Nieb: Original Composition

[Nieb]

Can I bother an Admin to delete this thread. I've started a new one that is better organized. Sorry for any inconvenience.

[Nieb]

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[Jayster]

Hey, these are really good. I particularly like the melody in the first song. Perhaps both songs are a little short, but that's not really a problem. There aren't a whole lot of things going on in either song, so it's just a tad dry for my taste, but it isn't really a problem with the songs, just my personal opinion. In any case, these are still really good, keep it up!

[Nieb]

Thanks for the feedback, it's nice to hear another perspective.

I agree they are a bit short; however, not having much experience with with theory/composition hinders me from developing them beyond the original idea.

[Nieb]

Here's another.

http://www.snieb.com/music/nm2009-11-24.mp3
http://www.snieb.com/music/nm2009-11-24.mid

[Solaphar]

Looks like that midi has a lot of empty tracks... could just be the sequencing program I was using to open it.

Anyway, the short burst of notes at 15:00 (and further repeats of it) might sound better as a pitch bend.

Other than that, your comp sounds good. (Referring to the most recent one you posted)

[Nieb]

The template I use in FLstudio creates all 16 midi channels as tracks. Perhaps I should clean them up when finalizing.

Good call. Something like so? [attached]

[Nieb]

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[Nieb]

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[Nieb]

Another new piece.

[Mills_Doodle]

Interesting scale, it's very relaxing...

[Rocco]

I'm impressed at how measured and steadily you're progressing as a composer. I'm more impressed that you're starting by studying theory instead of just diving in. When I started, I was intent on composing a masterpiece every time I sat down, which is a great way to disappoint yourself. Keep writing, keep learning, but never be limited by your own experience. The more you experiment, the more you'll learn to put all this theory into practice, and the less your compositions will sound like exercises (and more like music!).

I like the direction you took with this most recent piece, and it presents a great opportunity to learn something useful about harmonic writing. It won't make much sense if you're not familiar with "intervals", but I'll leave that up to you to research. It generally doesn't sound "good" when two notes that are a fourth or fifth apart move the same distance in the same direction. That's called parallel motion, and it tends to make the music sound like a Gregorian chant (ie. from before anyone had heard of tonal harmony). The violin melody is an example of this. If you're familiar with solfege, a fourth is the distance from Solup to Do (or Do to Fa), and a fifth is the same distance as Do up to Sol (or Fa to Do). Since it seems like you're studying scales, it's based on the distance from the root of the scale. In a C major scale, F would be the 4th scale degree, and is thus the innterval between C and F is a fourth.

I'm just rambling at this point, and you might well already know all this. I'm just bored and never get the chance to be a music dork anymore =/ Forgive me.

[Charybdizs]

Some pretty decent stuff here. I had never took the time to listen to it before, but I'm glad I did now. I can definitely tell that you are progressing. The duet between the violin and viola in your last piece was nicely put. A little short, but, if it is just practice pieces, that makes sense.

You said you were using FL studio to make these? Wow. I use that for all my compositions EXCEPT midi's, just because I thought it too much of a pain. Maybe I'll have to look into the midi aspect of it more.

[Nieb]

Thanks for the replies, very motivating.

It generally doesn't sound "good" when two notes that are a fourth or fifth apart move the same distance in the same direction.

Are you referring to the part in the attached clips (clip-a)? Perhaps the B can stay stationary (clip-b).

I use that for all my compositions EXCEPT midi's, just because I thought it too much of a pain.

Indeed, FLstudio's MIDI setup is a bit strange. Figured out, all it needs are "MIDI-Out" channels and the "Fruity LSD" plugin or any other plugin that operates via MIDI interface, Edirol HyperCanvas for example.

[Nieb]

I've just discovered the world of soundfonts.

http://www.snieb.com/music/nm2010-04-23.mp3 (soundfont-ized)

If anyone has some nice soundfonts please, do share. I can provide an ftp if the files are large.