Composing for the Internet

If a composer writes a note in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? The same could be asked when a composer writes a note on the internet. Sheet music and composition sharing forums are not a new invention. I remember being a teenager with the recently gifted software Sibelius 5 back in c. 2007 and exploring their vast user-published library of scores online. In particular, I remember one user I came across who had published well over 100 symphonies on the website, mostly in a pseudo-classical style that is unpopular in mainstream contemporary music. The number of composers either freely sharing or trying to market and sell their sheet music was astonishing to me at the time. While the Sibelius sheet music store is no longer a living entity in 2023, all one has to do is glance at composing-themed Reddit communities, Facebook groups, SoundCloud, Youtube, Musescore, or elsewhere to find thousands of original compositions by musicians young and old, amateur and professional. I spent some time recently delving down the rabbit hole of these communities to explore the plethora of output to be found there.

On first glance, they are links to MIDI performance on Youtube or Soundcloud, or sometimes a Google Drive file or a MIDI score on musescore.com. For the most part, they have less than 100 views, and frequently less than 20. In the median range, there are Soundcloud or Youtube users with 200-300 followers and a couple of thousand views -- not an inconsequential number for an internet creator. The most popular original work on the Musescore subscription-based community is a piece called "Through the fog|Sad music for piano solo" by username Giulio_M. With nearly 19,000 views and 900 likes, it has a moody vibe, featuring a repeated descending 4th bass line from B down to F#. In fact, it is relatively repetitive throughout, and would be playable by most amateur pianists, which I assume to be the biggest reason for its success other than its competent sense of style. The second most popular is another solo piano piece called "Autumn Memories" by username ShioRamen - a popular composer on the website — with nearly 18,000 views, over 600 likes, and 253 comments, most of which are hugely positive. The piece is written with an anime style in mind, including sweeping harmonies and a beautiful if not particularly memorable theme. I also listened to a 4 minute MIDI file by Ronald Roumanis shared to the Facebook group Contemporary Composers Collective that is a "gamelon-influenced (sic) work." Then I click play on a Musescore file by username Jolito1980 that is a heartfelt dedication to the memory of his father, again rendered here by a MIDI file.

While it seems that, overall, solo piano music is the most popular category on these websites, the recent release of Musescore 4.0 has inspired a long list of ensemble works, particularly for strings. The self- described "collaborative music notation platform" called flat.io, where musicians can work on projects together online, also features many ensemble works with hundreds of listens. Here I listen to "Little Fugue in G minor" by John Raskopf, a prolific composer on the site with 76 scores. Written for string trio, it is indeed titled appropriately having only 27 measures. Next I find a collaborative work by two composers: "As the War Rages On" by username Unknown and username Darter, an ultra- repetitive work for mixed ensemble. In the description for the work, Darter claims it is the first collaborative piece written by two composers on the site who have more than 400 followers. I explore more on the site and have a hard time finding a piece with more than 50 measures of music. It seems that this software is definitely used more by students and amateurs interested in sharing and exploring work with others of a similar type. Many of the pieces have titles such as "Suicide Mission," "Storm of Light," or "A New Realm," that suggest they hope to write for movies, television, or video games.

From here I move onto some of the Reddit communities for composers, especially r/composer which is by far the largest such community with over 50,000 members. Here I encounter similar MIDI files as previously described, but more surprising are the live performances I start to come across. First, a studio recording of a minimalist style string quartet by Robert Fisher, which essentially boiled down to 3 movements of E Minor. Then I come across a live video performance of a commissioned work for solo guitar called "Coming Out Party" by username 1987ScreamBloodyGore that is a legitimately great and enrapturing piece of music. A university student composer named Jordan Knapp posted a video of his Piano Quartet in G minor -- a structurally classical piece that evokes the harmonies of early Prokofiev or sometimes even Debussy. Searching for "feedback or opinions," he instead received 12 upvotes 24 hours after posting.

One post that did not include a link to a score seemed to really connect with members of the Reddit community r/composer. Simply titled, "Should I just give up?", the original poster wonders whether with no extensive training in music theory or even playing an instrument, is it worth pursuing the composition of classical music. There's a variety of answers, but overall the vibe of the thread is, "If you enjoy composing, compose! If you need to be better at it to enjoy it, go study an instrument or take composition lessons." My personal favorite reply that seems to sum up the reality of these situations was from username psmusic_worldwide, who said, "We are all idiots trying to create something great and failing. It takes a lot of time to get decent. If you don't want to put in the time that is completely understandable. It's really hard." Many other discussion-based posts are people asking how to get published, or make money from composing.

As I begin to browse more posts in these communities, I start to wonder about the people behind them. Do they do this for a living, and if so what inspires them to be part of an online community? I've heard of famous composers like Jennifer Higdon or even Hans Zimmer posting in Facebook groups on occasion in response to general composing questions or comments, so it is more than possible that less high-profile professionals are doing the same. I also start to notice that certain characters post more often in some of the Facebook groups than others, usually linking to either a SoundCloud or Youtube account, so after traveling to their links I start to click on account pages. To my shock, many of these composers have dozens of large and small-scale works, adding up to many hundreds of hours of content.

Gerald Wilhelm Braden is the most popular composer I find with 15,000 Youtube subscribers. His channel is almost exclusively MIDI versions of large-scale instrumental works, all in a very early romantic style with more minimalistic textures. Several more recent videos feature live performances, though, most notably one of his orchestral works performed beautifully by Budapest Symphony Orchestra. It's hard to imagine a composer of such old-fashioned music finding modern performers - especially of this caliber — by any other means than internet popularity. Another composer with a relatively high subscriber number (6.8K) is Herve Gilles French Composer. While all of his music is represented by high- quality MIDI files, they are attached to various animated videos — some cartoons, some more experimental animation, some more like a kaleidoscope. The music is esoteric and synth heavy, sometimes trance-like and sometimes almost comical. In his "about" section on his channel, Mr. Gilles gives three statements about his music:

"I consider Music as both Popular and Ambitious Art. I try to compose music for Everyone but like not Everyone does. I seek to strike the happy medium between the Bar and the Cathedral."

While it seems Youtube is a popular outlet for composers, SoundCloud provides more intriguing and confusing characters. Here I rediscover Ronald Roumanis, whose music I listened to high up in this rabbit hole. His biography provides his basic story:

"My first experience composing was scoring and orchestrating TV shows and radio jingles with my father, who was a Hollywood composer. After getting my doctorate in music I quit composing for 17 years. I resumed writing in 2012 and have since composed hundreds of works for all ensembles. I live in the country, over 100 miles from the nearest city so most communication with performers has been done online. If interested in performing any of my music, leave a comment and I'll promptly respond."

I scroll through hundreds of his 2,193 tracks, most of which are between 2 and 5 minutes long although many are part of multi-movement works. Listening to some of them, his style alternates between diatonic and atonal, and tends to be texturally complex. Almost all are MIDI files.

Next I find Christopher Gordon Forbes, who has 60 followers and 70 tracks on SoundCloud, almost all of which are large-scale ensemble works represented by, once again, MIDI files. Then Christophe Hèroufosse, who has written an eclectic 300 instrumental works. A mix of classical and jazz ballads, they all seemingly tend to be in slow tempi marked by relatively simple harmonies with occasional melodic flourishes. On the channel of username wordsandmusique, I find a small amalgamation of one or two-voice, short instrumental MIDI files. From there I find the page of the symphonist William T. Blows, whose short biography describes him as a "composer, palaeontologist, biologist." I listen to a MIDI file of his Symphony No. 18 "Majestic," and another MIDI of the first movement of his Viola Concerto. They are simplistic in texture and harmony, but not badly orchestrated. Browsing through his tracks, I see that he has composed at least 25 symphonies, a violin concerto, a double violin concerto, and at least 14 symphonic poems, but it's notable that not all of these works are included on his SoundCloud account. Perhaps he only shares his favorites. Perhaps some sound better with MIDI files than others.

There are others in the same vein: John David who composes dozens of slow piano pieces. Graham Casey, who is taking his nearly 2,000 followers on a journey where he composes a one-minute piece every day starting in 2013 and planning to continue until 2040. Brian McDonald, who publishes dozens of 1-3 minute tracks that are very cinema-graphic in nature, and obviously use a very high- quality instrumental simulation tool to create lovely textures and stimulating imagery.

Finally I come across Ulf Grahn, who I learn through a quick google search is a genuine professional composer with a list of prestigious commissions and positions. His SoundCloud does not differ much from many of the above though, confusingly. It is a huge number of MIDI files intermixed with a fair number of live performances. It truly begs the question what many would consider to be a "successful" composer is doing sharing dozens of MIDI files all over the internet (he also has an active YouTube channel, although between the two sites he only has 88 subscribers). I start listening to some of his music in full. Sinfonie No. 2 is an enrapturing 2- movement orchestral work that rivals the work of many other accomplished composers. It is complex, restrained, texturally fascinating, thematically cohesive, and paced very well. With some research I realize this is probably his most well-known work, having been commissioned by the Stockholm Philharmonic and had multiple performances thereafter. There are also other live recordings of some of his piano and chamber music. Equally present on his Souncloud, though, are terrible-quality MIDI files of short and often forgettable (at least as they stand) tunes. For example, his 8 Lymphoma Dances for various solo instruments, or his 2022 song A Poison Tree, or his Sinfonietta 6 for Orchestra (2021). It also has many MIDI files that are more in the style of his wonderful Sinfonie No. 2 - engaging, complex, and texturally meaningful. But it seems that almost everything written in the 2000s is represented only with a MIDI file while most works from the '60s through the '90s have live performance versions available. There are three pieces I find from the 2000s that do have live performances: one for solo piano, one for solo voice, and a Serenade for Wind Ensemble. His last two successfully recorded orchestral works seem to be from 1993, titled "A Tale," and "as time passes by."

When I started delving into these communities, I fully expected it to be mostly amateur composers and hobbyists with a few scattered professionals sharing nuggets of experience and wisdom on occasion. What I found was much more eclectic. There are indeed many hobbyists, with widely varying degrees of experience and music education (some having no formal training in an instrument or composition at all). There are also professionals simply sharing some recent performances of their music, and reasonably so as even top tier composers are always needing to expand their network and marketing. Least surprising are those trying to gain traction with regular posts and engagement, but what is surprising about many of the composers in that category is the sheer output of music they are able to create. Quality aside, composing takes time, and to see some of these composers with 25 fully formed symphonies, or over 2,000 ensemble and solo instrument tracks, or a living database of a real career that spans over 5 decades is simply astonishing. It is obvious that many of them make such a huge commitment purely out of the love of composing. But there must be a permeating hope that they will be "discovered" by someone willing to perform their music. Or, at least, that is the only way my own mind can justify such consistent levels of output. Who knows, perhaps one of you readers will dive down the rabbit hole and discover a new composer to love. I certainly found the journey fascinating, and in a surprising way, inspiring. After all, as psmusic_worldwide said so poetically, "We are all idiots trying to create something great and failing."

P