Mental Preparations for War

This piece is part of my Lewis Carrol pieces, but I redid it for a competition at CGEmpire.com. Of course as usual I did not win, but I like the piece a lot.

The competition was to compose a piece based on making preparations for war. I went the Mental way (in more ways than one) and came up with this.

Here it is

Mental Preparations for war.mp3 - File Shared from Box.net - Free Online File Storage

The piece uses GPO, JABB, EWQLSO Gold and EWQL RA and was sequenced thru Sonar 8 Producer.

Comments are very much appreciated and as always I will return the favor.

To those that are so busy that they cannot take 60 seconds to let me know what they think of this piece, I thank you for at least taking the time to listen and I am sorry your life is so hectic that you do not have 60 free seconds to comment or that you never learned how to type.

If anyone is interested in the entire suite, it is posted here (each piece is part of "Through the Looking Glass") Alice is not complete yet and the suite will have more movements.

Composer's Forum

Ron

i like it

dark@@

the msuic look like a film

yeah, film music definitely! but the "daa-dah: daa-dah" bass is maybe a bit usual, but I really like the piece, those bells in the background are good!

Sounds really good as usual.

How long did it take you to compose this?

I like the theme used in this.

It sounds famaliar to some of your other pieces to me , but everything I listen to sounds like something from something else I listened to now a days.

Dark

I guess it is dark enough for you....thanks

Yoda

This is also part of a suite that when heard all togwether, while it tells a story it was not made for visual accompaniment. But then a lot of music that is in the movies was written well before movies were invented.

Sax

I compose rather fast from what I have heard. I rough out a sketch at the rate of about a minute per hour. Then I go back over it for hours and hours. this one at this point has around 60-70 hours invested into it. A lot of that time is in the production end. Getting CC values right etc.

Thanks guys

Ron

I really like it. Not much critiquing I can do, but I enjoyed it.

Do you maybe have a score that I could look at while listening to this?

As it is, it's okay. I like the melody that you have going in the beginning (violins?) but the voices underneath it seem kind of stale (as others have pointed out). I liked the bells though, it was a nice touch.

Overall, I think you did a really good job capturing the mood of preparing for war, although some of the calmer sections did seem to break the mood just a tiny bit.

~Christian

Ron,

I was out of town for a few days so I am late in replying.

I believe I heard an earlier version of this. This version has a much cleaner line as I thought the early verson had some places with, hmmm, clutter and confusion, may be as well as I can express it. The work you have put in adjusting the dynamics and phrasing (and whatever else) has made a huge difference adding subtlety and musicality so it was time well spent.

People have different ideas on how a theme is best expressed so there is always an element of luck in winning a competition. As a composition I really like this. It has a good use of different instrumental timbres and percussion with a persistent theme that gives it integrity.

Definitely a keeper :thumbsup: - thanks for sharing it.

Herb

Hey there Ron

I thought this piece had some interesting things going on I haven't heard in your earlier works. You used different colors from different instruments in a superb way! The marimba (or whatever it was) ostinatos were awesome. Like I said, very colorful and picturesque work here. I got the feeling of eerieness in between the Timpani parts, which I think was very fitting for what you were writing for. Your music is always idiomatic, no matter what musical language you are dabbling into.

Sorry it's been awhile, you know how the drill goes :D , good to hear from you again Ron. I'll be sure to let you know when I get around to posting something else.

Vince

This was very well done. It had sort of a "Ben Hur," Miklas Rosza feel to it. It would fit perfectly in those epic movies such as spartacus, ben hur, gladiator etc. Very nice themes. Good job!

As you can see I return the favor too. It's definitely a film music and not for being performed in a music hall or something in my opinion. It's an accompanying music. I liked it, there are good ideas in it. Keep on composing dude and thanks for your previous comments on my works!:):cool:

I have to say, I'm not exactly sure why everyone here is trying to pin this down as a movie soundtrack. There are certainly parts in the piece that sound like they would go well accompanying a movie, but I think it would sound just fine being played as part of a suite.

In any case, I enjoyed listening to this. I especially love the quiet ominous parts with the marimba/xylophone and the woodwinds. Perfect sound for that part, in my opinion.

Your musical themes and ideas flow smoothly and logically from one to the next keeping the piece from becoming too mundane.

My only critique is that I feel like there aren't enough real accents in the more epic parts. Some accented staccato brass parts or something. The trumpets don't quite do it for me, but that could just be the particular trumpet sample being used.

Hopefully I haven't sounded too much like a dumb newbie here. Again, I enjoyed listening and look forward to more!

Jake

This is a cool piece.

I like the use of a lot of open intervals.

The fifths give the piece that edgy sound.

I'm not a big fan of atonality,

but this piece seemed to have just enough

to give it some character,

and I think it worked really well.

I definitely concur with the general "Ben Hur"-epic film vibe which others have noted. I get mental images of heavy carts (war machinery?) being dragged uphill in biblical times when I hear this. The ominous opening is highly effective to my ears.

Trumpeter

I appreciate the listen. I don't always need someone to critique a piece as much as to let me know they listened and enjoyed. Thanks

Christian

I composed this in Sonar and being a sequencer, it does horrible scores. The calmer sections are the mind preparing for war.

Herb

You did hear an earlier version and I am late in replying, so we are even!

Vince

I need to send you a PM.

ttmaster2004

I always enjoyed the Gladiator movies when I was growing up. I am sure that is where that influence came from.

Norby

This is part of a suite and IMO stands alone quite well. On the other hand, the movie Die Hard was full of Beethoven's music which I would also say stands alone quite well.

Thanks for the return!!

Murr

I agree with you about being a soundtrack.

I also agree that some accents could improve the piece. I just don't have them in my head yet.

pbent101

I like to use a lot of open intervals. It fits my style well.

cheese messiah

When someone posts in one of my threads, I always try to return the favor. I have yet to see you post any music, so if you do, PM me and I will get to it.

To All

If anyone is interested in the entire suite, it is posted here (each piece is part of "Through the Looking Glass") Alice is not complete yet and the suite will have more movements.

Composer's Forum

Thanks guys

Ron

Very enjoyable piece. The mood you've created is dark and mysterious with an underlying sense of dread and unease.

In a way this is a fusion of a modern score like Troy by James Horner and a goldenage epic like Ben Hurr as somebody mentioned.

Out of interest were you thinking of a particular setting for your piece? It makes me think of an Egyptian siege more than anything.

I love the chromatic motif that starts in the third section. You use it originally as accompaniment and then bring it into the main string melody later on which is particularly clever. Also I love the way it eventually gets harmonised (4ths?).

One critique I have would be the ending. It seems to finish on a chord of B major. It might be an idea to finish on a dissonance, perhaps by putting a D or C natural in the bass. There's nothing wrong with ending on a consonant note, but B major seems to imply that all is well, and personally given the title of this piece I think it would be more appropriate to suggest otherwise!

Great piece, would work well as film music or video game music (reminded me a little of Jet Force Gemini on the N64 do you know it!?). But of course it is interesting enough to work as part of a suite. Good job!

Just listened to some of the pieces you posted on the composersforum link.

I espicially enjoyed Battle, Trojan Asteriods, and Journey .

almacg

This piece was originally started as a part of the Suite I am composing about Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass.

In that suite, this piece is called Bandersnatch and is about a monster that is to be shunned. ( The exact words in Lewis Carroll's poem "Jabberwocky" are "Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

The frumious Bandersnatch!")

As I was composing it, I found out about a competition to compose a piece about preparing for battle and I knew right off that this piece fit the bill.

SO the idea of Bandersnatch got put aside and I completed the piece based on preparing one's mind for battle. I ended as I did because the mind was finally prepared not only for battle, but for the very real possibility of death.

The ups and downs in the piece are getting oneself psyched for the battle and the final acceptance of the implications.

BUt I feel the piece still goes well in the suite.

Sax

Each of those pieces hold special meanings for me, so I am very happy you enjoyed them.

Thanks guys

Ron