Hey

I have recently put together a small portfolio with the intention of going to developers to try get freelance work producing music for video games. 

I am after some constructive criticisms and maybe a reality check as to weather my music is even close to good enough to present to developers asking for paid work. 

Link to portfolio: https://cmarshallost.wordpress.com/

Ill appreciate any feedback and advice, thanks.

2 hours ago, CharlieMarshall said:

...weather my music is even close to good enough to present to developers asking for paid work. 

I wouldn't worry so much about this because developers tend to have a wide range of needs and tastes. As long as you're making music you feel conveys an emotion and takes the listener on a journey, you're doing your job! Just keep getting better, practicing and researching as much as you can. 

On to the music: 

Cinder: This has some really need ideas!! I like the sense of drama and tension you have throughout the track. What's holding this track back is production. I realize some of your samples are not super realistic. Also the SFX at 7 seconds or so, I'm not really feeling it. It doesn't add a great deal to the track IMO and is more distracting than enhancing. It happens again 2:10. 

The piano part does some nice movement and counterpoint in the outro section. For those really long string notes, I'd consider still having some automation on them to make their musical lines evolve and go somewhere. Live players wouldn't normally just let super long tones just sit (unless it was specifically directed). They'd usually do a crescendo or decrescendo to give the lines more shape. I also feel that with some sidechaining, EQing and a bit more compression, you could get your lower parts to have more weight and impact. 

Eternal: Interesting start! Immediately drew me in. For your string pulsing, I wish the attack was a bit sharper and more crisp. Also be careful about having too many lines going on at once. In this track it's a bit harder to hear a clear melody that's right at the forefront of your mix. Instead, this piece feels like several periods of ideas and then it moves on to another one. I also felt the big hit at 2:00 could've been better prepped. Perhaps with a timpani roll/cymbal swell. Even a ritard to slow down tempo just a bit and then go into the action. The long note at 2:38 is just screaming for some more development. Consider a cymbal swell into the next hit to help give this spot more progression as right now it just sorta sits and the song loses a lot of energy. 

Overall, I think you have talent! I'd urge you to start putting yourself out there (if you're not already) and get some experience working with clients and such. Writing music by yourself is very different than when you're writing and working with a client and meeting their needs and vision. Also, I enjoyed your electronic pieces on your demo - glad to see you had some variety! 

Thanks for sharing! 

8 minutes ago, nsmadsen said:

I wouldn't worry so much about this because developers tend to have a wide range of needs and tastes. As long as you're making music you feel conveys an emotion and takes the listener on a journey, you're doing your job! Just keep getting better, practicing and researching as much as you can. 

On to the music: 

Cinder: This has some really need ideas!! I like the sense of drama and tension you have throughout the track. What's holding this track back is production. I realize some of your samples are not super realistic. Also the SFX at 7 seconds or so, I'm not really feeling it. It doesn't add a great deal to the track IMO and is more distracting than enhancing. It happens again 2:10. 

The piano part does some nice movement and counterpoint in the outro section. For those really long string notes, I'd consider still having some automation on them to make their musical lines evolve and go somewhere. Live players wouldn't normally just let super long tones just sit (unless it was specifically directed). They'd usually do a crescendo or decrescendo to give the lines more shape. I also feel that with some sidechaining, EQing and a bit more compression, you could get your lower parts to have more weight and impact. 

Eternal: Interesting start! Immediately drew me in. For your string pulsing, I wish the attack was a bit sharper and more crisp. Also be careful about having too many lines going on at once. In this track it's a bit harder to hear a clear melody that's right at the forefront of your mix. Instead, this piece feels like several periods of ideas and then it moves on to another one. I also felt the big hit at 2:00 could've been better prepped. Perhaps with a timpani roll/cymbal swell. Even a ritard to slow down tempo just a bit and then go into the action. The long note at 2:38 is just screaming for some more development. Consider a cymbal swell into the next hit to help give this spot more progression as right now it just sorta sits and the song loses a lot of energy. 

Overall, I think you have talent! I'd urge you to start putting yourself out there (if you're not already) and get some experience working with clients and such. Writing music by yourself is very different than when you're writing and working with a client and meeting their needs and vision. Also, I enjoyed your electronic pieces on your demo - glad to see you had some variety! 

Thanks for sharing! 

Thanks for the in depth feedback, it all makes sense and is very helpful! Its refreshing to get someone else's view on these tracks as I haven't really put my work out there at all, barring this. 

Kudos for you doing that! It can be hard at first to put yourself out there like that. Keep at it!