Hi,

I wanted to show you two new tracks I've been working on. Please feel free to give feedback or general opinions.

Discovery:

https://soundcloud.com/robertblaauboer/discovery

and Median:

https://soundcloud.com/robertblaauboer/median

Thanks for listening

You've asked for feedback but without saying what you're aiming for - what is the purpose of the music?

But on a purely theoretical note here's my feedback

First piece:

Choice of sounds is excellent

0:00-0:14 is a great intro - sets the scene nicely

A small technical point about the melody - at 0:14 ish the viola/vln sound goes back to the tonic note, I would choose something different at that point like a tone lower as this will create more sense of the melody going somewhere

At 0:14 the other instruments come in and it's suddenly quite confusing to listen to. I would go for a less busy sound overall - by getting the staccato strings to play in the same rhythm as the harp or vice versa. Then you could use the more complex texture later if you want and it's a free variation that has cost you zero effort.

From 0:51 to the end is a fantastic sound bed.

Piece 2:

Nice variety of instruments and textures with lots of little 'bits' to listen to. The problem for me is that there is no 'main' melody to get stuck into.

In general:

I would say you have some really creative ideas with texture and the interactions between instruments, and your feel for harmony is good with some interesting moments. You need to work on writing melodies that are concise and singable - can you step away from your composition and still sing/hum the main melody? Would someone who's only heard it once? Once you've got this melody, how can you develop it to keep the overall feel but make it somehow 'new'?

Again, this is without knowing your specific aim - I'm asuming you want to write music that is memorable and engaging. Something my composition teacher at school used to always say was 'Repetition, contrast and singability' and it's what I now say to my students, unless they're writing avant-garde music!

Wow, thanks for all the feedback.

I really appreciate the specifics. Listening to the first piece again I completely agree that stepping away from the tonic at 0:14 is a great addition. The busy feeling was also something I was afraid of but I might have to reconsider the placement of the staccato strings.

Thanks for the compliment btw:)

The purpose of the first piece is nothing in particular. I could be some kind of theme in a rpg or exploratory kind of game.

The second piece is meant for non-linear implementation and I have an example of me doing so here, https://vimeo.com/76748880

I'll be sure to work on creating memorable melodies. But I feel that it kind be difficult to create those melodies in pieces that have to be repeatable over longer periods of time without becoming tiring or interfering with gameplay.

thanks