Bowlerhat

Another important thing to realize is that it's impossible to actually 'finish' a track. Music is a never-ending process, and as you progress in it your standards keep rising along with your art. Once you accept the fact that the things that you're going to make are not going to be perfect it immediately becomes easier to follow Meteo Xaviers advice to just finish your damn track because the hurdle isn't as high and the expectations for yourself are more realistic.

Heeey, I wrote a song for nonet taking a large influence from video game music. Hope y'all liiiiiiiiiike it.

Okay, so. First of all. I really like what you did this thing. It's al very breathy. I've heard breathy things are good for zelda. A few things that I noticed: I'd say the drums are really really busy. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing at times, but I think it's a bit much here. I think that it fits at the beginning, and is also nice for a climax kinda thingy at the solos. But, since it's busy at all times, the whole thing stays static and it kinda distracts from the rest of the song. Since you have a classic bossa bass rhythm going on, I'd recommend using a 3-2 son clave as your foundation during the theme and then build up from that. This will calm the whole thing down, give it a more dynamic range and will make the nicely implemented busy drum parts stand out more. I also think the solo's are a tad too long. Or rather, that there's too little happening in the solo section besides the solo's. Like Timaeus also mentioned, it gets static after a while. I think calming the drums down at the beginning will already help a great deal, but you can also differentiate at other sections. What I personally always do during solo sections is repeat parts from the original theme and put them as backings for the solo to solo over. I mostly do this with horns, but it would also work with the piano during the vibraphone solo for example. Try putting the original cello D-A-D-E-D theme in the low register of the piano and put it softly underneath the vibraphone solo. I'm not sure whether it will work, but you just have to experiment with things and see how it works. But giving cameos of the theme and/or backing in general in the solo section will make the listener remember what it actually is that they're listening to besides a bunch of solos, and will also give the section an intensifying effect. During the first theme, you could space the harmony in a better way. What I mean with that is this: The theme in itself is very focused on the one. The melody really works towards it, and then stays quiet for a while before beginning another pick up line to the one. That's basically what it does the whole time. It's what makes the melody so breathy and spacious. So, if I were to play piano for this piece, the one place I definitely would not play is the one. Since it's already so full. There's so much space after it, which would be a great place to dump some nice voicings without actually distracting from the melody. So, try giving the piano more diversity in a the horizontal sense of the word. See where in the track there's space, and use that space to fill in the harmony. I'm assuming that this is not the actual end of the track? Because it'd make a lot of sense to first go back to the original theme before ending this. And not ending in a fade out is also always a pro. But I assume that that's what you're planning to do. That's all I think. Overall I really like it. It's pretty close to the source, but the instrumentation and laid back feeling make it different enough for me to stand out. In a good way that is. Nice work!!

I love the reharmonization of the title theme at the beginning. It was done in a very subtle yet tasteful manner and totally set the scene for the rest of the track.

This sounds like a really great project!! French horn is such a beautiful instrument, and I love how you're trying to expand it's current limited fieldwork. I'd definitely be interested in helping out with arrangement stuff. What's the time schedule you have in mind?

I think that, besides the great things mentioned above it's also very important to have certain arranging techniques which are difficult to acquire by yourself. This of course depends on the genre of music you're writing, but a good knowledge of things like voice leading, instrumentation, reharmonization and similar things are generally very useful and help a lot with composing. Luckily, there are a lot of books about this. I'm personally not a big fan of books, but there are a few classics out there which in my opinion are a must have for every composer. Of course, it's a totally different thing whether you're writing for a string orchestra or for a rock band, so I can't really recommend anything as I don't know what your type of music and line up is. But, what I'm trying to say is that you don't have to do anything by yourself. There's a lot of people in the world that know a lot about composition and are sharing their knowledge in great detail for a small price. Just blindly listening to other people and constantly staying in a safe zone is of course also not the way. Absorbing information about things that interest you, and meanwhile experimenting with the things you're learning is in my opinion one of the richest and most fulfilling aspects of writing music. It's about the joy of discovering. Just playing around with chords on a piano for a few hours can be a very valuable and educational experience. This, in my experience, also brings the best results. Someone can tell you that the first inversion of a major chord sounds amazing, but hearing it yourself, and most importantly, stumbling on it by yourself when you're just messing around a bit, maybe accidentally adding a 9, has a lot more impact. First of all because it highly depends on the context, but also because that way it comes from yourself. This makes your music more you, and this authenticity and personality is what makes music so beautiful.

I'd say that a proper sonic musical would require a proper funding, which would require a proper audience. There are quite some sonic fans out there, but I don't know if there's enough sonic fans in a specific area that would pay money to attend a musical. I think that the closest you'd get is to make some kind of musicalesque audio thingy over the internet with lots of likeminded musicians. That'd even sound like a pretty nice idea. But to have an actual musical with actors and props and the whole gazwishmosh is probably not lucrative.

Darn, this is slick. Very impressive work!!

I've got a few lead sheets lying around of video game tunes which could easily be included. They're often reharmonized, though. To make it a bit jazzier and also to suit the melodic material better. But nevertheless great to play.

This is amazing. I'm definitely up for this. I can read sheets, I've sung in choirs before, I'm a tenor and I also have experience with and a passion for choir arranging.

This divide and conquer thingy sounds like it makes a lot of sense. I've decided to cut down a bit on the drum and bass, and focus on trumpet right now. Because of the embouchure this is quite difficult to combine with flute, but I'm managing. This doesn't mean I'm not playing any drum and bass anymore, but it's just not a priority. I've got some experience with learning how to play instruments, so I know I'm not going to become a great drummer in a month. Also not in a year, or two years. I'll probably never become a really good drummer, but that's all relative. Like DusK said, becoming mediocre at everything sounds like a great bet, since it'll be useful for my own recordings and compositions. The same with bass, trumpet and whatever other instruments I might wanna play later. And I just generally always want to keep improving, no matter how good, mediocre or bad I'm at it. I think that kind of mindset is important if I want to make a living out of music. After downloading the app Garpocalyps recommended to me I've been getting my music making a bit less chaotic and more streamlined. I'm starting really easy, with just practicing bass once a week, drums once a week, trumpet daily, composing daily and flute whenever I've got some time left. But I'm planning on getting things a bit more frequent. Carbunkl sums it up pretty well. Everyone, thanks for all the advice!! I'm gonna keep all the words that have been said here in mind.

Welp, thanks for all the input. I already downloaded the app, and it seems to really be something I can use, so thanks for that. I'm also going to try to wake up earlier regularly. Generally everything Garpocalypse said seems like a great idea. I don't actually play video games, but I suppose it's always a good idea to spend more time on music and less time on relaxing and doing stuff for yourself, whatever that is. As long as I don't overdo it of course. Also just a kind reminder that I'm looking for specific feedback for my problem and that this is not the right place to mindlessly advertise your own stuff without any actual relation to the current topic.

Heeey, Right now I'm studying composing and arranging at a conservatory, and in my free time I'm trying to learn how to play a few instruments. It's mostly just to know how to properly write for them, and I don't have to be super virtuosic in everything. But the problem is that I can't seem to work it out timewise. I've been playing the flute ever since I was little, then in my high school years I also picked up piano, and since a year ago I've also been taking trumpet lessons. In my spare time I'm teaching myself a little bit of bass playing and drumming, and it just seems to be getting a bit too much. I think diligence is very important as a mucisian, and I know the importance of having a steady practise rhythm. But in the past few weeks it has just become impossible to everyday practise trumpet, flute, piano, drums and bass while having normal classes 5 days a week plus homework and my composing and arranging main subject. Am I just trying to do too much at the same time? Am I not determined enough? Has it to do with efficient practising? Is there anyone here who has experience trying to learn multiple instruments at the same time? Any tips on combining it with normal life? There seem to be a lot of young multi instruments out there in the world, and while it obviously has to with talent and all that zwish zwash, I just can't believe that you can get good on any instrument without spending a lot of time and practise on it. I'm still relatively young and as a student I borrow money from the government to fully focus on my study. This means that right now I don't have any pressing money issues. I also don't have kids, or a family to take care of and all the stuff that comes after I'm done with my studies. So, if there's any time to try new things and practise a lot, then it's now. But I also don't want to overwork myself and end up with nothing. So, if there's anyone with the same (or a similar) problem, or who had the same (or a similar) problem, any advice on the topic is very much appreciated.

Definitely my favorite piece on the album. I could be biased because it's the only piece I actually played in, but the whole drive, climax working, soloing, chord syncopation and overall sound makes it just so darn satisfying to listen to. It was an honor to be able to participate in such a masterpiece.

I like the dynamic contrasts. Especially when the piece picks up the pace again at 4:39 it really comes out wonderful compared to the minimalistic and slow lavender town before that. Although, seeing that there are multiple sources involved it could be that the contrast between songs is a maybe a bit too much. It's a subjective thing, and i'm personally not a big fan of medleys, but I feel like I'm just listening to three different songs. The intro doesn't have any correlation with lavender town, and lavender town doesn't have anything to do with the outro. The individual source interpretations work great, and they really have been arranged in a way which makes the most out of the source. But that's just that. Three great orchestral pieces played after each other You could consider mixing things up a bit. Throwing in some battle theme quotes at the beginning, adding some lavender town at the end. Whatever works for you. I think it could really make everything sound a bit more like one big piece, instead of three different pieces. There's not much to say about the writing itself. It's great. You give everything your own spin, while still keeping the source intact and identifiable. About the ending. I did play the games, but I'm still gonna have to agree with Rozovian. That last orchestral chord sound great, and really feels like a nice convincing ending. In my opinion, adding those sound effects at the end takes the whole tension you build up over those six minutes away. I personally think the piece is better off without it. But, naturally, since it's your song you should definitely keep it in if you yourself like it.

With jumpy i meant it more style wise. It's exactly as you say, the glissando going into the latin section is a bit odd, and the next sections do sort of make up for it. The groove you've got till the sax solo is pretty consistent. But then there's the drum solo which leads into the sax solo, and everything just sort of sounds like a different song. Of course, it is a different song you're covering, but that doesn't mean that it should sound like a different song. The part from the sax solo till the latin part is pretty fluent. The transitions between the songs are nice and work well. And the part after the latin section nicely picks up where the part before the sax solo left off. If you were to look at remix as a whole, not considering the fact that you're covering multiple sources, it's a bit of an odd form. The whole midsection, from the sax solo till the latin section, doesn't really fit in with the outer parts, and the transitions between them are odd and seem a bit random. Woops, this is totally my bad. This part sounds great. The way the saxes correspond together is very clever and well worked out. I meant the part from 1.18 till 1.33. Generally speaking, of course there are exceptions, you never write a countermelody above the lead melody. The way the syncopated alto chromatically goes downwards against the melody at in the tenor at 1.26 is confusing and distracts from the lead melody. Same thing when it happens again at the french horns later. The whole section there is just filled with lots of different melodies going above the lead melody, which buries the lead melody in a lot of sound and doesn't make it come out well. When I write countermelodies I always try to make them complement the lead melody. This means that it's almost always lower than the lead. I never double the lead or bass, I try to write over the bar line and most of the time use question and answer. This way it won't distract from the lead while still adding some new material. Upon some closer listening I guess it's more of a balance thing. As Gario mentioned, it's a thing that can be solved post production. Off course, climax working is an important part of music. But you can also have full orchestration while still maintaining the clarity. Having them play in unison for example can work great. Voicing so much instruments effectively could be difficult, but I don't think it's something you can't handle. If that's not what you're looking for you can also go for the polyphonic idea you've got now, but even with polyphony there has to be something to focus on. Bach is great at writing lots of melodies at the same time without them interfering with each other. It's worth studying. And if that's not your cup of tea you could also check out some of Jacob Colliers stuff. Hajanga for example has some great countermelody writing. So yeah. That's about it. Try to focus on the lead and think of the form. Less is more.

It's an omni, yeah. I recorded it in 2ch, but it can also record in 4ch. I suppose that it'd be best to buy a directional one next, and place that at the strings, and place my omni mic in the room for ambiance.

Thanks for the kind words and the feedback. I actually recorded this on a grand piano, a Steinway even, and the the microphone was right above the strings. I didn't have a microphone in the room. I'm thinking of buying another microphone, so that I can record with two at the same time, but if it's possible to get a better sound with just one then I don't think it's necessary. But since you thought that it was recorded at the back of a room from an upright, I suppose it might be a good investment. I suppose I could give this song one more shot, and go for a third version when I've gotten myself another microphone, so that i can capture the piano better. I'll then go for a better piano take, record a new flute track, preferably with a bit of a nicer tone, and then give the judges panel a try. I wasn't really sure the vibe I was trying to go for was really working, but after your comments on that I'm a bit more confident. Thanks again!!

I like the arrangement. If I had to say anything about it, then I'd say it's a bit jumpy. It goes from one section to the other, and then to the next, and it also nicely returns to the sections it has already visited before, and everything is connected by the big undertale theme. But musically I can't really find any kind of resemblance between the different sections, neither in groove nor style. Combined with the abrupt transitions it seems kinda medleyish. Then at the intro, when there's this kinda tension building going on, which evolves into this 4th interval building cluster chord, I'm not sure whether that piano glissando was the right choice. It's all white keys going through those clusters. It's a pretty happy sound to put at the end of those clusters, and seems kinda anti climatic. Besides that I find it kinda hard to focus on the lead at times. The way the alto(?? I hear an alto, but I see a tenor playing, not sure what's going on there. Probably an alto doubled an octave lower by the tenor, with the alto off screen, but I'm not sure.) plays together with the baritone-saxophone(?) from 1.08 till the bass starts walking at 1.19 for example is very confusing in my ears. The lines seem to distract from each other rather than complement each other. And after that, when it gets kinda French, for lack of a better term, the synth is just going straight to the melody with those glissando's and stuff. While there's also still saxophones playing and french horns. It just seems like a bit much. When the basses align and the french horn and synth play together it works great, but the countermelodies before that don't really work in my opinion. And not just there, it happens at a lot of places. So much instruments playing different melodies at the same time, or just confusing and distracting countermelodies in general. It's a shame, because the playing is really really good, but it just doesn't come out as well as it could have. The sax solo is great. I'm pretty sure Marc also plays trumpet, I think it could have fitted in quite nicely with the rest of this. It would have added an extra punch on top of those climatic target notes, and could also have dragged the balance a bit more in favor of the lead melodies because of its attention grabbing nature. Great dancing as well. So, yeah. I really like this. The playing is great, the source material interpretation is original and very creative, there's lots of energy, the instrumentation is cool. It's just that the overall form could have had a bit more direction, a better flow, and more fluid transitions. And some of the writing, definitely not all of it, was distracting, which in my opinion made the great writing you had come out worse than it actually is. Still pretty solid stuff, though. Great job!!

Something else on the topic of humanization in general. When you write with non real (fake) instruments, you indeed have to add all those tiny articulations and stuff and it takes up a lot of time, which might seem a bit of a wasted effort. But don't forget that when you use non fake (real) instruments you do the exact same thing. The art of phrasing isn't something as naturel as it may seem. When I write for ensembles I spent hours and hours on articulation notation. Singing the lines, seeing whether the third note needs a tenuto or an accent. The difference between a staccato and a marcato note is huge. The whole humanization concept is basically the same thing as when you're writing for non real (fake) instruments, and takes just as much time. When I play in an orchestra or combo or whatever and my sheets don't have any articulations on it, well, I just don't know what to make out of it. Humanization is an important part of music, whether you're using a midi keyboard, a symphonic orchestra, or if you're playing all instruments by yourself. Denying or underestimating its importance is a very dangerous thing which can't ever be good for your music. I'm not saying that you're doing that, but it's just generally a good thing to not see non real (fake) instruments as a different thing than non fake (real) instruments. Because, in the end, when you're writing for those instrument, you have to get into the instruments and player anyway, and try to see how you'd play it if you were actually playing. And then try to mimic the impression of the sound you have in your head and convey it either on paper, or in your DAW.

Soo, I redid the whole thing. I'm not overly happy with the sound of the piano yet, but I don't really know how to improve it further. If anyone has some tips on that, that'd be very appreciated. Everything is still mostly improvised, but I did more takes and I was more familiar with the source this time, so, in my opinion, it came out quite nice. Any feedback, comments, and input is greatly encouraged. I'm also gonna go ahead and put this up for mod review. Thanks for listening!!

Still going for Rosalina's observatory. I've got a rough wip. Nice job picking this up!

Really creative! Didn't know it sounds so great in minor. Just a few things I wanna mention. During the bass solo at 1.05 till 1.30 the whole major combined with minor sounds odd. I like how you threw in some other sources, but harmonically there are some things going wrong. I'm not really sure what, since the whole accompaniment is quite clouded in general, but it just doesn't really make a whole lot of sense to my ears. Another thing is the very beginning. The original first 4 seconds (The e-e-e-c-e-g thingy) is a D9 chord going to a G major chord. Since you went for minor it becomes eb-eb-eb-c-g, which is nicely the c minor thingy you've got going for the whole song. Instead of going for a normal minor scale, you choose a harmonic minor scale. Another great choice because you can then use the minor major root. So, what I don't get is that you choose a regular, boring C minor chord for your first 4 seconds. In the original it's a cadence, D going to G going to C. Now you've got C, going to C. It's bland. I suggest this: you should go for the D7 (b9) going to G7, then going to Cm. It perfectly fits your scale, it sounds better since it's a cadence, it sounds better because it creates some minor tension, and you stay true to the original chords (but then in minor). It's a tiny thing, but nonetheless a missed chance. Nevertheless, nice job!!

I can imagine it being donated to charity, or maybe it can be divided between other at that time current vgm fora. I don't think it's necessary to think about that now, since there are more than enough fair options.

Yeah, I totally see your point actually. Didn't look at it from that angle yet. I'll experiment, and go with what sounds best. Is a more rewarding experience than having everything laid out in front of my face on a silver platter anyway. Thanks!!