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In a World of Jousting Knights...

mediumaevum

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I'm in need for feedback mainly on the voicing and string dynamics. What can be improved in terms of the harmonization/counterpoint and the dynamics of the strings?

This track is far from finished yet, so please share your thougths on this piece.
 
Since I got no feedback, I assume the composition is as it should be.

I've made a Youtube-teaser for my channel with this piece:



Hope you like it :)
 
I like the composition and the idea of how you‘re mixing the staccatos with long melody lines.

Because of that I would have an eye on the timing. It sounds as if the longs are sometimes a bit late. But nice string sounds. Which library?
 
I like the composition and the idea of how you‘re mixing the staccatos with long melody lines.

Because of that I would have an eye on the timing. It sounds as if the longs are sometimes a bit late. But nice string sounds. Which library?

Thanks. Some of the string libraries have a slight delay of a few ms. I actually did pull some of them a tiny bit back, but not all of them, in order to create a more "natural" sounding string sound.

I used the very, very old (2012) string library from 8Dio, which - granted - out-of-the-box sounds terrible. But draw the correct curves for both the Dynamics and Expression manually can give you pretty good results.

I also used the free Violin Legato from Performance Samples, to mix with the 8Dio violins. It's a solo violin and even though it is a free, it has a nice sound, and the dynamics/expression settings are the same as 8Dio.

If you mix the solo violin from Performance Samples with the violin ensemble from 8Dio you can get a very realistic sounding string ensemble sound, I think.
 
Like the idea! Definetly feels mediaeval. Think this would also make a cool atmosphereic piece if you lowered the tempo by 15 - 20bpm and instead of using shorts. Have the other string sections basses, cellos etc.. doing counterpoint to the violins.
 
I'm hearing something weird going on with your reverb starting at the 3 second mark. It sounds like a bit of distortion echo or something. Does anyone else hear this?
 
Sounds lovely! Defo got a nice vibe flowing.
I do hear the delay though, I'm not sure it's in a good way though? Could you reduce it/drop for an A/B?
 
I've put together two types of feedback for you.


If you are a hobbyist

Nice job. Continue to have fun and learn more.


If you are trying to be a professional composer

Since I got no feedback, I assume the composition is as it should be.

I hope this is not a serious statement :)

I'm in need for feedback mainly on the voicing and string dynamics. What can be improved in terms of the harmonization/counterpoint and the dynamics of the strings?

You're not there yet. You still need to learn the basics of composing.

Your themes are rudimentary and, from there, don't really develop. Quite frankly, the pieces don't draw me in nor hold my attention. Don't worry about writing for orchestra yet. Can you write a piece for two or three instruments that has initial interest, continued development, a B section (at minimum) and an overall arc? Start there and branch out. Prepare to spend years practicing this.

You obviously have potential and a love for composing. Keep working at it and seek guidance from local schools if possible, engage with other composers, listen to more music, transcribe, study scores, take composition lessons, read books, etc.

Good luck and have fun!
 
I've put together two types of feedback for you.


If you are a hobbyist

Nice job. Continue to have fun and learn more.


If you are trying to be a professional composer



I hope this is not a serious statement :)



You're not there yet. You still need to learn the basics of composing.

Your themes are rudimentary and, from there, don't really develop. Quite frankly, the pieces don't draw me in nor hold my attention. Don't worry about writing for orchestra yet. Can you write a piece for two or three instruments that has initial interest, continued development, a B section (at minimum) and an overall arc? Start there and branch out. Prepare to spend years practicing this.

You obviously have potential and a love for composing. Keep working at it and seek guidance from local schools if possible, engage with other composers, listen to more music, transcribe, study scores, take composition lessons, read books, etc.

Good luck and have fun!

I'm a hobbyist, but I want to sound like a pro. So I immediately jumped to the second type of feedback. I will continue to work on this using your second feedback. Thanks a lot :)
 
Your themes are rudimentary and, from there, don't really develop. Quite frankly, the pieces don't draw me in nor hold my attention. Don't worry about writing for orchestra yet. Can you write a piece for two or three instruments that has initial interest, continued development, a B section (at minimum) and an overall arc? Start there and branch out. Prepare to spend years practicing this.

I've been reading this over and over again. And the more I read and think about what you said, the less I understand about what you're saying.

You speak of "the pieces". This is one piece. Have you heard any of my other pieces, or are you refering to this single piece alone? If the first is true, I'm totally lost. I've written a lot of themes with B-sections. Though not for this one (yet).

You speak of drawing you in nor hold your attention. Could you be more specific. Ie. what is required to draw and hold your attention?

I really want to learn this stuff, but as long as I'm getting no clues as to what exactly is missing in my piece(s) I can't develop my music.
 
My advice for developing your music would be: relax, don’t listen too much to forums, add a B-section to your piece .. it has good ideas
 
My advice for developing your music would be: relax, don’t listen too much to forums, add a B-section to your piece .. it has good ideas

I Disagree. I believe a forum like this has a lot t offer in terms of critique and ideas for improvement.

But yeah, a B-section should improve the piece, but then it gets longer, and I don't have enough video/animation for that - yet.
 
I've been reading this over and over again. And the more I read and think about what you said, the less I understand about what you're saying.

You speak of "the pieces". This is one piece. Have you heard any of my other pieces, or are you refering to this single piece alone? If the first is true, I'm totally lost. I've written a lot of themes with B-sections. Though not for this one (yet).

You speak of drawing you in nor hold your attention. Could you be more specific. Ie. what is required to draw and hold your attention?

I really want to learn this stuff, but as long as I'm getting no clues as to what exactly is missing in my piece(s) I can't develop my music.

(not the best person to) But, I'll try explain for you:

  • Think about dynamics, not just for individual melody lines, but also as a whole piece.
    • The term "flat-lining" is something I use to describe when a instrument or entire piece feels like it's not going up or down in terms of dynamics, or moving "forwards & backwards" interms of tempo changes to acentuate the feeling you're trying to portray for a spesific part. Despite the piece having great ideas, without dynamics and movment the track will "flat-line" and become boring over-time because the listener can't understand how they're suppose to feel about it. This can take away the huge potential of a piece.
  • The low strings drone at the same rhythem, note and dynamic for the whole track.
    • Ask yourself how to make it more interesting. Maybe some changes to the dynamics? Add subtle variations? Maybe keep the rhythem but change the notes to underline the progression? Maybe give the listener a break from low strings and introduce a different instrument to take over? All different things to think about, all of which help keep the track moving and feeling new.
  • "Dressing" the track to achieve more interesting textures. (cue one of my terrible metaphores) Think of your song as a christmass tree. You've already put the lights around it and stuck some balls on. But there's still space for tinsle and a star on top.
    • You could dress the track with light percussion, or some other instruments / sounds to give it vibe and more of an atmospheric feel. They don't neccicerally need to be in the foreground or be a significant part of the track. Just enough to keep things interesting, but then again you need to ask, does it need it?
Something to try. Take a break from the song, then when you walk back into your studio to listen to it, pretend you are Hanz Zimmer (or some famous composer) and you have come to some dude called Mediumaevum studio. You're going to listen to his/her track and tell them what's good and whats not so good. Be honest about it. That way you'll learn how to be self critical and spot your own mistakes and weak-points.
 
Didnt mean to not use forums, but don‘t hope to find the secret sauce only here.
To develop your skills in the long run I would focus more on tips like this:

Keep working at it and seek guidance from local schools if possible, engage with other composers, listen to more music, transcribe, study scores, take composition lessons, read books, etc.
 
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