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Newborn Prince


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Just trying to work around different sounds. Nothing too fancy I guess 

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You know what? It depends on what you want from you music.

Is this just a "study" to try some sounds? Then OK, it's perect.

Is this a music to go with some scene of a game or similar? (I tell you this because it seems you are fond of that). Then probably it's fine becase although it's repetitive, you work variation with instruments.

Is this a music by itself? A "piece of music" to listen to with no images and that? Then it becomes monotonous. The idea is good, but the same progresion (I-bVI-IVm-I... I think) over and over becomes tiring. If you take two different (contrasting) ideas you can work with them and built pieces with coherency and variation: ABAB, AABA, etc...

Anyway, it sounds nice.

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Thanks Luis!

Usually when I start on a piece I picture a film in my head, just something random. And think what part of this imaginable movie can I express in this piece. Since music seems to follow along with what the characters are doing or feeling on screen, I noticed the music changes along with each dialogue, expression, or gesture which is what I tried to do here...I just kept that to myself haha.

I tried to portray the birth of a new prince, which is why I used the Oboe among the brass and strings. The trumpets was a sign of the kingdom celebrating said prince. I know it sounds funny...

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Mm... perhaps that's a benefit to looking at music multi-purposely, but even then, working with guidelines provided is always helpful.
I'm with Luis on the chord progression part. I do hear it change occasionally, but it does need to change, regardless if it was a sound library exploration. I hear (I, VI, iv, I), a lot of the time; sometimes I hear VIM7.
For a game it would largely depend on what it was for. If it was for a player-controlled cutscene, perhaps the bigger sounds were a bit too big in contrast, as the player should treat it as an atmosphere. If it was a regular cutscene, then it definitely needs more variation or change. If it were in a level, I'm not sure; it has its pros and cons.
The major purpose in an exercise like this, I think, is working with what you have, but not to the point where it dominates over form and orchestration. 
It's nice, and I get a sort of Fire Emblem feel when listening, but it does start to become stereotypically flatlined after a while.

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Well it's interesting...

If the title of this work was "Opus 10" (and not "Newborn Prince"), and perhaps also your nick wasn't "LostSamurai"... I mean, withouth any references, this music could mean anything to me. OK, something epic, because of the fanfares, but any thing.

In fact you say you start with "a film in my head"... So there is a clear purpose in this music. That's why, without that "film" you imagine it doesn't work the best. That's whta I was trying to say with "a music by itself". I know that if you're writing a music for a film everything is different (I have done it with some silent films), and in this case the structure of the work has to be altered sometimes.

But for a piece of music and nothing else, it will be better with a structure.

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Thanks guys. I can understand about the chords being the same a bit cause I hear it too but didn't pay much attention to the progression while in the process of creating it due to all the sounds in my headphones at the time hahaha.

I actually wanted to add more chords to the progression and not just those four but I was unsure, in orchestration terms, if that was ok. Those are major and/or minor thirds I believe and didn't really know what scale they particularly belong to. Like I know the scales at this point but I get confused with major and minor thirds being a part of a scale...if that makes since, so I didn't know what other chords I could use.

Using just those four I thought about how I could switch it up ultimately and the only way I could think of was raising the octaves in each chord, which I know doesn't change the progression at all...I don't know...still trying to get a good hang of this. I feel so limited with just four chords haha.

@Luis

Also, you mentioned you've done film scoring and overall that is what I would love to focus more on as I tried to do with Inception of the Ominous and The Seventh Insignia here in this thread since I love the much larger and bigger scores. Any tips on that? The only tip I've read up on about film scoring is that using major and minor thirds really give that type of cinematic atmosphere as I've been trying to focus on using a lot with this and my other pieces.

Edited by LostSamurai
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Hey, what I'm about to tell you is not to be condescending in any way. I just think that this is important for you to know. You seem to be in a rut of what I tell my students (ironically) "constant change", where composers feel the need to change something every measure in fear, wrongly, that the piece will get boring. In this case, it could be chord progression. I think it would be really great for you to listen to the first movement (Prelude) of the Holberg Suite by Grieg. In addition to being one of the most beautiful string pieces ever, Notice how motifs come back and more importantly, how stationary chords and only subtle changes make the piece feel frozen and at other times really energetic. That contrast is so important. Notice the sonata form used within (ABA) it's simple and effective. 

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No worries I didn't take things the wrong way haha. I'm here to learn after all and you guys are awesome I've already learned so much already from you guys.

Yeah I do have that fear and have been showing that a lot in my recent pieces. So yeah I'll definitely take a listen to Holberg Suite. Thanks!

You said students so you teach actual classes? I didn't know that which makes your advice even better! Hahaha

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