The Shining Source

Great minds think alike, L@zy - that's the soundcard I bought It's a cracker, I'm very fond of it although I did object at first at having to buy converters from 3.5mm to RCA. Still, I think I'm over that now.

I haven't written much recently apart from a snippet of a song under my Prosody name, which sounds quite nice without going anywhere. There's also a nice piano lullaby that meanders towards the middle which I have to sort out. Hopefully I'll be able to post about this wonderful 80-piece orchestral track I'm starting soon

HAH! I can't believe we have the same soundcard! Yeah the RCA jacks kinda freaked me out at first cuz i got the soundcard second hand at S$70 last year october which is abt US$35 i think. The RCA outputs are mainly for Mixers and preamps i think. I use RCA converters now tho.

80-piece orchestral track!? That sounds sweet! Can't wait to hear it man! Your PC doesn't lag with tt many instruments going on?

Shrine - It has a lost feeling to it. I get the idea you are aiming for sorrow as a theme, or at least some longing quality. For the most part, its there, but that major chord near the beginning at about 5-8 seemed very out of place. Keep it minor, and roll with it, you had it working so well for you the rest of the piece.

Vegabond - Another piece with great potential. I would look into some small percussion that are as simple as some soft Djimbe behind it or a woodblock with some shakers or maracas. Something to keep the waltz-like feeling going since it could be hard to hear the downbeats of the tune that would normally bring someone into the feel.

Tanner's Theme - Get that solo audible better. Everything else fits so nicely I would smite you for not getting that hidden melody out in the open. ^^ Perhaps moving to a different instrument would be better. It sounds like the harmonia track but I cant really tell. Stick a solo line on solo horn, violin, english horn, flute, or trumpet (I recommend English Horn, French Horn, or Flute).

Another Tanner's Theme - I would take out the piano and put in the violas, cellos, and bass in that way it runs linear to the pizzicato strings you have in the beginning. Then keep that idea rolling and play around with it some more, maybe add a solo instrument to linger on top to better define your melody and the tune. ^^

Jumpy World - Better developmental styles and the theme properly presents itself. I guess, in my own opinion, I would really not make everything so short and staccato with a long lead on top. But that is just me. ^^

Many thanks for the in-depth advice, Maestro. I haven't touched those tracks in a while - which I guess means my skills haven't improved, sadly - but I do appreciate your composer's ear and the time you took to listen and give feedback.

I know technically my compositions are always extremely simple, usually revolving around four to eight chords (if I'm feeling wild!), and the same could be said for my orchestrations. My problem is I always have a very rigid view of the melody and find it hard to progress beyond my initial idea of the tune. I'm quite good at improvisation but my composition lets me down usually, I'd say.

I also hate doing drums, as you can tell! There's a revised "Jumpy World" that uses bongos in my feeble attempt to match the "black bottoms" of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On?", although I can understand why that wouldn't work as it's a most unlikely accompaniment to a video game song!

Thanks again for the advice - I have a few days off, so if I can I'll try to improve some of my tracks, or do something even better!

The more you work on it the better you will get. There are lots of ways to learn how to orchestrate and implement instruments better to your works.

I would recommend some texts you could read as well as, per say, take a community college course in beginning percussion and do a community college percussion ensemble for at least 5 months. That will, hands down, give you all the experience you need, help you develop a better foundation for your rhythmic skills and your ability to write for percussion. In all honesty, I was a woodwind pedagogist and performer for the most part, so that was always easy to write for. But I went the same route I refer you to do and now it is just part of habit. ^^

Anyway, your getting there one step at a time and practice makes perfect. For every piece I write there are at least 6 versions before it that I butchered in order to make a version I am finally happy with.