Andrew Wonders

I'm completely lost on how to turn this into a piece... I know it's a great two-piece melody... it's a mid-paced 6/8 starting with "variations on a theme" in c melodic minor, then transitions into a simple A major melody. I'd like to go with a renaissance/medieval style ensemble feel with it(stac/marc strings in the bassline, strings&woodwind in the higher register), but the lead in/out is eluding me... maybe ya'll have some suggestions Thanks in advance, -Drew winterfaire_pianosketch_mixdown01.mp3 - File Shared from Box.net - Free Online File Storage

Just thought I would post this up here. This is a melancholy piece for piano, cello, and clarinet that I finished up recently. Nothing spectacular, just something I worked up to get me through a rough patch recently. My roommate was playing with a piano melody (the "A" piano part) and graciously allowed it's use in this (I shifted it down an octave). Any and all comments and critique welcome! SoundClick artist: Andrew Wonders - Modern orchestral. Film/TV/Game style scores. -Andrew

I love this piece, Kevin. You did a great job blending the ethnic instruments into the traditional orchestral backdrop. It made me smile. Great work!

Wow... simply stunning. Beautiful, sweeping, emotionally evocative... everything I hope to find in a romantic piece. I've never been that impressed with GPO sounds either, till now :P

Jared, Excellent, excellent stuff here! Like Norby, I can definitely hear the Williams influence, but that is NEVER a bad thing in the world of scoring (IMHO anyway). Keep up the great work, and I hope you post more from this project :)

Nikolas, This is awesome. I love these types of pieces, which is odd since I don't generally like nor do I play jazz. However, I instantly saw the subway type scene. The lonely (depressed?) traveler, the flickering lights, shots of other passengers... very evocative. Well done!! -Andrew

Wendell, Nice job! This is definitely a great start. As Ron pointed out, some work on the dynamics would certainly help make this piece livelier. I feel as though the end section with the brass and timpani *wanted* to jump out and crescendo, but didn't. Also, I did find the melody a bit hard to grab on to. I'm a big fan of leitmotifs ("little themes" if you will). If you look at John Williams (for one example), no matter how much orchestration he has going, the melody (motif) is always clear, instantly identifiable, and extremely memorable. If I write a melody, and people can't stop humming/whistling/singing it after listening to it, I've done my job ;) All that said though, again, you have a great foundation here to build on. Keep it up, and I look forward to hearing more! -Andrew

Wendell, Thanks for your input. "I liked it" is certainly a valid (and very welcome!) comment. Feedback on the more technical aspects from other musicians is always good, for the learning and development end of things, but the end result I shoot for is that my music be enjoyed :)

Ron, Thanks for the feedback! I will definitely put your suggestions into immediate action :)

Well, what we do (the orchestral sequencing, *especially* with large libraries like EWQLSO) is very CPU and RAM intensive... if you want to continue on this road, then I recommend that you at least invest in more RAM. This will be one of your best moves for loading lots of patches simultaneously. You're using Logic, right? Are you on a mac or a pc?

Well, how slow is your computer? Obviously, if you can sequence something like this and the "Nations Suite", you aren't doing *too* bad. Also, try mixing your midi stuff down to a single audio track, then applying effects like reverb, EQ, etc. I use EWQLSO Gold as well, and though I know it comes "pre-verbed", I still find that it needs a little hall reverb in the mixdown phase.

Great job! The violins about 2/3 through sounded a little dry to my ears, but I like a lot of reverb, so don't mind me if that's what you were going after. I thought I heard a didgeridoo in there, but I just read your response to heckel and saw that it's a tuvan singer. Nice job on that element. Where did you get the samples for that?

rolifer, I definitely dig this piece. For some reason I see one of those old-school style animated educational pieces, with the tenor-voiced, british narrator talking about the destructive power of the sun. Don't take that the wrong way either, that's a huge compliment (most of those animated pieces had amazing music). I think it's the chromatics in it that gives me that feel. In any event, great work, as always!

I really like your composition style. You do the modern Hollywood "Zimmer-esque" style very well. That said, I would comment that the orchestration could be much fuller. Maybe fleshing out your string and brass sections more. Also, the production is rather dry. *I* would have added more reverb, to created the illusion of this actually being played in a physical space. But that's just me. All in all though, this is a good piece. Keep it up!

So, this is a piece I've been working on in various incarnations for a while now. I'm sure I've broken all kinds of music theory rules, and I'm pretty sure it's not even proper waltz form, but that's the vibe I got from it. It's still in progress (I'm trying to figure out how to end it), and I'm up in the air about some of my instrument patch choices, but I thought I'd post it for some feedback. Also, as a musician coming from a rock background, I'm having a lot of trouble breaking out of the A,B,A,B(verse, chorus, verse, chorus) style of writing, so any tips anyone might have, as well as any other feedback, is most welcome. Thanks! -Andrew *Should be the first track that plays when you get to the page* Andrew Wonders's Page - Composers' Forum

So, a while back someone asked if someone could put this through their system. I was bored today, and really wanted to hear what it would sound like with good samples (sorry, I'm a GM hater too). So here is my mixdown of laisladelace's "Sanctuary". I changed nothing in the midi, just assigned patches to the existing music. I used Philharmonik for the Piano and Celesta, and EWQL Sym. Orch. Gold for the rest. I used solo instrument patches for Violin I, Flute, Clarinet, Horn, and Harp, and ensemble patches for Violin II, and String Bass. After mixdown, I did a little eq-ing, added some hall reverb, and some little mastering touches. Anywho, here it is: Sanctuary_EWQL+PMK_mixdown01.mp3 - File Shared from Box.net - Free Online File Storage

rolifer, Thanks for your feedback! I agree, the celesta is typically a "fantasy" instrument these days, so I can see how that imagery would come through on this piece. Perhaps I'll try a version without, as you suggested, and see how that sounds.

Max, I absolutely love your style and execution. I'm a sucker for epic blockbuster score stuff ("heavy metal" orchestra, as I call it ;P). Great job!

I was incredibly moved by this cycle. The emotional response to this was something on par with what happens when I listen to Copland's "Appalachian Spring" (which is a hefty response, let me tell you). I'm not comparing this structurally or melodically to Copland, mind you, but the power is there. Excellent, excellent work Morivou!

I'd say this would even work for opening credits, if the intro had a bit more build-up. I really dig it! My only comment would be that the trumpets/high brass sounded a bit odd... not bad, just odd. Perhaps it's just the samples being used. But overall, a very strong piece!

I don't have much experience using synths in an orchestral piece so I'm not entirely sure what reverbing them alongside the orch. and perc. instruments would do, but perhaps try both ways. I use Cubase with a combination of different vst plug-in effects, so I don't know what Logic has to offer, but if it can host vst's, I would recommend either the ArtsAcoustic Reverb(KVR: ArtsAcoustic ArtsAcoustic Reverb - Virtual Effect) or the Sonic Foundry Acoustic Mirror(which has now been integrated into Sound Forge, but you may be able to find the stand alone floating around in peer-to-peer networks). The main thing is that you want to find a hall-style reverb that will create a virtual performance space that all your mixed-down instruments will reverberate in. Hope this helps.

lj, I like the core melodies of this piece, but I have to agree with most of the other comments in that you need to work on putting the different elements of your sounds in the same space. You might try adding a touch of reverb in your mastering process. Izotope Ozone has a good mastering reverb, or, if you can keep your mixdown pretty dry, you can use a good hall reverb to place your "ensemble" in a single space.

I really liked the atmosphere in this piece. It had elements of tranquility, but kept an edge of tension throughout. Where are you getting your percussion sounds from? It sounded like Stormdrum, but I'm not sure.

I love it. I'm picturing a doctor working on a (seemingly) impossible task, such as curing himself/loved one/etc. of a grave condition, and going mad in the process.

Only the base structure was done in FL. It was just a sketch (or "skeleton" as I tend to call them), and sat dormant for several years. I dug it up recently, exported it from FL as a midi file, and then imported it into Cubase, where I fleshed it out, and ran it through the Miroslav Vitous Philharmonik VSTi (a mid-sized orchestral library). I had pictured an emotional "reunion" type scene as I was writing it, but I've been really interested in hearing the different concepts and images it invokes in other people. Thanks for the feedback!