Laura's Theme

My first character theme ever. Character theme's have always been hard for me since I have never been good with melodies and I've never had a real character to base a theme off of. But I figured it was time to branch out.

Those that follow my work know that I am still a rather new composer and I still am struggling to find my own voice and style. This is still true but after much experimenting, I think I am finally starting to find a musical voice that is me.

The character this theme represents is a little girl in a story I am currently working on. Through an accident, the main character gets thrown into a state of suspended animation and isn't revived until nearly 200 years later. By this time, the world is a very different place from the one he knew. Monsters run amuck through the streets and attack anyone they see. His home town is in complete ruins. Organized society as he knew it has crumbled and the world is divided into factions. Monsters are slaughtering innocent people and the factions are too busy fighting each other to deal with monsters. If you haven't got the idea by now, the world the main character wakes up to pretty much sucks. Needless to say, the main character is pretty depressed about the whole matter. That's when he meets up with the aforementioned little girl. He initially becomes drawn to this little girl because she bears a strong resemblance to his little sister who he cared about very much. Over time, he becomes very attatched to this girl and starts to see her as the one good thing in this otherwise hell-ish world.

On one hand, this girl brings him very much joy with her naive innocence in a very uninnocent world. But on the other, this girl bears such a resemblance to his sister that he can't help but think of his sister whenever he so much looks at this girl and this brings him great pain. I tried to represent this bittersweet feeling into the theme. Any feedback you guys can give would be greatly appreciated.


SoundClick artist: Guitarplayer52 - I'm not so much a band as just a guy who composes songs intended for videogames.

I like the melody, considering you say it's not what of your strengths I think you've done very well with it. I love the harmonies you've used and it just all around sets scene perfectly.

I'm not sure about your choice of instruments though. In my minds eye I picture the little girl as you described her exactly...except she's a robot. It just sounds to electornic, too mechanical. I think you would be better off using piano, acoustic guitar, strings etc. The organ especially I don't think works, and I don't like that held chord at around 2.40 as it goes to loop. I reckon you need to go into something esle halfway through.

Nice piece overall though. Good job, as always.

This is soothing. I was writing this post as I was listening to it and the first thing I thought was it needs more instrumentation. Maybe add a piano or guitar...BUT, then you pulled the piano out to lead!

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Now after listening to it 5 or 6 times I'll give a better review.
Ok, so first off you do express the innocents and even the emotions between the two characters, however I'm not feeling the pain and grief he must be feeling knowing that his sister who he loved is in another time. Though the piano does give me a taste, I'm not quite satisfied.
The melody itself is developed, but not really enough for a character theme. Usually people are rather complicated, but I think it depends. Will this only be representing the relation between these two characters or just Laura in general?
Still, not a bad piece. Just work on that pain and grief a little more.

Off-topic: What happen to that piece you posted in the writers forum? I think you had something there...

I'll agree with the others that it needs more instrumentation. It's ok to leave *parts* of the synth organ in, but mix it up a bit... it got really dull after a while. The piano was great when it came in! Do more of that please.

I think it sounds very original. The piano was good like others said - you need more of it. Also liked the bell things towards the end. Was that a mirimba (or something similar) you used for the main melody? I thought maybe you could use a different instrument for this, such as a flute or another woodwind... not necessarily throughout the whole piece... maybe have an introduction using the mirimba thing, and then change to flute, and then to strings or something. I did think the piece was very "thematic", but perhaps also a bit static (for 5 mins long) and could use more variation or surprises (like the piano).

Fox

Thank you. It's funny someone would mention something about the harmonies I used. There are actually quite a few tritones throughout this piece and most of the piece focuses on a chromatically descending bass line.

Yeah, I agree the organ is a little out of place and a bit silly sounding. I'm currently worknig on a piano arrangement of this theme.

Bob

This piece was another attempt at minimalism. I agree, it could be improved with more instrumentation but I've been trying to challenge myself by keeping pieces interesting with a minimal amount of instruments. Of course, I couldn't abandon my usual style completly. Near the end, things do become a bit more layered when the piano and a light whistling sound come in. There was initially a bass guitar in this piece as well as some light percussion but I took it out.

To answer your other question, this piece is just meant to represent the relationship between Laura and the main character. The name is misleading, I know. The original name was "Bittersweet Memories" but I decided to change it as I have quite a few pieces with similar names. I will re-use the main melody for Laura's actual theme but I plan on developing it further.

Guinness

Thank you for the compliment. I use piano solos quite a bit in my pieces which is rather funny considering I don't play piano (yet). I'm always a bit nervous about adding them in but compliments like yours make me feel more confident. This piece originally did have a longer piano solo but it seemed to lose direction.

Finrod

Yeah, as I already stated, I plan on reusing the melody with fuller instrumentation. The piece does become static being comprised of mostly just organ.

That "bell" sound at the end is actually just the organ playing a very high F. For the sound patch I used, I noticed that around E7, the organ notes stopped sounding like actual organ and more like a bell so I did what I do whenever I discover a sound glitch that I like, exploit it for all it's worth. Combined with the light whistling, I think it does very well at creating atmosphere.

I find this piece a joy to listen to, but I think it's a bit cliced to your other pieces, maybe it's you sticking to your style a little too much. Another slight thing that nags me is the phrasing of this piece. I can't hear a phrase anywhere. A phrase is like a sentence, and IMO this piece lacks a clear phrasing, so sometimes all I hear is notes jumbled up. Nevertheless, it's still quite beautiful.

Tyler

I am truly sorry my friend, but I can not say I am overwhelmed with this one. It's good background music, but there isn't really anything in it that sticks out and grabs me. The piece sort of just goes along staticly without going anywhere. The piano sections are the only parts that are alive.

With that said, there is always a need for this kind of music. Not everthing can be in your face music. So for a peaceful or serene setting, this plays well.

Just not for me.

Ron