http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/work_in_progress.mid
so up there is a link to something i've been working on today.
i'm kind of liking the direction it's taking, but i worry that it resembles "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin too much to be considered even remotely original.
I should point out that this is the basis for a track my band and I are working on, and I've obtained the .mid from working in Guitar Pro, so it's easily editable.
I'm trying to go for a pretty tense-feeling track, i wouldn't mind making it a little darker if possible, but my main gripe, like i said above, is with the similarities to Stairway, and how i could recitify these.
Thoughts and critiques appreciated,
[evol].
(The Artist Formerly Known As Flukezy]
I don't think it sounds anything like stairway to heaven. But it put my gf to sleep quite literally. Like every time I pressed play, her eyes fell shut.
It sounds like the introduction to the song, rather than the actual song. I kept waiting for a different melody to swoop in (near the end especially).
Quote from: eternal_renegade on Fri 08/08/2008 11:35:54
I don't think it sounds anything like stairway to heaven.
I agree. But it is a good start and would like to hear more when you finish it.
You used a different chord progression and a different picking pattern - it sounds nothing like the Stairway to me.
I was reminded of The Call of Chtulhu at one place though. But only slightly.
I like the main riff. Very sad sounding, but in a good way.
hey, you could edit the release time of the notes a little bit because the blending from one chord to another seems a bit "blurry". That's all I can say - can't explain the rest 'cause of my shitty english. ;)
It's great, I hope you keep this up 8)
Here are two suggestions, but I suppose it's just a matter of taste. I changed bars 3 (suggestion #1) and 7 (suggestion #2) by changing a B note to D#
http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Work_in_progress_suggestion.mid
Feels very "melancholy" to me.
This doesn't make me feel tense at all. Or sad. Or dark.
I picture a couple of cowboys riding through a colorful nevada canyon, at sunset. Their cattle escaped and there's no way they can catch them at night, so they're returning to camp. They know the other cowhands are going to be pissed and they're even more mad at themselves... and each other.
That's literally what pops into my head everytime I play that track.
One of the things that has always made music feel tense to me is having a drone. Carnival did this in his edit and I think you did it a little, but I can't remember. Violins usually have this job in movies and the effect is so subtle you hardly notice it. Just like when a kick drum hits once every beat, and it makes us want to dance (read: techno.) Droning notes/instruments just put this tension on a scene.
I don't think your song sounds anything like stairway to heaven, though even if it did, a midi retool that sounded decent would still qualify as "original," so I think you're focusing on the wrong thing if that's your biggest concern.
I think what you should do is thing of things that make you feel tense, like you heard a noise at night, from the kitchen so you're walking there slowly, thoughts fluttering through your head ~is it the dog? Dad? just the house settling? a robber? someone coming into the house, with ether, to knock us all out, then tie us up and force us to watch him torture each other? Someone setting up a surprise birthday party for gram?~ It's uncertainty that causes tenseness, so pick a scene in your head that you can imagine the character being tense, or a scene from your life where you actually felt tense. Then, using the instruments you have available to you: score that scene.
You're trying to evoke a specific emotion, but what it feels like what you did was putter around with synths untill you found a melody that didn't sound like crap and felt a little sorrowful.
If that's what you're going for: NAILED IT! If not, you could re-touch this and make it a killer tune.
Good luck.