Is it possible...

What do you mean by recognised? If the music is good enough, and you put it in the hands of people who might want to use it, then it can be used. But it has to be good enough, and you have to reach those people. So what exactly is your question?

Feeling appreciated for the work and time that you put into music is important, but that shouldn't be a primary goal of yours for writing music.

I tend to think that if you want to be truly successful, then you'll do it for the sake of doing it, for the love of doing it. If you're just after self-inflation, there are many, less rigorous ways of boosting your hubris. (I really apologize if that sounds un-friendly, as I don't mean to be un-friendly.)

Composition must always been an on-going process - always something new to learn, and new things to try.



If you're talking about having people "hear" what you're writing, then you might be able to try being involved with the musical ensembles in your high school. Talk to your music director to see if you could arrange a short jazz piece for the combo, or if your feeling ambitious, you could write background or intermission music for the theater department.

If your school has a pep band, you could ask the director if you could do a few arrangements for sporting events.

Little things always add up in a big way, and you never know how they're going to influence you in the future.

What school were you planning on going to for composition?

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Is it possible for me a 17 year old highschool student to get my music recognized?

Sure. I think great music can be recognized and praised regardless of the age of the composer. The real variable is how good the music is (or isn't! :P)

But your question is a bit vague. What does recognize mean to you? I agree with jjandreau's comments: do it because you have a love for it. A passion for it. Recognition will come later (often in a variety of ways).

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Am going to go to college after highschool for composition but will i be able to do anything now?

I'd worry less about gaining recognition now and more about learning as much as you can. There's something called an A/B comparison which happens alot in music industry especially when you're starting out. Let's say you want to create a piece like John Williams' Olympic Fanfare. Set up your session to have similar orchestration then begin writing. Several times throughout the writing process music your tracks and listen to the Olympic Fanfare again. Take note of everything: compositional structure, orchestration techniques and production techniques. Go back to your piece and see how it stands up. It is as strong? Does the production need more work or is the composition weak in some spots. Doing a A/B comparison can help you identify weak parts in your music and/or production.

Thanks,

Nate

Well what i mean is this: Can i get my music out and distributed even though i am still a *kid*. And BTW I do love writing music i just want other people to hear my work as well.

TubaMan it still doesn't make much sense to me with so little detail.

Anyone can get their music distributed, there are quite a few artists under the age of 18 who have contracts with record labels all over the place so I'm not quite sure what you're getting at there.

I'm assuming you mean music in general not just game music, so:

Getting your music out just depends on how much you're willing to spend (both time and money) to get to that goal; setting up internet resources (some of which help with advertising at least a little bit), posting on music forums, sending it to blogs and websites that review music of your genre or just new music in general, even stuff like Myspace or Purevolume. All of that helps in it's own little way. Make a demo CD then talk to netlabels, depending on what genre you mainly do you might have more of a selection but there's usually a netlabel for every genre. Send them your music see what happens.

Getting it released so more people can hear it, that's the main point you're asking but you're asking if you "can" when well, you should be answering that yourself really because it's all down to how much work you want to put into it.

The best way though? Play live and give out demo CDs. I don't know any other way that's better for establishing yourself as a musician not only in your area but sometimes even in your country and thensome, if you're lucky any way.

abraxasdot- Agreed.

TubaMan- Like abraxasdot said if you just want to get your stuff out there for people to hear then that is very easily done nowadays. Post some of the stuff here and on any social networks you're a part of (Facebook, Myspace, Twitter) and just start putting the word out. How much recognition you're expecting and how much you'll get really depends on the quality of work. One of the best things I did back in 2002-2003 was I started putting my music out on the web for complete strangers to evaluate and comment in. This helped a great deal because when you're showing your music off to friends and family they can be biased at times. Perhaps they don't give the criticism you need to hear or perhaps they just don't have enough talent and knowledge to take a critical stance on your work. But when you give it to a total stranger that bias for the most part is removed. If it sucks (in their opinion) then they're more likely to point out what they feel is lacking. If it rocks, they'll praise you for it. My point is getting alot of feedback from a wide variety of folks that didn't have to be concerned with hurting my feelings or seeing me pissed at Thanksgiving dinner ( :P ) helped them be brutally honest which in the long term helped my music.

Again, I'm not really sure what you're after from your posts. You want your music distributed but do you want this as an official part of a record label deal or just something you're doing for yourself? Are you hoping this leads to a music career or are you just wanting feedback on your work?

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Original post by jjandreau What school were you planning on going to for composition?

I want to go to University of North Texas as my main choice.

And you answered the question you guys i was just wondering. I want my music to be heard but my main goal is to write music for Big Game Titles. Are there Any scholarships out there for Game music composition?

One of my friends won an international award by his electronic music,but he's only 16 years old. In your opinion, we could assume that it's fully recognized.

So age is not a problem.

If you music is good enough, it would surely be recognized.

BTW, it's no use keeping emphasizing how many years you've done this. That's just a number. What's always important, it's your music itself, it always is.

You need to build a web site or at least a MySpace page with You Tube or MP3 video links to your work.

One place you might consider is newgrounds. It can be a pretty good place to get feedback, or at least a numeric rating if that's what your after. As an added bonus, anything you submit to newgrounds is available for the flash developers to use in their games and animations, so you can get exposure that way as well if you're talented.

Just a thought, hope it helps some.

Newgrounds? Eh.

I found Newgrounds to be annoying-- no one explains what they didn't like, just that it was wrong, or the opposite. Occasionally you'll get a review, but usually these consist of either "It was alright," or "THAT WAS AWESOME," which, by the way constructive criticism goes, is totally and utterly useless. Not only this, but the compositions quite quickly sink to the bottom of the pile (unless they get really positive ratings, in which case they stay there for a few hours longer). Having a Creative Commons License plastered on the work (especially if they're full album pieces) personally turns me off, too.

Music forums, your own website or YouTube could be a better approach, although I haven't had much success with these yet (I should probably advertise a bit more, but I'm busy composing another album!)

However, the best asset is the quality of your music, and your dedication to writing (or making) it-- if you love what you do, then someone (hopefully) will eventually notice you! I've been composing for the last two years, not for recognition, but because I love what I do. I only recently began looking at trying my hand at gaining recognition, since a friend of mine recommended it.

In fact, I might post a topic here on this forum, just to see what happens... Haha.

Good luck on your endeavours!

PS: I'm almost seventeen years old, funnily enough.

[Edited by - DelusionalZ on January 15, 2010 8:08:27 PM]

I pm'd you a while back, hope we can be in contact soon.

I'm kinda in the same bind as you, but I'm 19, and I barely have any music publicity...=(

But recently I've actually been meeting a lot of people that are in the industry, so that's always a good thing.

Quote:

Original post by DelusionalZ Newgrounds? Eh. I found Newgrounds to be annoying-- no one explains what they didn't like, just that it was wrong, or the opposite. Occasionally you'll get a review, but usually these consist of either "It was alright," or "THAT WAS AWESOME," which, by the way constructive criticism goes, is totally and utterly useless. Not only this, but the compositions quite quickly sink to the bottom of the pile (unless they get really positive ratings, in which case they stay there for a few hours longer). Having a Creative Commons License plastered on the work (especially if they're full album pieces) personally turns me off, too. Music forums, your own website or YouTube could be a better approach, although I haven't had much success with these yet (I should probably advertise a bit more, but I'm busy composing another album!) However, the best asset is the quality of your music, and your dedication to writing (or making) it-- if you love what you do, then someone (hopefully) will eventually notice you! I've been composing for the last two years, not for recognition, but because I love what I do. I only recently began looking at trying my hand at gaining recognition, since a friend of mine recommended it. In fact, I might post a topic here on this forum, just to see what happens... Haha. Good luck on your endeavours! PS: I'm almost seventeen years old, funnily enough.

I think I would tend to agree with you about NewGrounds. It seems to me there's too much immaturity for it to be a good place to foster genuine critique and feedback for newer musicians.

@OP:

Has anybody mentioned http://www.youngcomposers.com/ yet? I just heard about it recently and looks like an interesting place for aspiring musicians and composers. And it looks like there's some genuinely smart and musically-inclined people there.
I think it really comes down to who your receptive audience is. What kind of music are you making? Why are you making it? What kind of people do you want listening to your music?
Also, you need to think about your image.
I, for one, am tired of people who solely operate out of sites like ReverbNation, MySpace, and NewGrounds. Anybody can hammer out a tune and create a band page so it's too easy to get lost in the general pool. My advice? Make your own website. And I don't mean FreeWebs or whatever. Domain names are cheaper than ever. Get your own .com and throw up a site with your music. Keep it simple but elegant. Also, keep your audio files as high quality as possible. The last thing people want to hear is a 96kbps mp3 that sounds like it's being played on a cell phone.

It doesn't matter what type of music you're making, music theory and composition education is a must. Start taking classes as soon as possible.

And as for your simple question:

Quote:

Well what i mean is this: Can i get my music out and distributed even though i am still a *kid*. And BTW I do love writing music i just want other people to hear my work as well.

http://www.cdbaby.com is a well-known and well-reputed site that sells both CDs and digital copies of independent artists' work.


Also, for the record I am seventeen as well.

Tuba....

Who cares how old you are. Whether your 80 or 10 years old, music is music.......more important than this though is that in the past 10 to 15 years, composing has become like pennies.....you find composers everywhere now....especially with technology advancing. So what is import? Composing is a passion, writing music is a passion. Wether you are making money or not. Sure, all of us would not mind being as successful as lets say, John Williams, James Horner, Danny Elfman, etc.... but, reality is that their music has been polished over many years. You are still young which means you have an advantage of being able to practice and write more. Music is a tough business to get into, but it IS possible!
My advice. Listen to as much music as you can. Write as much as you can. Then compare. And the main thing is.......DONT GET FRUSTRATED!......Patience and determination are very key in the music business... By the way
Music BUSINESS. Remeber, although music is an art....it is more a business now than ever.
Best of luck to you....and dont ever think your too young for anything.