[GallenWolf]

Supposed to be doing my harmony tutorials but ended up working on a melody and fitting the bassline and harmony in. This is my first original composition, I'd say highly inspired by Yoko Kanno.

http://soundcloud.com/gallenw/the-stars-the-wind

[Syllix]

Simple, but very pleasant. Nice work panning the harp and choir to the left and right. I take it you're currently enrolled in a program of some sort? If so, which one?

[GallenWolf]

Eeep! Sorry I didn't realize there was a reply, I thought I had setup email notifications >.>

i'm taking a composing course with Dave Connor - but I'm doing tutorials of my own volition e.g. from alexander publishing and others.

I also forgot I had EWQLSO... so re-rendered this song with that library.

Thanks, Sylix!

[Calum]

This is nice. I don't know if I hear the Kanno in it? But I only really know her cowboy bebop stuff. As far as the EWQL version - i'd say for your flute you should be using the key switch master instrument or have one legato flute, one staccatto flute, one crescendo, one diminuendo (etc.) flute and swap the melody between them to make it sound like a realistic performance - it's longer but waaaaaaaay worth it. Hearing fast notes on a flute sample that has a low attack like this one really gives the game away!

It's nice folky writing! Some of the sequencing is a bit off though - with some slightly late notes or clunky playing - just reaally polish it and go into great detail - it makes a world of difference.

Perhaps adding some legato strings playing the chords the guitar is spelling out would do some good as well.

It feels a little too light to me at the moment (not much low end - add cello pizzicato?)

[GallenWolf]

Hi Calum!
Thanks for the feedback and suggestions! I think this is mostly inspired by the music from Wolf's Rain and Record of Lodoss War

Forgive me I am really new to EWQLSO - when you say use different flutes, do you mean loading up several play instances of the different flute patches, then send the midi data to each of them depending on the performance I need? I did try the master instrument but don't know how to control it properly (I need to rtfm )

Cheers!

[Calum]

Originally Posted by GallenWolf

Hi Calum!
Thanks for the feedback and suggestions! I think this is mostly inspired by the music from Wolf's Rain and Record of Lodoss War

Forgive me I am really new to EWQLSO - when you say use different flutes, do you mean loading up several play instances of the different flute patches, then send the midi data to each of them depending on the performance I need? I did try the master instrument but don't know how to control it properly (I need to rtfm )

Cheers!

haha, yeah - that was my suggestion - either load up a bunch of different flute samples on different tracks and literally split the melody between them accordingly OR use the master (the one which takes yonks to load!) and use the keyswitches - these are (for most instruments) keys at the bottom end of the keyboard (they should be orange/yellow on the keyboard of the PLAY vst) if you press one of them you get a different flute sound - one might be a crescendo - one might be legato - one might be a trill - one might be staccatto. So basically you play in your line then input these notes BEFORE the note you want to be stac/legato/cresc etc. OR if you're really fancy try and do it all in one recording! haha but that only messes things up for me. It's not too difficult to get your head around i hope but it makes the world of difference for writing realistic sounding instrument parts.

[GallenWolf]

Gotcha! Thanks for the suggestions, will try them out next time I use EWQLSO

Cheers!

[SgtYayap]

You didn't have to delete the original; I wanted to compare, for one.

As for the current version, it sounds nice. Not sure if Celtic would be the right description, but it certainly sounds classical. Reminds me faintly of a famous Baroque piece I heard recently, but its name escapes me at the moment.

[GallenWolf]

Whoops! I actually set it to private so that it won't clutter up my track listing, didn't realize it'd stop people from listening to it. I've set it to public again. Thanks for the comments, SgtYayap

[TroisNyxEtienne]

I do hear some Kanno in it, though I forget from which game. The only thing I can think of is Ragnarok Online......

Anyway, onto the piece. I wouldn't call it particularly Celtic either -- even Japanese music has the inflexions that your piece has (replace that flute with a shakuhachi and it'll sound like something off the Okami soundtrack!). It definitely falls under one of those traditional or classic genres, I'm not sure which.

The piece is calm and well composed - the melody sounds like it could make for a poignant scene (if this piece is looped), or an opening theme similar to that of Herdy Gerdy (if this piece is continued). I like your choice of instruments. However, I'm not an expert in mixing, so I can't say much -- this, you will have to rely on one of the more seasoned users.

I still find that this piece shouldn't be left alone as is -- if anything, you should build up on that melody. It really has potential. How about a bit more instrument layering? Strings? Build up the tension so that it starts calm but has a climax. If you have another melody to add on to this, that'll be awesome! So you have your Part A, your Part B and your repeated Part A.

Please, build this piece up. It'll be lovely to see how far you can take it. You have a good starting idea - make it greater!