Hello there, I´d like to hear your opinion about these: http://vault.bonusweb.cz/Miser/Unbound.mp3 --> heroical http://vault.bonusweb.cz/Miser/The Secret Revealed.mp3 --> portentous http://vault.bonusweb.cz/Miser/The Rise And Fall.mp3 --> majesty http://vault.bonusweb.cz/Miser/Smashing Heroes.mp3 --> heroical theme http://vault.bonusweb.cz/Miser/Jolly Clarinet.mp3 --> playful clarinet =) http://vault.bonusweb.cz/Miser/Blue Violins.mp3 --> blue http://vault.bonusweb.cz/Miser/Freedom.mp3 --> victorious Every comment is welcome. George, -

I’m going to be blunt, so get ready:

Unbound.mp3
SAM Trumpets are not very good for fanfares, and that solo Trombone sample playing the exact same thing an octave down isn’t helping it either. It could definitely use some counterpoint. You then faded in the string arpeggios at 0:30, which is a bad move. It sounds as though you were going for a buildup from 0:30 to 0:33, but the Timpani seems to be going through some sort of pitch bend which is distracting and out of tune. And there’s a let down because any bass the timpani provided goes away. The orchestra has to come in with a boom after the buildup. When the lower brass comes in, it could use some timpani for support. Actually, before the horns come in at 0:51 the entire piece could have used a lot more instrumentation. From 0:56 on the timpani seems to be doing its own thing out of tune. It seemed as though the harmony was going from F# major to D# minor or B major but couldn’t quite make it because the lower brass is constantly droning, which is also distracting, and it doesn’t help the melody line at all. Counterpoint, my friend, counterpoint. The very end could use some more work as it is not an ending at all, at least, not one suited for a fanfare. I suggest listening to some more classical fanfares (why not start with Aaron Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man?) so you can learn some more about how it’s done. It’s easy to see you are a beginner and haven’t had a lot of experience with composing, so take the time to do some research. It will pay off in the end.

The Secret Revealed.mp3
The harmonies in this piece are a bit better. I can see what you are doing here until 0:53 where an odd chord progression doesn’t fit at all. After that, you seem to be repeating yourself, which has very little effect. But fans of Phillip Glass would call you a genius for doing that, so what am I complaining about? Anyway, the higher brass at 1:30 is good; the lower is out of tune. Atonality doesn’t work at this point because so far the piece has been quite tonal and it sounds like someone hit a bad note. I suggest repeating that portion twice, though, as it is the theme of the piece and you want the listener to know that, twice. The softer horns at 1:42 sound nice and might have worked as a return to the A theme once you had a good B theme going. For now, it seems like too much of theme A. Overall, it sounds like you had a better idea of what you were doing with this piece. All it needs is some more development.

The Rise and Fall.mp3
The titles of your pieces sound somewhat like those of a film score. The problem with this is that film music works best in the context of a film. It is difficult to know what the composer was thinking if all you give them is 0:43 seconds of music. I don’t understand this piece because I don’t know where it came from and I do know where it is going. It sounds good because of the high-quality brass samples, but in the end it just doesn’t work because it is too short.

Smashing Heroes.mp3
Again, the SAM Trumpet can’s do fanfares, so it’s best not to try. Give this melody to the horn section to play or something. Also, know what key you are playing in, or else the timpani guy is just going to be playing random notes like in this piece. It could use a lot more work.

Jolly Clarinet.mp3
Having fun with the clarinet samples, I see. If this is to be a duet, give clarinetist #2 something more interesting to play. It sounds as though you were just fooling around on the keyboard and let the right-hand do all the work. Try to give your pieces more thought and meaning because it will show through in the end. You will feel a lot better about your work as well if you try harder.

Blue Violins.mp3
Now these are the kind of pieces that deserve the most counterpoint. You seem to have your harmonies, now all you need to do is make things more interesting. Is there supposed to be a cello section? If so, it needs to play something more than just whole notes, and I find what works well is when they ascend or descend in a scale.

Freedom.mp3
Hmm, you seemed to rip this right from the score to Braveheart, so it would probably be best to either change that or scrap it.

Overall
You are a beginner. You are starting out with much better quality samples than I did many years ago, which means the music will sound nice, but the catch is the music will sound only nice. As someone who didn’t have the samples to begin with, I had to rely solely on my composition and arranging skills to get the best sound out of my music, and thus they developed over the years. You still need to develop these skills by listening to more music, and composing a ton of your own. Never be satisfied with your work, as you will never try to improve. I’d be happy to offer more pointers and suggestions if you want. The advice I tend to give out to most people, however, is to learn as much as they can, and then some. Taking music lessons in piano and one other instrument is also a plus, as is theory lessons. Composing is a full-time and very expensive occupation if you really want to make it work, but if you’re dedicated enough, it will.


[edited by - Sil on July 30, 2003 10:54:19 PM]

While some of Sil''s comments might be a matter of different taste, i do agree with him that no matter the quality of your samples, it''ll always boil down to the quality of your composition. Don''t be discouraged though, coz there''s potential there.
To sharpen your skills, how about trying to make a compostion using a crappy General MIDI soundset ?
I found, myself, that this approach will show you immediately where the strengths and/or weaknesses are in your composition, because the quality of the samples is not distracting you from the actual composition here.
If you feel you''ve got something good in GM, then you''re set to enhance it using your sample library and other equipment.

Cheers,

Ivo Jager

Sil,

firstly: thank you for your time which you devoted to downloading and listening to my mp3s.

You are right - I am beginner and I appreciate every single comment, especially when it´s a critical one. This kind of comprehensive review you gave me is something I was looking for for a long time.


Could you describe me the word "counterpoint"? Arpeggios? My english is not the best.

What sample would you use for fanfares then, if sam´s trumpet is inappropriate for such a task? And why is it inappropriate?

btw.: you are right with the breakheart also. when I realized I am actually making a copy, it was too late - until now nobody noticed but you´re alright, I scrap it.


So, thank you again for your comments, tips, hints and advices! I´d be happy to receive even more! For example I never know if its right to double violin part and play it simult. with viola etc.

I am almost scared , but here are another ones:
http://vault.bonusweb.cz/Miser/Hymn Of The Slaves.mp3
http://vault.bonusweb.cz/Miser/In The Abyss.mp3
http://vault.bonusweb.cz/Miser/Return To Heaven.mp3
http://vault.bonusweb.cz/Miser/Playful.mp3

Sincerely yours,
George Kafka

[edited by - miser on July 31, 2003 8:47:54 AM]

[edited by - miser on July 31, 2003 2:19:15 PM]

Miser:
Counterpoint is a theory of melodic movement and connections between the voices. Counterpoint voices do not obey harmonical rules (not that tere wouldn''t be harmonic relations) and follow their own melodies instead.

Here''s a short part of Handel''s Water music so that you can get a better idea of what''s going on (restored from a very old vinyl recording, so there won''t be copyright probs I hope, it''s for educational purposes anyway).

http://www.user661.wz.cz/handel.ogg (634kb)

I assume you live in Czech republic so if you ever come to Prague, you can go to Vaclavske namesti and search the local bookstores for Nauka o kontrapunktu by Zdenek Hula. I spot it in one of the shops when I was buying Holst''s Planets there.

What sound libraries do you use btw?

Hi Claymore, you are from Czech Rep.? great

I am kinda far away from prague (prerov - 300km away), but that book sounds like something what I could use


about sound libraries - mostly Dan Dean´s instrumets, then some siedlaczek´s, few of vitous´s and few of sam´s

Thanks. Those libraries sound really good.

man, those samples are incredible...

What stuffs do you use?

Hook me up =)

to C3ooo: as I said: dd, siedl, vitous and sams instruments + cubase sx

dd=?