February 11, 201016 yr I write songs for my local band in MIDI form and am finishing up with a new song called "The Siren," a spiritual successor to one of our other, less popular, songs called "The Whisper." As "The Whisper" before it, I tried to make this new song very dramatic, but much heavier. I'm just about done, but would like to know if you guys had any suggestions to improve upon what I have done. Any advice would be much appreciated. http://www.mediafire.com/?l25jag3k1zz Vocals = synth brass 1 EDIT Revised Edition: http://www.mediafire.com/?ttqt4gzmjt4 I've added a whole new section in the middle of the song. I've also removed many chords that some instruments were playing because I realized it made everything very, very muddy. Track 12 (sawtooth) should be muted. It's just a track for my ideas.
February 12, 201016 yr First of all I think the parts you have seem well made. The biggest problem I can see is that there isn't much dynamic in this song. You go "all out" with the dramatic flavor. Even though you want a song to be dramatic it's better to save the best for last so to speak. Set a general tone of drama at the beginning but only as a kind of "hint" to what is to come later in the song. Build the song up to some kind of chorus where you unleash a little more drama. After the chorus it might be wise to lower the intensity again to give the song some dramatic "instability". Letting the listener get washed over by 3 minutes of drama will ironically make the music feel less dramatic than if you include some twists. To make something feel dramatic it's often a good idea to first set a feeling of calm somehow, so the listener has something to relate to (making them feel unconsciously "Wow this part is much more dramatic). All in all it's a promising song. Shame it's only in midi so far. :)
February 12, 201016 yr Author Thanks for the tips. Building up to a defined chorus seems to be challenging for me when I write anything. I really need to work on that ^^". I'm glad you like it =). We've been talking about recording our other songs for a while, but we're short on cash, haha. I'll post a revised version when I can.
February 25, 201016 yr I think it was a really cool piece and like the use of tubular bells. Perhaps you could make an intro of the bells. Also, I think a more separated section-chords hitting less frequently could add nice contrast.
March 1, 201016 yr Author Thanks for the suggestions. I'm still working on revising different parts of the song and will post it when I'm done.
March 12, 201016 yr Author I've just added a revised version of The Siren to the top post! Sorry it took so long. What do you guys think?
March 13, 201016 yr I think this is a cool song and like your revisions. I would like to hear a recording or a wav file with the mix as you intend it to sound because it sounds completely different depending on what program I open it with even though the music is the same. I would like to hear specifically what you are going for.
March 14, 201016 yr Author Well, I still need to write lyrics and then my band will perform this song. Sadly, we don't really have the option of recording right now. I can turn it into a .wav and .mp3 file, though! Here's the .wav And the .mp3
March 22, 201016 yr Yes! That is what I meant. Just because the MIDI sounds change depending on the program. This lets me hear your intention more exactly. I like it! Hope you perform it.
March 24, 201016 yr Author Thanks a lot for your advice and I'm glad you like it. We're hopefully going to be playing at a gig sometime soon and it's nice to know that someone appreciates my work. When my band has played in public in the past we have seen many confused and disapproving looks and heard many bad reviews simply because of our strange style.
