My first composition

[flight]

Hi,

I just finished my first composition. Just looking for some constructive criticism, to help me in the learning process :)

http://www.dobiedog.com/music/thechase.mp3

Thanks.

[Hannes_F]

Wow.

I mean

WOW.

What a sound which took me in a scary mood at once.

The rendering is so fine that I actually did not believe it were samples. Only the high strings gave it away then.

Ah, and welcome to the forum!


Hannes

[flight]

Thanks for listening Hannes! And thank you for the kind words :)

[JonFairhurst]

I agree. Great sound.

The composition has a "bits and pieces" feel to it, rather than a flow, but that's a stylistic choice. It has more of a "demo" feel than that of a taught composition. However, matched with the right picture, "a bit of this and a bit of that" could be perfect.

If this is your first composition, I can't wait to hear your second! (and third, and...)

[EmmSee]

Heck of a first composition!! GREAT WORK.

What samples / sequencer did you use? Just curious. Thanks for sharing!

[flight]

I agree. Great sound.

The composition has a "bits and pieces" feel to it, rather than a flow, but that's a stylistic choice. It has more of a "demo" feel than that of a taught composition. However, matched with the right picture, "a bit of this and a bit of that" could be perfect.

If this is your first composition, I can't wait to hear your second! (and third, and...)

Thanks Jon :)

I agree, it is 'bits and pieces'. I don't know if it's noticable, but I took inspiration from John Willams ESB soundtrack. Particularly 'The asteroid field'. And for the most part I just kind of strung together some ideas into one piece :o

[flight]

Heck of a first composition!! GREAT WORK.

What samples / sequencer did you use? Just curious. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks!

I used EW Silver XP and some VSL instruments from Kontakt 2. My sequencer at the moment is just Cakewalk music creator 3. MIDI controller is a very old kawai keyboard :o

[mech289]

I also think it is great.. Liked it alot.. Also left you a post on EastWest..Wonderful job... Joseph..

[JonFairhurst]

Hi flight,

I had a thought about how to make a small improvement: Some of the doubled lines sound too perfectly sync'd. Maybe you did a MIDI cut and paste? Anyway, playing the lines in separately by hand, and then tweaking only the notes where the two lines drift too far apart (or doing another take) will give a more lifelike performance.

Still, nice job...

[flight]

Hi flight,

I had a thought about how to make a small improvement: Some of the doubled lines sound too perfectly sync'd. Maybe you did a MIDI cut and paste? Anyway, playing the lines in separately by hand, and then tweaking only the notes where the two lines drift too far apart (or doing another take) will give a more lifelike performance.

Still, nice job...


That's a great suggestion, I didn't even realize that :eek: . I did cut and paste, I tried doing a bit of offsetting but I can hear that it is too perfectly in sync.

[JonFairhurst]

The offset trick is a good one, when on deadline. Often when things are exactly in sync, one hears a single instrument, rather than two separate instruments. In your composition, I could clearly hear them separately.

One case was where the trombones play the early offset and the horns follow with the later offset. It didn't sound "live", but had a cool effect - the blat of the trombones leading the attack with the smoothness of the horns giving almost an echo effect.

It all depends on what you're trying to achieve. Sometimes "cool" beats "live". :)

[flight]

Well, I adjusted the notes a bit to try and get them a bit more natural, don't know if it's noticeable.

I also made other changes, I switched to a different timpani, added a note or two, changed the panning and some of the reverb. I also switched to a different violin ensemble, and various other tweaks

http://www.dobiedog.com/music/thechasev2.mp3

:)

[cmdratz]

Well, I adjusted the notes a bit to try and get them a bit more natural, don't know if it's noticeable.

I also made other changes, I switched to a different timpani, added a note or two, changed the panning and some of the reverb. I also switched to a different violin ensemble, and various other tweaks

http://www.dobiedog.com/music/thechasev2.mp3

:)

Flight,
You may remember me from another forum which shall remain nameless.:|:
I do notice that the parts you hand played sound more alive. The new timpani sounds at home in the stage. Your reverb is warmer and more complex. It has been a few days since I listened to your first version, so I'm sure I missed some of your changes:) :confused: :). One of the most important things is that you seem to enjoy working on your music, so keep it up! We like listening to your stuff.

In my second piece I threw out the metronome altogether and played my parts with no regard to measures, only to eachother :D (if you want to listen to it, you'll have to download it first because my friend Ecliptic's server does not support streaming MP3s):
Journey into the Light (http://www.eclipticmusic.com/audiofiles/musicians/Chris_Dratz/Journey%20into%20the%20Light.mp3)

Best regards,
Chris Dratz

[flight]

Chris, thanks for taking another listen :)

I'm not much of a keyboard player so I don't play the notes in too often, I really should use it more :D

I really like Journey into the light, I love the melody at the beginning. Good work :cool:

[bugs]

Excellent job!

[flight]

Thanks bugs :)