A piano piece

[Neo]

I was listening to New Age music a lot lately, espacially Bradley Joseph and Secret Garden and was inspired to write this piano tune. It's done in Reason 3.0 and all the notes were typed in, since I don't play the piano, I'm more of a guitar player

Song is called "When We Met", and the image I had in mind while composing was of a couple walking through a snow covered park, without talking just enjoying the evening together.

So please, all your thoughts and comments would be much appreciated

Here's the link:
http://www.box.net/shared/8f3r4v56p5

Hope you'll enjoy it 

- Neo Jezh

[Kaio]

I love it. Wonderfull tune!

[Tuomas]

It's pretty nice, seeing as you haven't got that much experience with a piano. I could see it getting really repetitive for the player though. I think it'd benefit from singing and a length 50% shorter. It seems a bit long.

I can see the bit about walking on the shore, not saying anything, but still, the song got a bit boring at some point, so I decided to see how far it was, and it was only half way through.

[Neo]

@Tuomas
Sorry you got bored 
I guess it does tend to drag a bit too long   I'm gonna try to shorten it a bit (a lot)  And as for vocals, I don't have a working mic at the moment and to be honest I'd prefer for this to stay an instrumental...

Anyway, thanks for giving it a listen

Come on people, keep 'em coming 

[Nikolas]

Hi Ivan,

That's a nice tune you got there, the 7th maj in the second chord works very well I think. The change you are doing 1/4th of the way in, is very much needed indeed, and as Tuomas said it is a tiny bit on the long side. See, your repetitions by 4s is constant and it getting very tiring by the end, since there's nothing else but piano to support you.

On the sound of the piano, while the piano is not bad, the tiny echo you have, at some parts at least, does sound a little weird to me, no matter if you call it "new age" or anything really. Not saying you should remove it, but think why you're doing what you're doing, that's all.

The midi rendering is not bad, and the velocities work well, but it is quite quantized and the piece is lacking some more 'sentiment', that would come with a varied tempo map, or even some displacement of some notes, here and there.

Finally, I know that you're aiming for a solo piano, but some clever sound design, or some clear strings on the back, could help bring the sentiment up again.

Then again, not sure you're doing for that very sentimental type of music, but it sure sounds like it's needed!

[Viking]

Warning: Long-winded and pompous reply to follow! 

Pretty nice, especially for a first attempt at a piano piece!  I'd say it does fairly well at evoking the mood you're trying to accomplish, although I didn't pick up any hints of snow.  That could be done with, say, a celesta or glockenspiel, or a bit more emphasis on the relative minor, especially in high piano chords.

I agree it's a bit long as it stands, but it would be a good length with some alteration.  The main fault that I see it is that it doesn't really seem to have much direction -- it just keeps going on.  There is some nice variation on the main theme, and there's a little change in the main chord sequence at around 1:15, but that doesn't last nearly long enough.

Some ways to add interest and direction are:

* Alter the length of notes in the accompaniment.  For example, switch from eights to sixteenths.
* Alter instrumentation.  Add instruments (to increase tension), or add an obbligato on top of, or a new accompaniment part under your theme (to add interest).
* Alter the rhythmic pattern of the accompaniment, leaving the chord sequence the same.  You do this with the left hand at around 1:30, and it works nicely.  But it stays in the new pattern for too long too.
* Get suddenly softer at some point, then get louder and louder (with some variation) until you hit at least a local climax.
* Alter the chord sequence during some section.
* Change to a different key, including the minor.
* Start an entirely new section with a new theme, then work back to the main theme.
* (more for classical music than new age/light music) Modulate through different keys, slowly decreasing the number of bars (then beats) between each successive modulation, until you reach a big climax in the main key again.

If you want to keep the piece largely as is, I think you could still do so, but you need to vary at least the instrumentation in that case.  In this case, my suggestions would be:

* Elongate the four-measure "bridge" section at 1:15 to around sixteen measures (ditto with similar sections repeated later) -- and preferably not by repeating the same sequence over and over.
* At around 1:30, where the left hand goes into the arpeggiated pattern, add some backing strings, with maybe some oboe on top.  You add some right near the end of the piece, but that sounds a bit out of place, since the rest of the piece is piano solo.  (I know, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, Saint-Saens' "Organ" Symphony, Lauridsen's Chansons des Roses, and undoubtedly other well-known works have done this, but those composers are masters and know how to get away with it. )
* Bring in a few more instruments by around 2:02.
* Use the pedal more on the louder piano section at 2:37, and add most of the instruments you plan to use at this point.  I'd suggest strings playing sixteenth notes in octaves, not very high, e.g. GGF#F#GGDDBBAABBDD (repeated, altered as per chord sequence).  Make it loud but not too loud (maybe just "forte", save the loudest for later). 
* On the second repetition of the louder piano section (~2:40), change something.  For example, add some higher strings playing longer notes, similar to how you have it in the second section.
* Before the return to the softer section at ~2:50, put some kind of pause on the dominant D chord -- with instruments still playing held notes, but a break in the constant pattern, to give closure to the climax that just occurred.
* Make the second half of the piece starting at ~2:50 notably different than the first section in some way -- different instrumentation, different rhythms, different patterns, something.  Otherwise it just feels like you're repeating the piece twice.  Again, yes, some famous classical composers can get away with this (and some can't but do it anyway).
* At the recurrence of the louder section at ~4:15, put some timpani on the bottom G, some strings playing high fast notes, etc.  I really like the little pause before the piano comes in at that point.
* Again, needs something different the second time around at 4:27.
* If you're going to repeat the louder section yet again (~4:41, where the strings currently come in), you really need to vary it somehow.  Put some trumpets in playing a theme-like accompaniment on quarter and half notes, perhaps a restatement of whatever you put in at 2:40.  I don't the strings you have here right now are effective -- they're basically playing one note and don't seem to add much.
* Again, at 5:04, put some kind of break between the end of the climax of the piece and the start of the next section by elongating the D major chord.  Make the following section a quiet solo piano again (like it is now).  Maybe make the left-hand pattern even simpler than it currently is.
* Instead of fading out, my preference at the end would be to play the original theme again simply, just once, and come to a proper close on a G major rolled chord.

Hope that helps!

[Ubel]

I absolutely adore it! Very soothing. Very awesome.

[Neo]

Whoa guys, thanks for the replies 

I guess I'll try to put more variations and add a bit more instruments, some strings, oboe, maybe even a flute 
As for the production issues, I'm afraid I can't do better with my intergrated sound card. I'll try to work on the piano sound, cut back on the reverb a bit, lose the echo and work on the dynamics.

@Viking
Thank you man, for in depth analysis. You got me thinking there 

I'm getting to it right away  8)

If you like or don't like the piece, please let me know. 

[choked]

really nice tune!

[Moresco]

I gave it a listen all the way through, so I guess I'll weigh in.  There's the opening part, which I liked although it could use a little variation.  When you build from that into a verse, it's alright, but again without anything else there it seems a bit boring to repeat so many times.  Then there's a small shift section that leads back into what seems like an alternate verse that repeats until the shift section repeats again before a chorus.

The chorus bit I liked more than the rest, but later on some rather bland synth were slapped on top of it which I think doesn't help.  But if that's what you have, I guess it's not your fault! =]

Again I think everyone else had some good ideas, Viking's being the most in depth so I won't really say much more.  If it were me, I'd add another instrument or just break up the monotony with some different lines.  For being something where nobody is talking, your melody sure makes me hear vocal lines in my head. ^^  Anyway I liked it, I think it has potential.   

Edit: I've actually been jamming along with it for fun on the acoustic guitar, and I really think all you need are some interesting lines to accent the base part.

[Jimi]

Very nice. However when the main melody line kicks in the notes seem to stick to the beat. I just felt like having a few notes between beats would give it something extra. If that makes sense...

It is a really nice piece though!