# Does this sound real/good??



## Dan Mott (Jun 25, 2010)

So it's really bugging me lately. I create like 15 second scores then i get stuck and i don't know why. I like my scores, but i get bored of them because i listen to them too much because i want to decide where it goes.

I actually wish there was a job that i could write 15 second intros or ideas for somebody because it seems to be a strong point of mine 

I struggle with structure i guess.

Anyway, i want to know if you like this. I was fiddling with HS and well i made this which sounded nice to my ears. Does it sound nice to you? If you notice clicks, i really don't know how to get rid of those because my VE PRO doesn't perform well :(

Here's a link http://soundcloud.com/destaana/structure

One day i need to finish a song if i want to get an album done.


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## alpiner (Jun 25, 2010)

i think the violins sounds a litle bit static and need to get pushed forward.


but the main question was is this good and can i make a nice track out of that?

its a matter of workflow. none of my best tunes was good from the beginning.

i do it like this:

-compose a fist part, idea (like you did here)
-bounce it to mp3 with all fx so you dont have to open the session to listen to it if you like.
-put it aside for a few days or weeks, month
-compose something else or open open another session to make progress there.
-listen to your mp3 ideas from time to time, not to judge if its good (its not) rather to see the potential
-listening days or weeks later give you better evaluation and you find the flaws
-dont work to long on one track, change once a day to another projekt.

for me this mp3 bouncing is very important because i can record the progress. and in some cases it saved my work. because i recognized the melody in mp3 005 (which i thought was silly) was the better one than in my latest mp3 009 i did last night.

im still working on a instrumental i composed the first time 7 years ago. i tried three times to make it but failed, because of missing experience, technical stuff, computerpower etc. but its still living on my harddisk and i know the next time i touch it i will succeed and it will be a killer track.

so does your composition sound good? - no

does it have potential to be something good? - definitively!


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## Pzy-Clone (Jun 25, 2010)

Hm, well..for those that don’t have weeks or months to spare on developing new ideas and cues...I find that you MUST finish a cue\song\track rather immediately or it will never get done.

Don’t sketch out stuff using your "final" template sound (well that depends on your set-up)...it will be too time-consuming, tedious and will very quickly, or I will at least...get caught up in the finer details of technicality and very quickly loose the drive and momentum that instigated writing the cue to begin with.

Leaving half-baked ideas out to dry will inevitably at some point bring you back to ground zero: the lacking momentum that brought your cue to a grinding halt will still be very much present upon revisiting the piece.

In other words, don’t inject too much logic and science into your music at the "inspirational" stage...very quickly try to capture, even if its horribly flawed and inaccurate...the intent and direction of the material, personally I just use a piano or a string ensemble patch to record the main idea down very quickly, preferably from start to finish, then later deciding on whether it should be fine-tuned and micro edited or not with my template sound.

So I think dividing the compositional part and the rendering part is useful, because after spending some time on fine-tuning the material you WILL loose track of where you are going anyway.... Having some clear idea of the end-destination is vital to getting things done without too much hesitation imo: imagine the daunting task of approaching a half blank canvas of a figurative masterpiece.... the only logical way as I see it is to develop your music layer by layer in its entirety, not in a linear fashion.

That is my experience anyway, if you cannot develop you piece further here and now ...there might be a reason for that, and most likely it will not resolve itself simply by postponing it: quite the opposite...it will only make it more apparent that you have entered a dead end street.


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## Guy Bacos (Jun 25, 2010)

These guys are giving sensible advice here. Of course with snippets this short you could always make a career in ring tones. :wink:


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## Narval (Jun 25, 2010)

Not only sensible but also sensitive.

What always work against my writer's blocks is: put the pencil on paper and write the damn music down. Write and write and write. Combine those silly motives and cells in the most (un)imaginable ways. Go to the most (im)probable directions. Loose yourself, forget about anything else but the music. Then, after a while, do come to your senses. Decide: discard, keep. Organize it. Give your piece the proper shape for its purpose. Done. Now, you can orchestrate it, preform it, record it. Then, forget about it.

Try it. Prepare to be surprised. 

“A musician must have the spirit of a Gypsy and the discipline of a Soldier.” - Beethoven


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## Guy Bacos (Jun 25, 2010)

Narval @ Fri Jun 25 said:


> Try it. Prepare to be surprised.



Wait till you wake up tomorrow morning! :shock:


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## Narval (Jun 25, 2010)

Guy Bacos @ Fri Jun 25 said:


> Narval @ Fri Jun 25 said:
> 
> 
> > Try it. Prepare to be surprised.
> ...


Guy, freudian misspells apart, cheap irony apart, passive aggressiveness apart, you haven't made the minimal effort to understand. What I have described in my previous post is the exact opposite of sleeping or dreaming. It is a very intense activity that takes assiduity and willpower. Some call it creative work.


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## Guy Bacos (Jun 25, 2010)

It's not an freudian misspell you dummy, I'm in the process of finishing the printing of my piece "Mourning" and have written the word a million times in email correspondence with my printing editor. So just conditioned to spell it like that.


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## Narval (Jun 25, 2010)

Yeah, you got it. Maybe it's time now that you calm down and try to show some support to our young Aussie friend here, other than half-assed advices about ring tones?


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## Jaap (Jun 25, 2010)

I think he was just making a light joke and did some word play :wink:

I will give it a listen tommorow Dan. My brain is destroyed after a long day of composing and can't hear the difference anymore between a beautifull string passage and full spinning Harley :mrgreen:


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## Guy Bacos (Jun 25, 2010)

Jaap @ Fri Jun 25 said:


> I think he was just making a light joke and did some word play :wink:



I thought it was pretty obvious. Apparently not for everybody.


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## michaelv (Jun 25, 2010)

Narval @ Fri Jun 25 said:


> Not only sensible but also sensitive.
> 
> ..... *Loose* yourself, forget about anything else but the music. Then, after a while, do come to your senses. Decide: discard, keep. Organize it. Give your piece the proper shape for its purpose. Done. Now, you can orchestrate it, preform it, record it. Then, forget about it.
> 
> ...



Oh,God, not you again. Actually, it's LOSE yourself; so, really, don't lecture others about spelling until you're competent yourself. What an arrogant prick you are, and so full of intellectual pretension I want to vomit. It was so obviously a pun, but you've had a sense of humour bypass. When you actually have anything of interest to say, I might pay attention: until then, don't why don't you keep that inordinately loud mouth of yours schtum?


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## Dan Mott (Jun 25, 2010)

Ok, wow, i didn't expect all these replies.

First off, i just really want to create a full string with just HS, it's may aim.

Second, i'd just liek to finish a song in general, but the ring tone thing sounds great!! 

I honestly feel that i want to create something that will kind of impress an audience here. I feel that i want to earn respect and it seems making something good that inspires another composer does this?? I don't know.

Thank you for the advice everyone. It was helpful. I am fiddling with HS alot and i like it. There are some flaws and things that are very annoying which require some more work than it should, but the sound is what's important.

Anymore more feedback would be great, i know it's like 15 seconds, but if anyone has ideas.

Dan.


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## Jaap (Jun 26, 2010)

Hey Dan,

I took a listen this morning and here is my comment:

First (as you know :D) it's far too short and I think you should have to try on focussing on finishing the composition first and then work on how it should sound. Of course you can combine it till certain extend, but the risk of getting stucked in making the first bars already as realistic and good sounding as possible can kill your workflow if you are not sure yet on how the rest of the piece will sound. (Most of it was also said by Pzy-Clone)

Also the tweaking on the mockup side can only start if you have finished the whole piece and that you have a complete insight of the overall structure.

The sound itself is nice. It's warm and gives a fuzzy feeling though it feels a bit too mechanical for me and good need some loosing up on the "live" feeling. It also a bit too thick in the low/mid part giving it a bit a "muddy" feeling. Spreading the voices would help a bit.

Certainly a lot of potential here. Good luck in finishing the piece Dan


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## Studio E (Jun 27, 2010)

Dan,

This is the same thing that happens to me all the time. I get inspired and the inspiration give me a good intro or motif in general but then.........then.......uh.....then....."well crap, what now? Lol, I totally know what you mean. After the initial inspiration, point blank, a lot of time it just takes work and that can take on many forms as you can read in the previous replies. The bottom line is that when inspiration is leaving, perspiration has to kick in. Don't be discouraged, just start working. Do anything you can think of to make the next part happen. Eventually, you will get it done. Of course, you might want to define what "done" is. Set a goal for how long it needs to be. One thing that got me past the inspiration stage was actually getting hired to do work. Directors and producers dont give a crap if you aren't inspired, they just want it done and to their liking. I hope this helps a little.

E


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## Dan Mott (Jun 27, 2010)

Studio E @ Sun Jun 27 said:


> Dan,
> 
> This is the same thing that happens to me all the time. I get inspired and the inspiration give me a good intro or motif in general but then.........then.......uh.....then....."well crap, what now? Lol, I totally know what you mean. After the initial inspiration, point blank, a lot of time it just takes work and that can take on many forms as you can read in the previous replies. The bottom line is that when inspiration is leaving, perspiration has to kick in. Don't be discouraged, just start working. Do anything you can think of to make the next part happen. Eventually, you will get it done. Of course, you might want to define what "done" is. Set a goal for how long it needs to be. One thing that got me past the inspiration stage was actually getting hired to do work. Directors and producers dont give a crap if you aren't inspired, they just want it done and to their liking. I hope this helps a little.
> 
> E




Hi.

Yrs, generally the first 15 or so seconds is the easiest for me when i have an idea that is. From then on i always stop and i don't want to wreck the vibe which is what happeneds alot of the time.

The thing is, if i got a job in that industry i probably wouldn't take it because i don't like to work that way which is why i like to do this for a hobby. I personally wouldn't enjoy trying to meet someone elses stanfards... i don't know that's just me. I want to write an album which i've started which is not really like this score. I'm qriting this because i want to give writing for strings ago and i live film music. Doing this album as a hobby means i am free to do what i want which is what i like personally. I'm pretty much making songs with lyrics in a cinematic emotional way.


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