I'm working on a current adventure-themed song for a strategic rpg. I'd love to keep you updated, here's what I have so far: http://www.aoikokoro.net/longebane/archieve/Flames%20of%20the%20Impenatratable%20Hearte.mp3

Very nice...I liked it. If you aren't looking for constructive criticism, stop reading here. [grin] I don't like how the primary melody stays in the strings section most of the time in the first part. It really sounded like the bells were going to smoothly pick it up at around :31, but then they didn't. Keeping it in the strings, I think, maintains a level of tension that gets grating after a little while. I'd suggest mixing it up.

I was looking for contructive criticism, thanks. The bells at :31 should be continued, I agree. And I might play around with what intruments may carry on the melody instead of the strings.

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And how do I go about mixing it up?

I'd hate to dictate that, but as I said, if the bells picked up the primary melody at :31 (or a few bars later) and kept running with it, it would result in an inflection which wouldn't be jarring at all. (Of course, you'd have to change the melody a bit for the bells... make it more spare.) Have the strings pick it up again 15-20 seconds afterwards.

Some change would be nice - I like Sneffy's suggestion (sorry, I've always wanted to try calling you that!) for moving the melody over to the bells.

The timpani breaks feel a little akward as well.

The melody and sound is great; I really like it!

//edit, wow, you two posted quickly.

I've let the bells carry on the melody briefly now, and have done some more minor tweaking, hopefully improving the song. As for a whole, this piece should be at least eight minutes long once it is done.

http://www.aoikokoro.net/longebane/archieve/Flames%20of%20the%20Impenatratable%20Hearte.mp3

The horns (EDIT: and the woodwinds) work well. While the bells are carrying the melody, they should probably be an octave up; that instrument gets sort of muddy in the lower register. Definitely going in the right direction.

Oh, one thing that sort of bothers me after a few listenings (not much): at :07 there's this 3-4-5 violin bit, repeated 4 times, that sounds non-violinish. I have no idea why... but something about the patch you're using sounds like keyboard trying to sound like violin. Not sure what to do about that.

Your musical ideas are great, I love 'em. The one point I have to make that hasn't already been made is that your horn (and some percussion) samples sound very 'midi'. Work with reverb, etc.

Very nice though, good job.

If you like the bell melody where it is in that octave, you could reinforce it by doubling it with a harp part to give it added definition.

Brian