COMPOSER NEEDS FEEDBACK

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post=146121
post=146109
Sweet myspace track, man.
What gear are you using? And what do you record with?

I just got a BOSS ME-70 pedal that plugs right into my comp, but I have no idea what the best recording programs are.
I have a little Fender London Reverb amp( Think Fender solid state combo) and a boss blues driver. And an Ibanez ARX320 guitar. I mic em up with a Shure...fuck I can't remember at the moment... which goes through an M-Audio Fast Track Pro into my computer. For bass I just have an Ibanez Soundgear bass which plugs directly into the Fast Track Pro. The drums are just made in a sequencer program called Acoustica Beatcraft.

It's all recorded and... err, "mixed", using a program called Audacity.

post=146109
They sound rad man i dont know if anyones said this but peoples taste are different. some will likey some wont. if you're going for more classical orientated type music a la the early FF, adding apeggio's are nice (diminished arps are wicked for adding tension) harmonization is all good too. using it in the right place is the key though (there are many types of harmonization, minor thirds, the reletaive minor/major harmony or just next octave up/down) adding more layers (instruments) to get a more fuller sound. and the songs themsleves dont necessarily need to have tempo changes unless its a track for a specific scene in the game. If you've got a good grounding on music theory you should know what im blabbing on about.

If you already know all this, ignore what i said ;)


I'm aware peoples tastes are different, but I'm sort of treating this as if they were clients, and I gotta please them, since that's the attitude I'd have to take if I were actually doing this for somebody. If one of them was ragging on my Myspace track, I might get a little more defensive. Once I get better at it, I'll actually try offering this as a service.

And I know all that theory stuff( Just got myself accepted to music college, actually!), but I probably don't think about it as much as I should. The stuff I actually spend the most brain cells on are probably the chord changes, and the way the chords are voiced.




fuck yeah congrats on the music college thing, was gunna try that out too. another thing if you dont know em, adding polyrythyms, syncapation and counterpoint can spice things up too (IMO) you could really take a song to a new level and get something quite unique and pleasant. but then again, its what sounds right to you and a client!
LockeZ, sorry aboot the big blank space, here's the second draft version with no silence at the end:

http://midishrine.com/midi/36154.mid

And I've worked on the song again, and I think this one keeps the energy of the song up more. I kept most of the melody, though:

http://midishrine.com/midi/36166.mid

I think I'll get myself practicing composing stuff for other game scenarios. AKA there's only so much I can do with this little battle theme without just scrapping it entirely. Not to downplay all the constructive criticism I've been getting, though, but seeing as I meant the battle theme as... well, I guess practice would be the right word, it would drive me insane to keep redoing it over again.

Plus, I'm sure I'm getting really annoying by now.
tardis
is it too late for ironhide facepalm
308
as far as that myspace track goes- you remind me a bit of devin townsend. like a less-wall-of-ridiculous-fuzz devin townsend.

you definitely need to get yourself something more arrangement/mixing-centric than audacity though- cubase has a pretty steep learning curve, but it's an amazing programme. ableton live is also good.

additionally, if you're ever looking to do some more stuff like the tune on your myspace, i'm a drummer. hit me up some time- we'll do cool stuff.
Interesting, I never listen to Devin Townsend.

I had a weird mindset when doing the thing with Audacity, which was a sort of " Let's see if I can do more with less because it'll force me to play better rather than relying on software." Now I'm going " What the hell was I thinking?" But, I ended up with something good.

I mainly want to focus on doing video game tunes for the next few months, but I'll definitely remember to hit you up if I want a drum track.
I'm hesitant to try cubase, seems a little too complicated. I just want some decent sounding demos to get a full band going, and by the sounds of what General did in audacity it seems like it's more than sufficient.

I'm not much of a Devin Townsend fan myself, but Soilwork is my fave band and they've worked with him a couple times. I at least respect his diversity.
post=146245
LockeZ, sorry aboot the big blank space, here's the second draft version with no silence at the end:

http://midishrine.com/midi/36154.mid

And I've worked on the song again, and I think this one keeps the energy of the song up more. I kept most of the melody, though:

http://midishrine.com/midi/36166.mid

I think I'll get myself practicing composing stuff for other game scenarios. AKA there's only so much I can do with this little battle theme without just scrapping it entirely. Not to downplay all the constructive criticism I've been getting, though, but seeing as I meant the battle theme as... well, I guess practice would be the right word, it would drive me insane to keep redoing it over again.

Plus, I'm sure I'm getting really annoying by now.


Hey, I dunno if you still want feedback, but I would ditch those drum beats. And this is coming from someone who's main instrument is percussion.

Your biggest thing you should think about is adding more contrast. Lets take a look at one of the great battle themes, FF6 (I think it was linked earlier on). Notice how the melody is not just one measure of fast notes copy and pasted. There are times when it's got fast running notes, and times when it's long held out notes. Also notice how much more active the bassline is. You tend to sit on the same chord for quite a bit too long. Try adding some chord progressions in there.

I vi IV V is a common one.
[quote[I vi IV V is a common one.

My most common peeve when writing music for anything is I can never think of any chord progressions that sound good and always get stuck in the same ones eventually no matter how hard I try. Talking keyboard/piano by the way.. . How do you get around that?
post=147695
I vi IV V is a common one.
My most common peeve when writing music for anything is I can never think of any chord progressions that sound good and always get stuck in the same ones eventually no matter how hard I try. Talking keyboard/piano by the way.. . How do you get around that?
http://www.palojono.com/dev/chord_progression_generator/chord_progression_generator.php

I've never used this site to compose, but I have used it to practice getting around the piano better. It should help you come up with some good ideas though.

A tip though, don't always change chords in even increments. There's something called harmonic rhythm and it can be fast or slow, depending on how often you change chords... and it's a great way to build energy. So start with your first chord, hold that for two measures, go to your second for two measures, go to your third for one measure, fourth for one measure, fifth for half a measure, sixth for the second half, then resolve onto your 7th chord.
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