String Quartet 3: 'Scéalta cois Tine'. Mvt 4: 'Eachtra Eile' (Another Adventure)

I am a scientist who started composing music as a hobby in 2013. I have not studied composition and do not approach it analytically, only intuitively. I took piano lessons in my childhood and teens, but spent most of my adult life without playing piano until 2013. So far I have composed mostly for piano, in a polyphonic style that borrows from the Baroque as well as the Romantic spirit. I describe my style as "Baroquemantic". 

Most of my piano pieces are easy to play.  Some are very easy to play.  

All of my pieces rely on 2 or more concurrent melodies (counterpoint).

Art shown above: Image of clockwork heart found on the internet without attribution.

"There is no beauty in music itself. The beauty is within the listener."
Igor Stravinski
 
Or, as a Portuguese guy named "Carlos Miguel" wrote on YouTube:
"...a boa música é como as boas palavras, depende de quem as diz e de quem as ouve...podem não vir a ser nada e podem ser tudo...ou ambas as situações em simultâneo...genial também é quem ouve...pelo seu modo de ouvir... e não só quem  compõe...pelo seu modo de compor...Carlos Miguel"

The pleasure of creating music and sharing 
Le plaisir de créer de la musique et de la partager

Instrumental Dark Folk with violin and acoustic guitar from Dresden, Germany.

I am a composer and producer of instrumental music in several genres, including ambient soundscapes, electronica, orchestral and chamber music.  

Musical influences include John Coltrane, Igor Stravinsky, Gustav Holst, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Tangerine Dream, Robert Prince, Frank Zappa, Brian Eno, Heinrich Ignaz, Franz von Biber.

My Method of Composing and Producing
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I'm sharing my method of composing and producing music recordings in case other composer-producers like me might find ideas worth exploring in their own work. I use this method for Classical, Avant-Pop or Neo-Folk Instrumental genres, not for Ambient and Soundscape pieces. Non-composers might find this explanation interesting, but having a bit of music theory background will definitely help. I consider myself a humble learner when it comes to music theory. 

I owe a debt of gratitude to British musician and educator Gareth Green, whose Music Matters online courses and free YouTube lessons have taught me so much over the past few years. Thanks to his instruction, I’ve moved from struggling to compose music by trial and error to something more enjoyable and productive. The knowledge I've gained has taken my work in new and expanding directions. As the saying goes, “Theory is not a cage — it’s a map. It doesn’t make the journey for you, but it keeps you from getting lost.” 

When I start a new piece, I begin by choosing a key, and picking a scale drawn from one of these sources:
 
1) Western Tonal / Functional Harmony - major or minor chords I II III IV V VI VII
2) Modal Harmony - Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, etc.
3) Slonimsky's "Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns" 
4) Messiaen’s "Seven Modes of Limited Transposition" 

For many pieces, I also decide on a progression, one as a simple as I IV V, or something more elaborate.  

Next I create a "scales and progressions" piano track in my DAW (digital audio workstation software) and enter the chords I to VII in my chosen key. These harmonized scales serve as a basis for writing multipart harmonies and finding pivot chords for key modulations. 

At the start, I know what instruments I want to use, making adjustments along the way. I tend to write chord parts first, then melodies created through a mix of improvisation and direct input in the DAW. Sometimes I start with a melody.

I develop melodies and variations of a phrase by some combination of: a) passing it from one instrument to another, transposing it by an interval that sounds pleasing, b) reversing it, c) inverting it around the tonic (first) note of the scale. These are well-known methods. 

After completing a section, I choose another scale and maybe a new key and repeat the process until I have a draft of the entire piece. Then I export a recording and listen to it “offline”, take notes of errors and new ideas, and incorporate them back into the piece. Often this “compose / listen / compose” cycle is repeated many times. These iterative cycles include adding new ideas, polishing transitions between sections, changing the arrangement, and incorporating expressive details like accents, and articulations (staccato, sustain, portato etc.). I’m often working several different pieces at once. 

Last is mixing and mastering: balancing the loudness between instruments and adjusting elements like reverb, compression, and equalization. I tend to mix as I compose, even though many producers frown on that approach. I find mixing as I go helps me envision the completed piece and make adjustments to the choice of instruments; it self-inspires me when the piece is starting to sound good.  At the end I do a final mix, but as the saying goes, “A mix is never finished — it’s surrendered.”

In the end, this method gives me a basis for exploration and creativity and helps me stay focused. The goal is always to make a piece of music that feels expressive, cohesive, and emotionally resonant.

I teach in US higher education (in a STEM field) for a living & am a hobbyist composer writing in a few different styles. I recommend headphones. All of my music is released under a Creative Commons Attribution/Noncommercial license.

My bandcamp page is getting out of date again, but some older albums there can be downloaded for free or for a name-your-own price donation.

If anyone wants to try performing any of this stuff on real instruments please send a message and I can provide scores. Not sure how playable some of it is for human musicians though.

Unsolicited messages asking me to listen to your latest song will lead to you being blocked unless if I know you well and we've interacted a lot.

Hope you enjoy and thanks for visiting!

Musical ideas, expressions, and experiments! Pure human, all original, and NO AI.
Thanks for listening! 

 - Tom

R.A. Moulds studied music at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Hiya, I'm David a music producer from Torbay, UK. I love to write music, mostly electronic based stuff but I also compose the odd piece here and there for guitar or piano.

These songs are from the heart.  A human heart.  I love this platform for finding new experimental work. So much awesome work here and wonderful people. My songs can be downloaded at https://jeffreygeorge.bandcamp.com/