Tell me what you think of these. I am new and still learning. Here are a few songs. http://anarchyhq.freehostia.com/Dwarfs%20Prayer.mid * I didn't do very well on this one... * http://anarchyhq.freehostia.com/Immortal.mid * Probably one of my best. * http://anarchyhq.freehostia.com/Weeping%20Fairy.mid * Decent. * Thanks, -Mystixs (Tamer Of Dragons)

Hi Mystixs,

Welcome to the forums. I listened to your Immortal midi file. I have several things to say, but first want to make sure you know that I mean this only as constructive criticism. I hope that I can give you some ideas that will help make your pieces better. With that stated, I'll start:

1) MIDI: My first suggestion is try to get some decent sample libraries so your songs will sound better. While MIDI is great for editing and having very small files- it is terrible on the ears. Especially in today's market of media, MIDI sounds extremely dated and the mass public's ears are not used to hearing much of it. Back in the days of NES, Sega Genesis and SNES MIDI was the standard and much more accepted and even with that said, many games used some small samples and many different effects to help make the sound easier on the ears.

Having better sounding instruments will help your overall compositions (at least the delivery).

2) Arrangement: Even with standard MIDI, it is possible to create an interesting arrangement. Listening to your piece, I didn't hear any dynamic changes. Everything was one volume. On top of that, I didn't hear any panning- so everything was coming out the same way for the song's entirety. Do some things like panning, changing dynamics and you'll see an added depth to your songs. Also adding some chords might flesh out this piece more. Right now you have an intro of one line, then two lines for the rest of the song. Having a two line (or voice) invention (which is basically what you have done) is fine, as long as you realize every single note has much more importance now because only two notes at a time can convey the harmonic progression, instead of full chords, limiting the possibilities. It is entirely possible to have complex, amazing pieces with just two lines. Just take a look at J.S. Bach.

3) Melody: My final point kind of bleeds into the second point. In your melody you have quite a bit of repeated notes. This makes the melody static- or non-moving. Sure, some repeated notes are fine, but balance is required. If you have too many repeated notes, then the melody sounds stiff and probably will not convey the effect you want.

I hope these comments help you and that you take the way I meant them: only as constructive. You have a great start, keep writing!!

Quote:
1) MIDI: My first suggestion is try to get some decent sample libraries so your songs will sound better. While MIDI is great for editing and having very small files- it is terrible on the ears.

He will be using MIDI even if he has sample libs. When producing music you either use MIDI or you record audio. Also MIDI has no sound, it is performance data. :P

Assuming that we don't all have great sound libraries (and maybe you do, and maybe you don't), you could export your song to OGG or something that generally sounds nicer.

I could hardly tell what instrument was playing until I dragged the file into Reason.

The music needs more orchestration. It's an okay solo track, but that's not enough to make it interesting. When you *do* bring in those other parts, make sure we can hear them, also.

I'll second the call for dynamics. Make something happen with the music.