it seems as if my post wherein I was asking for some criticism on a piece that I posted was taken down. I am unable to view the guidelines due to what I suspect to be a coding error. Regardless, I shall elaborate a bit on "Gut Ripper." I have been interested in my experimental styles in music and composing and the placement of musical tension in modern horror films. This fits well with my percussion background. This being said, I would like to see what all of you have to say about it. Thank you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m1hok3MVo8
Composing : Guidelines? by Nate Branscom
Guidelines?
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Be careful not to be too repetitive, for example you did exactly the same thing for the first 40 secs. The other thing to be careful about is to find a way to connect everything together and be mindful of transitions. I get the feeling here you could have been more interested in trying out everything you know that deciding on how to get from beginning to end in a 'coherent' way. Finally, if this is going to be a tension builder or a horror cue, be mindful of your 'regularity' - rarely would action in a scene have a regular and consistent tempo or rhythm so neither should your music. Get away from just using regular 1/8th notes in 4/4. You have various options which you should know as a percussionist - you can vary the tempo, you can use syncopation, you vary the time signature to something more irregular. For example, in a zombie/childrens film I scored last year - the opening theme was in 5/8. Hope this provides the 'food for thought' you were looking for. The music here would work well in a horror film though I would think it would need to be broken into parts to get more effectively used.
Thank you, Joel. Thinking about it, you're totally right.
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What Joel said; Plus Id listen to Penderecki for example- find the consistency within your idea and expand upon it- always keeping in mind your central thought. I think you have the right sound though.
There's this, too, if you have half an hour to kill. It's a project where I put together a score for an imaginary film. Was pretty proud of it when I made it, excusing certain virtual instrument limitations. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCtMCj8T9Vk
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Hi Nate - I would also suspect a coding error, sorry about that. If you are going to repeat, add something else in to break up that repetition, either that sits on top, or stutters or something, For example in the beginning start a slow swells into the next sound design stuff on the second repetition. Overall - there is not enough connection between all the segments, also hearing a lot of very weird full spectrum compression going on. But overall the feeling is a bunch of random segments put together and every new segment you bring in, does not tie well to the next segment. The sounds are quite cool, I like them a lot! Definitely watch out for the pacing in general, maybe I am missing a consistent sonic motif over all.