Don't worry. I fully intend to give it back. Here is a piece of music... Tripping the Night Fantastic it is, as far as I know, one of a kind. That is, I feel the piece may be too scattered to really sell itself efficiently. I am probably wrong. I am not quite sure if thats good or bad. heh! At any rate, give me your worst! :) ...I guess constructive posts would also prove helpful. This is a track I've been working on for some time. It is going to be the opening track for an album I am in the process of writing. I am not sure whether I am going to keep the 'old school' instrumentation or not. Though largely unfinished, its hopefully far enough along to get some substantially helpful feedback. Thats where you guys can help me out. :) I would give myself feedback but I am easily my own worst critic...and a bit one sided in my sense of analysis. ;) Impressions? Improvements? I thank you for the help! Ryan

One thing I can say for certain, I really like the old school instruments in that song! And it sure fits the title well enough, =P Now I'm not really qualified to be a good critic, so you probably shouldn't regard my opinions too highly. It reminded me of Megaman a lot (in style) because of it's old sort of electric synth style. But yeah, it did seem a little overwhelming in some parts, and it seemed like there was too much going on, but other than that, I liked it quite a bit. Good work! I hope someone else can give you better, more constructive criticism...

Hey thanks Sharky. As promised, your ear will be returned to you.

I am really glad that you heard some Megaman-esque-ness in there. I think I really admired the music of Megaman 2 growing up. I think I may have subconsciously made synth choices which reflect that. Gawd I love that game.

Anyways, in what areas do you feel the music gets a bit too "busy"?

Thanks!

Ryan

Here is a revision! Major one. I am going to fill out the odds and ends with live brass...hopefully. (fingers crossed)
What I have so far is the beat and the synth melodies and harmonies. I really tried to get really thick with them. There will likely be a few areas where I will need to cut down the thickness to make the piece more cohesive.

For now, I really REALLY need some critical commentary involving mixing. Does anyone else feel that the bass is too overpowering? Perhaps the basses space in the mix is too profound? Maybe I am full of crap? DUNNO!!

HELP!

Tripping the Night Fantastic

It's nice overall. The drums at certain points are a little "odd", but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The lead melody sound great, except for a few parts where it runs and jumps around a bit much. Maybe a bit more repitition? (not too much though) As for the bass, I do not think it is too loud, it sounds about right.

This reminds me of something that would might be in one of the classic Sega Sonic the Hedgehog games. Good job.

Quote: Original post by GMX
It's nice overall. The drums at certain points are a little "odd", but that's not necessarily a bad thing. The lead melody sound great, except for a few parts where it runs and jumps around a bit much. Maybe a bit more repitition? (not too much though) As for the bass, I do not think it is too loud, it sounds about right.

This reminds me of something that would might be in one of the classic Sega Sonic the Hedgehog games. Good job.

Well, thats good to hear about the bass. Its been bugging me, but perhaps I am just being paranoid about it.

The drums sound "odd"? Are you talking about the actual rhythm's or the sound itself? A bit of clarifying would be much appreciated.

I agree that the melody 'morphs' in unexpected ways, but that was kind of the point when I was writing. I still think I can unify the melody in a few areas a bit more, but the premise of the piece is highly jazzlike. I wanted for a few sections of the piece to have an improvisational feel, as if it might be something that would be heard in a live setting.
I hear your criticisms though and I appreciate you listening...especially making the connection with Sonic. :)
I thought the same thing while I was selecting the synths for the piece. Hopefully that isn't too much of a turnoff.

Anyhoo, thank you kindly!

Ryan

The drum beat wasn't odd as in "bad", just "unconventional" I guess.

As for the lead improvisation, that's a good idea, but that kind of thing should usually be saved for around the bridge area.

Good luck with future compositions :)

I think I understand what you mean. The drums do you feel a bit muffled. I'll see what I can do.

Thanks for the feedback.

Here's what I think:

The first thing that struck me was a very soft, ambient intro, which I liked, but then it seemed to go in a louder direction. This is great, except if it's for a game, I'd drop the intro and maybe edit it so that it all blends. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to be quiet then all of a sudden jump out at at the listener. I liked the piece, although there were a couple places where it skipped, and I don't know if that was intentional or not, but I think you should smooth those out. Very nice piece besides those little things, it reminded me of a cross between Pokemon and Star Ocean 3's soundtrack. I know that sounds weird, but that's just what came to mind for me.

I think it sounds like sonic music. I can almost hear the coins clinging in the background.

Impressions? Sounds too much like old games.

Improvements? Don't know what else you can do with it really.