to let us all hear your work. I believe Ben got full marks on the composition module last year, so it might be worth PMing him and asking him to comment. Make sure you take on board what your teacher says about it, as (s)he will know what the exam board are looking for.

Thanks everyone for all your thoughts You've made some really useful points!

Very good Sarah, well done
If it was me I'd put a few more dynamics in and try some pedal in the piano.
the only other thing is the huge jumps in the violin part like bar 42, you might like to look at taking some of it up an octave.

It's very good I've heard Much worse first compositions then this.

Ben again.

I don't think the file was very good, given I've marked pedal the whole way through and there's also meant to be quite varied dynamics, but it doesn't seem like they've really come out

*goes to listen to file again to listen for pedal and dynamics*

O ok. I didn't get any

I'll just shut up

I hope my opinion does not upset you.

I thought parts of the composition - some quite long stretches - were quite beautiful and moving. Elsewhere it was a bit boring/derivative/mundane. I think you have the basis of a fine piece of music there, but it needs to be reworked to refine it.

For a first composition - impressive.

Not at all, I can see exactly where you're coming from. It's far from perfect, especially in the first half. If I have some spare time in the next few weeks, I'll probably do a bit more mucking around with it and swap the parts around a bit etc to see what I can do with it.

its very good for a first compostion but you do need to check you exam for AS because for mein i have four breifs and have to pick one from that and then have 15 hours to do it in. so you might want to think about that also if your not very carative think about theme and variation as you just do everything around 1 theme and can be very effective

I think I have the same syllabus. I was thinking of doing the theme and variations. From what I've heard, it sounds like the allocated number of hours is just lesson time, and you can plan it outside of lessons too, although that could be wrong.

I think the intention behind the 15 hour rule is that students are less able to take their compositions home and have someone else work on them for them. (Local schools to me are keeping memory sticks with compositions on in school!...). While I can see the logic behind this (I'm sure there has been an element of 'cheating' in the GCSE compositions in the past) I think it discriminates against good honest candidates who find it difficult to concentrate on creative work in a classroom situation - and of course it is a rather unnatural way to work on composition! Also if you were preparing an English/ history project no-one would insist you did all the write up work in a classroom would they?

In summary the OP may have to be a little bit careful to be seen to be composing in those 15 hours of lesson time!

I cannot acces the file I'm afraid to give you feedback on the actual composition I'm afraid.

Good luck!

It wouldn't make any difference to me if they took in memory sticks, as I don't have sibelius at home, so it would be no use. There's nothing to stop you sitting down at a piano with a piece of manuscript paper in your spare time, then just typing it into sibelius in the lessons.

It's not bad at all! Although, I have to say I had to convert it into nicer sounds because I can't stand MIDI! The beginning definitely bears a lot of resemblance to a fast version of Moonlight Sonata. Not that it's a bad thing, most of my music always turns out to be someone else's work! It's just a case of originality really, for me, to appreciate music, it has to sound fresh and new.

Hey, good first composition.