Short ochestral work - feedback appreciated

[Skysaw]

Here\'s a direct link to my most recent GPO demo, \"Epidemic\": http://www.allhands.com/mp3/epidemic.mp3 (\"http://www.allhands.com/mp3/epidemic.mp3\")

It\'s for medium sized orchestra, and is just two minutes long. It is fairly neo-classical in flavor, and features some very pretty woodwind work.

I originally wrote this for a World Bank documentary, using my old Proteus modules and other synths. It was mostly orchestral, but had other strange sounds in it as well. I\'ve rewritten it to be a purely orchestral work. It was fun getting the orchestra to imitate the original\'s inclusion of a choir of rubbed wine glasses at the end.

Let me know what you think!

- Jamie

[Nhick Ramiro Pacis]

Jamie,

Very nice and clean! If at all, I think the string pizz\'s are too up front.

Still, I think this is one of the \'better\' GPO demo\'s I\'ve listened to.

Nice!

[Skysaw]

Thanks, Nhick. I appreciate the comments.

I\'ll have to listen again to the pizzes. In the original piece, they were actually much more prominent, partly because the sample I was using had a sharper attack. I\'ll have to balance the more spread attack with balance and reverb.

[robgb]

Wow, Jamie, I love this piece. Very cinematic. And something very different. Reminded me of Jeff Beal in a way -- who happens to be one of my favorite composers. Great work.

I\'d love to know the particulars. What instruments. What reverb, sequencer used.

Oh, and I think the pizz is perfect.

[Ned Bouhalassa]

Hi Jamie. Good stuff. My only suggestion would be to have more variety in the form. What I\'m thinking is that either the middle or end could be more dynamic, have more tension. Right now, it\'s kind of one feeling throughout, a bit of a straight line.

Just my 1.7 Canadian cents. images/icons/wink.gif

[mschiff]

Great piece, Jamie!

-- Martin

[Oksi Moron]

Great stuff! More, more!

I don\'t think it necessarily needs more dramatic tension. There\'s plenty of renaissance music I love precisely because it\'s so undramatic, like an ever-changing little stream in the woods, and every time I listen to it, it\'s like hearing it for the first time.

Got back in touch with an old composition-major buddy after a couple of decades\' lapse, and the first thing out of his mouth was, \"Stravinsky still rules!\"

Greg

[Crackbaby]

Me like!
What do you see when you hear it? Your emotions etc.. me interested! =)

[Skysaw]

Wow! Thanks for all the nice comments.

Yes, the piece is very even in level and tension throughout, but it was written as an underscore for a brief montage section of a film. It was designed to disappear if and when necessary. Not my favorite way to work, but I liked what came out of it.

ps - yes, Stravinsky does still rule!

[13]

i like how it\'s even throughout. moody, but it\'s not as if it\'s drowning in atmospheric mush.

i like the section changes, timps in the middle, glock at the end. if anything, i think the brass in the middle section is too subtle, but it\'s probably all a matter of personal taste anyway.

in the context of a montage score i can totally see it working.

[Skysaw]

Originally posted by Crackbaby:
What do you see when you hear it? Your emotions etc.. me interested! =) <font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">The documentary this was written for was about disease. I was asked to write something that was slightly somber, but always optimistic. I see it as people living their lives as best they can, and putting a good face on it. The middle section that begins with the chime and gong briefly showed floods in third-world countries.

Originally posted by robgb:
I\'d love to know the particulars. What instruments. What reverb, sequencer used.<font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">This was put together in Sonar 3 PE on my PC from a modified MIDI file I had created long ago with Performer on the Macintosh. Here are the GPO instruments:

INSTANCE 1 (Winds)
Piccolo V Solo
Flute Solo V - mixed very low
Oboe 2 Modern Solo
English Horn 1 Ens2 (solo mode) - duet with bassoon in middle section
Bb Clarinet Ens2 - mixed very low
Bass Clarinet Ens3 (solo mode)
Bassoon 1 Solo / Bassoon 2 Solo

INSTANCE 2 (Brass)
Tpt Straight Mute Ens1

INSTANCE 3 (Timpani)
Timpani

INSTANCE 4 (Percussion)
Glockenspiel
Tubular Bells
Chromatic Harp 1 Lite
Percussion Toys - claves
Basic Orch Perc Combo - gong

INSTANCE 5 (Strings)
Violas Sus+Short - main string line
Cello 2 Solo - a few sustained notes in the middle

INSTANCE 6 (Pizz)
Vlns 1 Pizzicato
Violas Pizzicato
Cellos Pizzicato
Basses PIzzicato

INSTANCE 7 (Piano)
Steinway Piano Lite - single notes in middle

- Jamie

[rJames]

It is fairly neo-classical in flavor, and features some very pretty woodwind work. <font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">If I do say so myself... images/icons/wink.gif

After reading the thread and the useage, I think it works well. I don\'t get optimism, but I don\'t get somber yet it does feel like both.

Great job.

(I like the woodwinds too) I do think you could get a bit more to the somber side with tweaking of the lead woodwinds to really pull emotion. But I suppose the way you\'ve done it is a major part of keeping it neutral.

[eaglehvac]

Very Nice. One of the best demos I\'ve heard. Definitly works as an underscore. Could you give us a little background as to your experience in writing film type music? Just curious.

Eric W

[Joseph Burrell]

Great job Jamie! I also think the pizz is great where it is. Of course I love pizz. Excellent use of GPO.

[kstevege]

I like it. Nice Pizzicato work!!

Steve

[Garritan]

Jamie,

Good work! I like the harp combined with the pizz. You mentioned imitating the a choir of rubbed wine glasses at the end. For this you may want to give the glass harmonica patch a try.

Would love to watch the documentary along with this. Thanks for posting your music. Hope you don\'t mind if this makes it over to the GPO demo page.

Gary Garritan

[Skysaw]

Originally posted by Garritan:
Good work! I like the harp combined with the pizz. You mentioned imitating the a choir of rubbed wine glasses at the end. For this you may want to give the glass harmonica patch a try. <font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">I did try the glass harmonica first, but it wasn\'t quite the sound I was looking for; a little too bright for the texture I needed. I needed something that snuck into the background easily. images/icons/smile.gif

Would love to watch the documentary along with this. Thanks for posting your music. Hope you don\'t mind if this makes it over to the GPO demo page.<font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">At this point, the only copy I have of it is defective. I did just scope out a snippet of it on the World Bank website, however. There is a 35-second excerpt on this page: http://www.worldbank.org/globallinks/english/environment.html (\"http://www.worldbank.org/globallinks/english/environment.html\")
Look for the film \"No Place to Run.\"

The first half of the clip has music from the middle of my posted mp3. I can\'t remember if the piece was in place in its entirety at some point in the movie, or if they\'ve just re-edited here. The remaining music in the clip is also mine.

The sound is pretty poor on the site, and you\'ll need either quicktime or realplayer to see it.

[Skysaw]

Oh, and yes please, post the demo on your page. It would be an honor.

- Jamie