Wandering Shadows

I was inspired to write this song after hearing Hamauzu's awesome Mount Gagazet track (I forget it's offical name)off of the Final Fantasy X Original Soundtrack a few too many times. However, the final result came out almost nothing like I was aiming for with my composition bareing only a vague resmblence to Hamauzu's. Anyway, I am somewhat proud of the restless, almost hauting violin melody that plays through the first half of the song. Anyway if you guys could give me some feedback that would be great.

SoundClick song info: Wandering Shadows by Guitarplayer52 - Song info page with free MP3 music downloads

Well I can definitly see the influence of "People of the Far North" but its got its own identity...don't like those strings sounds though. I think they're used nicely enough its just the sound itself that is a bit unpleasant. Like the variation in melody and tempo - keeps it interesting and the loop whilst a bit sudden is quite nice. Bass line is especially good.

I'd say sort out those strings and you'd have a very good piece of BGM.

Thanks for the listen man. Yeah, the string sound is rather questionable in my opinion too, it was originally a cello but the cello was too hard to hear. I probably will change it to something or just get rid of the strings. Also, thank you for the compliment on the bass. I don't consider myself very good at writing bass parts usually, but I think this is one of my better ones. I keep wanting to expand on this song more and add a solo guitar bit after the second theme (with the strings) and before going back to the first theme. Anyway, thank you for the feedback.

"People of the North Pole" (or maybe there are different titles in the different regional editions? Whatever ;) )

Wow, I didn't know that Final Fantasy music was so popular among composers.

Indeed, Nirvana: Wandering Shadows has it's identity though the influence of Hamauzu is very clear especially towards the middle (1:00).

It sounds like you have tried to "stretch" that theme, which gives a sense of mystery, uncertainty, vagueness.

I would definitely see this piece in a game as well :dry:

Well, I am not sure how popular Final Fantasy music is among composers in general, but I personally am very influenced by Final Fantasy (more specifically VII and X). Thank you for giving me the "offical" name of the Mount Gagazet track, it was bugging me for quite some time.

As for the song itself, thank you for taking the time to listen to it and give me some feedback. I will never be able to grow and advance any as a composer without feedback from other people. Though I am not too sure what you mean by around the 1:00 comment. I think you are probably reffering to the second theme where the strings enter. In that case, yes, I was trying to go for something abstract sounding. I wanted there to be a melody but I wanted that melody to be kind of understated and "blurry" (if that makes any sense at all). Or you could be reffering to the fact that at around the 1:00, the violin shifts up an octave. In which case, yes I took that idea directly from "People of the North Pole". The concept of just shifting an already established melody up an octave seems so simple, yet Hamauzu pulled it off very awesomely. Unfortuneately, I pulled it off nowhere near as good as Hamauzu. Oh well, hopefully my compositonal skills will improve. After all, this is why I am on this site. To improve and help others improve (with what tiny bit I can). Thanks for the comment.

Well done. I really enjoy the A theme and when The B theme began I thought to myself, "where did that come from and why?" Then I looked at the name of the piece and realized it fit perfectly. You can feel the shadows moving.

To be more precise in critiquing this though, I would have to see a score.

Keep it up.

Well thank you for the listen. However, I have to admit something about Theme B. Usually I write my songs with a very clear image in my mind and it makes naming songs rather easy. In this case, I had no real clear image in my head, I just got my inspiration from another composer's work. So, when I finished the song and it came time to name it, I was clueless as to what to name it. So I listened to the song several times in a row, and everytime I heard the second theme, I always saw ghost like figures floating around helpless to do anything but wander. So that is where the name came from. It's much harder to write a compostion that represents a specific idea then to write a compostion and then build an idea around the composition. At least that is my opinion, anyway glad you liked the piece.

This does have a Masashi Hamauzu feel. I didn't like the strings. Not the actually melody, but the sample. At 1:17 to 2:00 you have a violin and strings playing at the same time, but because of the way you did the panning it sounds like mush. I see what you doing, but you have to isolate them in different areas away from each other or they will cancel each other out and mess with each others frequenies. I'm sure you know this. So, get some new string samples and adjust the panning and you should be ok. Overall I think this has a nice sound to it.

EDIT: Actually, if you just replace the strings with a better, cleaner sample it probably won't sound mushy anymore. Only one way to find out..

This does have a Masashi Hamauzu feel. I didn't like the strings. Not the actually melody, but the sample. At 1:17 to 2:00 you have a violin and strings playing at the same time, but because of the way you did the panning it sounds like mush. I see what you doing, but you have to isolate them in different areas away from each other or they will cancel each other out and mess with each others frequenies. I'm sure you know this. So, get some new string samples and adjust the panning and you should be ok. Overall I think this has a nice sound to it.

EDIT: Actually, if you just replace the strings with a better, cleaner sample it probably won't sound mushy anymore. Only one way to find out..

Yeah, I know what you are saying. The strings are rather mushy and sound kinda bad. I am trying to fix this problem now, and once I do I will re-record it and post it on my sound click page. Most people who have heard this song seem to agree and I am starting to as well. Could you still see this as a song in a real videogame?

I'll tell you once you post the finished verison :thumbsup:

I'll tell you once you post the finished verison :thumbsup:

Well I'll be getting to that soon then. :P