# Am I on the right track?



## ckiraly (Nov 17, 2017)

Hi Everyone - I've been composing for several months now and I'd like to see if I'm on the right track with respect to sound and orchestration. I have a few other tracks posted on the YouTube link below and will be posting more shortly.

Thanks - Chris


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## markleake (Nov 17, 2017)

Hi Chris. It's a good first pass, yes. You need to watch out for the copy/paste trap.... just having Tina play the same melody line isn't really going to work in most cases. It is holding you back from adding interest to the track and following a good ABA style structure. Your brass isn't doing much of interest here and is too soft. If you want to get more into the style, you need to start using instruments like large horn sections a fair bit more boldly.

You have got the idea of developing and adding instruments/textures as the track evolves, which is a very good start. Now I'd suggest working on adding more underlying texture and parts, variation to themes, having a planned structure to it, etc. Mixing is important to learn too. There's some really ordinary stuff out there that still sounds great all because the person who put it together knows how to mix well (but nothing much about music!)... so the mix can add a lot to the track.

I'm sure you've watched other YT videos, but keep it up, as there are some great tutorials on this stuff online. It just takes practice and learning from others.


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## ckiraly (Nov 18, 2017)

markleake said:


> Hi Chris. It's a good first pass, yes. You need to watch out for the copy/paste trap.... just having Tina play the same melody line isn't really going to work in most cases. It is holding you back from adding interest to the track and following a good ABA style structure. Your brass isn't doing much of interest here and is too soft. If you want to get more into the style, you need to start using instruments like large horn sections a fair bit more boldly.
> 
> You have got the idea of developing and adding instruments/textures as the track evolves, which is a very good start. Now I'd suggest working on adding more underlying texture and parts, variation to themes, having a planned structure to it, etc. Mixing is important to learn too. There's some really ordinary stuff out there that still sounds great all because the person who put it together knows how to mix well (but nothing much about music!)... so the mix can add a lot to the track.
> 
> I'm sure you've watched other YT videos, but keep it up, as there are some great tutorials on this stuff online. It just takes practice and learning from others.



Thanks Mark! I really appreciate your time and detailed analysis. I do have a tendency to c&p parts and definitely need to work on that. For the brass, do you have any suggestions or examples to point me to? In the meantime, I'm going to work on the mix. Thanks again and happy composing! - Chris


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## markleake (Nov 18, 2017)

I usually recommend watching Daniel James' videos. Especially the walk throughs he does of various libraries, because he picks apart all the instrument tracks in great detail and explains why he does things certain ways. He is very informative on how to write the parts and you will get a lot of ideas. They are long videos though, so be warned.  He writes in the style I think you'd be looking to emulate.


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## JohnG (Nov 18, 2017)

Well -- it's not bad at all and very good for an early effort, but I think you could do better.

For one thing, musically, though the material you do have is fine, there isn't actually much material there. You have a motif that you repeat and then go into a number of decorative bits that, while well done, have been done in a similar way many times. Harmonically, you are staying with what amounts to a drone -- oscillating around the tonic the entire time, and just doing a layered buildup.

If this sounds mean I don't intend it that way at all; I just think you need to think of some other melodic material, maybe change the texture (thin it out and go somewhere else), move to a different tonal centre, jump to a different register -- something that will take you to another place.


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## ckiraly (Nov 18, 2017)

markleake said:


> I usually recommend watching Daniel James' videos. Especially the walk throughs he does of various libraries, because he picks apart all the instrument tracks in great detail and explains why he does things certain ways. He is very informative on how to write the parts and you will get a lot of ideas. They are long videos though, so be warned.  He writes in the style I think you'd be looking to emulate.



Thanks again Mark, I'll definitely check out his videos. - Chris


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## ckiraly (Nov 18, 2017)

JohnG said:


> Well -- it's not bad at all and very good for an early effort, but I think you could do better.
> 
> For one thing, musically, though the material you do have is fine, there isn't actually much material there. You have a motif that you repeat and then go into a number of decorative bits that, while well done, have been done in a similar way many times. Harmonically, you are staying with what amounts to a drone -- oscillating around the tonic the entire time, and just doing a layered buildup.
> 
> If this sounds mean I don't intend it that way at all; I just think you need to think of some other melodic material, maybe change the texture (thin it out and go somewhere else), move to a different tonal centre, jump to a different register -- something that will take you to another place.



Thanks John, I appreciate the feedback. Not mean at all - if I didn't want feedback, I wouldn't have asked for it . I'll try working with some different textures and motifs to change things up a bit. Thanks again and happy composing! - Chris


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## JohnG (Nov 19, 2017)

@ckiraly 

I am glad you put up with my response in the way I intended. By no means should you shrug off what you've done so far; many people try for a buildup like that with far less success than you.

Kind regards,

John


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## JohnG (Nov 19, 2017)

by the way, you could do worse than look at the English company, Thinkspace's videos. They are very practical and can help expand horizons.


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## ckiraly (Nov 19, 2017)

JohnG said:


> @ckiraly
> 
> I am glad you put up with my response in the way I intended. By no means should you shrug off what you've done so far; many people try for a buildup like that with far less success than you.
> 
> ...



Thanks John. I do have a tendency to drone on a bit - probably from my electronic background. Old habits die hard. I'm definitely dive in to Thinkspace, looks like they have a lot of tutorials. Thanks again and happy composing! - Chris


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## jhughes (Nov 19, 2017)

Try throwing the melody to a different instrument at 0.33 to 0.50. I hear woodwinds myself but play with it.

0.50 to 1:05 doesn't have much harmonic movement, which is fine, I think it works you simply build it other ways, have other instruments add counterpoint, fills, you might even put some "hits", crashes in that part of the song. Anything to keep it from being monotonous too soon.

By 1:06 I'm tired of hearing that same line so I'd say insert another theme there. It won't be hard, just take whatever melody you came up with for you "A" section, fragment it, steal a Piece of it, and develop it in some other manner, doesn't have to be complicated just catchy.

The stop and crash at 1:36 is good, at that point I'd say you might even go back to your solo cello slightly modified.
All subjective but my initial thoughts upon first listen.


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## ckiraly (Nov 20, 2017)

jhughes said:


> Try throwing the melody to a different instrument at 0.33 to 0.50. I hear woodwinds myself but play with it.
> 
> 0.50 to 1:05 doesn't have much harmonic movement, which is fine, I think it works you simply build it other ways, have other instruments add counterpoint, fills, you might even put some "hits", crashes in that part of the song. Anything to keep it from being monotonous too soon.
> 
> ...



Thanks jhughes! I appreciate this really great feedback! I'll try changing up a few elements and introducing a counterpoint and see how it goes. Thanks again and happy composing! - Chris


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## John Busby (Nov 28, 2017)

your percussion bed is spot on!


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## ckiraly (Nov 28, 2017)

johnbusbymusic said:


> your percussion bed is spot on!



Thanks!


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