I am trying to get back into writing soundtracks for games and could do with some constructive criticism on what I've got so far. I've not finalised the structure or completely finished arranging the individual sections, and I already have several parts that I intend to fix up in some way, but I thought it would be good to let others hear it and supply their own suggestions. The pseudo-classical style of this piece is one I'm not very experienced with and so it's still a learning experience.

Link is here: Soundcloud . Any suggestions of things I could or should change to improve it are welcome.

I don't know if this qualifies as constructive: If it doesn't... sorry!

Anyway, here are some random comments from someone that has pretty much never composed anything (but has studied and played a lot of music):
* The orchestration feels "vertical". Everyone changes chord on the down beat and maintains it until the next change. It would probably help if in the beats leading to a chord change some instruments would play a line that resolves in the new chord, anticipating it. My bass teacher refers to this as "forward motion": Something should be going on before the chord change, so we are not just sitting on a chord and then sitting on another chord. Melodic lines that target some chord note help with this, as do approach notes in the bass.
* The beginning has two melodies -the violins and a wind instrument (oboe?)- and it's hard to know what to listen for. It's probably better to establish a clear theme at the beginning. You can play intertwining melodies later on, but it's a bit confusing when you start this way, and it makes the music less memorable.
* I can't detect an overall arch of tension. I am not sure one is needed in a game soundtrack, but as an interpreter I look to see what I am building up to.
* The percussion also seems to emphasize the down beat in some parts, which again stops forward motion.
* The section that starts at around 1:08 is much better. I like the pulsating note in the base, and it builds up to something, although the climax at 1:42 is a bit disappointing.
* The chord at 2:13 sounds a bit too unorthodox in contrast with how consonant everything leading to it was, but at least it creates some tension, which is good.

I am curious to hear other people's opinion, or whether you agree with any of my points. I would also love to hear later refinements of this piece, to see how it takes shape.

Hey, that's great feedback, thanks! I'll address each bit in turn.

The 'vertical' orchestration - I'm not entirely sure what you mean by this, as I feel that the melodies do resolve into the chord changes. Perhaps that is not apparent enough? Or perhaps there is just not enough tension leading up to those cadences. I'll see what I can do about this.

The two melodies (violins and a cor Anglais) was me trying for a sort of faux-counterpoint feel, but I agree that they both compete for the attention somewhat. I'm not sure how I can establish a main theme easily without relegating the rest of the instruments to a lot of parallel 5ths and parallel octaves, but that is probably just my ignorance showing through.

There is no overall arch of tension. This is deliberate, and is in part due to me thinking of this as a background piece rather than a major theme piece, but is also because I've not decided on the exact structure yet. Currently it's just 4 or 5 sections played sequentially with a view to me doing something more thoughtful with the structure later.

Percussion - I'll look into it. I'm not terribly impressed with the percussion as it is, so I might have to go away and listen to some other pieces to get a better idea of what to do with it.

1:08 - 1:42 - yeah, I'm quite pleased with that, although I have a couple of samples which I'm going to change to improve it further. I'll also look into how I can improve the ending of that section to add a bit more drama.

And I was really hoping someone would comment on the chord at 2:13! It came about by accident when I thought I was in a different key to the one I was actually using but I thought I'd keep it as a borrowed chord to add tension, as you say. And although it flows nicely into the next section, it appears a bit out of nowhere, and I had already resolved to try and improve the approach to that somehow.

Thanks very much for your input - truly appreciated!

I had a go at rectifying some of those problems. It's still not perfect, and I can't fix everything without changing the melody too much, but I'm getting closer. Hopefully my next piece will be better!

Here's the new version: http://soundcloud.com/bensizer/main-theme-revised .

I haven't listened to it in as much detail as I did your previous version, but it's definitely better. My wife thinks this would be the soundtrack of a very somber game. That might be a bit harsh, but I see her point: It can certainly be used for some part of the game, perhaps where the story is presenting a conflict without any clear path to a solution, but the mood needs to eventually lighten up, or you could end up with depressed players.

Looking forward to your next piece!