Help me make a longer theme with this leitmotif

Hey everyone;

I'm gonna go straight to the point. I think I have a bit of talent (at least enough to kick off a good enough melody) but I lack the experience and creeativity to extend these. So I have decided to challenge myself (and also get some advice from other, more experienced composers) to make an ambient theme out of some short music I wrote for a friend's character in an rpg we are playing. The music in question is attached, and my idea is to take the leitmotif of her character to make a longer, more calm-sounding, ambient theme that last for a few minutes and reminds the listener of the character in question.

This piece is not copyrighted and is not used in any environment that is monetized, and I am just looking for people who want to work with this piece and compare their work to others.

My intent is to learn from your pieces how I can make something longer (and to sate my curiosity and see my work altered by others), and I hope you'll like this little song and enjoy working with it!

I'm not sure if you are using the concept of leitmotif correctly. To me, the idea you have sounds more like a double period, which could make up for a theme, but not a leitmotif, as those are much shorter than the ideas you have here. 

Also, do you want us to compose for you, or do you want feedback on how to do it yourself?

3 minutes ago, Jean Szulc said:

I'm not sure if you are using the concept of leitmotif correctly. To me, the idea you have sounds more like a double period, which could make up for a theme, but not a leitmotif, as those are much shorter than the ideas you have here. 

Also, do you want us to compose for you, or do you want feedback on how to do it yourself?

 

yeah I think I wrote this post horribly. By leitmotif I mean the melody progression that gets repeated during the first 30 seconds of the piece. This melody represents the character.

I made it sound like I was asking for people to compose for me, but instead I meant to throw this piece out and see if anyone wants to work with it or give me advice. I just mean to learn from the rest of users

I see. I think the best way to expand this, especially if you are new to composition, is to chose a simple form, such as simple ternary, binary, rondo and try to round it up. 

If you have no knowledge of musical form, I would recommend doing some simple research into the ternary and binary form. That will give you a good headstart

Best of luck 🙂

Could be problematic because oriental music doesn't follow western form. Its relevance in Chinese culture is less significant than "classical music" in ours because it rarely featured in religious ceremony. Of course, recent Chinese composers have tapped into western resources.

i seriously doubt you could extend that tune to a few minutes without it getting boring. But...why not listen to a few tracks of traditional Chinese opera?  Absorb it. It'll suggest harmonies that you can tap into. Do a google search on Chinese opera and click on videos. Some will sound strange and alien (because they are, to us) but bear with it and see what you can find. 

You could also try looking up music for erhu, guzheng, pipa (a kind of lute thing). There's quite a lot about that could help with form.

Here's a nice guzheng piece:

1 hour ago, Quinn said:

Could be problematic because oriental music doesn't follow western form.

I hadn't though of that, good that you pointed it out. But I'm not sure if it would be much of a problem, as he wants a track to enjoy while playing an RPG. Whatever makes it enjoyable for some length of time is valid, imho.

Thanks for the advice and information! True, I lack a lot of what would be basic knowledge so whenever I make any music, I do it by ear and using the quite simple but efficient MuseScore. I'll do some research and see how it helps me.

Regarding the oriental music difference, I looked up the different pentatonic scales they use to make that melody (with an unknown degree of success) and truly, it's very difficult for me to get used to that style.