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On 12/22/2018 at 9:03 PM, The Illustrious Jerry said:

Il Sonneto.m4a

An amateur recording of one of my amateur works for electric chord organ.

Titled Il Sonneto: Allegro.

Just to get it out there.

 

The theme is both catchy and annoying; the latter because it's repeated so much. Have you considered harmonizing the piece?

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I quite like the 2:45 onwards excerpt, a great opening and closing; I can see how this might underscore a wartime film. The rising and falling action. It's quite nice. I enjoyed it.

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Very nice work David!  Very enjoyable and interesting.  Opening was quite effectively atmospheric.  The part starting around 4:45 had definite hints of Williams to it, but I think you then took it from there to a rather unique place.  Well done, mate.  

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24 minutes ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

I quite like the 2:45 onwards excerpt, a great opening and closing; I can see how this might underscore a wartime film. The rising and falling action. It's quite nice. I enjoyed it.

Thanks so much for giving it a listen! Im glad you could imagine in the war time context! 

17 minutes ago, SteveMc said:

Very nice work David!  Very enjoyable and interesting.  Opening was quite effectively atmospheric.  The part starting around 4:45 had definite hints of Williams to it, but I think you then took it from there to a rather unique place.  Well done, mate.  

Thanks @SteveMc I appreciate the kind words, and I’m very happy you enjoyed the piece! The opening section there is quite a lot of dialogue and suspenseful things happening (awaiting the CO’s orders in the damp trenches) so I figured the more atmospheric approach would be far more appropriate. 

 

Yeah, I’ve been listening to his music for so long it’s hard sometimes to not let subtle things like that creep in, it makes me happy to hear that you think I effectively got away from in though, that means a lot as well! 

 

Thanks for taking the time! 

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On 1/5/2019 at 1:42 PM, D_nev said:

 

 

Alright guys, here you go! 

is a piece written to accompany a short film by one of my friends called "Cannon Foder". The short film is set in WWI. The story is quite long to try and type out, but enjoy the piece!

*DISCLAIMER* At 2:37 in the music there is a very loud battle whistle simulation, so plan accordingly! 

 

 

 

Thanks for sharing, David! Some of the harmonic ideas and everything you had going on tell me you have your ear into things...I hear a disciple of Williams in you, which is different than an imitator or a shallow pretender, know what I mean? 

 

 

So I don't get much response when I post my stuff on here, and this kind of thing might not be y'all's taste, but here's a mockup for a tune I just finished for the band I'm in. It's the first time I really wrote something designed to get people to dance to, so it was a fun challenge! 

 

When I do mockups for things like this, I just use the most low maintenance sounds (here it's the old Korg M1) I have so it loads quick, and forces me to focus just on getting the notes down...if I get careless, I can get sucked into that abyss of spending hours tweaking a sound rather than actually, you know, getting stuff written. 

 

That held note before the cutoff is gonna be longer, but I didn't want to mess with rubato or anything since I'll be exporting it as a MusicXML file. And the sax at the end; I'm gonna write "Go nuts" on the player's part, but I just fiddled around a bit to give him an idea of some of the stuff he can do if he wants. 

 

  1. Hope y'all enjoy it. :)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZEre9NNOAXkxVBB44-ut9xq2rK_pxVsQ/view?usp=drivesdk

(Wanted to upload to SoundCloud but I can't do it from my phone)

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Great stuff Nick!  Listened to it twice straight, and then some!  Very solid central melodic idea.  Has a very nice groove to it, too.  Love the way you evolve the material.  I'm particular fond of 1:46-3:10, and the return of the central theme afterwards is quite nicely done.

Just one thing, when you bring the temp down at about 0:41, since this is a dance track, perhaps you could keep some of the rhythmic energy going, maybe by expanding the bassline over there?  I sense that what you've got there in the bass right now might work even better if it were a little more continuous. 

(or maybe I just dig basslines!)  

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33 minutes ago, SteveMc said:

Just one thing, when you bring the temp down at about 0:41, since this is a dance track, perhaps you could keep some of the rhythmic energy going, maybe by expanding the bassline over there?  I sense that what you've got there in the bass right now might work even better if it were a little more continuous. 

(or maybe I just dig basslines!)  

 

I know whachore saying, and it's definitely open for the bass player to add in a few notes here and there, but I like the idea of that whole section being one big breakdown, the bass being really sparse contributing to that...originally it was only a small tempo drop, but I thought it would be fun to really exaggerate that drop and make it one of those slow jam "clap your hands" moments. The bandleader is the trumpet player, and since he's laying out that section he might engage the audience there. The drummer will probably do something a little more consistent than what I have, that "1 and 2; Bop!" pattern on the toms.

 

I really appreciate your listening and feedback, Steve. :)

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5 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

 I feel more insulted if someone disses me then tries to cover it up with winky faces, etc., truth be told. 

 

 

You really think I was trying to cover up my honest reaction? You should rather be insulted by those who never dare to criticize you music.

 

You can thank me later when this golden piece of criticism has led to your first great work of art. ;) 

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4 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

You really think I was trying to cover up my honest reaction? 

 

It's hard to tell sometimes, man, and I'm not saying this out of anger or anything. I don't know if it was a joke or not, but as a general thing passive-agressiveness (rather like the joke I made a couple posts ago) really just twists my dreads, know what I mean? 

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That's fair. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings, and the smiley was more like "no hard feelings?". But I do think there's a lot of interesting stuff going on in the piece, especially harmonically and rhythmically. But you're right, it's not my style. :)

 

AND I was exaggerating when I said it's the most annoying piece of music I've heard - it was just a bit too much early in the morning! :D

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On 1/8/2019 at 4:34 PM, Nick Parker said:

 

Thanks for sharing, David! Some of the harmonic ideas and everything you had going on tell me you have your ear into things...I hear a disciple of Williams in you, which is different than an imitator or a shallow pretender, know what I mean? 

 

 

So I don't get much response when I post my stuff on here, and this kind of thing might not be y'all's taste, but here's a mockup for a tune I just finished for the band I'm in. It's the first time I really wrote something designed to get people to dance to, so it was a fun challenge! 

 

When I do mockups for things like this, I just use the most low maintenance sounds (here it's the old Korg M1) I have so it loads quick, and forces me to focus just on getting the notes down...if I get careless, I can get sucked into that abyss of spending hours tweaking a sound rather than actually, you know, getting stuff written. 

 

That held note before the cutoff is gonna be longer, but I didn't want to mess with rubato or anything since I'll be exporting it as a MusicXML file. And the sax at the end; I'm gonna write "Go nuts" on the player's part, but I just fiddled around a bit to give him an idea of some of the stuff he can do if he wants. 

 

  1. Hope y'all enjoy it. :)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZEre9NNOAXkxVBB44-ut9xq2rK_pxVsQ/view?usp=drivesdk

(Wanted to upload to SoundCloud but I can't do it from my phone)

I really appreciate what you said about the piece I posted, I understand fully what you said and that is a tremendous compliment! 

 

As for what you posted, it's not my area of expertise, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It would be really cool to hear your band play it as well in the future if you record it! Keep up the good work pal!

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On 1/5/2019 at 1:42 PM, D_nev said:

This is a spectacular piece of music! Your orchestrations are superb and the material is accessible at times while pushing limits at other times.

There's an Immaculate balance between all the different styles. You have a tremendously mature sound! I love the classic huge orchestral sound you have as well! I also very much enjoy your harmonic and timbral choices as well. The Studio Orchestra sounds amazing! What was the rehearsal/hiring process for them?

 

Wow! I don't know what else to say, I am still a studying composer myself. Where did you study? 

 

 

Alright guys, here you go! 

is a piece written to accompany a short film by one of my friends called "Cannon Foder". The short film is set in WWI. The story is quite long to try and type out, but enjoy the piece!

*DISCLAIMER* At 2:37 in the music there is a very loud battle whistle simulation, so plan accordingly! 

 

 

 

Thanks. In fact the players I had for this sight read each of my two pieces during two four hour sessions. 
They are stupidly good.  I worked hard to minimize any type of sheet music issues too. 

 

 

 

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On 1/8/2019 at 4:34 PM, Nick Parker said:

 

Thanks for sharing, David! Some of the harmonic ideas and everything you had going on tell me you have your ear into things...I hear a disciple of Williams in you, which is different than an imitator or a shallow pretender, know what I mean? 

 

 

So I don't get much response when I post my stuff on here, and this kind of thing might not be y'all's taste, but here's a mockup for a tune I just finished for the band I'm in. It's the first time I really wrote something designed to get people to dance to, so it was a fun challenge! 

 

When I do mockups for things like this, I just use the most low maintenance sounds (here it's the old Korg M1) I have so it loads quick, and forces me to focus just on getting the notes down...if I get careless, I can get sucked into that abyss of spending hours tweaking a sound rather than actually, you know, getting stuff written. 

 

That held note before the cutoff is gonna be longer, but I didn't want to mess with rubato or anything since I'll be exporting it as a MusicXML file. And the sax at the end; I'm gonna write "Go nuts" on the player's part, but I just fiddled around a bit to give him an idea of some of the stuff he can do if he wants. 

 

  1. Hope y'all enjoy it. :)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZEre9NNOAXkxVBB44-ut9xq2rK_pxVsQ/view?usp=drivesdk

(Wanted to upload to SoundCloud but I can't do it from my phone)

Sounds kinda like a Mario Kart credits track.

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On 1/14/2019 at 11:04 PM, InTheCity said:

 

Thanks. In fact the players I had for this sight read each of my two pieces during two four hour sessions. 
They are stupidly good.  I worked hard to minimize any type of sheet music issues too. 

 

 

 

Wow! I would absolutely love to have an experience like that some day! I guess it helps that the pieces are very good! 

On 1/14/2019 at 11:18 PM, cordax said:

Recently got my first scoring gig for an Indie WWII game on steam called Warfare 1944 (Not to be mistaken for the flashgame). It's got a bit of williams, korngold, and some michael kamen style mixed in.

 

I'm working on some more tracks but this is the main theme

 

Hey! This is some superb work! In my track I posted I had a section with a simple triplet motif, same key as well if I’m not mistaken! 

 

I really enjoyed your melodies/harmonies. This definitely does have a distinct Williams tone, but overall it seemed quite unique! I really love the soaring melodies and the shimmering counter lines and metallic textures you have going on. I’d love to hear more tracks from this game, or more of your work I’m general. 

 

Thanks for posting! 

 

Also, what are you using for your mock-up? 

 

 

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On 1/16/2019 at 7:38 PM, D_nev said:

Wow! I would absolutely love to have an experience like that some day! I guess it helps that the pieces are very good! 

Hey! This is some superb work! In my track I posted I had a section with a simple triplet motif, same key as well if I’m not mistaken! 

 

I really enjoyed your melodies/harmonies. This definitely does have a distinct Williams tone, but overall it seemed quite unique! I really love the soaring melodies and the shimmering counter lines and metallic textures you have going on. I’d love to hear more tracks from this game, or more of your work I’m general. 

 

Thanks for posting! 

 

Also, what are you using for your mock-up? 

 

 

Thanks for your feedback! This is actually my first complete track as well, so it's really nice to get some input on it. I did notice the triplet motif in your track haha; sounds like michael kamen. The track you posted is quite nice. 4:55 sounds very ep3 immolation scene and that's definitely appreciated.

 

I primarily used used spitfire brass, woodwind, percussion, and cinematic studio strings for the mockup. I recently picked up cinematic studio brass so I'll probably use that next time. 

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On 1/17/2019 at 10:04 PM, cordax said:

Thanks for your feedback! This is actually my first complete track as well, so it's really nice to get some input on it. I did notice the triplet motif in your track haha; sounds like michael kamen. The track you posted is quite nice. 4:55 sounds very ep3 immolation scene and that's definitely appreciated.

 

I primarily used used spitfire brass, woodwind, percussion, and cinematic studio strings for the mockup. I recently picked up cinematic studio brass so I'll probably use that next time. 

Well for a first completed track it sounds very professional and well thought out so very well done!! 

 

Yeah, I was going for a heart wrenching feeling so I guess I graduated towards Williamsy dramatic chords! 

 

Ill have ave to check those libraries out, I quite enjoyed their sound and fullness! Did you use a DAW or a notation software for the recording? 

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On 1/14/2019 at 8:18 PM, cordax said:

Recently got my first scoring gig for an Indie WWII game on steam called Warfare 1944 (Not to be mistaken for the flashgame). It's got a bit of williams, korngold, and some michael kamen style mixed in.

 

I'm working on some more tracks but this is the main theme

 

Very nice work, Cordax, and good mockup.  There were some of the short staccato strings you might want to add a bit more reverb too.  I have that same library (I think I have cinematic studio strings 2 so not sure if that is the same one).  The legato strings sound great but the staccato strings are a bit too artificial and I think more reverb on them could solve that.  The tail doesn't fit the rest of the instruments.  Also the second half doesn't really feel like it has the right emotional gravitas for war.  Of course that might be intended, but to me it felt more wistful and playful.  By contrast, Hymn to the Fallen is a perfect atypical war piece because it has a sense of occasion and solemnity about it while not being overtly menacing.  With Hymn to the Fallen, it is not "war is hell" music but rather honor, duty, brotherhood, solemnity, patriotism, etc.  Just felt the first half with the snare drum at least had a military feel but after the four minute mark could have been kids on an adventure.  Very impressive first completed track!

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49 minutes ago, karelm said:

Just felt the first half with the snare drum at least had a military feel but after the four minute mark could have been kids on an adventure.

What came into my mind was flight, I think there is still a good deal of nobility there, as light as it may get.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

Haven't posted anything on the Soundcloud page in a while...

 

So here's a trimmed-down suite of something more atmospheric I did for a film last summer:

 

 

 

@Knox Harrington: I got to play a little bit with Spitfire's Albion Tundra for this one. Neat stuff!

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Oh yeah?  I remember being intrigued when that was announced but I never went down the Spitfire route.  Missed my chance at this point unless I sell my grand and relapse into samples.  I'll take a listen.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Always nervous to share  :peepwall:  but here's a long piano piece I wrote a few years ago, I forgot I had actually finished it lol! 

 

Kind of a messy suite, pretty crude stuff but some good-ish tunes in there, I think, and proud of it in that it taught me a lot as I was developing my piano skills, trying to think more chromatically etc.

 

 

Nadette is my dog lol

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  • 1 month later...
  • 5 months later...
  • 1 month later...

Oh boy, here's a doozy. I was going through some ANCIENT hardware and accidentally uncovered what I believe is the first piece of music I ever wrote on an old synthesizer waaaay back in the day. It sounds like absolute dogshit. Enjoy:

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1rfVHjj_-23frHP-ZJ7uDtSRW1tcSn_9l

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1 minute ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

Oh boy, here's a doozy. I was going through some ANCIENT hardware and accidentally uncovered the first piece of music I ever wrote on an old synthesizer waaaay back in the day. It sounds like absolute dogshit. Enjoy:

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1q0cRWZQn6Gb_fAlmMRGuGRLnRRlY_iyH

 

Can't open it on my end. Would love to take a listen

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On 10/31/2019 at 9:19 AM, luKe17879 said:

Thought you guys might enjoy some Williams-y music I did for some personal/fan Star Wars projects.

 

What plugin did you use for the brass? It has a very interesting sound.

 

On 12/16/2019 at 4:28 PM, TSMefford said:

Can't open it on my end. Would love to take a listen

 

Strange... I reuploaded it and added the new link, hopefully it works this time. Don't worry, you're not missing much. :lol:

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10 minutes ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

Strange... I reuploaded it and added the new link, hopefully it works this time. Don't worry, you're not missing much. :lol:

 

Still nothing. Says "Owner has disabled downloads of this file" or something. Can't even stream it though. I'll try it again later perhaps.

 

While I'm in here I suppose I'll share something. I'm typically timid about sharing works in progress, so be gentle all:

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3 minutes ago, TSMefford said:

 

While I'm in here I suppose I'll share something. I'm typically timid about sharing works in progress, so be gentle all:

I dig it, has body and motion.

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24 minutes ago, SteveMc said:

I dig it, has body and motion.

 

Thanks! It’s mostly just a planning montage / underscore sort of thing right now. 

 

Here's another one for you guys. A bit rougher than the last thing I shared, but more interesting and melodic. Mostly just an idea sketch, it gets particularly messy around 1:22. But what the hell:

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Here is some Star Wars/Sequel Trilogy music I wrote! This is a mini-training/adventure montage with Rey + Leia before then events of tRoS, a Williams-y scene transition/wipe at the close. Hope you enjoy!

 

 

Edit: fixed link

 

 

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On 1/9/2020 at 4:25 PM, luKe17879 said:

Here is some Star Wars/Sequel Trilogy music I wrote! This is a mini-training/adventure montage with Rey + Leia before then events of tRoS, a Williams-y scene transition/wipe at the close. Hope you enjoy!

More interesting underscore than what the maestro himself did recently.

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