You know there's a thread about making an audiosex cinematic album and I wrote "count me in". So I began to feel responsible for that from now and I'm sharing an old song. I need your comments to learn my lacking points. I also did the mixing and the mastering although I'm not so sure about them. There's no woodwinds, I wasn't pretty good at them while making it.

 

You need to shorten the intro or make it more interesting than just the same repeating harp pattern, which turns into the same repeating string pattern. Everything is repeating itself over and over again. Including the rhythms. There's no harmonic value or structure... There has to be an arc... a story being told with developing themes. There are no breaks to grab your attention either. Or a modulation (key change NOT MIDI function!) of any sort.
There needs to be something that draws you in and keeps you interested.

I can tell you're a novice at this... and because you have access to some nice sounds, you feel you're capable of writing in this style.
Trust me when I say... you have a LONG WAY TO GO, especially in this genre. I don't mean that as an insult but your generation is very brave (or maybe ignorant?) with respect to humility. We ALL had a long way to go when we started... but in my developmental stages, I wouldn't have posted anything like that until I had better grasp of what I was doing. You have some testicular fortitude. (which by the way, will serve you well when you start dealing with the music industry!)

Here's some of my work to depict what I mean as far as an arc of melodic and harmonic development along with rhythmic structure and breaks... remember... music needs to breathe as well as tell a story, paint a picture, express emotion, etc.:

https://soundcloud.com/user-736180262-861433360

I wish you the best in your musical endeavors!!

 

Last edited: Mar 26, 2016

spidervis, sorry to say, But I'm going to have to agree with LuckySevens on this one. Please tell me you've given those examples a listen? That alone will teach you all you need to know about this style of production. If I may say so myself LuckySevens, you are truly a phenomenal composer. I nearly fell off my chair when I clicked play on Soundcloud! I can here every nuance of your experience flowing through your work! Keep on working at it spidervis. Learn theory, learn the role of different instruments in various compositions .Learn learn learn and you'll win. Don’t rely so heavily on those Kontakt libraries, imagine you're composing for real players. That will change your outlook dramatically.

Just my couple cents☺. Do with it what you wish.

 

Last edited: Mar 26, 2016

I was expecting negative comments but those are crucial and I happy to read them. Thank you very much for your time. I applied to some hiring works even with this song :} They said, "we liked it, we may call you later". I thought they were serious and after I've got some nice feedbacks from my friends, I thought that song was ok. Now I see.

All the musicians I know are online ones. So I had to share to know where I am. Believe me I have worse songs :} I've read your comments a few times. I may read again in the future. @LuckySevens you even gave me examples, thank you for that. I'm listening them.

I won't forget that. Thank you.

 

Spidervis, I’m so glad you’re taking these comments to heart. I can’t wait to see how much you will grow. Please continue learning and show us your progress as you sore to new heights. Good luck!

 

@spidervis i hear what LuckySevens and djdarkness are saying and think it is very admirable to be able to take advice so well from someone with more experience especially in a public forum. I know it can hard to receive even constructive criticism of your work..... but I'd like to add that i really enjoyed listening to your piece of music and as you develop it i could well imagine it being part of a bigger project/soundtrack. We are all on a learning curve and that's what makes it fun and interesting

 

Last edited by a moderator: Mar 26, 2016

Lucky sevens said it well.
Though you also have to look at this from a certain perspective.
This work could find its home in a gaming environment and do well in it,repetitive not too intrusive,thats a recipe for an RPG type of game.
The track alone is nothing special yet still well mixed,nicely polished,like i`ve said great for the gaming environment.

Now,for a more blockbuster,energetic,cinematic type of feel it lacks GRIT.
For that type of stuff it is too nice,too polished and too polite.
Start using saturation plugins,tape emulators,powerful drum samples and orchestra that will blow your head off,choosing the right samples is crucial here.
Dont over compress,dont polish too much,dont try to find perfection,it has to be powerful,unleashed,energetic,uncivilized.

Also start listening to maister composers of the 70s,80s,listen a lot and learn how to structure a song.

 

Last edited by a moderator: Mar 26, 2016

Out of curiosity... I came back to this thread and in re-reading my reply to the original post... I want to say, I apologize for sounding SO demeaning. It was not my intent. Sometimes when I criticize... my words come out as harsh. Actually... when I order a hamburger and french fries, my words come out harsh!!! That has been brought to my attention a million times by my wife!

I tend to sound like a hard nosed New Yorker, even though I'm not from there!! I'm sorry but I'm also happy that it seems you did not get offended and that is good...

Also... my music was not to show off as much as to support my claims. Too often you get critiqued by people that cannot back up their words...

Please realize... that music is a constant learning process. I continually study EVERYTHING, EVERYDAY... that is involved with music production.
That's why it's important to study music yourself... because other composers are always getting better than you. Every day.

BTW: I created that Soundcloud account (last night) just for this thread. I have close to 1,000 tracks that are currently signed by music production libraries (and twice more that are not!). Many of those that are signed are being used in tv and film daily but those 4 tracks were all REJECTED by the music requests I submitted them for. Those 4 tracks weren't good enough... that gives you an idea of the expectations. That also allowed me to post them without any legal repercussions. Just food for thought.

 

Last edited: Mar 26, 2016

I'm really glad for your comments. I shared my song to get them. So, no problem for me, no need to apologize or say sorry. I know I'm novice. learn is the key word for this thread (at least for me). I know it won't be easy, there's no shortcut. I've learned everything online about music. No musician in the family, no school. So I appreciate when someone like you share his/her thoughts and knowledge. Those are my sources :} I might have feedbacks like, "good job man, you rock bro, great work buddy" but I know those kind of comments are very harmful to me. Hence I understand you are being helpful. @LuckySevens I also understood you open that soundcloud account, it was obvious :} thanks again.

and @Beth thank you for being nice. I'm glad you enjoyed it. Maybe not in near future, but I'll make better ones.
Thank you too mr. Von_Steyr. Another useful comment to me.

 

spidervis, with this humble attitude and positive motives I guarantee that you will become one of the best composers and someday we all will be learning thing or two from you. Keep sharing your tracks.
Best