The Mountain

Hi peeps,

Recently started composing again. Forgot that I even had an account on here from nearly 10 years ago, I feel old.

Been trying to put together a sound for a film I'm working on at the moment. It's set mainly in the Australian bush, so I'm trying to go for a very raw, exposed sound. I've put up just one example. I've listened to it so much lately, it would be nice to get some second opinions. Please be as harsh as you like. Still trying to find "my sound"...

Thanks!

I think this piece has something "wild" because of the color and the harmony. I like it. It's also very evocative.

The half step interval between the major 7th and the octave tonic in the main melodic fragment always strikes me as so bizarrely odd, when in I know it shouldn't in reality because of the atmosphere, but I can't help thinking it's out of place. All the other close intervals fade and mix so well that this one just doesn't follow in the same way.
The rest of it is pretty nice, though I would maybe encourage you to bring out a melody line in full (or fuller) at least once as a sort of climactic moment, because the fragment you use is so pretty. Good job!

I think your vision of "raw and exposed" really shows.

I also get a sense of being lost from this piece, almost a sense of loneliness or isolation. I'm not sure if these were things you were going for though.

Over all I think its good, keep it up.

14 hours ago, Luis Hernández said:

I think this piece has something "wild" because of the color and the harmony. I like it. It's also very evocative.

 

Thanks! Definitely what I was going for.

14 hours ago, Monarcheon said:

The half step interval between the major 7th and the octave tonic in the main melodic fragment always strikes me as so bizarrely odd, when in I know it shouldn't in reality because of the atmosphere, but I can't help thinking it's out of place. All the other close intervals fade and mix so well that this one just doesn't follow in the same way.
The rest of it is pretty nice, though I would maybe encourage you to bring out a melody line in full (or fuller) at least once as a sort of climactic moment, because the fragment you use is so pretty. Good job!

 

I think I may know which interval you mean here, but I'm not sure. I've attached a rough score if you wanted to tell me exactly where. (I'm not very experienced with written scores, but you should get the idea). I'm thinking you're talking about the first pass of the melody where I've put a B-flat and a C-flat on top of one another (bar 19)? Because that sound took some getting used to, but I kinda like the dissonance. Let me know if you mean something else, though.

As for bringing out a melody line, I think you're right. The final "climactic" string line doesn't really feel right to me yet. The harmonies seem ok, but there isn't really any melodic theme at all. I'll have another play around with it.

14 hours ago, Slazeus said:

I think your vision of "raw and exposed" really shows.

I also get a sense of being lost from this piece, almost a sense of loneliness or isolation. I'm not sure if these were things you were going for though.

Over all I think its good, keep it up.

 

Thanks! Funny you should say that. I wrote it originally for a reflective scene where the main character drives up a snowy mountain and looks out over the city, before drinking too much whiskey and falling asleep in the car. It felt quite isolated to me too.

Lovely.

The way how you play with dissonance and tension is remarkable. The mood of the music is dark, but it also let me feel like I am lost in the fog in the mountains.
Maybe a sort of climax would make the music more insteresting to listen to, but I think this works fine as film music in a scene.

Very well done. I enjoyed it.

15 hours ago, Maarten Bauer said:

Lovely.

The way how you play with dissonance and tension is remarkable. The mood of the music is dark, but it also let me feel like I am lost in the fog in the mountains.
Maybe a sort of climax would make the music more insteresting to listen to, but I think this works fine as film music in a scene.

Very well done. I enjoyed it.

 

Thanks for taking a listen!

For context, this is how it would've been used (ungraded first cut of the scene):