Ok, let's get this going =]

This first one is a song that a friend and I came up with. I did instrumentation and arrangement, and he did melody and aesthetics and such. It was a joint effort. It is called Imperium. We were going for a sound that was like Roman or early Greek. I think we pulled it off quite well. There is a fugue section in the beginning and the end, bringing the song around full circle. It might seem a little hectic when you first listen to it since it's a fugue. However, if you concentrate you can actually see all of the different melodies together. I hope you enjoy Imperium =]

P.S. It was made with Finale 2007. The cool thing about this was that we actually got our High School band to play it. omg it was amazing lol

The first thing that strikes me is the poor writing of the percussion. The contrapunctual additions, while certainly proper (I'll trust you with that since I know squat about that sort of thing), don't do much to bring this piece of music to life. I have no trouble with the harmonization, nor the point that this piece wants to convey, yet the melody(ies) is/are utterly boring and unrepresentational. Perhaps this piece suffered a pinch from the joint composing effort, but it seems that you (and/or your friend) serve as better musicians than composers. Am I terribly off with this statement?

Have you tried writing music before, by yourself, or is this your first project?

I admit that we aren't percussionists right now lol. However, we needed something to push the tempo and keep it from slowing down. We thought this song would be somewhat "epic" sort of speak, but I see your point as to the percussion statement. Well, if you have listened to any greek, roman music, the melodies are, in fact, more simple, yet they capture mood rather than technicalities melody-wise. (if that makes sense O_O lol)

EDIT: and it doesn't help that Finale messed up the channels. You heard clapping and too much bass drum...Those were supposed to be temple blocks but the channels got messed up.

And no, you are not off with the statement that we are better musicians. This is something we dabble in, but I will be going to school for music, so naturally, things will get better with time and practice. This isn't out first project, but it IS our first composing project for a full BAND. We realize that it was a lot to take on at the time, but you have to admit, it is not THAT bad for a first effort. We both have been dabbling in composition for a while now, and we're in the process of writing a 4 movement symphony. I look forward to bringing you guys that when it's done. =]

We realize that it was a lot to take on at the time, but you have to admit, it is not THAT bad for a first effort.
In compositional value, yes, then actually it is pretty weak for a first effort. I'm sure you two are great musicians and even greater orchestrators/arrangers/performers, but composition is simply one of those things you cannot formely be taught. No one can ever teach someone else to write beautiful melodies, for instance.

Remember that I rant about composition as I, myself, see it. Go prove me wrong when you come back with your 4-part symphony and I shall withdraw my statement.

This was also done in Finale but recorded with Garritan Personal Orchestra. This was another joint effort and was made to convey a feeling of nostalgia or happiness to know that another day always awaits. It could almost be used for like an anime (or so I am told). Enjoy. As always, I hope to hear some constructive criticism (im guessing mostly from Noir) haha =p

I realize that around the 1:30 mark and later that the Bass Drum is a bit too dominant. Methinks I need to lower the dynamic of that just a touch lol.

Okay, a few things;

1) There's a very annoying note sustaining for a long time (I think it's a Eb) played by the clarinet. I'm guessing this first part was meant for the "nostalgic" part as you described, but you've made the beautiful clarinet sound like a generated alarm-tone.

2) Even though you're using GPO, the presentation lacks severely by the fact that you obviously just "converted" the MIDI sounds into GPO-ones. I'm guessing you work like most Finale users; Clicking in notes, thinking that they sound fine, and then use the "Play Finale through NI VST..." feature to cloak the music with GPO sounds. Sampling is anything but convenient, if you want a credible sound, you need to work harder for it.

3) The stringwork sounds pale and uninteresting, as does the melodic progression.

4) Artistically speaking, this piece screams of generic writing. It does however reflect your intentions and descriptions of the composition.

Well, the "alarm-tone" could have been the dynamic of the clarinet. If instruments get too loud, most of them do get quite obnoxious. And we didn't just "convert" MIDI to GPO. However, this piece in GPO was somewhat experimental, before we realized we needed to pan the instruments to their orchestra position (ex. violins - far left, violas - direct middle, etc...) Doing this would have made the sound more authentic, seeing as how the sounds would come from the same direction as a real orchestra sections.

Nobody's composition is absolutely perfect when they finish the first draft. (as these ARE first drafts) So it is best not to have too high of expectations. Successful compositions need time to achieve their full potential

Imperium-

There wasn't a good melody that seemed to start; just note... note... note... etc... Even though you are trying to convey moods, rather than technical melodies, a sense of form is still needed (which I see you have). But the 2nd part that started: there could have been a crescendo, rather than a soft then just loud organization. The percussion was used sort of weird; I could hear some mallets rolling during the intro, but in my opinion, a bit unnecessary.. I'm not going into specifics, for my own good.

A New Day Breaks-

I'll comment later on this one. :heh:

Daybreak-

I didn't mind the drone in the beginning, it sounded like a really typical Irish overture opening to me. It actually worked like a bagpipe. However, when the flutes came in, it kind of bugged me as they were doubled in a rather close interval... It didn't feel fitting... You should've used a wider interval. Then when the strings and brass came in, it started to lose the bagpipe-like quality. When the timpani and cymbals came in, it felt indeed too overwhelming and a little uncareful. Oh, watch out for the snare rhythms too. Then when the cymbals/gong hits came back in, the main motifs were way too messy. A little after that, the piece lost its sense of direction. At around 3:00, the piece was very confused. The brass were too dominating and the flute sound got tiring as it was always present. When the oboe comes, in it was playing at a rather disadvantageous register. However, the clarinet thing didn't make the piece feel complete.

It wasn't a bad try. But it requires some of the embellishment.

Edit:

Okay, I'll comment on your first piece too.

Imperium:

Undoubtedly, the percussion part was poorly written as Noir previously stated. I also didn't understand how you called the opening a 'fugue', when one part is always dominating. Neither do I hear your main motif and the repeat in the dominant and etc... It also lacked a sense of direction like your second piece. It also seemed like that you based your piece too much on harmony. And the orchestration is definitely weak in many many aspects. The voicing, the colouring of pitches and just basically putting all the instruments into a clear 'picture'. Everthing seemed to clustered. However, it's not bad for a first try. ._.