I’m not quite sure where this post belongs, and so I hope I’m not upsetting the order of things by posting it here.
I am basically a complete newbie when it comes to writing music, and it’s taken quite a while for me to finally have had the patience to actually create a full track.
I would very much appreciate any feedback you pros might have for me – especially feedback on the things I’m not doing so well.
Here’s the track:
It is supposed to serve as one of the battle tracks of a Mount and Blade: Warband mod a friend of mine is creating as a hobby – just to give you some context.
About the track:
How do you find the structure of the track?
Do I need to vary the volume throughout the track more?
Does it seem a bit too ‘rugged’ at times? And if so, do you know what is causing this and what might help to fix it?
Am I forcing some of the instruments out of their comfort zone tone-wise?
The following are things I would be very happy to receive some general advice on:
How does one create a more dynamic-sounding track? Are things like volume automation something I should look into in this regard?
How would a typical piece of music in the same genre as that of my track be structured?
I realize some of my questions are asking for very generalizing answers and that – this being music and not physics or whatnot – they probably won’t be easy, or at all possible, to answer. If this is the case, then please just view them as being indicators of the general areas for which I would like some pointers.
And please; don’t hold back on your criticisms – I’m here to learn after all
I’ll be very grateful for any advice you guys might have for me!
I like the last minute of the song where it gets messy… it’s my style though… personal view
the song gets boring after second minute
! percussion is really well mixed but the percussion choice reminds me of old movies in the way the percussion was all natural/classic… go a little Hans Zimmer/Dark Night style in which percussion has trebly parts in it and compare before and after.
! there’s no cymbals and crashes to make use of full frequency and add Adrenalin
! change the instruments mixture at times to make it more interesting… perhaps add layers of synths or other woodwind and brass instruments in the middle of the song … you know… for making it less boring, though the song is interesting as it is.
Well, it definitely sounds like a video game to me! Very angry sounding, and warlike, so seems to be successful! I’m not working on music in that area as others here may be, but just wanted you to know I listened to it! Thanks for posting!
I’m very happy that you liked some parts of the track and I will definitely write down your pointers and try to use them to improve future projects. Thanks again!
Sounds really good to me. The bass instruments are currently playing very long notes so I would try changing them bit so that they play more together with the other instruments rhythm wise - I think that would make it more dynamic.
First of all: if this is your first attempt at composing and mixing, then you’ve made an excellent start
I agree with the previously offered feedback:
The track gets boring after a couple of minutes. However, in the context of a game that’s not as problematic, as it’s mostly background noise anyway. Still, a bit more variation would be nice, especially in the instrumentation.
The track lacks some dynamics. This type of cinematic music lends itself very well to huge crescendo’s with percussion and whatnot, and it can fall back to a single violin which creates very nice contrasts.
The instrumentation is too much of the same, and as Masoomi said you’re not making use of the entire frequency range. After a while I really started craving for some flutes, cymbals etc to fill up that empty area in the higher frequencies.
Good luck with your project! I have a little bit of experience with game music and it’s really fun, so keep at it
