Music for crit

[Archangel (aka SoupDragon)]

I decided to see if it was possible to take one or two simple themes, repeat them more times than was neccessary, and make it sound good through the arrangement. This is the result:

http://www.btinternet.com/~peter.rocker/music2test2EQ.ogg

It's music from my game in production, Path of Crystal (you can grab the demo from http://www.agsforums.com/yabb/index.php?board=8;action=display;threadid=5678 )

[Ben]

I like it. Even though there's rally no variation in the melody, the dynamics and building up to two mini-climaxes makes up for it. I don't really have any crit for the actual arrangement, but I think it might be a good idea to change that flute sample you use in the fist half, since it has a lot of noise in it..

[Archangel (aka SoupDragon)]

I can't hear any noise... you sure you're not mistaking it for the string pad?

[Ben]

It's not the string pad, because that's panned to the opposite side from the flute.. But after listining again, the noise might just be coming from the flute itself, or the player's breath. So forget what I said

[Archangel (aka SoupDragon)]

Haha, yes my soundfonts are that 1337 that they have breath noises ^.^

[loominous]

Interesting piece. The sudden styleswitch in the middle works very well imo n the chordprogression in the second part as well.

What I don t care much for is:

(i) the oboelines - the first would be ok if it the instrument was in tune but they re both pretty irritating (especially the second one) imo
(would perhaps work better with another instrument, though I can t think of any that would fit at the moment.)

(ii) the first fluteline doesn t work well when repeated imo (think the last note is what is ruins it)

(iii) the excessive use of crashes

(iv) the stringpads - the arrangement is weak imo n the far right pan makes it thin

But aside from these I liked it.

Btw, that flute sounds fine to me - might wanna fade it out at the end of phrases though (as well as all other instruments - but especially this one since it s very intense).

[Archangel (aka SoupDragon)]

Yeah I did notice the oboe was slightly detuned... I kinda liked that tho, since it gave it an accoustic feel. And thinking about it, yes the theme in the flute is kinda weak, but then that was the experiment.

Could you clarify your last point for me? By fading at the end of phrases, do you mean trail it off every 8 bars, or at the end of the whole first section?

[loominous]

Could you clarify your last point for me? By fading at the end of phrases, do you mean trail it off every 8 bars, or at the end of the whole first section?

Phrasing is what instrumentalists do (if they re not beginners) when they play a line, n means that they subdivide it into smaller units.

What this means in the case of the flueline (n other lines) is that instead of just playing the notes at a constant velocity/volume, you should divide it using the volume controller to give it more feeling/life.

You can get an idea how to phrase it if you try to whistle it giving it the amount of emotion that you wish (the "flatter" the velocitycurve, the less emotional).

As a composer, phrasing is your chore if your not writing for instrumentalists.

This is all too often overlooked by computer/synth composers who then blame the lifeless/flat sound of the music on the fact that they re not using instrumentalists.

[mätzyboy]

The music is nice, though a bit random and not always harmonical. What is it supposed to be used for?

And I love the soundfonts! Is there anyplace I could get them?

[Archangel (aka SoupDragon)]

The soundfonts are from www.hammersound.net . My harmony is perfect! Do not diss the harmony! No, j/k. The music is (fairly nondescript) background music.

[mätzyboy]

I'm sorry if I came on to you a bit hard! I actually liked the music very much. I was trying to point at what i thought could be improved. I think it will fill it's purpose very well!


And thanx a lot for the link! I'll check it out!

[Archangel (aka SoupDragon)]

j/k = just kidding

[Neole]

My winamp doesnt play any of these new formats..

[Archangel (aka SoupDragon)]

Get a codec. It's worth it; judging by the performance in the high treble ranges of ogg versus mp3, it's gonna become a lot more popular among musicians.

[Ben]

Neole: What version of winamp do you have? It must be old, because I know version 3, and the last version of 2 I had both support OGG.