String and Flute Duet

Hey,

I have been tasked with arranging, "Gentle Shepherd" for an instrumental duet for a wedding. 

Right now it sounds very solemn - like something you'd play at a funeral, but I want to add some brightness to it, but not sure how. I think the timbre of the flute may be the culprit here, as it sounded much brighter with two violins. Overall, I like the sound of the piece - I think I stayed true to the original feel of the song, and I put my own spin on the harmony through various suspensions (mainly 4-3 and 7-6) and moving lines. I did try and keep the rhythm pretty consistent in the moving lines - sticking to the dotted qtr-8th-half pattern. 

I'm open to any feedback you all may have - thank you.

Good evening Gospel,

I just listened to your arrangement audio along with your sheet music.  To be honest, I find the whole piece rather solid.

It doesn’t seem solemn as you mentioned: the flute in my listening sounds rather comforting and warm, and the violin adds a nice contrasting timbre.  Also, considering you arranged the tune for 2 treble-clef instruments, you were really creative making the most out of your available pitch ranges and adding good harmony and counterpoint.

I hope my words help.

~Frank

P.S. By the way, what music notation software did you use to create your arrangement?

2 hours ago, Frank Normandy said:

To be honest, I find the whole piece rather solid.

Thank you, that means a lot - I'm not sure if you've seen any of my other pieces posted on this site, but I've come a long way lol. 

2 hours ago, Frank Normandy said:

Also, considering you arranged the tune for 2 treble-clef instruments, you were really creative making the most out of your available pitch ranges and adding good harmony and counterpoint.

Thank you - are you familiar with the original tune? It pretty much follows a I - V7(unresolved 9-8)/V - ii - V7- I for the main sections. So trying to get some of those chromatic harmonies in was interesting. I think the moving lines helped me get more of those tones in there. 

Do you think there's any edits I can make to the piece to make it stronger? I changed the ff - p dynamics at the end to mp- pp. I'm also thinking of having a flute and violin double the melody while 2nd violin plays the harmony - OR should I write a new line for the extra violin? It could be a combo line of melody and harmony. 

2 hours ago, Frank Normandy said:

P.S. By the way, what music notation software did you use to create your arrangement?

Flat.io - I have the free version, so I just had to use my PDF viewer/editor to cover up the logos and extra text. 

19 minutes ago, GospelPiano12 said:

Thank you, that means a lot - I'm not sure if you've seen any of my other pieces posted on this site, but I've come a long way lol. 

You're welcome(:  And to be honest, I haven't seen your other pieces yet.  When I have the time, I'll check them out.  I believe you when you say you improved over time:)

21 minutes ago, GospelPiano12 said:

Thank you - are you familiar with the original tune? It pretty much follows a I - V7(unresolved 9-8)/V - ii - V7- I for the main sections. So trying to get some of those chromatic harmonies in was interesting. I think the moving lines helped me get more of those tones in there.

I haven't heard the original; maybe you can send me a YouTube video of it for a quick listen.  However, I agree with your statement on the chromatic harmonies and moving lines: they add a lot of texture and color to your arrangement.  The unresolved 9-8 is especially genius too.

27 minutes ago, GospelPiano12 said:

Do you think there's any edits I can make to the piece to make it stronger? I changed the ff - p dynamics at the end to mp- pp. I'm also thinking of having a flute and violin double the melody while 2nd violin plays the harmony - OR should I write a new line for the extra violin? It could be a combo line of melody and harmony. 

As for making your piece stronger, I consider your ending dynamic edits a nice move.  In my opinion, the transition of ff - p is a bit sudden, and the new mp - p has a feeling of calm and peace.  For the instrumentation change, I suggest making the new extra violin line a melody-harmony combo like you mentioned.  I feel doubling the melody would be too much and will overpower the 2nd violin harmony.  Maybe you can upload the new version with the extra violin, and let's see how it goes.

40 minutes ago, GospelPiano12 said:

Flat.io - I have the free version, so I just had to use my PDF viewer/editor to cover up the logos and extra text.

Never heard of this software, but sounds really interesting and will take a look at it.  Really smart use of PDF manipulation;)

22 hours ago, Frank Normandy said:

I agree with your statement on the chromatic harmonies and moving lines: they add a lot of texture and color to your arrangement.  The unresolved 9-8 is especially genius too.

I called it that, but a V9 would probably be more accurate since the V/V (scale degree 2) is still in the bass. It just has the 9 on top that does resolve to 8.

22 hours ago, Frank Normandy said:

As for making your piece stronger, I consider your ending dynamic edits a nice move.  In my opinion, the transition of ff - p is a bit sudden, and the new mp - p has a feeling of calm and peace.  For the instrumentation change, I suggest making the new extra violin line a melody-harmony combo like you mentioned.  I feel doubling the melody would be too much and will overpower the 2nd violin harmony.  Maybe you can upload the new version with the extra violin, and let's see how it goes.

Great minds think alike lol - glad I'm on the right track. The new harmony part will probably just double the melody at key points in the song, and outline the tenor line. 

22 hours ago, Frank Normandy said:

Never heard of this software, but sounds really interesting and will take a look at it.  Really smart use of PDF manipulation;)

It's not super popular, BUT it is free and I like free lol. I have to edit the file b/c their free version leaves a bunch of text and links and logos that's really annoying and kind of brings down the level of professionalism. 

I’m glad to hear you’re making progress and having new ideas to improve your arrangement.  Gives me enthusiasm to hear it:D And agreed, free equals good in my book(:

~Frank