They're very nice! I liked #2 the most because I thought it was the most harmonically interesting, especially how it kind of avoids the tonic a lot of the time, but #3 and 4 (especially 3) were impressively Chopinesque.

I wish I had a good answer! I started writing the first movement as a standalone piece quite awhile ago, and set it aside pretty early on because I didn't like it. But then I came back to it and decided it wasn't so bad, and by the time I'd finished, the theme of some sort of "mechanism" had kind of revealed itself, so I kept running with it.

Thanks! Yeah, when I think of typical fire-inspired music, I think Stravinsky, Feinberg, Rautavaara, all this really intense, brutal music. I wanted something cozier, like candlelight or a fireplace. :)

Thank you! I just checked and I didn't notice any discrepancies there -- what are you hearing/seeing that doesn't match up?

A visit from the legend? Am I famous now?

I was raised on old-school JRPGs (and still love them!), so this checks out 😀

Oh, performed beautifully as well by the way.

Thank you so much for your kind words and analysis! I hope to listen to some of your music some day.

I use MuseScore 4 for notation. It's pretty good, overall. It's occasionally frustrating, but I've learned workarounds for dealing with specific things over time, so I feel pretty comfortable with it these days. I also like supporting free and open-source software when I can. For recording, I play on an M-Audio Oxygen 88 MIDI controller and use the East West Bosendorfer piano VST in REAPER. I'm not a digital audio engineering guy, like, at all, so I could probably get a better sound out of it, but it's worked well enough so far. I feel like it lacks real "oomph," though, so I don't get quite the dynamic range I'd like; all of my recordings sound kind of...flat, I guess, to me. After I finish my next few pieces, I'm going to look into trying the Modartt Pianoteq -- their Steingraeber sounds incredible. Ideally, I'd love to simply record on my acoustic piano, but getting a good recording out of an acoustic piano is a nightmarish endeavor I'd rather leave to the pros. Maybe one day I'll book time in a recording studio and re-record some stuff.

@@RowanMcTavish Thank you for your reply! I'm getting into arranging songs for piano and appreciate the recommendations

I think the reason for that is simply that there's very little interesting, from an academic standpoint, about new music that conforms to typical tonal harmony conventions. That doesn't mean that there's not still tons of good new music that can be composed in that framework -- we see it every day, still, from pop to video game soundtracks to little piano channels on KZbin :) -- but I won't pretend that I'm treading any new ground here. It's just a great honor for me to know that I've maybe made someone's day a little brighter, or that they liked something I wrote enough to want to play it themselves.

@@RowanMcTavish no I know there isn’t but the contemporary accepted approach for a classical composer is basically just to write atonal etudes. Then ofc the movie and gaming scene etc is where modern, and LISTENABLE, classical music has its viability. The greatest classical composers of our time r Williams, Horner, Shore and Zimmer. It’s weird cuz in the end music is abt experience and the classical world embraces emotionless, theoretical abysses rather than modern melodic uniqueness. Anyways I think it was Chopin or Debussy or someone who foresaw this. It’s only natural but still sad

From his piano concerto, first mvt.

I believe that everyone of any age can be a composer. I started composing when I was 10. Why don’t you try it now? It’s really worth learning, and I'm sure you wouldn't regret a minute of doing it! It's another powerful way to express your emotions, apart from painting and writing.

Thank you! I think there's still plenty of opportunity out there to leverage classical forms in the modern era. Some of my favorites are Nikolai Kapustin, Masashi Hamauzu, Takashi Yoshimatsu, and Carl Vine. I hope you'll share your music once you start composing; I'd love to hear it!

Thank you both for you comment! Actually, I started composing two years ago. I'm waiting to have the time to make a proper recording of my pieces so I can share them with the world!!

Hey! Also a young composer here. It's never too late to learn! I started composing around the age of 12 and now when I'm 16 let's call it my talent was recognised at my music school and they started giving me lessons on it. Remember one thing: mistakes are a human thing and you can fix them. Try composing in different genres. I started with being quite classical (wrote some preludes), then I moved on to more of a romantical style (wrote 2 movements of a concertino, doing a concerto) and now I'm interested in baroque and I'm trying to do some fugues so remember - learn to experiment. We are never perfect, but we need to start something to learn it. Good luck on your journey!

That's not what Spinal Tap taught me 😁

Thanks for your kind words! I love the XBC soundtracks (one day I'll finish the third game); maybe there's a subconscious influence there. 😅

@@RowanMcTavish There's not as much to miss as in the previous two, but definitely worth playing (just make sure to play the DLC as well). the series actually inspired quite some pieces of mine, also the 3rd one 😅

I use MuseScore 4. It's...frustrating, sometimes, in some specific scenarios, but I've become pretty comfortable with it over the years, and I like to support free and open-source software when I can.

I'd be so honored! I'm gonna subscribe to you and check out your music this evening! (Also, I have to admit to being a terrible Zelda fan; I haven't played anything in the series since Twilight Princess, though my girlfriend played BotW, so I've definitely at least heard some of the music.)

@@RowanMcTavish awesome, thanks so much, and thanks for checking out my channel! I have a couple others’ pieces I’m recording soon and will add this one to the list. I don’t think I can call myself a Zelda fan cause I’ve really only played breath of the wild and a smidge of Twilight Princess, but the BotW soundtrack is gorgeous.

Needs more "doo doo, doo doo doo doo," clearly

Not really, I'm afraid; I'm going for more of a contemporary style.

Yes! Just a little nod to how Bach's music is still inspiring us centuries later. And thank you!