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RE: Music Discussion thread - Froge - 08-21-2013
Attention: Bridge
When improvising on the piano, I find that everything I compose ends up being a right hand melody with left hand harmonies in the form of broken triads or arpeggio. I can't compose anything which makes use of dissonance or interesting articulations such as trills, chromaticism, counterpoint, large chords, etc.
Got any tips?
RE: Music Discussion thread - wolfman - 08-21-2013
Hello guys,
When I have some time over I like to compose some electronic tracks.
Currently I'm interested in ambient game music.
http://snd.sc/14WXNo9
Sure, nothing special at all, but if you like it, I'd like to do some more.
Would like to offer it all for some people who are making CS or own (horror) video-games.
I'd be pleased to hear some thoughts about it.
RE: Music Discussion thread - Bridge - 08-21-2013
The only answer to that question is: train your ear. A good way to do that is to study in-depth the greatest piano works like the Beethoven sonatas and internalize the compositional techniques (as well as the pianistic techniques). If history is to be believed then the compositions of the great keyboard virtuosos like Beethoven, Chopin, Bach* and Mozart closely resembled their improvisations, if there was even a difference at all. They had amazing ears and sometimes they could conceive of entire compositions in only a matter of seconds, working out the details in real time, making the difference between improvising and composing only a matter of notation.
But if you feel your left hand always gets typecast into a role of boring accompaniment you could learn something insane like Ravel's Concerto for the Left Hand (actually, the guy who commissioned the work did so from a lot of major composers so there are a lot of left-hand concertos)). After mastering that your left hand will have some serious chops and you will feel more comfortable doing crazy stuff with it. Other than that advice, which can only be called an educated guess as I'm not much of a composer or pianist myself, I'm not sure what specifically you can do to achieve some "immediate" results.
*Who as you may know could actually improvise 4+ part fugues - truly an unbelievable feat
RE: Music Discussion thread - Froge - 08-21-2013
It'll take a lot of practice, that's for sure. I was actually thinking of getting a piano teacher to practice pieces from all the different eras (instead of just Chopin) and subsequently study for the performance diploma in my country, but that'll take years and I'm beginning university in a couple of weeks.
A few nights ago I dreamed that I could improvise something like the last minute of Chopin's ballade 4. But then I woke up.
10:28 - end is truly stunning.
RE: Music Discussion thread - wolfman - 08-22-2013
(08-21-2013, 08:01 PM)Descendant Wrote: Hello guys,
When I have some time over I like to compose some electronic tracks.
Currently I'm interested in ambient game music.
http://snd.sc/14WXNo9
Sure, nothing special at all, but if you like it, I'd like to do some more.
Would like to offer it all for some people who are making CS or own (horror) video-games.
I'd be pleased to hear some thoughts about it.
New: http://snd.sc/15dfJix
Maybe something for the beginning, when someone speaks some notes or the storyline in Costum Stories
RE: Music Discussion thread - Bridge - 08-22-2013
(08-22-2013, 04:13 PM)Descendant Wrote:(08-21-2013, 08:01 PM)Descendant Wrote: Hello guys,
When I have some time over I like to compose some electronic tracks.
Currently I'm interested in ambient game music.
http://snd.sc/14WXNo9
Sure, nothing special at all, but if you like it, I'd like to do some more.
Would like to offer it all for some people who are making CS or own (horror) video-games.
I'd be pleased to hear some thoughts about it.
New: http://snd.sc/15dfJix
Maybe something for the beginning, when someone speaks some notes or the storyline in Costum Stories
This stuff is by no means bad but it is quite generic and uninteresting. There was some cool textural stuff going on in "Message of the Bereaved" but it had so much more potential. There are literally millions of directions you can take that simple but well defined soundscape but in the end you didn't really do anything with it. In my opinion the snare drum/hihat are wildly inappropriate here. I'd substitute the snare drum with a timpano and maybe have the low strings double it at 01:10. As for the hi-hat I'd remove it completely. In my opinion it ruins the fluid atmosphere you're (presumably) trying to create by having the hi-hat play straight quarter notes. I think it should sound somewhat timeless. Otherwise I just recommend utilizing every instrument in the modern orchestra so that you can have a wider array of textures available.
RE: Music Discussion thread - Googolplex - 08-22-2013
I already posted this in an other thread, but what do you think about the music?
Very beautyful in my opinion!
RE: Music Discussion thread - wolfman - 08-22-2013
@ Bridge, thanks for the honest critic here.
Trying to find myself in this and I know its rather low stuff.
I will work with these tracks, try to build them up.
Thats always the problem I have, as you said, mostly uninteresting, and if its good, it gets boring
because I dont know what to put in there next :/
So hard for me to make stuff interesting. Any more tips for this?
edit: I guess I have to put more time in it
mostly Im done in ~2hrs with my tracks :/
RE: Music Discussion thread - Bridge - 08-22-2013
(08-22-2013, 06:15 PM)Descendant Wrote: @ Bridge, thanks for the honest critic here.
Trying to find myself in this and I know its rather low stuff.
I will work with these tracks, try to build them up.
Thats always the problem I have, as you said, mostly uninteresting, and if its good, it gets boring
because I dont know what to put in there next :/
So hard for me to make stuff interesting. Any more tips for this?
edit: I guess I have to put more time in it
I have plenty of modest tips but you know what they say: teach a man to fish etc. Really you just have to do some in-depth study of music in general. Start with reading everything you can about motives and themes. Then analyze some works you consider to be interesting and non-boring and apply your knowledge to that. Find out exactly what the composer does to keep it interesting. How he varies the themes and contrasts them. Then there is the separate study of orchestration which is arguably more involved and complex.
Most important of all though, train your ear. There are a million ways to do this but probably the best way to get started is to take melodies you know and try to figure out what the notes are without using a computer or instrument. When you're starting out you can sing them but try and get beyond that and do it entirely in your mind (that will yield the best results). This video is actually not a bad introduction:
Memorize how each note of the major scale (best to keep it simple at first) sounds in relation to the tonic and then use that as a reference to figure out melodies. I guarantee, everything else will be 10x easier if you develop your ear (even if you only do it casually for 15 minutes a day).
It's a lot of work but hey, that's why we're all doing this right? Hope my rambling helped even a little bit.
RE: Music Discussion thread - wolfman - 08-22-2013
oh dear, thanks for that post
Well yeah, I'm playing the guitar, and bass.
Always trying to play songs I like by ear and so on, but somehow, making metal/rock songs is a way
easier for me than working on pc, making something different.
I guess I generally need more time, with the program I'm using and with the songs I'm creating.
Thanks for the advices
!