A Song for Valentines day, in desperate need of help.
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Posted on Jan 27, 2007 10:57 pm
ChickenAssistant
Member Since: Jan 27, 2007
I'm writing a short song for someone for Valentine's Day. I have not played or written any music in almost a decade, and was not even that good when I did.
putstuff.putfile.com/41991/1550869
This is what I am writing. It is a basic .mus file so it should be viewable by anyone. I'm trying to write a simple nostalgic and calming piece, however it has turned into almost a car wreck. At this point I'm beginning to feel that when I eventually do finish this, it would be shameful to even considering giving.
I need help. Any advice, comments, even insults are welcome. I don't care what is said, please speak your mind. I know it is not good, but I am not giving up. Feel free to make a few note tweaks if it helps illistrates a point. Pretty much feel free to let loose your entire opinion uncensored.
Thank you to anyone who posts.
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Jan 27, 2007 11:32 pm ChickenAssistant, unfortunately, .mus files require Score software, or the Score Viewer. The format is not recognized by most media players. See if you can get it converted to mp3 or another common format, and we'll give it a listen!
Jan 27, 2007 11:41 pm For those who don't have a free .mus program like Melody Assistant, here is an mp3 version. Please understand that the song is unfinished and cuts in and out at the end. In fact, please understand the song is also quite bad!
media.putfile.com/ChickenNoodleMemories
Jan 27, 2007 11:47 pm Well, I can't insult that. It's very pretty. Why should you be ashamed? My thoughts are - cut the extraneous end and be proud of it.
Jan 27, 2007 11:50 pm ... seriously? Not the sort of reply I was expecting. To me it sounds extremely choppy and erratic, and unharmonic (if that is a word). I was hoping to stretch it longer, smooth things out and improve things, but I was starting to run out of ideas because I've been working on it too long for over a week.
zekthedeadcowEat Spam before it eats YOU!!!Member
Since: May 11, 2002
Jan 27, 2007 11:56 pm ok, the composition is fine...it's just the sounds that suck :) ...unless the words are "Link...he come to town...to save...the Princess Zelda..." :)
Those being midi sounds are probably associated with your soundcard... and I'm not sure how that software works...if it could use soundfonts (if you have a soundblaster) or if you could snag a good keyboard for an hour to resample those sounds.
OR
go extremly simplistic... like, just piano... and getting your hands on a real piano isn't terribly hard...and even some of the cheapest keyboards have decient piano sounds nowadays.
Jan 27, 2007 11:58 pm If it's what you want to convey to that special somebody and it sounds right, then it's there. If you feel that it needs more work, well then go.
Your target will probably like it, but I understand the perfectionist mindset.
And Zek, I thought I was jaded.
Jan 28, 2007 12:30 am I have actually ordered a special sound set for recording the final one, just because of that reason. Yes, the sounds do suck.
I'll keep working on it and thank you for the comments. I appreciate it.
If anyone else has something to say, please feel free. Even if you think it is horrible that is ok!
zekthedeadcowEat Spam before it eats YOU!!!Member
Since: May 11, 2002
Jan 28, 2007 02:19 am heh... herb, if you think that was jaded you should see some of my posts in photography/modeling forums. :)
...but then again I never realized how kind and considerate everyone in the music industry is until I started to see how models are treated.
Jan 28, 2007 12:29 pm For some unknown reason, I have a hard time scraping up any sympathy for models. Wonder why that is....
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Jan 28, 2007 09:59 pm ChickenAssistant. I'm with Herb on this piece. Having composed way to many classical oriented piece's using synthesizer's I can say that it truly doesn't suck. As zek commented and you conveyed, indeed a little better sound set will really bring it to life. But there have been some very good pieces of music created just for the standard General Midi sound set. I would love to hear it when finished. I loved the piano melody part and I am a sucker for strings. The flute part sounds wonderfull and fits very well. I would only adjust its volume down slightly to allow the string and piano to maintain a good foot hold. You may want to if extending it think about a string quartet playing some of the string melody parts.
And yes, loose the last flute bits at the end. With a smooth lulling piece like this one it is best to not have that long silence in there.
Again, very moving piece of music, and I would love to keep hearing it as you progress with it.
I'll tell you what as well. If you can save it as a midi file you can email it to me using the link in my post here and I will fire up a couple of very good synth/samplers to give you an idea of what it sound like with differant non GM type sounds.
Jan 28, 2007 11:41 pm Thank you very much Noize2u. I was surprised by the responses I got. I'll work on making the changes you recommend and expanding the string part. The chorus I'm working on has a bit more for the strings area. The last flute part isn't part of the song actually, it was only a few patterns I thought I might use for the flute.
I'll post a midi when I finish up. I'm very curious what you can do with the sampling.
cooloFrisco's Most UnderratedMember
Since: Jan 28, 2003
Jan 29, 2007 12:09 pm Laughing at Zeks Zelda comment. Anyhow, you could probably even make these sounds sound decent if you added some compression and eq to each track in the mix. However, mixing generally takes some experience before it sounds great, but a couple tweaks could help it out.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Jan 29, 2007 07:21 pm Ah yes, adding a richer string part via chorus will work splendidly then. That is kind of what I was hinting at, just a bit with a little more string or combination of instruments.
I look forward to seeing the midi file. I use some pretty high end software synths such as Native Instruments Acoustic Piano and Cakewalks Dimension Pro as well as many others and several hardware synths that have some killer classical patches, as well as my own sample's.
