Nice piece! the instruments and effects sound very suitable and the structure of the track is clear. i just think the bells / percussion could be a little bit louder, but i really enjoyed :D reminds me of the good old final fantasy parts. Keep going on!
Reviews for "The Noble Cause (song)"
samulis responds:
Definitely one of the things I will work on in the future is mastering the drums louder. Thanks for the feedback!
Hello there! I heard you wanted a review! Therefore, in the interest of bettering musicality...
DA GOOD:
-That intro is very nice.
-I very much like the instruments you've used, they have a quite realistic quality. What program did you use for this? If I remember right, you use Sibelious, correct?
-The overall tunes are quite good.
DA STUFF THAT COULD BE IMPROVED: (Since I assume you are not looking for mixing advice as much, I am going to point out more compositional issues for the most part)
-First of all, I agree with 'supaman321', the percussion was a bit too quiet. I understand if the crackles are unwanted, but mixing can generally help with that. Not sure if you can mix in Sibelious though - if that was what you were using, then I'm sorry. But honestly, the percussion was almost barely detectable. Not the pitched percussion, but the unpitched percussion.
-Also on the topic of percussion, there doesn't seem to be that much unhitched percussion, period - percussion, while not strictly necessary, is still an important part of orchestral music, and if you're using an entire orchestra, try to give the percussion players something to do. One thing I'd suggest is trying to pretend that you're actually writing for a real orchestra (if you aren't already). Think of each player, you don't want them to get bored. ;)
-I notice that there doesn't seem to be a specific 'theme' for the tune. One part of music is that it should have some kind of theme to latch onto - as it is, this piece kind of just... goes. WIthout a theme, songs generally are more 'rambling'. There does seem to be more of a theme for the first minute and a half, but after that, it just... goes kaplooey.
-The transition at about 1:45 seems a tad off and sounds pretty ad-libbed, I think it could be refined and improved a little bit. I HIGHLY suggest using some more cymbal rolls. You aren't that bad in this regard (unlike Step), you can squeeze a few more in there.
OVERALL DIAGNOSIS:
Dude. You are talented. I really, really would like to see you learning a little bit more composition, getting a slightly better program to make music with (like Step - FL Studio + EWQL instruments works great), and just a little bit more attention to detail in general, because you could quite easily be one of the best musicians on NG. :)
...and actually about this song rather than you - it's great. Could use slightly better instruments, though they are definitely very high quality. As I said, it could use a bit more percussion and a slightly more consistent 'theme', but those are relatively minor quibbles. Good work!
Hope this was helpful!
-Swint-
-Review Request Club-
samulis responds:
Wow! Thanks a ton for this excellent review! You give a lot of great comments that will certainly help me improve with future works... each piece is yet another step closer to quality music.
First, to address my setup- I use Finale 2009c (rather outdated indeed, but an industry standard in the eyes of composers who write for players) with EWQL Symphonic Orchestra Gold and a few other EWQL packs I have acquired over the years. Eventually I hope to move to a program which is more of a DAW, as Finale is limited in its ability to create a good virtual performance.
On the subject of themes and motifs, I honestly should stick to those more, but my musical style tends to ramble a lot naturally and I find using only a single theme very boring, even when thrown every which way to make a piece longer. Perhaps one of these days I will stand back and plan out a piece using motifs and exactingly direct it before I even put down a note, but for now, I like letting my muse guide me to the finale, wherever it may be.
If you are interested in motifs in this piece, there is one key motif. You can hear it introduced by the flute in the beginning, and it is further elaborated when the horns and trombones bear the melody after a B section (~30-~1:00) and a short transition phase (~1:00-~1:10). A period of thematic motion leads to the finale (~2:10).
I really used to use percussion much more, but I have toned back in recent times. I am not sure why... I honestly should try to use percussion more.
I don't know a ton about composition aside from what I have learned in Theory I and II and my own personal study (through writing dozens of pieces and analyzing many great works). I do plan to go to college for music composition, more specifically perhaps film scoring or such if possible.
Thank you for your AWESOME review, If you have a classical(ish) piece you'd like me to review in return as a thanks, just send me a message!
-Samulis
You are talented.
I am not very skilled at reviews but, something I caught was that your percussion seemed a bit
quiet. This is just my opinion though, and I am no master.
samulis responds:
Yes, the percussion are a bit quiet, but I decided to not cover up the main theme with percussion, and to instead let the hits act as a support instead of a rhythmic lead, as the melody and hits are different rhythms.
Also, making the drum louder would lead to a bit of crackling, which is never fun. :/
Thanks for the review, I will try to work in making some more involved percussion in the future.
Brilliant work. The arrangement is top notch. I am in a hard position here. I cannot find simply a negative point to write a proper critique. Well done. Well done.
samulis responds:
Thanks for the review! I am glad you like the arrangement. I am sure there are plenty of little problems here and there...
Thanks again!
-Samulis