Recent works?

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Original post by nsmadsen Hey guys, The forum has been relatively quiet lately so I thought I'd liven things up again. What recent works can you share with the group? Would love to see what you've all been up to!

I think this topic is good idea :)

I have one new track for sharing:
www.cleanicemusic.com/sate/its_coming.mp3 (3.5Mb / 1:56)

I'm impressed by works of Danny Elfman and I tried to create track in similar style.
Enjoy :)

Hey Sate,

I can definitely hear the Elfman impression here! Nice work, fun to listen to. I'm also a big Elfman fan and have his Music for a Darkened Theater Vol. 1. When I was in high school, we'd always play the Beetlejuice theme for our Halloween show.

Anyway, my only major critique of the piece is the title. It's Coming gives the listener an expectation of a higher level of intensity, danger and risk. This piece is more reflective, moody and ambient than that. There are rises and falls, dramatic pacing however I don't feel the piece reflect the title that well. It may sound like nitpicking, but I've experience poor feedback when listeners were expecting A (from the piece's title) and were given B from the actual music.

When I changed the title to better suit what the music's intentions were- the feedback immediately took on the direction I had hoped for.

Just an idea. Overall, a very nice piece to listen to! Thanks for sharing.

(Also, hope you didn't mind me giving you some feedback.)

Take care,

Nate

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Original post by nsmadsen I can definitely hear the Elfman impression here! Nice work, fun to listen to.

Thank you!

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I'm also a big Elfman fan and have his Music for a Darkened Theater Vol. 1.When I was in high school, we'd always play the Beetlejuice theme for our Halloween show.

I think it was the best chose for Helloween show. :)
It is a pity that when I studied in school, we are not celebrating Halloween.

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Anyway, my only major critique of the piece is the title. It's Coming gives the listener an expectation of a higher level of intensity, danger and risk. This piece is more reflective, moody and ambient than that. There are rises and falls, dramatic pacing however I don't feel the piece reflect the title that well. It may sound like nitpicking, but I've experience poor feedback when listeners were expecting A (from the piece's title) and were given B from the actual music. When I changed the title to better suit what the music's intentions were- the feedback immediately took on the direction I had hoped for.

Perhaps I paid too little attention to the title. Now I see that better to change It's Coming to something more appropriate and I would be grateful for any idea of the title :)

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(Also, hope you didn't mind me giving you some feedback.)

I'm very glad to get your feedback. Thanks a lot! :)

Here is the music for exploring the ruins of a fortified tower in middle of a snow storm. I had a a computer-sequenced version of this, but I decided to perform a live version using some actual human playing to capture some of the superior tones of my instruments and the nuances of a real performance. My nuances are usually more bad than good, however. :)

The drums and bass pad are still sequenced.

There are several piano parts, for which I ran my piano through a guitar amp simulator, where I cooked-up a nifty retro, detuned effect.

The clarinet is a mellotron clarinet from sample bank that I'm playing with midi.

there's also a short and unnecessary touch of electric guitar.

winter2.mp3

I'd like to preface this post by introducing myself... being that, posting recent works with no name would be a bit silly, being that it is in fact, my first post on these forums.

Due to childhood aspirations and a recent unemployment, I've stumbled upon these forums. My scope of work is very limited and my song writing skills and compositional skills are still being worked on constantly. This is a piece I wrote for a friend, She said something to the extent of make me a song that will make me feel like I'm floating on clouds. The name is silly... I know that much. In any case. I'd like to hear some feedback.

This was written on Sibelius and exported without any audio work done to it so far, though I intend to go back and process/master it later.

http://www.darkenedrealmstudios.com/remmingsgallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=77&g2_GALLERYSID=3bd666db6fbe77826c03c8c62401b1fe

Kelly G

Cool sound right from the start. I really like this song. When the oboe-like synth takes control a little before midway through there are some interesting harmonies and/or tuning going on. I'd take a look at that. I'm all for human playback and will totally forgive any imperfections of a performance to a degree- but some of the piano noodles (short, quick series of notes) are off rhythmically.

This piece already has alot of personality which is very good. Finish it up with an ending and polish a few of those sections I mentioned- and I think you'll have a strong, cool piece here!

Thanks for sharing.

JTRemmings

Hey,

I like some of the ideas in your piece, for example the motion happening in one instrument while another is holding. This creates a new contrast. You also do a pretty good job bringing in an idea, developing it for a while then moving on to another idea. I do think the pacing can still be worked on because there were a few times I found myself thinking "Okay, I've heard this." I think growing the piece beyond just two instruments would be one way to help add development. Perhaps slight changes to the melody when it is played again? Mess with rhythm, alter a few notes or change some of the counter point (harmony between the two lines).

One of the first things I'd do is get better samples to work with. The samples you have in this piece are REALLY holding you back because not every game will want these kinds of sounds. Some games will want realistic samples (like a real orchestra or rock bank) while others will want very synthy, electronic-like sounds. Then others will want a more retro vibe, which your current samples might work well.

The other thing to consider is how would this (or music similar to this) work in a video game. Where would it be more effective? Can you write in various styles? Variety is the key to landing a broad new of clients.

Thanks for sharing guys!

Nate

JTRemmings

Very nice. I agree with Nathan, you should bring it out of the couple of instruments into a larger palette--one of the things you could really take advantage of in your repetitions is some kind of counter melody with either an instrument group or (if you refuse to increase your instrumentation then) with your coupled instruments.

If I were to give you a listening exercise, I would suggest you take a listen to Patrick Doyle's 'Henry V' soundtrack. I think you have a pleasant medieval thing going on here and you might listen to how Doyle brings sophistication, drama, and dynamics into the medieval sound, all which I think are qualities worth exploring more for your piece. If you're interested in listening to a more salon style medieval soundtrack, then you have to listen to Jocelyn Pook's 'Merchant of Venice' OST.


I am also waiting eagerly to be able to share some stuff I worked on over the summer.

Nothing game related, but I've been slowly piecing together a new album. Basically everything on this page (except for "A Girl Like You") is recent, with "A Girl Like You" being a couple years old. The first song, "Transmission" is actually a cover. Feel free to check out all the music and tell me what you think.

The Tons of Fun Project

~Tons of Fun

I've always been into games and recently I decided to make an attempt at writing game music; this is one of the first songs I've come up with.

Within the context of a game I imagine this piece to be played within a desolate town or village which has suffered from some sort of disaster.

The things I think could be changed are that the melody doesn't appear for quite some time, maybe it would be more suitable to have a shorter intro.

Also, I'm not very knowledgeable about music production so this song has just a rough mix where I adjusted the levels of each track, I haven't used any EQ, compression or mastering techniques. If anyone has any tips for the production they would be appreciated.

You can stream the song here:
Sad Song

Thanks.

So wait, let me get this, you wish to hear what other people have been working on, yet you cannot share any of your recent blots? The nerve some people have...

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Originally posted by Music Composer So wait, let me get this, you wish to hear what other people have been working on, yet you cannot share any of your recent blots? The nerve some people have...

Is this directed toward me? Excuse me, but perhaps you haven't heard of an NDA and what legal implications one can get in if they break the terms of an NDA. My recent works are all under NDA so I cannot legally (regardless if I want to or not) share them with the public until the project is made public. Breaking an NDA early to could result in legal problems for me, plus it isn't very professional.

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Originally posted by nsmadsen Due to NDA reasons, I cannot share what I've been working on recently but I will when it is made public. Have a great Thanksgiving for those that celebrate it!

I said this in the first post explaining why I wasn't sharing my recent works, but I guessed you missed that part.

[Edited by - nsmadsen on December 6, 2008 8:06:31 PM]

Sounding good Chasteleth, one thing that you'll want to keep in mind is your compositional shape and your spatial instrumentation. You have at your fingertips a virtual stage on which to project your expression, use it, use the whole stage and make it mean something.

Keep up the good work!

Chasteleth: I agree with Danthr's comments. I also liked the mood that you've built in this piece. The piano is a really nice touch against the pads. I do feel like this piece could be expanded a bit more, add some percussion and some bass then starting elaborating on the musical stage you've started.

Thanks for sharing!

Nathan

Thanks for the feedback, I'ved added some percussion which I think fits nicely.

I just finished up the music for a game that's in production by a small development 'studio' at my University (CSU Chico) titled "High Noon", which is a full conversion UT3 mod. It's just your basic shooter, but with a really interesting steampunk-western cartoony aesthetic to it.

This is the music for the finale of the showdown with the dastardly Boz Novak (concept art if you're interested). It's completely over the top and tongue-in-cheek, which made it quite a lot of fun to do.

http://hontosmusic.net/music/highnoon/12%20Novak%20Battle%20-%20Final%20Stage.mp3

Hah, it's like JRPG mates with silent movie soundtracks.

Very interesting, very busy, and I'm very curious to see what the finished level/scene is going to be like.

Here's the stuff I've put out:

http://www.last.fm/music/Monthigos/+albums

The most recent stuff is in the MMT album. Twenty-9 is an album I put together earlier this year, and the Eaorin Soundtrack is music for a game I want to make someday. All of it is Electronica except the one track in Eaorin album, which is Orchestra-esque. I have a ton more projects on my computer.

I've always been hesitant to share my stuff as I know I'm not that good, but what the hell.

JonahSM1: Wow that was a FUN piece! I agree with Dan, it is very busy but this could work very well in a hectic shooter level. I love the personality you put in this piece. A unique fusion of omm-pah, saloon piano, 60's like organ (at one section) and Danny Elfman on crack. When you have a video of the level, can you share it? I think this would help fully demonstrate how this piece works in.

Thanks for sharing!

Nathan

Thanks :)

Unfortunately, I don't currently have access to a video of the level, but the alpha release is in just over a week, so I could definitely have one then.