Layne

I do tend to approach pieces more like soundtrack to a film or TV show. So yes, definitely more of an atmosphere setting piece with recurring motifs. And, I have actually been working on something faster paced! Hoping to share it soon. But have been sidetracked this weekend with a piece I posted today as an experiment using live recorded vocals for parts. Thank you for your continued help and feedback, and it's great to hear that there are signs of growth in this skill.

Hi all! I hope the end of your year is going well. In my continued adventures of learning composing, I am coming today with something new! This time, my first time composing a song and recording live vocals for it. (Unfortunately I'm the performer, haha!) Aside from that I have used by usual VSTs in FL Studio. I improvised the main vocal part and built the song around it, kept looping it to add my harmonies and additional parts...and recording new sections when needed to supplement. Since this song is largely an experiment, it's a bit shorter than my usual. I just wanted to bring it here first and see what feedback this amazing forum has! I always look forward to the discussions and feedback. It has been a great help along my composing journey! Thank you for taking the time to read my post and listen to this piece!

Good evening, all! I am here with another project I've been working on (just since this afternoon). This week has been busy, chaotic, and emotionally draining. So, to help with the anxieties that have arisen from the chaos of life and work, I turned to music. It just seemed natural to try and help getting these emotions out in a format that I could easily access right now. Normally I turn to photography, but, I wasn't able to today. This is what I have so far since I started earlier. To me, some parts seem to feel beautiful but still dark beneath the surface. I would love to hear some feedback. No part of this piece was really pre-planned. It was sort of instinctual based on where my feelings took it as it developed and continues to develop. I've continued to try and build on what I've learned on here and been learning in my free time. I hope you enjoy. I used my usuals, a combination of Spitfire Audio libraries in FL Studio.

Thank you so much for all of the advice! I used to play cello, so did read sheet music for a while. But, fell off of learning it. So it's definitely been a while since I've had to read sheet music. I appreciate you taking the time to help! I definitely want to keep doing whatever I can to improve my skills to better tell the stories I want to convey. I definitely understand where learning to compose for an actual, live orchestra would be one of the more difficult parts. I've been trying to look at pieces as less "this is your part, and this is your part" individually and make them more whole where all parts work together. I'll definitely begin looking into resources to get reacquainted with sheet music and learning to write it.

Thank you so much! I enjoy focusing on storytelling as a key element when I compose. It's really one of my driving forces behind the pieces I make. I've considered trying out MuseScore. I currently use FL Studio. Rcently found out how to change the time signature for a project, which yielded my first experiment with a time signature other than 4/4 in the song in my comment replying to PeterthePaperComposer. But yes, it also doesn't allow a change in time signature within the workspace once the project is set. So instead it'd be using a workspace in 6/8 but placing notes as if it were 4/4 for example to "change time signatures". How was the transition from a DAW workflow into Musescore for you? I don't know how to write sheet music, so, that's always been one of my concerns. Most of what I do is instinctual based on what I've learned so far. But I am always looking for ways to better my composing and workflow!

I always appreciate your feedback. Thank you for taking the time to listen and being so thorough in your response. I find that often when I write pieces, I'm scoring to visuals in my mind. So, it's interesting to me to hear other interpretations of these pieces and what visuals they bring to those who listen to them. That imagery I think of helps me visualize where I'd like the piece to go next. Apologies for the late reply, but I did read your comment earlier this week and took your advice! I've begun work on my first piece that isn't in 4/4. It's definitely helped me change up the feeling of this new piece. I've attached it in it's current version if you'd be interested in giving it a listen as well! Currently it's titled "Experiments" because that's exactly what it is, haha!

I want to have this playing all the time while I'm working, or driving...or just living. It really brings me a sense of connection, and in a way, some melancholy. But in a beautiful way. Or maybe the word I'm looking for more is...longing. But I do love it! It feels like the ending of a movie, where things have ended up right...with loss along the way...but now- stability.

Hi all! I've been trying to utilize the feedback I've heard here on the forum to keep growing in my skills as a composer and better translate my ideas. This is a piece I've been working on the past couple days. I've tried to incorporate more low-end to make the piece feel more balanced and full. As well as keep things moving in new and different ways instead of just building consistently by adding one section in at a time. This was made in FL Studio, using a variety of Spitfire Audio VSTs; BBCSO Discover, Intimate Strings, Epic Choirs, Labs, and Rare Flutes; as well as some percussion from Amadeus Symphonic Orchestra. The goal of this piece was to take a few themes I've had concepts for in my head and turn them into an "end credits suite" of sorts. An intense opening, a whimsical middle section, with peace and promise, diving into unsettling territory, and then an epic conclusion! I recently made a few trips to a nearby symphony (I always love evenings spent with the symphony) so it fueled my desire to keep furthering my skills even more! Hope you enjoy the listen and I'm looking forward to the feedback!

Yes! That makes sense, the way you're describing it. Taking those pieces and not saying "oh, this part goes here, and this one here and is only this part." Instead, utilizing them more fully across the instruments and in ways playing towards those instruments' strengths? I fully see what you're saying about seeing the pieces as solo lines, and I hadn't thought of it that way but now I recognize it in the way I build pieces and thinking about my process. But that is a habit I will work to break out of. I have added it to my reading list! I see that there are multiple editions...is there one that you find best or any major differences that you know of

Good evening! Apologies for the delayed response. My work week took a turn for the chaotic and so, I haven't had much time on my computer. Thank you for the insightful feedback, I really appreciate the thorough response! I am glad you enjoyed it. It was fun to put together and try some different things than I am used to. Plus, I love Autumn and the Halloween season so it was fun to lean into that feeling. I fully agree with you and @AngelCityOutlaw that that is one of my weak points. I often find that I have ideas or things that I can hear in my mind, that I haven't yet figured out how to translate into the workspace. Are there any resources you'd recommend for starting out trying to learn more about how to give my pieces more depth and to write to the orchestra better? I used to play cello, but, aside from that I have no training other than what I've learned on my own and by listening to pieces and trying my best to figure out how they put things together.

Thank you for listening! I appreciate all of your feedback. I love that you mention Halloween cartoon scores, because that's very much the imagery that played through my mind as I made this. It was definitely just a personal choice to use a piccolo for the high flute part. I kind of liked the strained, almost uncomfortable nature it brought as opposed to a standard flute. But am not fully committed to it! And yeah...it doesn't offer a lot. I mostly use it for brass and woodwinds, and some percussion. For this one it was my only percussive VST. But for others I combine with Amadeus Symphonic to reinforce those sections. Again, thank you so much for all of the feedback!

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed the listen. The bells are my favorite part as well! Was happy to find a way to keep them included in the second half.

Hi all! Here is my submission for this challenge! I tried to do something more grand and ominous, with some quirky strangeness in there too. Hope everyone enjoys!

Hi all! Today I come with a piece I have been working on. I have titled it "March of the Pumpkin Moon." In my mind, it tells the story of creatures, brought to life by someone with dark magic to do evil. At one brief moment they seem innocent...but they quickly turn to their true purpose of darkness. But even in that moment of innocence I tried to convey some uncertainty with the strings behind it. Overall my goal was to do something more grand, while still trying to tell the story of these strange creatures brought to life in the autumn moonlight. And show some conflict and tension with a dark edge. I hope you enjoy the listen and I am looking forward to hearing everyone's thoughts! The VSTs I used for this are Spitfire Audio's Intimate Strings, BBCSO Discover, and Epic Choirs. As well as Amadeus Symphonic Orchestra. All put together in FL Studio.

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed the listen!