The Solitude of Summer

I wanted to share a recent project for school; I wasn't quite sure which forum this belonged in. It sounds best on headphones. I would love any feedback; this was made entirely with Cubase virtual instruments so the rhythm guitar might be slightly annoying. That said, I would love to make a proper recording of this piece in the future.

Hello @Gwendolyn Przyjazna!

I think you picked the perfect title for this instrumental.  It sounds to me like you could substitute electric piano for the rhythm guitar - and right now, the way it is rendered, it sounds more idiomatic to what a piano is capable of playing rather than a guitar imo.  I think the guitar melody is especially evocative of solitude.  It also uses a good blend of unity and variety - repeating certain phrases and elaborating on others in an unexpected and musically interesting way.  The almost-aimless nature of the harmonic progression sometimes makes me think of someone in the throes of a heatstroke, which is very appropriate for a piece about summer!  LoL  I think It ends very nicely too - making a piece like this sound like its concluded can be difficult - it sounds like it just wants to go on and repeat itself forever.  What was the assignment/prompt that this was written for?  It is very interesting music and with a unique melodic sensibility that seems very individual and personal to you.  Great job and thanks for sharing!

Hello Peter!

Thank you so much for your thoughtful feedback! I will consider recording the rhythm part on electric piano. I tried it out really quickly in Cubase. I came up with every chord at the guitar but my skill level is elementary and I agree that an electric piano might be an improvement -- especially a softer timbre.

I'm glad this tune evoked a clear atmosphere for you; while writing it my mind went to taking walks around my California neighborhood in the morning with the sun being very strong. It kinds of melts any thoughts away and maybe that's why if the music sounds circular. I'm happy if the conclusion sounds solid; I struggle with endings in general lately. :S

The assignment was: "Compose a short piece of about 32 bars in length in AABA song form that modulates to a distantly related key and then returns to the original key." Other than that it was really open-ended. 🙂

Thank you for listening! ☀️

~ Gwendolyn

Sounds good! Very relaxing and it does remind me of summer. Maybe a pad synth sound in the background?

New version with synth ("Wave Turn Around" from HALion Sonic):

https://soundcloud.com/gwendolyn_przyjazna/the-solitude-of-summer-alternate-version 

On 6/14/2024 at 5:08 AM, Aled Edwards said:

Sounds good! Very relaxing and it does remind me of summer. Maybe a pad synth sound in the background?

 

Hello! Thank you for the kind words, and sorry for the delay -- I just finished the Spring semester of school today.

I just posted an alternate version of this piece on my SoundCloud with a synth pad I thought was interesting. It's a bit "thicker". I would love to hear any thoughts if you feel moved to listen. 

https://soundcloud.com/gwendolyn_przyjazna/the-solitude-of-summer-alternate-version 

Very nice melody & chords. I agree with Peter, the title is perfect. There's a bit of an awkward moment @ 1:24 where the note doesn't blend with the chord. Maybe try another voicing? Anyway you certainly have talent. Good melodies are not easy to come by. Keep up the good work!

Hello @barko  -- thank you for listening and for the encouraging words! At 1:24 I know I definitely intended a G7 chord, but the F sharp from the previous chord is still present and clashing with the F because I'm using such long delays. I will experiment with voicing the chord change differently and avoiding that half-step rub. Thank you for pointing it out. 🙂

~ Gwen

On 10/4/2024 at 5:00 PM, barko said:

Very nice melody & chords. I agree with Peter, the title is perfect. There's a bit of an awkward moment @ 1:24 where the note doesn't blend with the chord. Maybe try another voicing? Anyway you certainly have talent. Good melodies are not easy to come by. Keep up the good work!

 

Try to cut the delay on the F# and put the F in a lower octave. But most important: adjust the length of the delay on the F# if it can be isolated. If not maybe you don't need it for that bar or beat. Not sure what software you are using or how much control you have of the effects. You could also double the F in a lower octave and leave the one you have in the lead voice. Might help...