Well since I'm new here I figured it would be appropriate to show you all some of my work!

I have uploaded a new song, I'll reupload the old ones a little bit later.

It's in mp3 and midi (i suggest listening to the mp3, it sounds much better)

College and work haven't been leaving me with a lot of time to compose, but I have a couple of projects underway.
Tell me if you like this!

If you keep having problems uploading them, try using box.net: http://box.net/

And Welcome! :>

I like Sepia Window. It has an interesting sound :)

I think it could use more variation at the end, though. It changes for a bit and then you get to a point where it is relatively the same. But I can picture someone looking out a window staring at everything in a kind of freakish light.

I'm not sure how this works, but when I upload a new composition I think I'm supposed to bump my thread, right? correct me if i'm wrong!

This is my newest song, it took a lot of hard work and a lot of time. It was 100% inspired by the new movie, Avatar. I really enjoyed making this, and it's much different than what I usually do.


Well I couldn't upload the file because it was much to large, but you can listen to it on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CgDXWsUNAA

Sounds a bit like music you'd hear in one of those educational videos from the 90's, you know, in like... science class or in biology. But hey, it's simple and true to itself so there's nothing wrong with it at all.

i'll do the absolute best that I can to take that as a compliment :P hahaha.

I don't know Noir...I'm trying to invision some of those videos with this piece playing in the background, and it doesen't seem to fit. xP I would have to say it sounds like the menu screen for a game. :P

Elezeid, that piece extremely repetitive for me until about halfway through when that piano part started, then it went right back to the repetitive part. :\ That's part of the reason I said it could be the menu screen background music for a game, as it would kind of get boring after a minute or so. Try adding some variety to get rid of the repetitiveness.

It feels like from the 80's or early 90's because of the drums with the reverb and your synth bass. I see it fitting with a sciences video. But the music was excessively repetitive. X_X

Well then zippy, you need to see more generic science videos from the 90's I suppose, because I was wrong about another thing before typing this, and what are the odds I'm wrong twice on the same day?


Anyway, the repetitiveness is not a problem. Without the excessive repetition, this song would be completely forgotten about already, and I wouldn't have its annoying two "chords" swirling around my head right about now. So, it works, and I like how it is written as if it doesn't try to be something it isn't.

I think a simple "Elezeid has no talent." would have sufficed, but thanks anyway Noir.

That's not what i wanted to convey, as I don't think so. I honestly do think the repetition in this case gives the song its character. But okay,
Elezeid has no talent.

This entire post has inspired me to work harder and put more effort into my future compositions. I appreciate you being honest and not just sugarcoating me with a "Gee this song sure is swell!" and it means something coming from somone as talented as you are, Noir.

I have an updated version of the song that I'm going to upload soon. I'd like to hear more opinions, but after this upload I'm moving on from this piece and starting another, more serious one.

I don't agree with the science video comments. To me they much better fit into those generic videos about teamwork, conflict resolution, budgeting, etc.

And I think you'd be mistaken to think you don't have talent. "Grand Entrance" is polished. It is as good as those songs freaking get, and if that's the kind of thing you want to continue writing, you've got it made. If you want to push yourself and fight your way into that level of composition that makes eloquent comment on the human experience while simultaneously dazzling the listeners with fresh, crisp and innovative use of melody, counterpoint, phrasing, and so on, then you, like the rest of us, have got to put in a great deal more time.

And I've found that often people are overly negative on this forum. If your work is a total piece of crap, people tend to be nicer and more reassuring. But if it's in the mediocre to pretty good range, you're held up to a pretty ridiculous standard. BUT, that's good. It really makes you think harder about the process when you work on future pieces.

Welcome to Ichigo's!

Alfonso, thank you for your input, and words of encouragement. I was being hard on myself the day I read the replies, and have since been more inspired to write something deeper.

Sometimes the negative feedback can be good for me, because I set out to prove the other person wrong. I love composing and even if I'm not that great at it yet, I'm not going to stop just because I, or someone else, doesn't think a piece is quite up to par. It helps when people give me criticism. I couldn't get better if i posted horrible pieces of trash, and the input was all "WOW this is amazing!"

I'm glad we can all be honest here and sort of feed off of one another's talent.

Thanks for the welcome!

I just listened to bother your grand entrance and your juxtapiano. I really do like your juxtapiano piece. How did you record it, or what midi did you use? It is very relaxing and (I don't know if you'll take this as a compliment) I could easily see it as music for a game like Rune Factory Frontier. I'm actually adding it to my ipod if you don't mind. I'm not as fond of your grand entrance piece, mainly because how "in your face" the string chords are. Perhaps this is just a midi problem but anyways great job, and keep up the good work.

@umshfmodec,

I know the strings in that song are really boomy, for some reason the string sound is at a much higher volume than any of the other instruments, and it's difficult to correct it. =\

Juxtapiano was actually originally an electronic music piece (techno) that a friend and I had written. But this pseudo-acoustic version was recorded entirely in cakewalk sonar. After that I import it into FL studio to use some VST's and sounfonts to make it sound nicer.

I'm glad you brought up the part about music for a game, most of the compositions are post, are intended to sound that way, so it looks like I'm doing my job somewhat :P.

But anyway, thanks for your input, if you have anymore questions feel free to ask, and I certainly don't mind you putting that on your ipod. ^^

EDIT: P.S. I loved the first Rune Factory game. xD

So I have begun to work on a new project. So far it's just the acoustic guitar. I'm going to upload a sample of what I have so far, and I'd like to hear some feedback and pointers.

Don't be afraid to be honest.

(the chords at the end are just guidelines, I plan to break them up a lot more so they don't sound so robotic.)

You should take out that guitar's noise you have there. Or at least to use it wisely. I was counting the time in the piece and always was falling in the same timing, this make it unnatural and annoying. I liked the tapping and percussion done with the guitars.

Now that you mention that, I can hear it too, you're right. I'm lowering the volume on the fret noises, and trying to mix them up. If I can't quite figure out the placement for the fret noises, I guess I'll remove them all together. Althought I really wanted that sound in there :( haha. Thanks Nyu!

Okay this is the whole song, at least until I get some feedback on the imperfections, and I can fix it up.

EDIT - I've included a midi version of the song. It doesn't sound nearly as good, but this way if anyone has any suggestions, maybe they could edit it, and send it back?

P.S. - I noticed a strange dissonance in the MIDI file in the first section, sorry about that, I sustained a note that I shouldn't have.

...Can you attach a .pdf pl0x too...?

This is addicting... for some reason, I feel it would be an excellent soundtrack for an MMORPG in like a forest setting.. Unfortunately, I can't imagine it being in a city, the.. drums...? make it feel much less urban and more primitive... it's both vibrant and addicting, depending on which way you hear it... congratz on that...!


But seriously, is that a drum...?

The percussion sound you're hearing is actually me tapping on the base of an acoustic guitar with my fist and fingers xD. But thank you for the compliment! I'll see about getting a pdf up for you. I have to learn to make one though first o.0. I might be able to get a gif up here though.

Hahaha, you recorded that? I thought that it was actually made in Finale or something...!

It definitely sounds awesome; you might want to add an actually bass too, although the tapping could be enough...!

well the guitar part i played on a midi keyboard and recorded, the tapping sounds are actually me tapping. i cant actually play the guitar very well. i'm more of a piano player.

I give this two thumbs up. It would make great video game-music. What program did you use, and how did you use it to overlap the midi and live percussion?

Alfonso...

@Alfonso, I used cakewalk sonar 7 for the midi recording, and then I just imported it into FL studio and used some guitar VSTi plugin and just tapped the base of my acoustic guitar a couple different ways in .wav format, and then placed them throughout the song as I saw fit.

@Noir... what?

How did you do for record without have external noises? Or are you using a decent microphone and a good quiet place?

How did you do for record without have external noises? Or are you using a decent microphone and a good quiet place?

A quiet place, and my room mate's guitar microphone thing, (forget what they're actually called.) It's really nice, even if there's a lot of background noise during recording, it's very quiet.

Double post, my apologies, but I think I'm allowed to do this for compositions.

New composition? It's still in the works, but I want to get some feedback so I can figure out which direction to take it.

It's still really sloppy, and the transitions are weak.

Try to go easy on me. :)

The two chords you use really get old quickly. You need to do something crazy to break it up, like changing keys or modes a lot (in one section)/doing something chromatic, or doing something really out there with the harmonic rhythm. I feel like it's just an improvisation on on really really basic chord progression; it needs something to hold it together and make it interesting besides just that chord progression (unless you actually go somewhere with it...).

Contrary to death's opinion, I think that it's good as it is. Mind if I ask what you're going to use it for? As with all music, I think this'd fit well in a video game, but everything would :heh:

However, I was expecting something larger near the end. At the very end, when you kept repeating those two chords, yeah, that sounded repetitive. However, the repetition may have been good... I'd still suggest changing one of the chords or adding another one.

Contrary to death's opinion, I think that it's good as it is. Mind if I ask what you're going to use it for? As with all music, I think this'd fit well in a video game, but everything would :heh:

Almost everything I write is intended to sound like an RPG OST. My friend is a gifted artist, so he shows me his conceptual artwork, and in return I write a piece.

I agree with what was said about the two chords. I've made an attempt to change it up, but I didn't want to stray too far away from the same key and similar chord progressions and variations, because it's only meant to be a background piece for a duel between two characters.

This is probably going to be the last I work on this song, because after I finished up what I did to it today, I grew bored of it. BUT input is still greatly appreciated! It helps with my future compositions.

(By the way, I noticed I have a habit of repeating 2 chords or 4 chords in a piece. Any ideas on how to turn that around for myself?)

Well first of all, you need to expand your harmonic vocabulary. Start by studying some composers that you like and figuring out what they do. For example, you'll notice that one of the most famous battle themes of all time (One Winged Angel) is basically atonal, and consequently has some really unusual harmonies. I'm not saying you have to or should go atonal, but my point is that there are so many possibilities!

You can always change the chords of the last measure of your phrase for move to a new progression. You can break the repetition with a logical abrupt change. You can create a punctuation. You can make a change chromatically. You can make a rhythmic change. You can start a modulation to another key or just modulate to the relative minor or major. Or simply modulate to the fifth. Et cetera. There are many choices to approach a change. :>

Edit:

Nevermind, not what you was meaning. If you want more variate chord progression in a phrase, your best bet is to explore by yourself, playing different chords with extensions and positions to see what work for you. The other is what the death said, study composers' compositions.

Thanks to both of you for your advice!

I've been toying with an older composition of mine, I like how long it is, I want it to stay short. However, I want to change some parts in the middle, but I'm having trouble coming up with a way to make the piano and the violins compliment one another.

If anyone has any suggestions, please, feel free!

What program are you using to make your pieces...?

I think that you should hold the... instrument with the guitar at the beginning for longer; it seems to abruptly stop...

I think you should also have started the melody line and bass earlier on...

Definitely relaxing...! Though the changes with adding a new instrument were also, rather abrupt... the cadence worked, however I don't think you held it for long enough...

I actually like this a lot. The only major criticism I have is that the last chord is technically unresolved since it is in second inversion, but depending on the feel you were going for on the ending, that might be acceptable.

Arpeggios in the piano maybe? They blend well with pretty much anything.

Well done.

Thanks guys ^_^

I've revised it just a littleeee bit. I tried to make it flow a little more, but I didn't put as much time into this revision as I would have liked to.

Still, I love hearing everyone's thoughts!

EDIT - reuploaded the file, i had uploaded the wrong one.

Bump? I think.

This is a composition I started earlier today.

The premise is that, in the beginning (during the strings) it's right after a very unfortunate event has come to a conclusion, but the cast is stuck, and confused on what to do next. So a time of relaxation is at hand (as you might be able to tell from the part that comes in when the strings finish), but there is still some brainstorming to be done.

(I intend to make a few seconds of silence between the strings and the actual piece, so ignore the abrupt change in pace.)

Haha! For some reasons I found this funny. An unfortunate event happened.. they not sure what to do next... So, dudes, relax! *rests near the beach and drink a juice*

Ok, I think you need to work more with your melodic lines. They are sounding to me like you are trying to find something that you may like, but have not found it yet. The bass is not complementing the guitar too well. Its communication with the guitar feels weak.

Haha! For some reasons I found this funny. An unfortunate event happened.. they not sure what to do next... So, dudes, relax! *rests near the beach and drink a juice*


Hahaha! No that is not what I meant, what I meant was that the unfortunate event is over now, that's why the music in the beginning is this way. It's supposed to be a period of downtime between events.

Well, after some revision, I scrapped that whole piece. And right now Inspiration is flowing like a waterfall, so I'm going to show you guys my current project.

Hope you like it ^_^

Edit - There are a lot of things about this that I wish I could change, but due to the nature of MIDIs, I can't do as much as I want to.

Why'd you scrap that piece? It sounded interesting...! Although I still didn't get that giant transition in the middle -_-

:O Memorabilia seems to have a lot of potential; I think you should further develop it, by adding more instruments and the like... I like it, right now :D

I'm always impressed at your percussion. I guess besides a few placements of timpani and bass drum rolls, I don't even really think to put in any other percussion. God job on this one.

@Mushy, I definitely feel a certain slight emptiness, it does need more instruments, but I don't want to overload it.
@Alfsonso, Thanks for the complement. However, I feel that the percussion could be better. =\ I don't know drums very well, so I just kind of went with what I thought should go, but I need more knowledge on percussion instruments.

Okay guys, I'm BACK!!

So there's a story behind this.

Part 1.
Once upon a time, me and a close friend of mine decided to go hiking up the creek in these really nice woods down the road. It was all fun and games until I was brutally attacked by a spider and I ran for my life. After that we continued our mellow hike up the creek.

Part 2.
We're slowly making our way upstream when all of a sudden, we see a huge clearing and a house. Great. Private property. A dog starts barking. Getting louder... Okay yeah it's coming after us, time to run.
We start running for our lives, scared to be prosecuted, or worse, bitten by a dog. We cross the creek and climb up this HUGE cliff, (you'll hear the slight moment of downtime as we climb the cliff). THEN We run through the woods some more until we reach...

Part 3
A field, a HUUUUGE field. Looks like there was corn there at one point, but now we're just sprinting in a straightforward direction as fast as we can, hoping that it'll lead us to safety.

In the end, we jumped over a HUUUUGE gap between the field and another edge of the woods. And the dog didn't follow. It literally stood on the other side of the ravine and barked at us.

Note - None of these are finished, but I figured since my inspiration for it is so strong, I'd work my butt off on them no matter what anyone tells me. But for the record, these are far from complete. I just wanted to know what you all thought of them so far, especially in relation to the story (which is completely true by the way).

i see you like to use drums. me too man. i like memoribilia the best. the adventure ones are okay. it's not epic but it gets the job done, in my opinion.

This stuff is pretty exciting. I like it so far. Just a couple of comments...

Why in part 1 do you never go to the root position tonic chord for the first and last sections of the piece? It makes for an interesting feeling of denial, like there's something not quite satisfying about your hike. I love the comical depiction of the spider, though! I can totally relate...

I feel like you should end this second piece with the same little thing as you had at the beginning, but then have the low sting ostinato fade out.

In the third piece, I almost feel like there needs to be a bigger gap at 2:04 to depict the hugeness of the gap that you jumped. It might help if this was being played live, though.

Ah, I'm so glad to see that you guys like these! I agree, they're not quite epic, but I think the emotion I'm trying to display is pretty clear.


This stuff is pretty exciting. I like it so far. Just a couple of comments...

Why in part 1 do you never go to the root position tonic chord for the first and last sections of the piece? It makes for an interesting feeling of denial, like there's something not quite satisfying about your hike. I love the comical depiction of the spider, though! I can totally relate...

I'm sorry my vocabulary on music theory is really bad, I'm only in my first year of it now. What do you mean by the root position tonic chord? Does that mean the main chord of the song with traditional key placement?

Well yeah. For example, if you were in C Major, it would be a C Major chord in root position (meaning the bottom note in the chord that is played is a C rather than an E (which would make it first inversion) or a G (second inversion).

These descriptions are so nice, haha, I enjoyed them and the music was fun to listen.