<pony><original><orchestral> Midsummer

[Callenby]

https://soundcloud.com/callenby/midsummer-wip

Hooray, something new to post. Overall I like how it's coming along but it definitely needs some work and I could use some feedback before continuing.

The samples you're hearing are not nearly as good as the ones I'll ultimately use, so my apologies for that. I wrote this in Finale because it is much simpler to flesh out concepts with that than to get too caught up with mixing and little things in Cubase. Plus, I'm lazy.

My thoughts so far:
1. Does the song structure need any work? I wrote this basically one chunk at a time and sort of pieced them together, so the overarching form might not be optimal.
2. One thing I'm trying to achieve with this is using several repetitive chord progressions but keeping things from getting boring by varying motifs and who gets to play them. I have no idea if I've actually succeeded with that, though. Perhaps it varies too much?
3. Another thing I'm focusing on is using small instrumentation, so any thoughts on that would be helpful. Should I add anything, take away anything, change something else? I don't have a ton of great solo VSTs besides the ones I will use with this, however.
4. I'm really uncertain about the entire B section, but especially the harp and its accompaniment patterns. This is my first time writing for it so any pointers would be appreciated.
5. It feels like the whole thing may be too long/repetitive. There's probably entire sections that could just be cut out or should be reworked entirely.
6. The transitions from A section to B section (and then B to A') could probably be much smoother.

[Conduit]

This will be a fairly general critique, as I'm listening while I do some other work I have to get done. I'll do a more detailed one later, or if you want to add me on skype that would be cool, since I've been meaning to add you for a while. My skype is flatflish, but I'll show up as Mark (Conduit).

As for critique:
-It sounds very robotic, when you mock up the final version humanize it. Make notes slightly off time, and pay really close attention to dynamics.
-I didn't get bored at any point, so you achieved goal 2, and 5 isn't an issue. It feels more repetitive when you write, especially after listening to it on loop for hours. Trust me, its fine.
-I have no real comments on points 3, 4 and 6, but the flow felt fine to me, and I didn't notice any problems with the instrumentation

Overall I loved it, it was mellow and relaxing. I look forward to the final version!

[Callenby]

Thanks for the feedback! I'm glad you like it.

I'd be happy to give you my skype address but I don't have one. I've never gotten it to work and frankly I've given up trying. If you want I can PM you my email address instead.

Yeah, robot-like music is one of the side effects of using Finale since it's intended more for notation than actual production. In the future I should just get off my lazy butt and use Cubase for WIPs. That would ultimately make things easier, I think.

[Conduit]

Nah it's all good, its just easier giving / receiving feedback when you can talk to each other. I'll make sure to do a proper critique tomorrow when I have my monitors, and I'm not so tired.

[Callenby]

Not to be pushy, but have you had a chance to give it another listen? No pressure. I just plan on resuming work on this pretty soon.

I'm also always open to hear more peoples' input. The more feedback the merrier.