Land of the Unknown

This is my first composition, so please feel free to give any advice/criticism that you wish.

It's in a minimalist style, hopefully you can tell

Anyway, have a listen and tell me what you think

Sorry to hijack this thread slightly - I will listen to your composition I promise - but does anyone know of any free midi players which come with built in sounds? I no longer have any midi sounds on my PC after replacing all my old gear with sample libraries. I've only just realised on looking at this thread that I can't listen to MIDI files online like I used to!

Thanks for your help!

Looking around but can't find any as yet. Will keep looking though, and inform you of any findings

RealPlayer seems to do the job for me. As soon as I click on the .mid links, it opens up and starts playing the file.
RealPlayer Free Download

Yep, that's because you have MIDI sounds on your soundcard, I don't.

What I'm looking for is a player that has a MIDI sound set on it (i.e. the 128 patches built in, some kind of soft-synth)

Originally Posted by Chaski

This is my first composition...It's in a minimalist style, hopefully you can tell...

Very well done for a first time... Great change at :40 ...

BUT, not particularly minimalist. It's got a definite pop thing going on, and would likely work fabulously as accompaniment for a melody/lyrics.


Keep it up.
...

um....about the music....

the beginning is nice, it does sound very familiar but cant pinpoint it out, meh....serene opening, ooohh i like the transition to minor, very nice, the held notes i would have only done once in the middle of the minor section, but thats opinion, still works.....the repeat in major is nice

overall i did get bored with the left hand on the piano, but i think you varied the melody enough to where it didnt really matter. sounded good and hope to hear more from you soon!

Originally Posted by robinjessome

Very well done for a first time... Great change at :40 ...

BUT, not particularly minimalist. It's got a definite pop thing going on, and would likely work fabulously as accompaniment for a melody/lyrics.


Keep it up.
...

You think so? Thanks, I'll try it out when I get a few hours spare!

Originally Posted by thatguy

um....about the music....

the beginning is nice, it does sound very familiar but cant pinpoint it out, meh....serene opening, ooohh i like the transition to minor, very nice, the held notes i would have only done once in the middle of the minor section, but thats opinion, still works.....the repeat in major is nice

overall i did get bored with the left hand on the piano, but i think you varied the melody enough to where it didnt really matter. sounded good and hope to hear more from you soon!

Hey,
Thanks! I've noticed the left hand is quite repetitive and I'm working on a few variations for it.
Thanks for the advice, hopefully future compositions will be a lot better as a result

Now I've got my MIDI working I can post my opinion as promised:

Firstly, for a first composition that really is great! I don't know how old you are but I know my first compositions just consisted of a melody with no harmony. So well done, whatever criticism you get about it, don't forget this because it is a fantastic effort for a first piece.

The left hand can become a little repetitive but it doesn't bother me that much. There are other things which I'd look at first:

What software do you use to compose? I tell you why I ask; this piece could really do with some detailed dynamics. By this I mean the smallest details, such as changing the velocity of the first note in each bar so it's slightly stronger than the rest perhaps.

I don't know if you were thinking this as you wrote it but I think it'd sound good with a lilted feeling (where you can really feel the emphasis on the first and third beats of each bar) and to this end, I also think the whole thing would sound better at a slightly faster tempo. I was fiddling around with it in Sonar and increasing all your tempos by just 10bmp makes a huge difference.

Also, to humanise it further, I'd suggest adding small tempo changes throughout. It's a very mechanical piece and this could make a difference; it might even add to the dance-like lilting effect I'd like to hear introduced into the piece!

Finally, I don't know if it's my sounds, but the left hand drowns out the melody at times. It needs to be more in the background than it currently is; just a light accompaniment on which the melody can float.

I hope all that doesn't sound too critical. For a first effort this really is very good. Keep composing!