finrod

I like a fair bit of Enya's stuff... although at times some of her tunes are a bit "popularist". Have also listened to David Arkenstone's stuff over the net and it doesn't sound too bad. I also have David Bowie's album called "Low", which has the 2nd half done by Brian Eno which is one of the earlier "new age" or ambient releases. But there is a lot of quite terrible new age music out there too which is just amateurs experimenting with synthesizers and samplers, and these people tend to go overboard in their arrangements, rather than aiming for the subtle variations which IMO make a nice tune. I myself have been tempted to make this kind of music, but I often get discouraged because I think my music sounds as bad as every other new age amatuer. It is not really easy to write good music in this genre.

Like I said, try the Real Guitar VST plugin. There is a free 30 day trial at the following link, but after that you have to pay for the full version. MusicLab | Products | RealGuitar As far as I know, this is currently the best guitar plugin available, but it will still take a fair bit of tweaking in a sequencer to get stuff to sound like your final fantasy song....

Ummmm, this tune is pretty brief - not sure that it really develops much atmosphere at all to be honest. To me it sounds like music from a TV commercial for a car or a stereo system (or something technological). Not saying it sounds bad, just I think maybe you could be a bit more adventurous. My 2c;)

Welcome to YC. Cool nick name - I love mars bars! Anyhow, the piece is ok. It is a bit poppish and repetitive maybe though. The start actually reminded me of a song by the rock band White Stripes. The synth that comes in at about 0:45 was totally unexpected... not sure you are using instrument sounds which totally compliment each other. It might be better posting this one in the Pop/Rock or Electronic music forums too.

Not exactly my style of music this... but it's ok. Maybe a bit repetitive. I was totally unexpecting the synth that came in around 0:45 though. Of course you can make whatever style of music you like, but I am not sure that the instruments you used match. Perhaps this should be in the pop/rock or electronic music forums.

Thanks for the comments guys... I agree 1:35-1:40 is a bit cliched, but I have not been composing for that long yet, so I have to maybe use a few cliches to get by. IMO the part with the melody in the bassline is a bit more original than what I usually write though. David - I am not sure what to think about your comments about dissonance... I deliberately tried to add a bit of dissonance and chromaticism into the piece because I though it maybe sounded too "nice" or not colorful enough. Actually I think this piece is nowhere near as chromatic or dissonant as many pieces posted in the piano forum - it is actually quite melodic and sticks to basic chords mostly. And I have seen that you have commented on other people's works and said that their work is too dissonant as well, so not really sure what to think here. Hmmmm, Jewish melodies? I don't think I have ever heard any - will have to track some down to make a comparison. Can't say I am that excited though - because IMO Jewish people in general have pretty bad taste when it comes to art and culture (apart from producing a few talented performers such as Horiwitz, etc.) C.Rocker - "hardcore" at 0:52?? Well I am glad you enjoyed it but honestly it is not that complex - just a few loud intervals and rhythms based around E minor. Was just trying to have some contrast before moving into the next section. If you want to see something really hardcore, then listen to works by Liszt or Chopin - but if I am able to impress you with these few bars then hopefully I can do the same for other people in different pieces.

Chris.... haven't seen the painting before - it looks pretty nice. And I thought your piece matched it pretty well - better than I expected anyhow. Don't know about being "daunting", but yes the piece is quirky IMO. It kind of sounds like music I hear on TV commercials sometimes - the ones which have a short comdedy routine in them. I think I have seen commercials for pet-food and also banks which use music like this. (I hope you are not insulted).

Out of those 3 I'd definately go the 61-key model. I think M-Audio is a decent middle of the range brand which is good quality at a reasonable price. If you're doing orchestral stuff don't even consider a 25-key model... you'll hate having to change the octave range all the time. If you can afford it I'd probably consider the Keystation 88es. What is your budget? And are you a pianist? you might prefer something with weighted keys. I think the difference between the Oxygen and the keystations are that the oxygen models have quite a few midi mixing knobs, but the keystations don't and they have semi-weighted keys. I am not sure that mixing knobs are that useful when doing orchestral stuff - they might help with the mix-down maybe, but people who write techno or electronic music are more likely to use them I think. If I were you I'd shop around on ebay - there are some decent second hand models around too, and you can sometimes get new stuff cheaper than at a music store.

I don't really like this as much as other songs by you Zalabany. Not that it's bad or anything - it pretty good - but not as dark or evocative as other stufrf I've heard from you. It sounds very radio friendly - the vocals are nice. I also like the buzzing synth in the background, and it's got a cool beat, but still I don't think this is as original or exciting.

do you mean a controller keyboard or an a electronic piano?? There are a ton of models available for either. I just use an el-cheapo 61 key controller I got off ebay for 70 bucks... It does the job, but you can get a lot more bells and whistles if you pay more. If you are composing for orchestra, then it would probably be nice to have 76 or 88 keys... weighted keys are nice if you are a pianist. If you are going for an electric piano then I don't know any specific models, but Yamahas seem to be recommended quite a bit. I think it comes down to how much you want to spend, which features you want, and how the piano feels when you play it.

Hi. Welcome to YC. I like the song, but I don't really like the spoken vocals in it. They sound a bit over the top and to me they sound almost funny, when the song is trying to be dramatic. I guess it would help if I knew German though.

Welcome to YC... sounds sweet and relaxing, but I can't see a whole lot which distinguishes it from a lot of other major-key pop ballads with sequences of 4-5 chords. I did like your use of triplets in the melody, and when the chord sequence changed.

Not sure what you are trying to do here... do you have a controller keyboard which you want to use to record? To set the record options, right click the "Arm" button for the track to bring up a menu... If you want to edit the midi notes - choose Insert -> New Midi Item.... then double click to bring up the piano roll. To have different styles for different notes you usually need to use different tracks for each style. Eg - a violin pizz track and a violin arco track. That is, unless you have something like GPO which can use key-switching. Cubase might be a bit easier to use, but Reaper generally has almost all the options most people need -> it is just the user interface in Cubase is a bit more clearly laid out.... options in Reaper aren't always so easy to find. Personally, I would recommend Cakewalk Sonar if you are going to pay for a sequencer. Cubase is good too - just a bit more expensive.

Maybe at least some introversion is necessary to be a composer or music writer. I suppose as introverts we do miss out on some good parts of life... after all - extroversion is the natural state of being. Introversion is kind of like a flaw with side-benefits...

how short are you for cash, because really to upgrade a computer these days (especially RAM), won't cost that much...

In step 3 other things you might want to fiddle with are the tempo, and midi CC information. Before step 4 usually comes a mixing stage... for this its good to be familiar with things like paramter automization and envelopes.

Geez, I have to admit you guys had me... :blush: Next year maybe joke about something which is a bit more obviously a joke. I think this one is a bit sadistic and caused unecessary worry. Hmmmm, maybe you were just trying to get a feel for how much lurve there is for YC. Believe me, I would be very pissed of if the site suddenly closes or merges with Soundclick. :angry:

Nikolas, I don't mean to be overly critical, but this piece is much more simplistic than most of the stuff I have heard by you. Sure, it is nice and melodic, maybe even beautiful, but I like your other tunes better. Do you mean you wrote this 4 years ago, or that the footage is 4 years old? It might go well as film/soundtrack music, although I am not sure whether it really fits the all the scenes in this video (apart from where the sunlight is shining through the trees). By the way, I swear I caught a whiff of Beethoven's 7th at about 0:35!!

Thanks for the review Zalabany. Don't you think you're kind of going over the top?? Amazing?! :whistling::blush: Others have said they like the tune, but have given me feedback on how I can improve it. But if you really think it's perfect then maybe I should rush out and find a record company right now...

Chopin by highlighting the word "work" are you giving us a hint that you still actually have a job and this WAS actually an April Fool's joke? I am still slightly hopeful but getting more pessimistic by the minute...

Sounds very cool Nigel... yep it does evoke someone/something being chased, and the main instrument used makes it sound like it would be great music for an 80s console game. And I liked all the various sound effects you added in. "Not too bad a result"??? Geez, don't kid yourself - 6th place is great.

Always happy to review a fellow Aussie's work. :) Do you mean music grade 12 or school grade 12? I didn't know there was a music grade 12. Overall, very cool piece. and appropriate for the theme too. I really liked the louder section from bar 23 onwards, but the whole piece was good.

Ahhh Chopin I really don't know what to believe because today is April the 1st. Are you playing some kind of sad April fool's joke or is this serious? My fingers are crossed but I am not optimistic... :(

Hi Pliorious. this is definately very original stuff you've done here. And after listening to the last piece you posted I assumed you were only just a techno junkie! Burning lights sounds like ambient music from hell!! Very dark and the theme of burning fire describes it pretty well. It kinda of reminds me of an early song by Pink Floyd called "Saucerful of Secrets" (from about 1971 I think), but with more distortion... Did you improvise parts of this? Or did you program the whole lot using a piano roll? I imagine that you were fiddling around with a lot of synths and plug-in effects anyhow. ...Staircase - well I didn't enjoy this one quite as much but it is still pretty good. I can imagine it maybe being used with a children's cartoon or short film. I like the changes that come in around 3:00... In a way this one is a bit like a Bartok piece I used to play on piano I think it was called "Diary of a Fly". Keep them coming. Maybe you should be sick more often!

Sounds ok. Agree with Jada about the resolution at bars 7-8. IMO you should squish the C and G chords from bars 8 & 9 into one bar. Possibly the melody should play a B during the G chord. Also not sure about bars 14-15. The repeated F in the melody doesn't sound quite right to me... hope that helps