My first composition

Hi everyone, i'm new to this board and new to composing in general. However I love music of every shape and form, especially film and game music and so decided to give composing a go.

This is my first ever full piece and it is inspired by the trailer music to the Halo 3 game. Actually it borrows quite a bit from it:ninja: It's called Troubled Skies.

I made it on Reason 3.0 which is really for dance music but comes with a great orchestra soundbank. This means that I haven't got a score, sorry guys.

Please comment but go easy on me because as I said this is my first piece;)

Thanks

Download here

sounds cool dude.

I like the grand-ni-ness. I dont know how to explain it, but it sounds good.

Hey there,

I liked the orchestration - it was interesting and added some nice colour to the piece. The rhythm sounded off to me at a number of points though. The thematic material is nice and bold though; grand as cain suggested.

I think this is great work, especially for someone who's just starting out but even for an experienced composer. Thanks for sharing and keep it up! :P

Thanks for the replies.

I've discovered a new passion! I love this composition thing!

I listened, and i liked, very filmy, i know bugger all about his area but it is a genre that interestd me so I'll probably be hanging around this forum a bit more in future

Nice - I liked it. It's definitely got a sort of Martin O'Donnell feel to it. And I have to agree with the others in saying that the orchestration was nice... or was it just Marius.... ah, hell, anyway... it was great. Is it finished?

Thanks for all the replies.

Yeah, O'Donnell was a big influence to this piece. I really love the Halo music.

I was thinking of continueing it but I wan't to move on to something different. I've been exploring classical music and so maybe i'll try a string quartet.

Not bad, how old are you?

I'm 14

Thanks for the feedback.:D

Great work! The orchestration is brilliant and all the instruments blend well. I especially like the piano part- it's subtle but manages to distinct itself, especially at the beginning where the reverb fades into the strings. :D

When it goes into the "triumphant" theme around 3:00 the timps seem a little heavy- as in, the main melody is flowing and continuing, and the timps sort of interrupt it. I don't know if that's what you intended?

I don't think the piano really fits but that's personal opinion so it's up to you. As said, the thematic material is good, and memerable but i think could be linked more, although, if this was part of a soundtrack for a film the themes could be used in different places throughout the film with would remove the need for them being linked now. One thing i suggest, try reorchestrating your themes and using them in different ways in another piece, this one seems to me something that would be playing in a triumphant battle sceme or something or the like, try using the same themes, perhaps changing them to minor, to convey a sad scene, perhaps when the hero of the film dies. Think like LOTR, there are several themes that appear in various guises throughout the film.

Hope this has been some help, Mark

Very nice piece. Lovley usage of Strings , brass and percussion :D

Your start is fantastic, it really catches you. Then comes this "Majestic" part. Atmosphericly nice almost everything is perfect, only thing I can point out is that; is that it doesn't really breath. Maybe that is the purpose of the song. It is after all very cinematic. Maybe it is a wild car chase.

I think that it would sound nice, if you contrasted the two "Majstic" part, dynamically that is. The first one is a bit less intense, you get to familliarize yourself with the theme. The second on will be your UNLEASH.

Great piece.

Thank you for sharing :)

Thanks for all the great advice!

@sivvus: I totally agree with you timps, percussion is definitely not my strong point. I'll try doing a few things with them. What do people think about the shaker rhythm? Is it ok?

@Mark: I am definately rethinking the piano. I will probaly take it out of the first "majestic" part and do some crashing chords instead of arpegios in the second. That is a great idea about reorchestrating the themes, i'll try that today.

@Saiming:I like the sound of an UNLEASH;) I will definately take that into consideration. You're not such a harsh reviewer after all!:D

Thanks for the review Nico. However I would just like you to clarify this

but it does not blend by any sort of creative musicianship rather just the chordal juxtaposition of instruments.

I'm not disagreeing with you but could you explain further? I would love to give you a score but i'm afraid it's not possible in reason:( .

I'll try to keep those ideas about developing my themes in mind and I will definitely have a look at some scores.

I'm really sorry about advertiseing my thread. I won't do it again. I've got more than my fair share of reviews already:) Thanks guys!

Thanks, that's much clearer now.

Im not realy a genious when it comes to reviewing, after all i have no idea what "form" refers to. But to my hugely untrained ears this peice sounds rather impressive. I personaly could imagine it being played during a "Starshiptroopers" style planetary landing scene.

Good Work :)

First thing first, are you sure this is your first composition? it's kinda suspicious...

Well, don't get me wrong, if it is, then it's pretty awesome :blush:

I do like this piece, sure it is grand and all, but, what are you trying to tell us? Is this the beginning of a war? someone's death? funeral March? what is this piece about? Like, I don't get that sense of feel right now. It's just PLAIN grand. I gota run now, but I'll make sure to comment more later. Nice work.

James -

While I see your point in asking what its about, the piece (or any piece, for that matter) doesn't really need to have something that it signifies. Considering that this is his first composition, he may have even written it with nothing specific in mind -- aside fom Halo. :blush:

Anyways, just saying...

Well, I should have made myself clearer, this is my first finished composition. I have one or to other unfinished ones but they are nothing more than a few ideas that I have thrown together and not liked.

As for what it is about, have you seen the Halo 3 trailer? it was kinda built to the story line of that, and as I said above it actually borrows some stuff from it:ninja:. Actually I played the video and my piece in synch and they actually fit surprisingly well, obviously without all the hits in the right place and stuff though.

Thanks for the reviews.

Glad you liked it Deathcheese!