Hello WilderBeezy,

I'd also like to say that the title of your post was a bit misleading. When I think of Shadow of the Colossus, I immediately think of sparse, atmospheric music. This piece you've created doesn't really fit that mood so to speak, rather I can hear it as being in the setting of a shady town of sorts. Perhaps what happened was that you had the intention of SoC in mind, but it didn't end up that way, which happens a lot to me. Sometimes you just got to role with how the song develops. 

Nsmadsen pretty much summed up most of the things I thought. There's certainly a ton of potential in this track!

On 6/10/2018 at 1:47 PM, Alec Weesner said:

. Not every instrument needs to be EQ'd and compressed for example. Take time to learn what each plug-in does to a sound and decide for yourself whether you need it.

This is great advice! Music production is a lot like cooking. You don't want to way overuse just one seasoning otherwise the recipe gets unbalanced. Likewise, you don't want to throw everything you have in the pot. That would be chaos. Same thing for music production. Strive for a balance. Lots of tiny movements can make a much bigger impact than a few huge movements. 

   How would I refine my cuisine were not for such wonderful gourmets at my table....To even receive your advice makes me feel more worthy than my starry eyed dreams could believe....I've often felt music "outside" of my grasp...Like quicksilver I could never touch. You make me feel it is more adamantium, malleable at the right place in the temporal sphere...

"Not everything needs EQ'd...."

You're at the right place, friend! Keep learning from others and soon you'll find yourself working with a client who wants "your" music, not someone else's.

Do you know where I might find a more personal mentor or teacher? All the tutorial videos are well and fine, but I have found my own learning curve suffers less with more specialized instruction. Someone I might preview a piece to before I publish it, or broach an idea with.

26 minutes ago, WillderBeezy said:

Do you know where I might find a more personal mentor or teacher? All the tutorial videos are well and fine, but I have found my own learning curve suffers less with more specialized instruction. Someone I might preview a piece to before I publish it, or broach an idea with.

What I find works best is to ask for critiques of my songs by friends and family members. Take their advice, work on your song, then find a few music forums where you can post your track. Ask for more suggestions and tips there.

Unfortunately, composing as a career involves a great many hours of self-teaching. I doubt there are very many people out there that are "video-game/film composer" teachers.

Well, damn.....My family and I don't see eye to eye in our musical tastes, however this may be my biggest flaw....I write music I like....without concession to common or popular styles....I have received wonderful praise for my music from them, and even astonishment that I could write what songs I have. When I showed my family I programmed it all in, note by note, they were even more impressed, but overwhelmingly my support structure has directed me to video games. Each song I present to the family elicits imagery and feelings the songs evoke, then a "That would be great in a video game!"
   Understand, Nobuo Uematsu and Mitsuda are my heroes. I would be beyond honored to reach a smidgen of their greatness. I just want to write something moving. As an artist, I feel like art is my communicative medium...The songs, the drawings, the poetry...All just trying to communicate. After critique from professionals, I feel like I've been speaking sumatran the entire time....

You definitely have the music calling that has drawn us composers to this medium. What I believe would be most helpful for you to work on right now is to practice writing songs in a variety of different settings. Try composing something based on key words or phrases like "dark and moody, yet hopeful". Try composing to a video or picture. Analyze other composer's songs and see if you can capture the same mood in your own music. These are the things you will be doing in the real world, so you'll be one step ahead of other composers who only write music for themselves.

Ummmm.....Give her a perusal? I have an extensive soundcloud library with songs in a variety of styles, and I have an even older youtube channel I can't access anymore because of device issues. (I used to use a smart phone to write music, it was an exhausting process, but I feel some of my old songs and videos were still good.)

This is a link to my current Youtube.       https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-jv6QN1WXU6WMfHC1jSefg?view_as=subscriber

This is my old one. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWb-6642FWkaIk7fPc6O5fA

Here's my Soundcloud.   

The hardest Motif I have struggled with is mid eastern and asiatic music....Mainly to do with their tonal system and the timing. 
  I mean, feel free to comment on any of them and give me feedback. Video editing, I feel, is one of my strong suits.

On 6/14/2018 at 3:32 PM, WillderBeezy said:

Do you know where I might find a more personal mentor or teacher? All the tutorial videos are well and fine, but I have found my own learning curve suffers less with more specialized instruction. Someone I might preview a piece to before I publish it, or broach an idea with.

I would recommend hiring a pro to give you lessons. I've been able to do this on several occasions and it's great because you get very direct, specific feedback and assistance on your pieces. And since it's a business agreement (i.e. you're paying for their services) they don't *usually* feel the need to hold back. They're going to help you the best way they can.