Two Little Woodwind Pieces

Lovely stuff.

For "The Bookworm":

• At 1:10 I would leave the flute playing the A and slowly fading out for a bar and 3 4ths, until the melody lead in. I listened over that little gap a couple times and I can't help but hear it in my head. Maybe it's just me.
• At the end I feel it got slightly messy. Maybe more instruments should be playing shorts? That way it would be sustains, shorts in the same rhythm (or possibly transform the half notes to sixteenths), and bassoons keep playing their rhythm over every other two just the way it is. It's just an idea that I feel would help clear it up and still keep the colors and tensions you have there
• I kinda wanted more I felt it ended before it should've, like there's more to be said. But I'm sure it would'be been easy to write more if you were using a full palette

"Sgt. Bumblebee"

• Nothing to say here, lovely short piece

Mix wise (I know you didn't ask for it, and it's not in your objectives, but I'll leave it here nonetheless ), the oboes (?) are a bit too piercing in "The Bookworm". They're just too harsh whenever they play loudly. I solve stuff like that with a dynamic EQ/multiband compressor (I use FabFilter Pro-MB) so that when it's not an issue, the overall tone isn't affected. I know this was an exercise and this would otherwise be below all other stuff, but I feel both mixes are just slightly too wet and (thus) lacking some clarity for a woodwinds-only piece.

I'd refer to Mike's piece for a great mixdown of a sample library-based woodwinds-only piece. I'm actually surprised that this is the only woodwinds-only piece that I was able to find quickly listening through demos of numerous woodwinds libraries. If you're demonstrating a woodwinds library, shouldn't you use just that library?

 

Hey !

Good stuff ! I like it very much.

I would suggest you use this composition as a template for practicing "Theme and Variations".

Similar to a jazz musician using a "standard".

Please treat the following comments like a buffet: take what you like, leave the rest behind.

Just trying to offer some suggestions on how to make more from what you have.


Biggest Criticisms:

1. To much "exact" repetition
2. Centered on D for far too long. (bass)


Forgive mistakes below, but this is the gist of your opening.






Basically 3 ideas, each one in kind of a block. D minor meandering up. Tonic to 5th quick down, and lastly some "Peter and the Wolf" high stuff.

Here are some suggestions to get out of the exact repetition and also away from D. (there are dozens of ways, but I only want to work with what is ALREADY in your piece, and not add anything new to it.)



Your opening creates small phrase patterns. Why not take your idea #2 and apply this to your bass line ?



This will make a longer phrase arch.

Next, instead of having each idea as a block you can overlap. Here is idea 1 and 2 combined at the same time



Inversion is your friend.

Experiment with taking your low patterns and putting them high




You can have the inversion and the original transposed going at the same time



Lastly to expand on your 3rd idea: Sequences. The "rubs" distort our sense of tonic anyway, so you can always change the relationship to the bass note, and move in a melodic fashion, or simply as a transition to your next section.



All of the is just is just meant to be tools to draw "more blood from a stone".

If I may, here is an A/B of a piano reduction of your idea and then the material with the ideas above.

Nothing "new" has been composed here. Keep up your good work !

 

You are very welcome. Here is the "sketch" score. As I mentioned before, take anything that is useful, and disregard anything not of interest.

All the very best !