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[Dave Matney]

With the Global Game Jam coming up, I've decided to do something I've been meaning to do for, well, ever.  Practice my composing.

My self-imposed rules are simple: 1 hour to write all the music I can on a particular idea, 10 minutes to do final arranging, mixing, and mastering.  Since I do mostly loop-based stuff (much to my chagrin), the last 10 minutes was spent doing almost all of the actual arranging, and even then, it was kinda slapdash.

So... I present to you, my first one-hour composition.

http://www.davematney.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/1-Hour-Audio-1.mp3

Now, using the same guidelines, what can you come up with?

Update: Constructive criticism is encouraged.

[Josiah Tobin]

Hmm..! I'm gonna have to give this a try!

~Josiah

[Dave Matney]

Please do.  I should be doing another, tonight; I'm going to aim for longer loops, which has always been my bane.

[Theotherguy]

I like the loose feel in the percussion. Some nice samples. I'm not a fan of your pizzicato strings, they're a bit to short. However, this makes the piece seem more electronic and mechanical. I would suggest going one direction or the other. ie. You should attempt to make the samples sound more natural, or make them sound even more mechanical than they are now.

As for the composition itself, I feel that it lacks a strong melody to follow, but as its for a game, that's not all that important.

I think I'll have a go at this.

[Dave Matney]

I like the loose feel in the percussion. Some nice samples. I'm not a fan of your pizzicato strings, they're a bit to short. However, this makes the piece seem more electronic and mechanical. I would suggest going one direction or the other. ie. You should attempt to make the samples sound more natural, or make them sound even more mechanical than they are now.

As for the composition itself, I feel that it lacks a strong melody to follow, but as its for a game, that's not all that important.

I think I'll have a go at this.

Thanks.  I've never really done anything with pizzacato strings, so I was happy with how they turned out (especially given the hour time limit).

And the pieces aren't for a game, yet, though, if I feel they're worthy, they'll end up in a folder of pieces I can clean up to make fit for a game.  As they stand, they're just filler audio and practice.

And, onto tonight's piece:

http://www.davematney.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/One-Hour-Audio-pt.-2.mp3

I'm not happy with this one at all... I attempted to go straight synth with it (though my drum choice wasn't a good match, and neither were my beats).  I'm no good at writing in a primarily major key, most of the time, for that matter.  All in all, it's pure cheese...

[Havok]

Well, I've been trying to work on my own 1-hour project to see how it turns out and to share but Pro Tools keeps crashing on me. So nothing yet. Oh how I do so hate computers!

[C.A. Sinner]

This is some decent music. Also, I don't think one hour is that short actually. The two pieces for Snowscreen took me under an hour total.

[battlerager]

Hmm..! I'm gonna have to give this a try!

~Josiah

Kwakfest? 

[Dave Matney]

I've crapped out on my one-our practices... hopefully I can get back into it tonight.

[Noah!]

I gotta say, I love the idea behind this. Unfortunately, I can't really say much about your pieces. Yes they could use a bit of polish, but for one hour they're quite well-done, and you can always go back and touch up the ones you like, right? You've inspired me, and even if I don't post anything here I should really start doing this. I think I've really only written (and released) one chiploop-song-thing, and even that took me 2.5 hours. ;-)

One question (if you don't mind me asking): When you start the hour, do you have a clear idea for a song in mind, or do you just sit down and come up with something? I know you said "1 hour to write all the music I can on a particular idea", but do you actually have the song in your head, or is it more of a "let's write something with a forest theme today"? Just out of curiosity.

[Dave Matney]

I've done both, writing with a small idea and writing without, and I've had mixed results. For instance, in the first piece I posted, I had the bass line idea in my head, but that's it.  In the second one, I wanted to write something major, so I used the sounds I picked as my map, and I'm not too happy with how that one turned out.

And, yeah, the main idea, for me, is to practice, and have a bunch of things I can go back and polish if I like it.