Sinfonia "Lionheart"

theme "Lionheart"; sample intake for a movie project

Sinfonia "Lionheart"

Welcome to YC.

This work shows a lot of potential. and has a very nice beginning to it.

Those of us here in the Games forum try to go out of our way to comment in each others posts. That is what makes sites like these work, its members getting involved.

Ron

Thanks, it was just a spontaneous score for a friend who was a little bit sad the days. No theme or story, just emotions. So long, Ben

This is a really nice piece. Very heroic sounding :)

Hi Nemesis!

Welcome to YC, we're pleased to have you. This is a great little cue, very moving and crafted with surprising taste and patience. You've taken the stereotypes of the genre and adapted them into a more sophisticated piece by varying up the rhythms, accents, and chord progressions a bit and the result is excellent. Loved the brief rock beat that came in there, that was a cool touch. In any case, it sounds appropriately cinematic, my only qualm with it is the production quality, but since this sounds like a Finale output I understand that you can't get too much better.

Out of curiosity, what are your ambitions? How old are you at this point? Are you hoping to make this your career? I may have more thoughts for you depending on your answers, but for now I just wanted to chime in and say that you've done good work here.

Stick around and keep posting! :happy:

Hi Marius,

I'm 28 years old.

Thanks for your comments. The score was a Sibelius 4 output. Well, I'm a theoretician who likes harmonics. I just need a pencil and a piece of paper. Characters, pictures, movements and gestics are vibes, melodies and just music. Put it together and you get a wonderful theme. A good score is the soul; an own movie character. I want to combine theory with this special sound of film and stage plays. But you are right regarding production quality. Right now I involve East West sound libraries.

Well, my ambition is working in the film industry or composing music for dance theatre / musical. I like to narrate a story with music. But the business is hard. If you are good, three guys are better than you. Pressure of time and tight money are normal. So I try to develope my own language in respect of composing. Pressure of time: bringing out the best in me. Tight money: Creativity is free

Keep on moving,

Ben

It's a nice piece.

However, the thing that lets it down is production (as Marius said) If you have EWQL, you sriously need to get a DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) for mixing. Sibelius doesn't do EWQL justice, when with it you can get a realistic piece.

There are free DAWs scattered round the internet, and I'd really love to see your work given a makeover :)

Keep composing!!

Hi CheeseLord,

thanks for your comment. I know people and artists with own studios. So I will improve the quality with Steinberg Nuendo / EWQL and mixer. But I think it's not so easy to import the Sibelius score - perhaps as MIDI file or ReWire? Ideas? Best regards, Ben

Hi Ben, thanks for getting back to me — it's great to meet you. :happy:

To my points then, I have to first of all congratulate you for having the courage to try this so late in the game. I figure that by now you realize that this industry is crazy competitive and that, unfortunately, all those beautiful things you wrote about gestures and addressing the soul of a production are the kinds of fluff that are largely ignored. There's more luck than talent involved, which is a scary thought sometimes and the reason why you'll find films and theatre productions coming out with music that you honestly know you could have written better. So while you may or may not be more talented than the composer who got the gig, you weren't as lucky, and you can spend your life doing everything right and still not make it in this business simply because it's so bloody hard to get noticed and break in.

Developing your own compositional voice is valuable, but the ultimate tool in the media composer's arsenal is actually versatility — the ability to emulate, blend, and implement elements from any musical style that crosses your director's mind. Having your own voice is useless if nobody likes what it sounds like, so don't paint yourself into a corner. Sure, it may be more artistically fulfilling, but it won't get you very far. Because while creativity is free, rent and food are not, so unless you have a day job keeping you alive, you can't afford to be too lenient about money. Not only are you contributing to the depreciating value of our artform, but you're teaching directors that they don't NEED to pay for quality music. Bad lesson.

This is rational practicality, by the way, not pessimism on my part. I don't want to discourage you so much as ensure that you know what odds you're up against. There are kids YEARS younger than you who have mastered the use of their software and can produce wicked sounding little tracks that please directors. Do they have the same level of creative sophistication as your pieces? Not likely, but are the directors going to be interested in that — or even able to recognize it? Depends largely on the director, but mostly....not likely. So here's where you stand: you write well, but your production skills keep you way off the map. If you want to climb on and actually have a chance at being competitive, you need to sit down and learn your donkey off. Become master of the DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) of your choice, be it Sonar, Logic, Cubase, Reaper, etc. Which one you use will ultimately depend on your preference of interface, since the functionality is largely interchangeable between them. In any event, it is now a completely necessary skill to be able to produce convincing, well-mixed tracks in your home studio. If you're using EastWest sound libraries then you already have those tools, you just need to use them properly. They're not meant to be used within notation software — notation software is only truly competent at making sheet music, after all. The production side of the job needs to happen in a DAW, and that's the area that I would focus all my efforts on if I were you. That, and networking. Network like a madman. Go to conventions, coffee dates with directors, join forums, talk to people, show them your work...in short: get noticed.

You've got writing skill, which is more than I can say about many people trying to break into the business. But time is very much against you (no offense, of course) so you just need to be aware of those things and continue powering forward. Who knows what will happen? I certainly don't, but I do wish you the best of luck and I look forward to hearing more of your work around here.

Take care! :)

that's a bit discouraging there, even though the reality might be even harsher than that, since only 10% of the composers in america live thier life by thier art, according to an article someone posted here-i disagree.

if you are a good musician, and your music is real and true, it will vibrate socially. people will notice and react. no avoiding it, you're good people will tell, you suck people will tell, or shut up which is even worse(to me).

To your advantage: i heard so many generic demos with awesome quality that might work for any holyweed :happy: director, as "do the job" but they are so depent on thier luck against another awesome sounding "generic". instead of putting your/thier creativty on the line. which will eventually is more unique, and more noticeable, once you learn to polish yourself.

that is a good discussion for another forum though..

Hi all!

Thanks for all the comments and discussion about main issues It's nice to discuss with lots of artists. So what I will do the next time is using my DAW and transform all scores. But my passion is just writing music regarding theory and scores on paper

Best wishes,

Ben