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Why not reconsider crowdfunding?

Have you though of launching a Kickstarter campaign guys?

We did consider it, but unfortunately after doing some calculations, we determined that it would cost a very large amount of money to pay people to work full-time on the game for long enough to finish it with the same high quality we started with.  So much, in fact, that we couldn't really see that it would be feasible to raise that much via crowdfunding, even if we had all the resources and prestige of Ron Gilbert or Bill Tiller.  CaptainD explained in more detail in his reply.

Regardless of not getting the full game done, this was definitely a blast to work on; and everyone on the team was absolutely great.  I ended up writing, orchestrating and producing 40 minutes or so of music, of which about 20 minutes made it into the demo.  (The rest either didn't work with the scene, was just test music, or went with scenes that are past the end of the demo.)

Maybe someday, when we're all retired and have nothing better to do, we'll get back together and make the full game.  But until then, enjoy!

Well, I haven't entered one of these in a long time, I had a bit of spare time this month, and it was an interesting challenge, so I decided to enter.

Still Waters

It's supposed to evoke the feeling of watching, and then traveling slowly across a lake in the morning.  Don't give up listening to it if it sounds all the same at first -- it gets more interesting around 0:42.  I enjoyed the challenge of making a piece that was quiet and placid throughout, but still hopefully not boring.  It's scored for small chamber orchestra (2 flutes, oboe, cor, 3 horns, percussion, piano, harp, 4 violins and 4 cellos) plus small female choir (3 parts).  The words that the choir repeats are "still waters" -- not very original, I know.

I hope you enjoy it!

Very nice!  The melody is simple and effective, and you used the orchestration to great effect.  Just a couple of quick comments:

• There's a somewhat dodgy chord sequence around 2:32-2:40.  It goes from Dm to Bb (which works nicely), then Bb to B and back to Bb with nearly parallel motion, which doesn't really work.
• Try putting the violins an octave higher at 3:01.  This is the big climax, it should sound like it.
• I'd put in some nice timpani roll hairpins around 3:22, 3:41 and similar.  In general, I don't think you've used percussion just about at all, and it can add some spice to key points of your piece.

You could use some more realistic instruments (especially the French horn sounded quite artificial), but I think this piece worked quite nicely overall.  Thanks for sharing, I'd love to hear more!

Sorry for the late response -- just got to listen to this.  I hope I'm not resurrecting a dead thread at this point.

Anyway!  It's quite pleasant; the basic melody and accompaniment is nice.  I think it would make for good background music.  I can't comment on how Korean it sounds, but the melody is using the pentatonic scale (except for the odd C# thrown in), so it's probably fine.  The harp arpeggios seem a bit western to my ears, but I'm probably just being picky.

The only real criticism I have is that it seems like a bunch of the same thing -- basically, different solo treble instruments playing above long chords in the tutti strings, at a medium volume.  There's not really an overall musical arc.  That can't really sustain a piece for six minutes.  Now, if this is background music, then it's great (you don't want the music to get in the way of the action that's happening).  But if it's foreground music, then it should be more varied.  There are many things you could do to make it more interesting.  I've listed a few ideas below, but I'm sure you could think of others.

• Start with just a solo flute, possibly accompanied by tremolos on the zither, to establish the Korean character.  Then bring in the strings later.
• Give the tune to the cello at some point, perhaps accompanied up higher by the flute and clarinet, and maybe tutti violins.
• Toward the end of the piece, introduce a climax, where the tutti strings play the theme in octaves, including an octave higher than you have used, with a big spread in the accompaniment, including the lower strings playing on the C string.
• Use a bigger orchestra.  Since you've already got mostly western instruments, use some French horns and timpani in the accompaniment at the climax of the piece.
• At some point, give the melody to the zither, with an obbligato from the flute (and the strings as accompaniment).  There is already at least one point where the zither plays an obbligato to the flute, but I don't think I ever heard it get the melody.  In fact, the zither is in the background for most of the piece, but I feel that it's one of the more unique instruments in the composition and deserves a bit more "air time."
• Vary the accompaniment.  It doesn't always have to be strings; it doesn't always have to be long held chords.  Try a gentle ostinato, and/or using the chalumeau register of the clarinet, low flute and the harp while you put the melody in a solo stringed instrument.

As far as the production side goes, I have used Finale quite a bit to produce the background music for the games I've worked on.  However, I've really struggled with the GPO sounds in Finale getting me the result I've wanted (especially the strings and percussion).  Recently I've switched to using a DAW (Reaper, to be specific) with an orchestral sample library (EWQLSO in my case, it's pretty cheap these days).  I record myself playing the piece really badly on my MIDI controller and then clean it up massively so that it actually sounds decent.   Here's a link to one of my tests using that setup so that you can get a feeling for the variety and realism that this can provide.

Hopefully that gives you some ideas for how to make your piece even better!

Here's a fun track I threw together over the past few nights using my new DAW and sample library.  It was fun because I got to use some samples I've never had before, like bowed gongs, col legno strings, violin harmonics, bass slaps, etc.

Fright Night

Yes, the overall timing of the piece is all off, but hey, I was writing under a deadline and trying to learn some new software.

Congratulations, sir!  Glad it's released at last.

Wow, sounds great overall!  I think it works quite well, although it seems more serious than light-hearted.  As always, I'm horrible at mixes and what have you, and I tend to pay more attention to harmony, orchestration and form.  Here are a few thoughts.

• I like the beginning -- it grabs your attention!
• The accompaniment from 0:06-0:22 (and maybe until 0:30) is too light for the multiple horns that are playing the theme.  Maybe try some sixteenth note arpeggios in triads in the strings or something.  Or, if you are aiming for something lighter (which would surprise me after the dramatic beginning), you could put the theme in the cellos or something.
• I would ditch the cymbal at 0:11 -- it seems a bit random.
• 0:30-1:06 is very effective.  It is sometimes a little bit ambiguous regarding tonality and rhythm (e.g. 0:52-0:56), but I think that's intentional, and I like it.
• 1:06-1:20 is effective, but the long horn notes can't really sustain themselves.  You need some additional percussion or something to break up those silences in the accompaniment -- for example, a tenor drum and snare playing two sixteenths and then two eighths in the middle of each silence, to somewhat echo what the rest of the accompaniment is playing.
• I like the bit from 1:20 onwards.  Of course it's very different from the rest, but it's nicely orchestrated, and if that's the mood you're going for there, then I think it works nicely.  Of course, you can't leave it where you left it, but you did say it wasn't finished.

Great work, I'd love to hear more!

It sounds nice to me -- light and tuneful!  I would definitely make it longer, as Problem said, particularly if it is intended to loop.  It sounds like you have just stated the theme a couple of times before it stops; there's not much development.  Also, while the flute/xylophone (?) combination works nicely in this style, it lasts all the way throughout the piece.  You might want to change it up a bit, especially if you make the track longer.

I'm afraid I can't comment on the mix -- I'm really horrible at that myself.

Well, I have played violin since the age of four.  So I grew up learning classical music, and I studied a fair bit of music theory at school.  Later on my wife introduced me to various popular styles of music.  I have been composing (sheet) music for as long as I can remember.  I've used various notation systems and programs, such as ABC, Lilypond and now Finale.  Finale comes with a selection of Garritan Personal Orchestra (GPO) samples which sound pretty decent without a whole lot of work, and those are what I used to create the orchestral sample I linked to above.  So personally, I tend to notate all my music, whether or not it's actually intended to be performed by real musicians, because that's how I think.  Recently I have purchased the rather aging EWQLSO Gold library, which is way better than GPO.  However, it requires a lot more work to produce a finished track.

Probably the key to getting into digital music, just like anything else, is practice, practice, practice.  More concretely, you might consider purchasing a cheap second-hand MIDI controller and playing your songs into some program that can record MIDI (maybe a simple DAW).  Then you could experiment assigning the lines to various instruments, and seeing what sounds best.  And you can record new lines on top of those to create a fuller track.  I would definitely invest some time in studying music theory, simple compositional techniques like Bach harmonization, transformation of melodies, instrument timbres and ranges, etc.  It can be a lot of work, but you might just enjoy it -- and it'll certainly pay off in the end.

Hello!  Here are some comments about Untitled Smooth (the only one I've listened to).  I'm afraid I can't comment about technique since I can't play piano at all.

• The piece pretty much consists of the same two chord sequences repeated over and over (mostly Gm Eb F Gm, with some Cm Bb Gm Am).  There's nothing wrong with these chord sequences, particularly (actually, I quite like the Am in the latter one), but some variety would be nice.  In fact, when a new chord sequence is introduced at 4:04 (the Gb chord), it actually feels like a wrong note because the rest has been so homogeneous.
• You have stayed in pretty much the same octave for the whole piece, in both hands.  Also, the dominant rhythm throughout is eighth notes, although there is a little variety very late in the piece when you use accented notes every quarter note in the left hand.  The dynamic is also nearly constant.  You should consider varying the octaves, the rhythms and the dynamic level quite a bit more.  For now, you will probably find the greatest success making your piece louder when the hands are further apart, and when the rhythms employ faster notes.
• In the Cm Bb Gm Am chord sequence, you have employed pretty much exact parallel motion between accompaniment and melody.  In general, it is nice to have contrary motion -- or at least, not parallel motion -- until you know the "rules" well enough to know when you can get away with breaking them.
• You might consider the overall form of your composition -- where you want the climax to be (probably near the end), where the more gentle parts should be, where the melody should repeat itself and how, etc.
• I wouldn't suddenly accelerate at around 5:50, unless the music lends itself to acceleration (by increasing tension somehow).  As it is, it sounds rather odd.

Since I had some spare time this evening, I made a quick orchestral arrangement of the same melody (here), employing some of the techniques noted above.  It ends abruptly, but you get the idea.

Makes sense to me!

[AdamH]

Sorry, folks, time got away from me.  Anyway, with a worthy entry (and the only one, unfortunately), AdamH has clinched the title this time!  Congratulations, sir!  I shall eagerly await your next competition.

Only three more days, folks!  Get out your drums and fifes and let's hear some great music!

Yesterday was Memorial Day (observed) here in the US, a day to remember soldiers fallen in battle.  So, for this tune contest, I want you to write something that has to do with the military.  Some ideas:

• a military march for a brass band
• a heroic fanfare to lead a legion of knights into battle
• a prog rock ballad (or whatever you young whippersnappers call them these days) decrying the atrocities of war
• a thoughtful setting of a poem from Wilfred Owen or some other wartime poet
• a chiptune describing the battle with the incoming alien fleet

The most important requirement is that the music (or words) should clearly convey the fact that they have to do with the military.  For example, a traditional military march (or here's another one that's not nearly so American) has lots of bass drum, snare and cymbal crashes, the melody usually has lots of dotted rhythms, and there is usually a simple "oompah" style accompaniment, in 2/2 or 4/4 time (since people have two feet).  A fanfare often has one or more horns or trumpets playing broken arpeggios.  The words to a song should clearly be about the military, battle, etc.  As far as settings of wartime poetry, anyone who has not heard Britten's War Requiem in a live concert should correct that immediately.  Basically, I should be able to tell that your music has to do with the military or battle without looking at the title or reading an explanation.

The only other requirement is that the music should be at least one minute long.  I'll pick a winner on Monday, June 10.

Happy composing!

I hear the deafening silence of no music.   If nobody has posted an entry here by tomorrow at around this time (9pm Eastern), I'll go ahead and start a new contest.

Thanks for your comments!

I would prefer to wait at least a day or two for others to participate, especially since Diamond16 indicated she had a piece almost ready.  She would certainly deserve to win by writing something specifically for this contest.

Well, I just read the rules more closely and it turns out this doesn't quite fit, as it's about 5 minutes long.  Also, since it wasn't written for the contest, I'm not sure it really qualifies as an entry anyway.

Disclaimers aside, here's one of the pieces of chamber music I've written, this one from 2010.  It's a light-hearted, single-movement Divertimento for violin, clarinet and trombone -- a rather unusual combination, but I found it actually worked quite well.  It was written for my sister (a violinist), and her two roommates, who as you can probably guess, played clarinet and trombone.  It was meant as something fun to play together before their graduation from conservatory.  Unfortunately, due to my bad timing and their busy schedule, they only had time to sight-read the piece twice, just one or two nights before they all went their separate ways.  But still, they're all excellent musicians, so the end result was certainly a heck of a lot better than if I'd tried to sight-read it, despite the fact that it contains some pretty tricky passages, especially for the violinist.

You may be interested in:

• the score
• a recording of the second sight-reading of the score, with noise removed and reverb applied so that it sounds like it was recorded in a recital hall instead of a bedroom
• a synthesized version, which is more accurate than the recording in some places, but way more boring and mechanical for obvious reasons, and omits things like the trombone pedal notes because my computer thinks it's smarter than I am (probably true)

Enjoy!

Much better all around.  Sorry for the delay in replying!  The only minor niggle is that where the strings now change at around 2:04, they seem to get weaker, despite the rest of the music sounding like it's building up.  I think that's because it goes from chords to single notes that are further apart.  You might consider changing it in a different way, like spreading the chords out from (e.g.) a B-D-F# triad to B-F#-D, and perhaps modifying the rhythm, or which notes are accented.  Regardless, it's a pretty minor point, and I think it sounds great.

Unfortunately I won't have time to write anything specifically for this tune contest.  However, if you'd like, I can post one of the pieces of chamber music I've composed in the past that would fit the rules.