Raindrops

Hi all.

Here's an impressionistic piece I made with GarageBand.

It's supposed to represent light rainfall, building up to a thunderstorm, then calming down again.

I've used Chinese and Japanese drum kits, as well as piano, pizzicato strings and electronic resources.

(Wasn't really sure which category to post it in; but soundtracks seemed to be the closest fit!)

(N.B. 2nd version has added sound effects.)

Hi @Alex Weidmann,

This piece is very soothing to listen to (except the drums!) I love those scales! Again in 1:15 that Japanese scale appears as in your previous piece. The first section is the most enjoyable section for me.

The second section it becomes percussion only which I don't quite like. I think you can at least have piano playing between those gaps by the percussions! I also feel like this section doesn't match with the previous one, since this type of drums always reminds me of Chinese Lion Dance which I frequently watch! I can't imagine it related to thinderstorm haha!

The ending is great, but will be greater if it's longer! It's too short comparing to the first two sections for me.

1 hour ago, Alex Weidmann said:

Wasn't really sure which category to post it in; but soundtracks seemed to be the closest fit!)

I think it fits here too with the added sound effects!

Thanks for sharing! It's enjoyable music!

Henry

Hi Henry,

Many thanks for your lightning fast review!

The glissando piano runs were supposed to represent the sound of raindrops streaking down from the sky; but I thought they might get tiresome if I used them all the way through. That's why I switched to percussion only to represent the height of the thunderstorm.

There are actually no gaps in the percussion, just a wide dynamic range, so the drums are sometimes very soft.

Perhaps I should add a sound effect of running water, or gusts of wind to enhance that section?

Added a new version to the original post, with sound effects in the middle section.

Hey Alex,

I like the added sound effect! I love the wind!

22 hours ago, Alex Weidmann said:

Perhaps I should add a sound effect of running water, or gusts of wind to enhance that section?

I am thinking of having strong chords or tone clusters by the piano. First you have the scales quicken, and then it turns to thicker chords and tone clusters instead of scales to signify the culmination of water on the cloud, and it combines with the drums to create a scarier effect.

Thanks for the update!

Henry

37 minutes ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

I am thinking of having strong chords or tone clusters by the piano.

That's a great idea Henry!

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

On 5/29/2023 at 1:35 PM, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

it combines with the drums to create a scarier effect

Just wondering if I should create a legend for the Chinese drum set score?

Not sure of the correct names for all these instruments though.

Perhaps you can help Henry? Have attached a photo of the drum set below.

Also attached the score, as it stands. This is just a straight translation of the Midi data from Logic Pro into MuseScore.

Obviously it needs a lot of editing!

Not sure if the drum set data has translated correctly, or even if these particular drum sets have a standardised layout?

10 hours ago, Alex Weidmann said:

Perhaps you can help Henry? Have attached a photo of the drum set below.

The drums in front are Chinese drums, and for the backrow from left to right, it's Gong, a set of Chinese Wooden Block (Literally it's wooden fish in Chinese), and cymbals.

Henry

8 hours ago, Henry Ng Tsz Kiu said:

Chinese Wooden Block (Literally it's wooden fish in Chinese),

Thanks Henry.

They look more like frogs than fish! (Apart from the one underneath, which looks more like a Western wood block.)

This is the Japanese drum set (below). They seem to have special names for some of their drums.