Leaderboard

Finished this track recently for fun after creating a visual in my head of an ancient temple but inside a code of some kind. The first half is the normal track while the second half is battle track when an enemy is encountered. Enjoy! 21 Temple Codex.mp3

Here it is! The submission for the Valentine's Day Event! To say that composing this piece was a hectic process is an understatement. Heck, I'm submitting this piece on the day (or night) of the deadline! I think I was going with the joyfulness aspect of romance, with of course a little bit of dark theme (just the minor version of the main theme really lol) mixed in there. This piece also contains a theme from a sketch that I have always wanted to explore. But yeah, dunno what else to say other than to enjoy the piece!!

oh really? ok.

Hi Peter! Thanks for the welcome and info. I only know what I've read and been told at this point? I'll look further on those suggestions you've made! Thanks again, Ron

Thank you! I greatly appreciate the constructive feedback! That's why I wanted to bring this here. I am definitely not done with the piece. And want to further it. The drums being basic is definitely something I want to work on in total. I'm not a drummer, so drums and how they come together is something I'm continuing to develop. Really appreciate you taking the time to listen and leaving this feedback!

If I remember, the first movement of Beethoven's 4th Symphony doesn't get to the tonic until somewhere around bar 34. (I've mislaid the score so I can't check but it is my favourite of his symphonies.) .Other than that some of Peter Mennin's symphonic work defies tonic thanks to his use of the Locrian mode.

Really enjoyed the beginning, etheral. Some castle in the Sky Vibe. You love hisaishi dont you?^^ The battle track is fine but maybe too static and repetitive because of the same used chords and no Big changes on the syncope. The bass Line is cool

Great singing performance! I enjoyed the folk music influences in this work, and am always a sucker for anything Tolkien related. Liked the harmonic modulations, and the burnished brilliance of the brass. Good job overall.

Hey dude! It's fine if you cannot get into my piece! It's shows that you've tried to at least give it a chance and I really appreciate that. Your reasoning is honestly quite fair. I know I used a lot of quartal harmonies (what can I say, I like how they sound lol) and the final climax of the piece unfortunately is just a lot of I-IV due to time constraint. I know I could get more creative with that but y'know. Also, the structure of the piece is just Introduction-A-B-A-Coda. I know it's more detailed than that and a lot of the themes are referenced many times throughout, which kind of blurred the structure a bit. In addition, the Coda is a variation of the combined Intro and the A theme placed at the end of the piece, so I get why it gets a bit confusing. I'm really glad that you're honest about this and you give your own personalized criticism with your own taste in music. I am not in the slightest discouraged by it at all and it honestly kinda balances it out with all the compliments and stuff. So yeah, don’t fret about it. I too sometimes do not feel like I have a thing that's called "love" so I try to haphazardly convey what "love" is through the medium known as music (lol). Thanks for the feedback!

Hi @Ferrum, I want to listen to this but don’t have time for long, but now I manage to do it. I am sorry to say it, I know it’s great music but I cannot get into it. Your developing technique is wonderful and the harmony is very colourful. The orchestration, voicing are all very mature. It’s just my problem that I can’t discern into its structure even though I know it’s very coherent. Also I cannot get into the emotion at all. It must be all my fault and it’s sad that I know it’s great music but cannot enjoy it as it should be! I am always of very high regard of your music and this is clearly not an exception. But the problem it’s all in me, maybe I just don’t like the anime style of the quartal chords sustained in a long work. I don’t know what happen, maybe I am one who have no love so I can’t enjoy the piece as it deserve! Thx very much for sharing your great work here! Hopefully my review, or rather self-babbling soliloquy won’t discourage you a bit. Henry

Did you still need these pieces recorded? I know it's been almost two weeks but I have a nice-sounding digital piano and thought I might be able to help 🙂

It's a good first attempt and I'm glad to see you exploring different styles! One of the big defining characteristics of that kind of music is that the rhythms would literally have to be swung like triplets (well - not exactly, but approximately). All your subdivisions are straight 8th notes in this. Another aspect of jazz is extended harmony. From what I can hear, your harmony is simple never utilizing 7ths, 9ths, 11ths or 13ths which could really add some stank to your chords. This is something that comes from the blues roots of jazz. About your chord progressions - jazz uses lots of ii - V's and tritone substitutions. It's a very characteristic sound that it's good to get the hang of before moving on to more advanced stuff. Your drumset writing is really basic. I know it's a challenge to write well for drumset in a DAW or notation program - check out this video about the topic: Also about soloing - the usual roles in an ensemble like this is that the piano will play comping patterns based on the chords of the song while another instrument solos usually also utilizing syncopation and swung rhythms. Hope some of that helps! Thanks for sharing. Peter

Another way you could expand your harmonic and melodic palette is to explore starting your melody on an extension of the chord you're on (on a 7th, 9th, 11th, or 13th). This piece starts on the 5th which is really common and almost cliché in this kind of music (like the most common interval in heroic melodies for instance is the 5th). I like the tempo changes in this although I still wish that you used more dynamic contrast and used chord progressions that are more harmonically ambiguous or don't start or end on the tonic. Those are the things I yearn for when I hear this music although it's good as it is too - it's just my personal bias and preference about what I think would make your music even better! Thanks for sharing. Peter

Hi @Layne, I like this try too! The colour is varied with all those jazzy instruments and I like the saxophone portion too, the late clarinet one is quite good too. Maybe adding more rhythmic variety and some improvisatory touches will be great as well! Thx for sharing! Henry

Hey Pabio, The tail of the subject really provides great opportunity to those chromatic passages which you utilise well. The fourth entry in b.15 is sneaky! I love your stretto in b.48, and your modulation as usual is smooth and very effective. And I think with a pedal harpsichord it really helps you not to get wide intervals that is difficult to play. Thx for sharing! Henry