My first real composition

[LasciateOgneSperanza]

Hey all.
  Tom here, long-time-lurker, first-time-logger...inner...?  Anyway, I've always been impressed with the caliber of composers here, and I thought I'd try and get some feedback.  This piece was composed for the intro of a digital fantasy CCG called "Guardians of Kelthas."

http://www.df-21.net/projects/tomresnick/Legend_Battle%20of%20Falling%20Stars_Fate%20of%20the%20Immortals.mp3

The intro was comprised of stills of action, with narration carrying the story along.  Basically: history, introduce bad guy, battle, end of civilization.  This work is also not the final work, as there's actually about 45 sec more music after the end that I composed seperately (and it doesn't seem to be mixed in this MP3 - oh well).

Thanks in advance for any/all feedback - I appreciate it!

[SnakeEyes]

Nice work Tom!

I am listening to it right now... I like the bridge between what seems to be the narration to battle. The drums do a nice job of bridging and announcing the start of battle. I like the choir, but I think it would be nice if it came back before the action part fades out...

I assume the slow part towards the end is the end of civilization? It sounds dark but kinda sparse... meaning that it sounds like there is more to come? Is civilization really over?

Very nice job! You said you were impressed by the caliber of composers here, I am sure people will listen to your song and think the same

[MostlyDifferent]

Man, I like that pedal at the start.  Its resolution and all the following single bass notes really don't do it justice though, tending to stop the motion very abruptly as the horns sort of ramble on to no real effect.  The chimes don't help much, and are one of the real "THIS IS SYNTHESIZED" moments of the piece.

The percussion is very effective.  A bit messy and distant-sounding, makes for more of a "real" sound than you tend to hear, which I think is really cool.  The "messiness is good" applies to just about the whole piece.  I think it really works, especially as a means of suspending the "synthesizerness" of the piece.

The moment of silence at the golden-mean-placed climax is very nice.

The ending really leaves me hanging uncomfortably unresolved, but I assume that's what you're referring to as "doesn't seem to be mixed in this MP3."

While it's still a bit of the stereotypical fantasy-game-style score, it is very nicely crafted and has some really cool moments.  The form is satisfying, and you make use of silence now and again.

In contrast to a lot of music that seems obsessed with trying to fake the user into thinking it's not synthesized, you seem to have taken what you have at face value and made the best of it.  Some great sounds here.

Nice.

[Steven]

I still can't get over the small moment that the full choir is singing...fantastic =)
Speaking of which, how was that choir done? An really well sampled one, or did you get a real group?

[LasciateOgneSperanza]

Thanks for all the feedback guys, I seriously appreciate it!

Nice work Tom!
I like the choir, but I think it would be nice if it came back before the action part fades out...

I'd had the choir continue, but the audio team felt it competed with the narration, which resumes at that point.  As a result. it was removed.  Glad to know we were on the same plane, though.

I assume the slow part towards the end is the end of civilization? It sounds dark but kinda sparse... meaning that it sounds like there is more to come? Is civilization really over?

The 45 sec of music after I referred to is actually the rebuilding of the civilization, as well as the plot leading up to the conditions at which the player begins the game - it's much more positive, and I might try and find a way to upload the full piece sometime.  Gotta find a good host first.

Man, I like that pedal at the start.  Its resolution and all the following single bass notes really don't do it justice though, tending to stop the motion very abruptly as the horns sort of ramble on to no real effect.  The chimes don't help much, and are one of the real "THIS IS SYNTHESIZED" moments of the piece.

I suppose I was going for the aural equivalent of a sunrise, with more complicated music gradually building.  But yeah, it starts out boring.

While it's still a bit of the stereotypical fantasy-game-style score, it is very nicely crafted and has some really cool moments.  The form is satisfying, and you make use of silence now and again.

I won't deny it: it's very inspired by/derivative of WarCraft, Lord of the Rings, and the works of Jeremy Soule.  The plot of the game itself is pretty standard, and they simply wanted some bombast and straightforward orchestral.

I still can't get over the small moment that the full choir is singing...fantastic =)
Speaking of which, how was that choir done? An really well sampled one, or did you get a real group?

Lol, thanks - the choir is speaking Ancient Cyrolian, a language I wrote.  I'm personally singing a substantial portion of the choir (four parts of it - gotta work with what you have), with the remainder cobbled together from samples.  Turned out far better than I expected it to.

[Goliath]

Wow!

Awesome piece.  I LOVE the beginning.  It's my favorite part.  Sounds like a prelude to an epic battle (somehting I've always been fond of).  The transition is cool (the drums are excellent as Snake said).  The battle part feels a bit short, but as you said, it was necessary to be deleted.  Any way you can get the full uncut version?  I really like it  

[jerico]

Always cool to listen to other people's music, it's obvious you know what you're doing.  Such a cool piece of work, great job dude.

What program do you use?

[Melda]

I usually refraim from commenting on pieces in the Composer's Workshop (the Mod Projects forum is my domain ), but I really have to say that I am impressed by this piece.

Very much so. Can't wait to hear you working on mods.

[Steven]

Hmm...mixing one's own voice with synths. Good idea! I was so sure that I'd have to go and buy a fancy choir that triggers different samples when you type them in, to generate words. I do still think getting one of those would still be pretty cool, but recording in a live voice in multiple tracks to get a choir effect is definitely good enough, and saves a lot of trouble. Thanks for the tip!
Some time ago, I did actually try recording my voice, but I wasn't happy with the result and quickly discarded the idea. But I've just been trying it again with a new piece I'm working on, and I certainly think it sounds good once some reverb is added.  

[Melda]

Or finding some people with a good voice, even easier than singing yourlself.

Like the lovely ladies I worked with for a project last year.

[Steven]

Actually yeah, I forgot to mention. For male parts, I'm still happy to do the work, but obviously I would have trouble with the higher notes and creating that often necessary 'female' sound. I now have a solution! There's a good friend of mine that I met up with for the first time in a while just recently. She said she'd be happy to do some recording for me! =D
With any luck, we will be able to get together sometime soon and get some recording done. And I may be able to incorporate that into my mod music!  

[LasciateOgneSperanza]

Always cool to listen to other people's music, it's obvious you know what you're doing.  Such a cool piece of work, great job dude.

What program do you use?

I use a program called Reason, made by Propellerhead.  I love it.

http://www.propellerheads.se/products/reason/

In addition to doing the orchestral work, I've also done techno/industrial and ambient tracks with Reason.

Does anyone know a decent place I can host mp3s?  I'll be getting a personal site eventually, but just for the time being...

[jerico]

Awesome, thanks for the link man, I'm downloading the demo now.

I use soundclick to host my stuff, which seems to work pretty well for me, but I'm not exactly trying to market myself.  The site does, however, have a feature that allows you to charge money for your song downloads; I haven't used it yet, so I can't say how much of a share soundclick would want to take if you decide to do that.

[Melda]

Does anyone know a decent place I can host mp3s?  I'll be getting a personal site eventually, but just for the time being...

If you're working on mods, you would have access to a personal FTP account on whichever site hosted them.

Like those music samples I sent to you -- they were for the Counterstrike at Quel'Thalas project, so I have access to the FTP on Samods, the website that hosts said project.

Since you're intending to work on some mods, you should have no troubles securing access to their FTPs.

[LasciateOgneSperanza]

Thanks SO much for all the comments, guys!

Thanks to jerico for supplying me the site name (much obliged), I've found a place to host more of my music.  I'll continue to add pieces as I finish (if I think they're good enough).  Here's another couple of samples of my work:

http://www.soundclick.com/util/downloadSong.cfm?ID=3683678&key=79D0F298-8
Themes from "Down by the Ocean," a film I'm scoring for a personal friend.  Based on a play by the same name, it's a depressing story about love, midunderstandings, and suicide.  I might have laid it on a bit think, but I think it's pretty.

http://www.soundclick.com/util/downloadSong.cfm?ID=3680168&key=79D0F298-8
"Inferno Battle" from an in-development fighting game.  This piece is meant to accompany a landscape of lava and flame... where, apparantly, you beat the living **** out of other people.  Wanted this to sound hot and rocking.

More samples coming soon!