I've had software for three years now, but I haven't really done anything with it. I have an incurable disease of spending all my time collecting new libraries and gushing over beautiful demos, but never producing anything. So a few days ago I decided to actually put forth some effort in completing a song for once, rather than just starting new projects over and over for all of eternity.

This is more of a soundtrack. It's very simple. I've listened to it so many times that I hate it. My brain is fried.

 

Well to my fresh ears hearing for the first time i dont hate it.....i like it !
got some really nice sounding elements in there. If that's the first track you have completed i think you are off to a great start and should be encouraged. Nice one !

 

Thank you, Beth. That means a lot to me.

 

I think it sounds great! Probably frying ur brain w all the strings. Eq and mix of strings sometimes does that 2 me

 

I've been in your shoes before. I have a lot of projects, but I don't finish them all. I know what it's like to start out loving an idea, but end up hating it after hearing it one too many times. A couple of things I'm doing now is working faster and not trying to make everything "perfect."

The first thing that I noticed was the lack of dynamics. All of your instruments are playing at the same volume. This makes everything sound mechanical and unnatural. It's missing a lot of expression. Here's a video demonstrating how to make more realistic sounding performances:

Spoiler

The second thing I noticed was the positioning of your instruments, both left to right and front to back. Check out an image of the typical seating arrangement for an orchestra.

Spoiler

Orchestras have been arranged this way for a long time, and for good reason. Of course there are many variations, but I think this is a good starting point. Make sure to pan your instruments correctly from left to right, and also use volume and reverb so that the instruments in front sound closer than those in the back.

I think just these two tips alone will dramatically improve your compositions. The rest will come after years and years of practice. Unfortunately, there are no shorcuts. But when you love what you do, then it doesn't feel so much like work. Good luck on your journey.

 

Thanks a lot for your guidance. I think if I can just improve my workflow, I won't become anxious to move onto something else as quickly (and that'll allow me to tweak things more, such as dynamics).

 

Keep up the good work!

 

flyingsleeves stressed the importance of the arrangement of the orchestra. I also think that this is a very important point to give more realism to your composition.

 

Nice sound, greetings from Russia!

 

I love it. Reminds me of the 80ies love and drama movie "Paul and Virginie". Its a story about a girl and a boy growing up together in the caribbean and losing each other for years. Their love still lives on and they try to get together again, but then ... no happy end!

When i was a kid i cried at the end and i felt sad about virginie. And i think your track contains a lot of such sad emotions and tragedy. But also lives from a big amount of fighting spirit (for love). If i would plan a remake of this movie i would hire you for the soundtrack.

 

Pornstory games, thats a legit composer name.

Edit; Oh , just saw its ponstory.
What was i thinking.

 

Thank you all.

Elisea, I'd love to make soundtracks for movies. What a nice comment!

Von-Steyr, you're a horrible person.

 

This is way too good for a first, finished song, mate
really awesome. It needs a lot of change in volumes and dynamics, and i think we all agree on flyingsleeve post up there.

just one tip: keep making finished songs, stop doing demos or downloading tons of libraries, etc. finishing songs, even if you are the only one to hear them, is a step forward. You learn a lot faster and better this way, rather than making a thousand of small project files and ideas. Ideas are cool, but you can always come back to them later. try to force yourself to finish tracks, etc.

little neat and nice piece, thanks for sharing

 

Thank you, dude. I'm definitely going to put forth more effort.