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Hey Folks,
Just wondering if I could get some feedback on this track of mine, both compositionally and the mix. Any feedback (even harsh) is appreciated!
https://soundcloud.com/davidjamesmcleod/east-boardwalk-themeThanks!
It’s “good”, but there are things that make the arrangement “seem odd”. The beginning is very repetitive, then you have these Dark/Baroque inflections that are really nice! The mix is a bit odd as well, and should be more “spatial and lush” seems a tad harsh with the weird pannings..
I would make the entry to the composition have more “movement” and brings the drums in earlier as well.
Hope that helped. You’re on to something, just needs a bit of “tweaking and fearlessness!”
@SomeGuyDoingStuff
David, thanks for sharing your music with us. I think it’s difficult to feedback on the composition because I don’t know what your target for this music is. I will say that you’ve got some very wonderful music on your SC page. I listened to each piece first and noticed something. It seems like you get bored (or tired) of your initial musical ideas very quickly; faster than your audience does at least. I have this problem especially when my writing process slows waaayyy down. You’ve heard your idea a gazillion times by the time you bounce the track out. We’ve only heard it once or twice. Stay patient with your initial melodic ideas and don’t be afraid to also take a little more time with your layering of instruments. Just my observation so take that with a grain of salt.
In terms of the mix of this track I’d look back at some of your other tracks (like Pilgrim and JL’s Theme). I think you created a better sense of space and depth in those mixes than you have with your East Boardwalk theme. You’re really great at creating an ambiance with all of the ‘picky plucky’ sounds happening. You might have room to push the sounds even further to the left and right….then using some delays to get them pinging around the space even more and widen your stereo space a bit.
With your long strings I’d just say you have some room to sculpt their entrance and exits even more….and try to avoid just sitting stagnant on longer sustains using a combination of CC1 (modulation) and CC11 (expression) if your library allows for it. You can also try attaching a very subtle delay to your 1st violins that gently throws some sound back towards the center and right side of the room…and doing the opposite for cellos (if that’s how you have them seated).
One last little quick thing I noticed with the mix is it feels a little too compressed possibly. It just doesn’t have the same dynamic range as your other pieces (written in a similar genre). You can see it in the waveform actually. There’s a decent amount of things fighting for frequency space but perhaps this was by design.
Hope something in there was helpful! Thanks for sharing!
I think it’s very good.
David, it’s a nice piece and production value is good. I like your use of instrumentation, it’s very impressionistic.
With that being said, my only suggestion is that the piece cam be a little more dynamic. For example, around 1:06-1:08 where it pauses, I would put a crescendo on all of the instruments with a bit of vibrato on the strings. Also, towards the end when it builds, the drums can be more prominent busy, but that’s just me… if you’re going for a more sparse, different from conventional drum beat, then that’s up to you but it seemed lacking somewhere in the ending/buildup.
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