Hi, I'm writing the music for a singleplayer RPG and would like to know what people think. My aim is mainly orchestral or simpler songs. So here's the list: - Bordura (village theme) - Battle Theme (updated) - Different (sad theme) - The Council (working on this one) - Travel (theme) - Travel 2 (military travelling theme) - Ending Theme (FMV, sad) - Under Siege (FMV war music) - Ancient War (FMV music, possible for intro) So, how is it? [Edited by - Ignifex on October 29, 2005 4:00:28 PM]

That's some pretty sweet music. I like the epicness of it :) What program did you use?

FL Studio, with lots of instruments from the internet.

Hi Ignifex. You are really close! I listen to your stuff and I can tell what you want to do...Your instrumentation is good and you have good ear for what you want to do. 2 things, 1) the quality of your samples could probably use an upgrade. XisZ has a point, Reason is an excellent program to get started with because the possibilities of the sound produced are endless.The quality of the sound is also very good and you can find it relatively cheap these days if you know where to look.

2) Also, the quality of your pieces is generally good and the chord changes are good, when they happen. However, your pieces tend to stay in one place a little too long without variation, which could get old fast. In the case of a role playing game, this will be music that the player will become overtly familiar with therefore it is a good idea to present melodies and harmonies with variation that will keep the players attention for long periods of time. Also, I hear some dissonance in many of your pieces. Is that intentional? A few music theory classes could really help you out in terms of finding a tonal center while composing.

Cool. :)

Wow, thanks for the feedback and tips both of you.

to XisZ: For the piano, I use a soundfont named "Roland Nice Piano". Having a grand piano at home, I thought it sounded very good, but I will compare some more and perhaps change the soundfont. Also, I'll have a look at Reason sometime soon :) 8/10... Never thought I'd get there...

to Rain 7: I'll look into Reason soon. I have also noticed my pieces tend to be rather short and repetitive. In future compositions, I will try to change that. Note that "Ending theme" is the last thing I wrote, which has no repeat at all.
About the sonance and dissonance, I believe this mostly accurs in "Travel" and I am going to have a look at it sometime on a normal staff. Having played the piano for about 5 years, I know close to everything about musical theory, and the dissonance in "Different" for example is intentional.

Once again, thanks for the feedback and tips.

Quote:Original post by Ignifex
Having played the piano for about 5 years, I know close to everything about musical theory,

Yep, you are definitely a piano player.:P

Is that because of the chords/melody kind of construction or what?
Because that is probably my main way of working yes ^^

To XisZ: 15-20 BPM? Isn't that a bit too much? It really went very very fast. It's currently at 140, and I agree raising it to 150 is a good idea, but 160 is really too fast in my opinion. So I'll change it to 150 and update it sometime soon.

[Edited by - Ignifex on September 2, 2005 8:35:30 AM]

Quote:Original post by Ignifex


to Rain 7: I'll look into Reason soon. I have also noticed my pieces tend to be rather short and repetitive. In future compositions, I will try to change that. Note that "Ending theme" is the last thing I wrote, which has no repeat at all.
About the sonance and dissonance, I believe this mostly accurs in "Travel" and I am going to have a look at it sometime on a normal staff. Having played the piano for about 5 years, I know close to everything about musical theory, and the dissonance in "Different" for example is intentional.

Once again, thanks for the feedback and tips.

Baby steps. :) Some of the best advice I can give you is go at your own pace and certainly don't attempt to run before you can walk properly, if that makes sense. Steady progress that is slow is still progress. What you do, (writing music, studying how music works) from day to day builds upon itself.

Also, music that repeats itself isn't necessarily repetitive. Some of the best written music that I have had the pleasure of hearing is only 40 seconds long. Koji Kondo's super mario bros. theme comes to mind. That music is exceptionally well written and no matter how many times you hear it, it almost seems to grow more on you with each pass. For an exercise, When you are in the process of sitting down and writing music try to start getting a gauge of when you think you need to vary the sound. At that time, try to implement a chord change or present the idea in a new form...See how it turns out and note what works and what doesn't in that situation. When you think an idea needs to keep going, sometimes cut it off intentionally and start developing the piece in a new way, You are the wheelman after all! Music is fun in that allows you to play with the listeners emotions. The unexpected is sometimes a welcome surprise. Anyways, I call this instinct and it is probably the most important tool in a composer's toolbox of tricks. So, keep your tools sharp, write everyday and you should be in cutting form soon enough! :)

Hey man, your stuff sounds pretty good. However, like the other guy said, it's pretty repetitive, and you carry on the ideas for too long. Also, it's a tad rigidly rhythmic for an orchestral style, but if that's what you were going for, no problem.

Try to work on turning some of that repetition into variation. Note, not all repetition is to be avoided. The good kinds of repetition draw you in, and you completely forget about it. The more you write, the better sense you get for what is good repetition, and what is bad repetition.