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Gnomish
August 26th, 2011, 01:21 am
Greetings to Ichigo's! :) It has been some time since I've considered myself a regular here, but I've been itching to share some of my recent work and cannot think of a better vessel for that than this forum. For two or three years now, I have been highly guarded about my music because at some point I lost the self-confidence to share it with anyone; however, I finally feel ready to change that.

A bit about me:

I write new music almost every day using Finale, and on a good week, I actually crank out seven new pieces. They are typically between 1.5-3 minutes long and are composed to imagined video-game scenes. Mixing them in Logic (my DAW of choice), however, is a much slower process, but one that I enjoy equally as much. On the other hand, I freely admit that I am but a novice in mixing and have much to learn. Occasionally, I get so wrapped up in these programs that I lose all track of time and realize I've unwittingly written off any chance of nurturing my social life that evening, but the music is worth it.

Having taken ~60 credit hours of university music courses over the past 5 years (culminating, oddly enough, in an BA in English with only a minor in Music), my dream is to become a video-game composer someday. I consider myself lucky to have "grown up" alongside video-game music, watching the it mature from the silly bleeps and bloops of the NES (my first game console) to the sweeping orchestral scores found in today's games. I hope it does not come across as too gloomy to say that I shall only feel fulfilled when the day comes that my name appears on a game's end credit roll, however minor the game and however tiny the print--a sentiment I'm sure many of you share. The only thing that holds me back is that I have no idea how to go about reaching that goal, and at 23 years of age, I often wonder whether I'll ever realize this dream.... :unsure:

And now the music:

I just set up a SoundCloud account and uploaded two recent works of mine.

1) "Sand Dunes & Snickers" (http://soundcloud.com/composerjames/sand-dunes-snickers) -- No, not the candy bar. :hey: This piece features several ethnic instruments (namely, the dilruba, sarod, and Irish bouzouki) and is meant to evoke the images of a desert town. Dusty, windswept streets, a lively bazaar, that sort of thing.

2) "Cry of the Forest" (http://soundcloud.com/composerjames/cry-of-the-forest) -- This one features oboe as the main melodic instrument. I initially composed it with an "underwater" feel in mind (hence the occasional distorted whale call in the background), but somehow ended up thinking of it as a forest theme.

Any feedback, especially of the constructive kind, is welcome, and if you've a composition thread of your own, feel free to link it as an afterthought and I'll be sure to check it out. :)

Gnomish/James (aka ComposerJames on SoundCloud)

P.S.: Those quoted song titles above are links. Just thought to mention it because using the blue forum theme tends to obscure them a bit. :heh:

Nyu001
August 26th, 2011, 05:21 am
Welcome back to the composition forum! I remember you and the detailed comments you used to leave to other composers' threads. We once had a small chat in MSN if you do not remember, over 7 years ago I think, lol!

Your pieces are really well done James, they are full of interesting parts in each instrument and never feels dull. I enjoyed listening to them.

Ander
August 27th, 2011, 08:38 pm
I thought the Sand Dune was very lyrical or at least it could be lyrical-driven. I think I wouldn't have been surprised if there were some voice in it.

Cry of the forest... can be a forest underwater, but I guess you kinda had that idea. I thought it could be simpler. Especially around 0:52. You know what though.... I could hear the cry. Crazy. But yeah... I thought simpler might make it trimmer. Hope my saying helps. hahaha.

Al
August 28th, 2011, 08:04 pm
Welcome back! I only had time to listen to Sand Dunes & Snickers. I liked the crisp/clear sound and variety of instruments you used.

Alfonso de Sabio
August 28th, 2011, 11:06 pm
Excellent as always. It's weird how our generation of Ichigo's composers is all grown up and stuff. So good to have you back!