# I'm not a musician....



## nikola

...but I do compose some music... 

So, here is the explanation. I never learned music notation and I never went to any musical school, but I always wanted to learn to play piano or something similar (synth), so I didn't want to wait anymore and half year ago friend gave me some old synth from 80's.. and it's synth for kids with narrow keys, but I didn't have money for anything better.

First I tried to learn by tutorials some playing and trying to learn at least some basics of writing music notation, but I realized it's once again something I don't enjoy much because I was already doing in life too many things I didn't enjoy, so I thought that nobody need anymore one more person that plays Satie's 'Gymnopedie' or Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata'.

So, I decided to compose simply by playing and since I didn't know how to play, my music will probably sound poor to you, especially on technical level. Half year ago was the first time I touched synth keys in my life and even the most poor stuff I made that I found remotely interesting (to me) I uploaded on youtube, but I didn't want to share it with many people on forums because I didn't want them to ruin with their comments my pleasure of playing with music. This became my hobby that fulfills me.

But yesterday that poor old synth decided to die, so I don't know when the next time I will be able to play, so I decided finally to share here that stuff I made.
First of all, piano keys sound the same no matter how much hard or soft I touch them, so that's why the stuff you will hear sound even more amateurish.

And this is my philosophy behind those compositions:
I wanted to make something meaningful and likeable no matter how simple or poor it will be. I never experienced music as mathematic, so even with my lack of musical knowledge I for sure didn't want to make something too complex for which I'm also not capable with my playing 'skills' right now.

So, don't expect much and maybe you won't be too disappointed. You'll probably find some of my stuff 'new age-y' even though it wasn't my intention to make those sound like that. I tried that most of those compositions sound different from each other. Those are mostly some musical sketches that would one day turn into something better I hope on proper synth and with better playing.
Of course, any opinion will be nice to hear.

So, this is one of my latest compositions that seems that most of my friends do like and think it's probably my best so far, so I will share that one first:





This is the last one I uploaded yesterday, but it's not finished, because synth died in the meantime, so I decided to upload what I have and I will probably leave it that way:





This is one of the oldest things I made, but here I came first with that weird harmony and put melody over it later. This is one of the darkest I made and I actually enjoy this one quite much:





2 other dark compositions that I think have some potential:









This one is just slightly depressing:





This is one of the earliest and I was quite proud with 'chorus' part of that one, especially the last chorus with more challenging piano playing for my skills at that time:




But since I screwed the end, I made later a little variation in higher pitch and named it a Lullaby:





This was one the first compositions that was slightly more than poor sketch. I actually made it while having in mind one girl I fell in love last year and it was actually the way I experienced her. As you can hear, hitting the only 1 key with left hand was the best I could do at that time, but it's still one of my most favorite things:





Some of other earliest compositions while playing only 1 key at time with left hand:













This is also one that some of my friends like the best:





I actually like this one very much although that middle part was too slow and poorly played:





This one has poor harmony, but I think that melody is nice:





My mum is in love with this one.. one of my friend not.. lol:





With this one it was probably the first time that I tried to play slightly little more complicated harmony. I guess it's nice composition, but for some reason, it seems that with time I found it too 'lovely' even for my taste:





This is the one I composed very quick. Some did like it, some not. I don't like it too much. It's pretty much light new age:





This is one short and depressing composition I composed on st Valentine's Day and for some reason I like it enough:





Ok, I probably left out here a few of them and you can find those on my channel if you will survive listening to this.


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## dzc4627

i have listened to them all, and each seems to be very similar in that they rely on the left hand playing some two or three or four notes that change with the chord, while the right hand plays some melody within that chord scale. "storm dance" is definitely the best in my opinion and you can kind of see something of a well developed style in it. 

the rest though, very much seem like each other with little variation. i recommend listening to the big piano composer greats like chopin, scriabin, liszt, beethoven, satie (which i can see heavy inspiration from) and others. with this listening you can get a feel for the instrument's capabilities. i am not however suggesting you take on the style of any of these. just try and listen to get familiar with other composers.


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## nikola

Thanks for the comment dzc. Yes, they're pretty much similar on technical level mostly because I simply can't play the piano :lol:
Some half year ago I tried to play it for the first time in my life. I'm aware that I have quite many limitations while trying to make something. For those first few compositions I wasn't even able to do anything else than hitting at once 2 or 3 keys with left hand while playing some little melody with right hand. 
That was my way of learning how to play because I found it to be great fun not to be able to play, but still to come out with something that has some musical form.
Even though 'Storm Dance' sounds more 'full' is still quite easy now to play for me. What I'm playing with left hand is quite simple and easy to play. The biggest problem is of course to combine left and right hand in more complex way. I feel now like I'm able to do pretty much many things with right hand, but still not much with left one.
I'm still learning, but I think it's too early to make something like Chopin. I think that my abilities could me more in alignment of something like this:




This is exactly the way how I was playing at the beginning, but it's still not easy to make something that will sound meaningful, so I go more by feelings and emotions while composing something than by trying to sound skilled, yet too empty. 
I'm pretty much big fan of nice melodies and I like very much music of Ennio Morricone, Elton John, etc. so I guess I'm trying to make something that will have some nice melody form.

I hope that with time I will be able make something more interesting and more professional. Since my synth is dead I decided to buy this year some better yamaha synth and I will have to learn to play with wider keys


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## Majed Al Shamsi

I think allowing the left hand to do more would greatly improve your compositions. Your melodies are great.
You don't have to know how to play in order to compose (though it definitely helps.) Computer software can help you a great deal, especially when you write something by playing it on the keyboard slowly, and perhaps with messy rhythm. You can double check as well as experiment using computer software.
Keep composing!


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## nikola

Majed Al Shamsi said:


> I think allowing the left hand to do more would greatly improve your compositions. Your melodies are great.
> You don't have to know how to play in order to compose (though it definitely helps.) Computer software can help you a great deal, especially when you write something by playing it on the keyboard slowly, and perhaps with messy rhythm. You can double check as well as experiment using computer software.
> Keep composing!


Thank you for the comment. I'm glad that you have such positive opinion about my compositions. I will certanly try to buy soon new synth and maybe some software to help me with composing.


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## nikola

I'm proud to say that I have a new Yamaha toy since 2 days ago with keys sensitive to touch, so I must practice myself to play those new and bigger keys. 
I was watching yesterdy last episode of 3rd season of 'Person of Interest', so I decided to put my earlier composition to that last few minutes of episode. Of course, it is played with new Yamaha. I'm not completely satisfied with the result, but I think it's decent enough:


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## dzc4627

definitely more ambitious than your other pieces! and a huge rise in general quality as well. just work on some variation with what each hand does some more, for instance, maybe give the left hand the melody once in a while, maybe make a section that is without a melody, do not rely on the same chord progression too much either.


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## nikola

dzc4627 said:


> definitely more ambitious than your other pieces! and a huge rise in general quality as well. just work on some variation with what each hand does some more, for instance, maybe give the left hand the melody once in a while, maybe make a section that is without a melody, do not rely on the same chord progression too much either.


Thanks for the comment. I will certanly try to be more ambitious now that I have new instrument. The main problem is that it's hard many times even to play my own compositions if they're too hard to play for my abilities. I'm learning every day and trying to become better at playing. Some half year ago it was the first time I ever touched keys and I am happy that today I am even able to play with two hands at same time and compose something meaningful. This is even a few months old composition, but I did some changes and put some little harmony at 2nd part of the piece. 
I guess that with time I'll try to do something less predictable in terms of melodic structure. 
When my friend heard this piece 2 days ago she said that it made her cry and I guess that's a good sign... unless if she was crying because it's bad


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## nikola

This is one of my earliest pieces that I rerecorded today. It's very gentle composition and I tried to play it that way. It has pretty much common musical form that is 'verse-chorus' form, although 2nd chorus has more 'full' harmony and melody is the same, but slightly changed. I could even say that this composition probably managed to be 'me' in some way... it was quite emotional experience for me while composing this. It may sound corny, but it was one of the very first things I composed that I was kinda proud of.


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## nikola

This is the first one composed on new Yamaha toy. It's depressive piece that reminds me of something more classical... maybe Chopin.. or something with more simple melodic construction like Morricone:


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## nikola

Something new from me. It was pretty much hard to play this, so I made it with a bit of chemistry to get it whole:


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## nikola

Something new from me. No matter how many times I played it, I was never quite satisfied, but this version is probably the closest to what I wanted to achieve. It's for sure not playful like my earlier 'The Piano's Song' composition and I guess not all people will like something like this because it's pretty much gloomy, eerie and kinda sad, but this could actually be so far to me my favorite work.
*Free Fall*


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## nikola

This is 3 months old composition that I already played, but decided to do it again with my new Yamaha:





As you can hear, it's all about melody... there's no any variation in harmony. I tried to change something and make it more complex, but it didn't work, so I kept it the way it was probably meant to be.


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## nikola

My latest thing... it is so bad and passionately played and even more disastrously glued together in audacity that I love it for all it's imperfections. It is also inspired by Beethoven's music ... and it is inspired by her... it's always inspired by her... sweet little devil with golden heart


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## nikola

New piano composition:


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## dwindladwayne

Good work, never stop writing!


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## nikola

dwindladwayne said:


> Good work, never stop writing!


Thank you very much!


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## nikola

This one started as a sketch that I made for fun (what you can hear at begining)... I didn't want to make something of it because it was too hard for me to play, but I decided to still make something of it and here it is. It was really hard for me to play it and it's still not perfect version, but at this point, I can't do it better. I hope next time I will find in my closet Valentina Lisitsa, so she can play my music instead of me. 
*The Thirst*


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## nikola

a new melancholic piece
*Lost Moments*


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## nikola

One girl asked me to write music to the lyrics of Croatian poet Vesna Parun, so I did it. So far it was the hardest thing to play and I'm still not completely satisfied. I don't sing, but in video lyrics follow the melody.
*Before the sea, as before death, I have no fear*


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## nikola

Why can't I edit my post?

It should be: before the sea, as before death, I have no secrets


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## nikola

Also, even if this is the board only for classical music composers where we will draw the line then? If this music from Yoshed is not classical music then Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue' is also not classical music. 
And what about Dvorak's 'New World Symphony'? I guess that there are too many simple themes repeating themselves that we could call it classical music then. It's more like a movie music then. 
Same about Gustav Holst who used time machine to go to the future and steal work from John Williams. 
Oh dear.... classical music doesn't even exist. I just came to that conclusion. Many lives will be ruined now. Everything in what we all believed is a lie!


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## nikola

My newest composition... it's kinda jazzy... in theory:
*Midnight Story*


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## Vasks

nikola said:


> And what about Dvorak's 'New World Symphony'? I guess that there are too many simple themes repeating themselves that we could call it classical music then. It's more like a movie music then.


Your lack of formal music training just reared its head. Dvorak's structure is based on traditional Classical principles. Maybe you, like I and others here have, should study the score before making generalizations.


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## nikola

Vasks said:


> Your lack of formal music training just reared its head. Dvorak's structure is based on traditional Classical principles. Maybe you, like I and others here have, should study the score before making generalizations.


There is really nothing to understand in your statement. Yes, there are many themes in Dvorak's "A New World Symphony" repeating themselves. You don't need for that musical training, only ears. Just like Gershwin who's "Rhapsody in Blue" is based on many different musical themes glued together. Not much difference with "New World Symphony".
Do you even know what that post was all about? It's here by mistake on wrong thread, so what is your point?


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## nikola

Btw, I know people who play a few musical instruments and are clasically trained musicians and they're still so much tone deaf that they didn't recognize obvious plagiarism in 2 simple pop songs (that actually happened on one board). I heard musicians without any formal musical training making brilliant music and those with formal training making crap. So, it seems that you generalize. It could be great if formal training can bring an instant talent for making music that doesn't suck, but that's not happening. Formal music training is very useful, but it won't bring the talent or sensibility to feel music.


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## nikola

Something new from me. 
*Broken Wings*


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## paulc

Hi nikola,

You said that you have no formal music training. Why did you react so defensively to Vask's statement about Dvorak's New World Symphony, which is clearly more informed than yours? Please don't take offence... It is not employing complex rather than simple themes that makes something 'classical'. He is referring also to the voice-leading, form, harmony & overall CRAFT. See Pachelbel's Canon: It has a simple subject repeated many times, but is still based on classical principles. 

You seem to have some ability. Why don't you do yourself a favour and try to do more with the left hand (try to make it play an equal role melodically)? Also, read about voice-leading and harmony.


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## Vasks

http://www.antonin-dvorak.cz/en/symphony9

My favorite quotes:

"_The symphony is a product of professional mastery. The unity of form and content is flawless, and the four-movement framework is constructed with unerring architectural proficiency. The exceptional and compelling nature of the work lies in its remarkable lyricism and concise thematic treatment, striking rhythms, purity of expression, elemental temperament and the equilibrium of all these qualities together. A characteristic feature of the composition is the frequent reminiscence of themes from previous movements at crucial points in each subsequent movement, a principle which gives the symphony its homogeneous expression. Dvorak had used this approach many times in the past, but never with such consistency and deliberation_."

_"While, in terms of the choice of thematic material and the overall atmosphere of the work, Dvorak really was entering a "new world", in its structural framework the symphony largely adheres to classical schemes derived from the deeply entrenched traditions of European music."_


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## nikola

paulc said:


> Hi nikola,
> 
> You said that you have no formal music training. Why did you react so defensively to Vask's statement about Dvorak's New World Symphony, which is clearly more informed than yours? Please don't take offence... It is not employing complex rather than simple themes that makes something 'classical'. He is referring also to the voice-leading, form, harmony & overall CRAFT. See Pachelbel's Canon: It has a simple subject repeated many times, but is still based on classical principles.
> 
> You seem to have some ability. Why don't you do yourself a favour and try to do more with the left hand (try to make it play an equal role melodically)? Also, read about voice-leading and harmony.


I never said that Dvorak's NWS ain't classical piece. My point is that Vasks was answering to the thread without even knowing what it's about, because I posted that by mistake here and forum didn't let me to delete that message. .

Considering my music.... Yes, my music is simple because I don't have any professional knowledge about music and I don't want to have it... I don't need to have it. I also don't think that any learning about theory will help me. I have other things to do in life, so I only want to enjoy while composing. 
It's already too late. I'm 35 years old and year ago I started for the first time in my life to play the piano (to "play"- I can hardly call that 'playing').

I'm making music primarily for my own enjoyment. I also don't think that left hand should do miracles because casual people who listen to the music and who are not obsessed with technical side of composition (including me) don't care at all about such things. They actually don't like any piano composition more simply because there is more left hand playing in composition. If I will one day learn to play better the piano (it's possible), I will probably use left hand in more versatile way, but still don't expect to hear from me something that will sound like The Goldberg Variations.

I want to feel the music that I make. Actually, many people are very positively surprised with some of my compositions. I'm glad that they like such music. Many of them are not classical music lovers, but some of them are classicaly trained. I even don't want to make something technically great just for the sake of technical greatness. I'm also playing within the range of my playing abilities and my playing abilities are very VERY low. I don't even consider myself a piano player. I don't know how to play the piano. I glue melodic parts together in Audacity. I suck. But because of that I'm forced to make something that will be at least remotely substantial on melodic and experiencing level. 
So far, these are some of the pieces that most people liked the most:
The Piano's Song
Black Rose
The Last Word
Memories
Surreal Thoughts
The Thirst
Lost Moments

And this one is my personal favorite even though it's very very simple... just listen my left hand playing (if you dare):
Free Fall

When I compose something I want to like it. I want to feel it. I want to have the story, emotion and the atmosphere in it. I want it to hit me. I don't pay much attention to what left hand or right hand is doing. If I start to think what are exactly keys that I play, I even forgot how to play it.
Of course, not all people are the same... not all people will feel the same as I do, but some people do like it and if one person like somethng I compose, that's great. Even if nobody likes it, at least I will like it... or I won't like it, but I will know what was the idea behind it. 
I'm aware about all my limitations (and there are many of them). Even with such limitations, there is enjoyment in making music and if there is enjoyment, then there's everything about music actually is.


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## Grizzled Ghost

Your story reminds me a little bit of "primitive art" or "folk art" in the visual arts − art works created by "untrained" artists which seem to shun traditional training and techniques, and which are produced despite a lack of a proper background. While not everyone's cup of tea, such artwork does have a following.

So also should music composed without any formal education or technique. The fact that you compose music for the fun of it suggests to me that you are more of a true artist than many classically-trained musicians, at least in one respect.

Good stuff. Keep it up and enjoy the ride.


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## nikola

Thanks Grizzled Ghost... for my whole life I wanted to learn to play the piano.... when I got it, I realized that I actually want to make music, so I'm finally doing something that I can enjoy.


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## paulc

nikola said:


> My point is that Vasks was answering to the thread without even knowing what it's about, because I posted that by mistake here and forum didn't let me to delete that message.


Firstly, to anyone other than yourself it appears that you knowingly posted the comment here! Vasks reply in this thread was perfectly understandable, but you reacted as if he had 'missed a point' that he couldn't possibly have known when he posted.

Secondly, even if your comment was not meant to be HERE, you said what you did in the other thread. Challenging it here or there... incidental! Here is the problem:

You objected to music that is characteristic of film / game trailers and lacks many of the features of classical music being excluded from the latter genre. Why? Somebody suggested to you that the *main* focus of this non-classical music is the use of repeated simplistic or minimalistic themes. There's more to classical music than themes. This is why I (and I suspect Vasks) objected to your comments about Dvorak's NWS:



nikola said:


> And what about Dvorak's 'New World Symphony'? I guess that there are too many simple themes repeating themselves that we could call it classical music then. It's more like a movie music then.





nikola said:


> Yes, there are many themes in Dvorak's "A New World Symphony" repeating themselves. You don't need for that musical training, only ears.


If the themes were more or less complex it would still be classical due to its other distinctive features. The same cannot be said for Yoshed's tunes - even though they are well made.

By focusing only on themes, you ignore the other features of Dvorak's work (and classical music in general) which set it apart: Movements, phrasing, modulations to other keys, chromaticism, stylistic harmony, counterpoint. In other classical works: fugue, twelve tone technique, atonalism, serialism, indeterminacy. The list goes on...

No, music doesn't have to be complex to be moving. That doesn't mean we should allow one genre to be labelled another, or question the existence of genres:



nikola said:


> Oh dear.... classical music doesn't even exist. I just came to that conclusion.


-----------------------

Anyway, practice your piano. Work on your left hand. Play more, write more. Have fun.  I only started studying composition five and a half years ago & I am older than you. It's never too late to learn!


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## nikola

Paulc, this is really not a thread about classical music or what it isn't. You see one post that is out of the place and not connected with any previous post and it's perfectly understandable for someone to reply to it? 

But okay... 
Yes, there's more to EVERY music than themes, especially to some genres where musical themes are not prominent at all. 
But, we also have something like Brahm's 'Lullaby' that people consider to be classical piece or Beethoven's 'Fur Elise'. Both of those 2 pieces could easily fall into 'pop' or 'contemporary / new age' music category. 
Someone will say that ABBA's 'The Name of the Game' is neoclassical piece because of it's more complex melody structure. 
Some people won't recognize difference between Williams' Superman Theme and Dvorak's NWS considering style. Of course there is a big difference.

Sure, classical music is more complex and different, but casual listeners will always hear and remember those themes from Dvorak's NWS.
Hoiw can we be sure that there's no more in Yoshed's music than just themes? Are we saying that only because it doesn't fulfill technical aspects that some classical music does? There are for sure many classical tricks in NWS, but people mostly don't like it because of those tricks. Those tricks make Symphony even more exciting, but that music is mostly based on themes, just like Gershwin's 'Rhapsody in Blue'.
The most popular classical pieces (that most people actually do like) are popular because of their exciting themes. That doesn't mean that some more complex and less 'likeable' pieces are not even better. 

Considering my music, if I have more time, I would work more on playing and composing, but since recently I found some administrative job, so my composing became less often. With every composing I'm learning to use left hand slightly better than previous time.


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## paulc

nikola said:


> You see one post that is out of the place and not connected with any previous post and it's perfectly understandable for someone to reply to it?


Yes, regardless of context - if you state something which is factually incorrect or ignorant (due to a computer glitch or not) in the service of a point, you should expect that this will be contested!



Nikola said:


> But, we also have something like Brahm's 'Lullaby' that people consider to be classical piece or Beethoven's 'Fur Elise'. Both of those 2 pieces could easily fall into 'pop' or 'contemporary / new age' music category.


Nope @ pop or new age 



nikola said:


> How can we be sure that there's no more in Yoshed's music than just themes? Are we saying that only because it doesn't fulfill technical aspects that some classical music does?


We can submit Yoshed's music to analysis. We can examine the melodic & harmonic structure, the overall form. On the face of it, there's nothing that can compare to the sophistication of Dvorak's NWS.


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## nikola

Lullaby certainly has pop form. Analyze it and youll realize it.


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## paulc

At best, pop occasionally has Lullaby form.


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## nikola

So, you see... classical composers also made pop tunes


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## paulc

Yup.

Tori Amos - Your Ghost (Robert Schumann):


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## nikola

Something new from me. It almost composed by itself. It's gentle, simple and probably predictable or familiar sounding.
*Prelude #2*


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## nikola

I didn't know what to do with this march and I didn't have the need to prolong it, so instead of forgetting it, I demolished it and uploaded it:
*Success on Demand*


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## nikola

Simple and relaxing piece...
First Breath


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## dzc4627

nikola said:


> Simple and relaxing piece...
> First Breath


Wow... nikola, you have improved bunches! This is really nice. Simplistic. (a good thing in this case)


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## nikola

dzc4627 said:


> Wow... nikola, you have improved bunches! This is really nice. Simplistic. (a good thing in this case)


Thanks dzc. The simplistic will probably be for the long time the only thing you will hear in my music 
If I can say something with few tones, I will say it that way. I found that it's not healthy to force myself or the complexity at the cost of natural melody flow. It's probably how my brain works. If I only want to practice my hands, I would probably try to compose something else, but I'm more interested in story, melodies and atmosphere than in complexity.

If you didn't listen so far, I would also recommend some of my earlier pieces that I feel satisfied about:
*The Piano's Song* - this is probably so far my most 'commercial' piece since it seems that most of the people liked it the most.
*Black Rose* - very simplistic, yet I'm pretty much proud of this one
*The Midnight Story* - even though I'm not big fan of jazz, I do like the 'idea' of it, so I guess this is kinda atmospheric 'jazzy' piece more in theory than in reality. 
*The Thirst* - playing this vampiric piece was really hard to play correctly, so I played it in more parts.
*Surreal Thoughts* - it's one of the pieces that I like more and more with each listening, so I guess that's a good thing.
*The Last Word* - this was kinda passionate tribute to Beethoven. Even though playing was horrendoues and made from many parts, I like the piece very much anyway. 
*Free Fall* - very simplistic, yet to me, personally, most favorite piece that I'm most proud of... probably the moment where I felt that's truly something coming from me. 
*Lost Moments* - I wanted to make something similar to Angelo Badalamenti stye... I also didn't strictly force some melodic form to this one... I mostly let the melody flow go freely where it wants to go.


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## nikola

New piece:
*Shadows of the Past*


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## Flamme

I like the dreaming and just posted it on my FB wall...Very soothing and nice video too


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## nikola

Flamme said:


> I like the dreaming and just posted it on my FB wall...Very soothing and nice video too


That's a few months old piece.
I'm glad that you like it.


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## nikola

A little piece inspired by H.C. Andersen story.


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## nikola

Same piece played slightly faster The Little Matchgirl
The first version seemed too slow to me.


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## nikola

My new, darker piece...
*Ahab's Curse*


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## nikola

One year old piece played on new synth.
*Bubble of Illusion*


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## nikola

A new piece that could be probably a much longer, but I was too lazy for that. Maybe one day I will prolong it.
*Just Passing Through*


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## Stirling

At least it is short.


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## nikola

Stirling said:


> At least it is short.


I guess that this sarcastic comment should have some deeper meaning, right? Don't be afraid to say your opinion.


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## Stirling

I'm pretty sure the mods will have some to say about that. And I do not wish to anger them.


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## nikola

Don't worry about mods. Worry about me :devil:


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## Stirling

You are not a devil.


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## nikola

Oh welI... I would like some really bad comments about my music because that would mean that I'm doing pretty much good music at least in some segments. In more than a year that I'm making music I didn't get any really negative reviews... not from musically trained people and not from casual listeners. Some said it's simple but good and some said it's great.... one person even said that he didn't like solo piano music until he heard my music. Wow... for someone who didn't even know how to play the piano (and I still suck at it), that was really great compliment, but I knew that there must be something wrong if such great majority of people think mostly positively about my music.

I realized that there is so many crappy music in the world that people are praising that only if such people would say that my music sucks, I knew that I would be certain then that my music is actually really GOOD in some way. What if tone deaf people or people who doesn't have sensibility to experience music are liking my music? It's awful thought.
You know what they say: 'when everyone likes what you're doing, you're doing it wrong'.

I don't want to do it wrong. I want wrong people to tell me wrong things about my music, so I will know I'm doing it right... BUT....
To be honest, I'm making music primarily for myself and for my own pleasure. I'm also making music for people who will eventually like it and not for people who won't like it. I even don't find valuable opinions from people who think my music is crap or who can't understand what I'm trying to achieve because most probably they even don't like the music that I find great or most probably I would hate the music that they do like, so are negative opinions meaningful at all?

Not so much, soooo..... :tiphat:


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## nikola

Just when you thought that you got rid of me...... 
*Asteroid B-612*

It seems that I spent more time on this than it deserves, but it seems that I also didn't have much time lately.


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## nikola

First part of this piece is more than a year old and new part starts at 1:50.

It didn't get a chance till now to be played on proper synth and with new part of the piece I completed the story. I'm pretty much happy with this one. I have chosen some vidcaps mostly from David Lynch movies, because this piece is to my ears just like that: dark, mysterious, tragic, sad and nostalgic.

*The Other Side*


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## nikola

New (old) piece:
*Raindrops*


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## Pugg

nikola said:


> New (old) piece:
> *Raindrops*


This is your own composing?


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## nikola

Yes, all these on this thread are my own compositions.


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## Samuel Kristopher

These are great nikola - Raindrops is very peaceful and you conjure the image of a light autumn shower very well.


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## nikola

Samuel Kristopher said:


> These are great nikola - Raindrops is very peaceful and you conjure the image of a light autumn shower very well.


Thanks for listening and for comment. I'm glad that you like it


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## hreichgott

I listened to Raindrops and two of your works from earlier in the thread. You're really getting better, and quickly!

The chordal accompaniment + single note melody formula is, like all formulas, both worth understanding and worth breaking out of when the time is right. 
One thing to think about while you write in this formula is that there are really two or more melodies, or lines, happening at the same time. The RH melody is primary of course, but the bass line (lowest notes) in the LH make a melody too. Great composers create a conversation between those lines. Sometimes there are interesting lines in the middle too.
Maybe take a listen side-by-side to some Nocturnes by John Field and Frederic Chopin; see how they use the chordal accomp + melody formula on the piano. Field is more formulaic, Chopin more creative, both made beautiful stuff.


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## nikola

Thanks for listening and suggestions.


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## nikola

I wanted to take a rest from composing, but I couldn't resist the urge to play with my synth, so this is my new piece:
*Heart on Fire*


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## nikola

a new one...

*Taking Off*


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## nikola

.......
*Prelude #3*


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## Pugg

nikola said:


> .......
> *Prelude #3*


I like the last one very much.


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## nikola

Pugg said:


> I like the last one very much.


Glad that you like it.


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## nikola

a new one
*Man on a Wire*


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## nikola

Something older redone on new synth.
*A March of the Lost*


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## nikola

An older piece that deserved to be improved.
*A New Day*


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## HeavyGroovist

The only gripe I have with these is that they are all short and lack structure - they're more "riffs" than they are "pieces" in result.
I would suggest playing around with dynamics a bit more, you got the ritardando\anticipation thing figured out well enough now, so that's the next logical step I think. 
Another thing is trying to use a wider range - maybe you're limited by your hardware, but most of what I heard was not only pretty static itself in that sense, the different compositions don't differentiate from one another much either. 
The best one I heard here was the Prelude #3, it has a great, softly dissonant texture specific to a piano I struggle to achieve.
It would sound even better on a real piano I bet.
I would suggest changing up the synth and maybe add effects like delay or reverb to inspire yourself to find new rythmic structures and textures though. I haven't listened to most of what you posted here, but what I did check out didn't exactly reach many different extremes.


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## nikola

HeavyGroovist said:


> The only gripe I have with these is that they are all short and lack structure - they're more "riffs" than they are "pieces" in result.
> I would suggest playing around with dynamics a bit more, you got the ritardando\anticipation thing figured out well enough now, so that's the next logical step I think.
> Another thing is trying to use a wider range - maybe you're limited by your hardware, but most of what I heard was not only pretty static itself in that sense, the different compositions don't differentiate from one another much either.
> The best one I heard here was the Prelude #3, it has a great, softly dissonant texture specific to a piano I struggle to achieve.
> It would sound even better on a real piano I bet.
> I would suggest changing up the synth and maybe add effects like delay or reverb to inspire yourself to find new rythmic structures and textures though. I haven't listened to most of what you posted here, but what I did check out didn't exactly reach many different extremes.


Thanks for listening and comments. My main preoccupation so far is enjoying while composing those pieces. I also don't consider myself to be some kind of wannabe classical composer, because I have something else in mind while composing, so I don't force myself into some technical gymnastics that I don't find much necessary in my own creative process. 
Anyway, I do try to make my pieces more challgenging with time. The synth I have now is actually a new one. I bought it a year ago, because before that one, I've had one for kids that was really subpar on every level. 
You noticed that "Prelude #3" (which title I changed later into "Point of View") is somehow different with more diversity. That's something I'm trying to do with my newer pieces, however, if I don't think that some change fits into the whole atmosphere or the flow of the melody, I rather keep it simple, for example:












I guess this one was everybodys favorite, even though, on technical level it is very simple:





But even in the earlier stages I had some ideas that strived to be more developed:





This one was pretty much hard to play... I played separately (the first main part) right hand melody and left hand harmony:





On this one I really tried to develop the story, so there is also a big gap between composing first part of this piece and 2nd part:





Those are still of course not complex pieces at all, but I don't strive much for complexity. I want people to feel my music (if they're able to) rather than analyse it on technical level. I'm also big fan of Morricone film music, so you can probably have better picture what I prefer. I would always rather hear somethng very simple that will move me, like this:





... than something complex that will probably put me to sleep. There are some more complex pieces that I do enjoy very much, for example:





But there are also too many complex pieces that I can't enjoy much. If I can't feel it or enjoy in it, I don't understand its purpose then. 
I'm also pretty much bad piano player and I'm self taught (I wonder how much I actually taught myself LOL), so that should be taken into consideration.


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## nikola

new little piece...
Short Journey


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## nikola

new melancholic piano piece..
Autumn


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## Medley

nikola said:


> new melancholic piano piece..
> Autumn


I'd actually been to this thread before and had subbed to your channel. Somehow forgot that you and Koko were the same person, lol.

Enjoyed this one alot, I've listened to it several times now. Keep up the good work!


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## nikola

Medley said:


> I'd actually been to this thread before and had subbed to your channel. Somehow forgot that you and Koko were the same person, lol.
> 
> Enjoyed this one alot, I've listened to it several times now. Keep up the good work!


Hi Medley, 
thanks for subscribing and I'm glad that you like the piece


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## nikola

A new piece.... nothing big or spectacular... I thought it was nice, so I decided to release it.
Until We Meet Again


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## MarkMcD

Hi Nikola
I listened to some of your pieces and to say that you've only been playing for less than a year, you have a good ear and there is potential in some of your later stuff.
I don't think as some have already said that you need to be a great player in order to be a composer, or necessarily to understand complex music theory either. I think you have a musical talent and you need to develop it.
I think there is a lot of merit in thinking that the end result is far less important than enjoying taking the journey, and as long as you love expressing yourself through composition, then that is the most important thing, the rest can always be improved through practice and practice and practice.
I would suggest finding a few composers that you like a lot and listen to them. Try to see the patterns they create and how they manipulate themes and motifs.
The left hand is often the weaker hand especially for beginners, often being seen as not much more than something to fill the space below the right hand, so I might suggest some left hand exercises to expand your range and agility.
Well done, it's great that you have been brave enough to share your work and accept whatever people might say even though that may not always be positive. The trick is to take that and use it as motivation to improve.
Keep composing, you definitely have potential.


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## nikola

MarkMcD said:


> Hi Nikola
> I listened to some of your pieces and to say that you've only been playing for less than a year, you have a good ear and there is potential in some of your later stuff.
> I don't think as some have already said that you need to be a great player in order to be a composer, or necessarily to understand complex music theory either. I think you have a musical talent and you need to develop it.
> I think there is a lot of merit in thinking that the end result is far less important than enjoying taking the journey, and as long as you love expressing yourself through composition, then that is the most important thing, the rest can always be improved through practice and practice and practice.
> I would suggest finding a few composers that you like a lot and listen to them. Try to see the patterns they create and how they manipulate themes and motifs.
> The left hand is often the weaker hand especially for beginners, often being seen as not much more than something to fill the space below the right hand, so I might suggest some left hand exercises to expand your range and agility.
> Well done, it's great that you have been brave enough to share your work and accept whatever people might say even though that may not always be positive. The trick is to take that and use it as motivation to improve.
> Keep composing, you definitely have potential.


Thank you for your words of encouragement. Now it is 2 years that I compose when I have time. I listen to a lot of music. When I try to compose something I always try to compose something meaningful no matter how simple it may be. I can hear a lot of common piano chords that are not so much interesting while listening to some 'new age-y' piano music on youtube and I always try to avoid making something that sounds so obviously generic and predictable. By not knowing at all what 'the common chords' are, I'm making myself tasks more heavier because i'm searching on my own what works and what doesn't. I'm also trying that every piece is somehow different. If there is something that I can't play at once, I can play one part on another, etc. and stick it together later. 
But I would certainly like to improve myself. I also love interesting chords and harmonies. This for example is piano cover of one of beautiful orchestral compositions by Morricone... I didn't play this cover of course. But it really amazes me that such combination of chords can create such strong atmosphere and emotion. That's something I would like to achieve. Maybe I did to certain extent with some of my pieces. 




this is the original:


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## nikola

Something different from me. I didn't know exactly how to develop the main idea, so Disney movie "Maleficent" actually inspired me to take different approach, so no 'piano' this time. I chose some other 'instruments'. 
The Edge of a Dream


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