-SavantusProdigimus' Songs-

[blobertthebob]

Here's my 2nd symphony: Imagine two warriors fighting with this music in the background. Pretty epic, right?

Here's some constructive criticism:

It's too short. I try to avoid short things unless they loop.

At least for me, it all seems discordant.

[LucentTear]

There are multiple things I would like to discuss, and I'm going to post it here for the sole purpose of letting other people add on to my "criticism" in case I have missed something important. This is also to prevent justifying your case because of any biases I may have against you.

Do note that you cannot idolize yourself as a prodigy if multiple people around you have strong reasons to be criticizing you in the first place.

You know the people on this site who are acting nice to you now? The reason they are doing that is to prevent instigating a fight in the community by merely agreeing with what you have to say about yourself. I think what you just said about accepting "constant" praise also applies to yourself, who cannot willingly interpret and take under consideration any of my opinions that I want to express.

I have a strong feeling you are going to TL;DR this post either way, but please refrain from presenting yourself in such adulterated manner. You have a long way to go before anyone in general starts truly respecting you, especially with that toxic personality you are displaying right now.

Let's start by talking about the quote chain on this thread, because it is the most relevant thing at this moment.

You claim to know all of these complicated chords and yet you don't even use them in your own music.

Do you even play Cmaj13b9 chords lol (G-B-C#-E-A/C is one of them)

I use german augmented sixth chords in their 2nd inversions. (1-3-5-7... I'm using the root chord, invert them as you will plus the fact that these chords are practically enharmonic to a dominant seventh) You only know diatonic chords, while I use extended chords and added tone chords. (please don't assume that I only know so much about chords, especially when I have only mentioned one in the chat logs)

I even use the augmented triad on the fifth scale degree as a substitute dominant. (1-3-#5, literally stop making your explanations on simple chords so lengthy) Have you ever heard of the septimal meantone temperament? (And no, but it really doesn't matter because you don't use it.)

I know most of these things by heart and I am sure as hell you are not using them. Maybe you can play these chords in the sheet music you read, but can you compose with them? I'm assuming not. Your claims are very misleading.

I've listened to all of your songs and neither of them use a single chord extension. I didn't see anything more than a major or minor chord at best. There isn't any memorable melody that stands out to me at all, as well as the fact that there is a lack of distinct left hand rhythm and they're all just the same chords mashed over and over.

Unless you can prove to me otherwise, you are being very condescending for your age and you cannot compose music on any level near Mozart. I'd rate your music at the moment at a 2/10.

I don't use those chords because they sound ugly. Plus complicated doesn't mean better. I can hide a lot of meaning in my songs using just simple chords, something you'll never be able to do. Plus Mozart was 35 when he died, and I'm only 12. Imagine how good I am when I'm 35. Mozart makes happy little sonatas while my work has deep and hidden symbolism in it. But that probably flew over your head because you don't know how to analyse music (judging by you giving me a mere 2/10). Nice try kid, but better luck next time.  :D

"I don't use those chords because they sound ugly." This is just a straight-up, flat out excuse to not attempt to compose with them. It implies that you are incapable of composing with these chords, simply because you refuse to use these sophisticated chords.

Any dedicated musician would actually be able to find their way to create a melody with any chord, no matter how terribly difficult they are. They need to appreciate each fine detail of the tones underneath the heap, and to analyze how to musically present it within the measure.

A more complicated chord only means that it is more situational, and correctly using it will definitely be worth the effort. So yes, complicated does mean better if you can use it in a meaningful context, but plopping it down in the middle of the song wouldn't be as pleasing.

Something as simple as a dominant seventh or an augmented chord can actually be used anywhere without being conscious of using it. This is especially true if the composer of the song is influenced by the structure of improvisational jazz artists, in which using these chords just becomes an unbreakable habit.

I honestly admit that Cmaj13b9 is an ugly chord at first, but breaking it down would help you get a better idea of where to put it. If that's not the case, using it as an arpeggio is viable as well. There is no right or wrong way to configure a structure out of any chord, as long as it fills its role in the song. As for Cmaj13b9, the opportunities of using this chord in particular are so little, but it certainly is doable.

I am not putting down simple chords because of this. I should know of all people that complicated chords can sound very chaotic because I have been criticized on it a bunch of times in the past. I accept that being a weak point in my general style, and I am slowly working towards getting around it. Simple chords are indeed the bread-and-butter of any generic composition, and they convey a message between quiet resentment or a peaceful, happy day. Or they can just be simple arpeggios supporting the left hand section of the song, whichever fits best.

But if you are creating a score with any depth in it at all, you should use chords unaltered by slurs or arpeggios sparingly. This will become very redundant and rather repetitive if you use it throughout the entire song, and does not spark any interest points within the sequence.

Last thing to mention about this topic, analyzing your two "symphonies," they do not seem to have any song progression at all. Now I may not be using the technical terms, but it's like having the first verse... then the ending. That's it. No choruses or bridges, nothing to build a narrative into these compositions.

This is very important. In order for your music to have "deep and hidden symbolism" behind it, you have to let your audience assume your composition's narrative in a very free perspective. You have to change the song, in a way that's actually noticeable.

The way you are progressing the song isn't very good. You are only simply adding more octaves to the sequence, and there is no distinguishable role in either of the instruments but the percussion. They have the same tonal structure, and the added notes cause the music to sound rather blocky. This brings me back to the point where it is crucial to apply depth to your composition. No matter how many notes you add and they are all of the same structure, it is still very shallow to the ear.

I'm very capable of analyzing compositions if I managed to write a rant this long about your music. And Mozart is only the tip of the iceburg when it comes to musical geniuses. Hiromi Uehara is a very expressive jazz improvisation pianist, and she is only a little older than Mozart when he died. I think you will have a hard time observing her music because every classical tryhard I've met has hated on her for breaking certain aspects of "what counts as music."

Music is actually meant to be enjoyed to this extent, but I can understand why classical music looks down over jazz. A majority of classical music is about the law and order of the composition. It is about complete focus. Nothing is wrong about that, and whether classical or jazz is better than the other is a completely subjective matter. It really depends on what the person wants. Most classical fans fail to realize that both have their own pros and cons because they can only get used to things in their comfort zone from just reading the sheet music. Take that sheet music away from them, and they would barely be able to play anything without memorization.

You seem to be a 'fixed-mindset' type. Try to become more of a 'growth-mindset' guy and you'll find out everything can be improved on.

Let me explain what this means. A fixed-mindset person is someone who thinks their talent or the amount of intelligence they have can only be moved to a static amount. You already think you have so much potential that you spend most of your time bragging about your knowledge instead of genuinely asking for validation and other people's opinions on your music. And even if you think you are doing this, you are brushing off the criticism that you get. You do not look the type to handle criticism at all, as you certainly did not handle mine with consideration.

No matter what you do or how old you are, there will always be people who are better than you. That's life.

Growth-mindset people actually think there is a long road to go on, and they actually want to strive to be the best by taking many, many risks. If something isn't right, they tweak their problem and try again. They generally have a deeper understanding of what is going on because they have made many mistakes before. No, it is not like they have self-esteem issues because they aren't the best, or even in the top percentile of what counts as "good." But they acknowledge that there is so much to learn, and realizing mistakes from the past builds them to who they want to be.

You think you're so much better than everyone here for knowing what half-diminished chords and thirteenth chords are... Please. Do you use altered chords? Augmented seventh chords? Do you even know any scales? Super Locrian, Mixolydian b6 or Hypophrygian scales. I bet you can't read chord progressions. Have you ever used a bVI-bVII-i progression, or the Double Harmonic Minor (bVI-vii-i) progression? Maybe think a bit next time you try to sound complicated.

You know the funny thing is that even if you know all of these things they're generally useless if you can't apply them. That's pretty much the point of music theory class anyway, to help you both gain a deeper understanding of structures in a song and to apply this knowledge to compose. There is a difference between memorization and actually understanding the content. Sure, you know all the notes off the top of your head, but can you apply them to your own music? I think not.

I have been using this website for more than two years and I can say that it is really useless to apply knowledge on reading chord progressions or any sort of musical notation at all. Online Sequencer exists so that people can compose things regardless of their ability on reading sheet music or understanding music theory. All that I have been doing throughout those years is supporting people by expanding their vision on chords, so that any sort of music does not become much of a mystery.

So most of whatever you just said in the quote above is rather obsolete to your own music. You have never proved to me of using either of these things. Oh sure, go to Musescore and showoff how much of a genius you are, but when it comes to Online Sequencer, you're just as bad as the 99% of people that compose here.

Please. You don't need to be complicated, or even sound complicated, to make good music. Almost none of us here are better than anyone else, other than some shining stars who have been with us for a long time. I'm planning to take music theory in HS/college, and I feel that I'll know about the super-complicated stuff when I need to. I'm not an idiot and I know what Locrian, blues, dorian etc. scales are, and what 11th chords and 13th chords are, but I don't like them personally. Everybody has different preferences, just please don't be rude.

I save the next one for last because it is mostly a personal thing that needs to be publicized anyway.

This is a good example of a bad mod. I give Lucent's friend Eric criticism, and they delete my posts because they can't handle anything other than constant praise. Then they attack my personality in chat, while I only ever criticized their music. And now Lucent is so mad that she's giving me "warnings", because she wants me banned so that she can go back to getting nothing but compliments. Mods should never be this sensitive, especially to mere constructive criticism...

This. This statement is just a loophole.

You are attacking our personality in the same quote because you are saying that we can't handle anything other than constant praise.

And exactly what part of this is constructive?

Eric? More like genEric. No unique chord progressions, all melodies are boring, and there's no structure in any of it. Maybe you should take a few music theory lessons and listen to some Mozart before trying to compose music. This is just a mess.

Typical narcissist, deletes everything that isn't praise. Learn to handle constructive criticism some day, it's useful. Maybe if Eric listened to criticism instead of being in his little safe space of compliments, his music wouldn't be so bad.

• genEric (mocking pun)
  
• No unique chord progression (Biased claim, destructive statement)
  
• Boring melodies (Subjective matter, destructive statement)
  
• No structure (https://onlinesequencer.net/forum/showth...hp?tid=891)
  
• "Take a few music theory lessons and listen to some Mozart" (Are all of you classical freaks butthurt on whether something is right or not even if the music sounds fine?)
  
• "This is just a mess." (Destructive statement)
  
• "Typical narcissist" (Destructive statement)
  
• "If he had listened to criticism... his music wouldn't be so bad" (And if this criticism makes him what he doesn't want to be?)
  

I may be able to handle criticism on a better extent than Eric, but please know that he is aware that he has this problem. Afterwards, he just ignores this criticism if it does not correlate with his style. His music does not suck, and you cannot be the grand judge of it because everyone has their different preferences, some people like things while others don't. You do not have to be this rude if you do not, because your opinion alone does not matter to either of us.

Now, here's a good example of what good "constructive criticism" looks like, and I trimmed parts of the quote that had anything positive to say.

For my taste, personally, there are some portions of the song that have a little too much going on.

The problem I had was that it feels a little unexpected to start this kind of song with that many notes. I think that you could almost make the song more powerful/emotional if you trimmed that part down a bit.

However, the notes spread almost seven octaves consistently for four measures, and sometimes it could feel a little overwhelming.

The rest of what you currently have is fine, but I think that when a lot of the lower notes are played, it makes the song sound a little muddy. I almost feel like some of those portions could be brought up an octave and sound fantastic.

Finally, when you continue this song, I think it would be beneficial to repeat previous sections, maybe with some slight variations. Doing this would make the song as a more memorable, I personally like when a song comes back multiple times to something I heard earlier.

You criticized our music because you have failed to understand how much work and thought we have put behind it, while you go on ahead and make selfish claims about your music that you barely put much effort to. You need to realize that there is so much more to be done, and that music is not as predictable as it seems. You have the knowledge, but it's such a shame that it will go down the drain because of your narcissism.

Just because I am a moderator who practically stays on this website all day does not mean I won't be subject to my own feelings. I believe I am acting for the better interest of the community on this website, and from the people I've heard from that are recognized here, you're not getting a lot of positive reviews so far.

Now, if you go ahead and reply to this entire post without taking a note on a single thing I've said, it will be my pleasure to ban you. So far, I am contently enjoying this argument because there is a lot of common sense to be learnt from this. I could've banned you at that moment yesterday morning, but being as tolerant as I can be, I've decided to allow you a little leeway.

[SavantusProdigimus]

LMAO! I can't even read that, I'm just laughing so hard because you wasted so much time writing that. Boy, I really triggered you hard, didn't I? Lol.
Maybe you instead should've spent that time going outside for once, making some new friends, hopefully they won't be as narcissistic and sensitive as Eric though.
Alright, ban me. You'll go down as the mod who banned someone for criticizing another person's music. Music which is bad, by the way. Maybe stop crying and actually take my advice? I clearly am more musically gifted than anyone here.
Well, this is probably my last post here, since it looks like this insecure weeb (you can't even show your own face in your profile picture, that says a lot about you) is going to ban me for triggering her. That's okay, this site is crap anyways. I have far better ways to compose.
I'll leave you jealous bunch with a farewell gift. This is to everyone who dislike my music; my third symphony. Either you 1. love it, or 2. aren't sophisticated enough to understand it. Choose one.

-SavantusProdigimus, the last genius of OnlineSequencer

[SavantusProdigimus]

Get trolled. XD

[LucentTear]

It was a well played joke and I actually had more fun than I was really mad.

Closing thread to prevent any more misconceptions.