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[lamontx]

Well, it's good to be so resourceful   (Want another tip? There's a website called vgmusic.com and there you can find MIDI files of most video game soundtracks. You should be able to learn a bit from different kinds of OSTs and all I browse it practically everyday)

So how long have you been composing for exactly?

[EveEllis]

Well, it's good to be so resourceful   (Want another tip? There's a website called vgmusic.com and there you can find MIDI files of most video game soundtracks. You should be able to learn a bit from different kinds of OSTs and all I browse it practically everyday)

So how long have you been composing for exactly?

Around.. Well, 3-4 years. But 3 years ago,  I failed at it. I'd say I've been good at it for around 2. Handily I'm able to write all my music on a tablature program (my favoured interface for composition) and export each track as a midi file. So the transition from.. That, to midi wasn't too jarring.

And often I don't need too The reason I've gotten so much better over the past year or so is by listening to music and figuring it out by ear. I think that's just as effective as getting the original tablature.. If you're able to discern what note it is, in your favourite tracks, it makes it easier to construct your own hooks and melodies and such.

[lamontx]

To each his own I guess  I prefer to check everything out note for note via midi so I can see which modes are being used in the harmony and the melody, and especially how someone set up tension and used dissonance without moving the harmony/chords around (what's this called? Static chord progression maybe?)

Other thing such as alternating eight bar melodies and how they change the tonality or use modulation are very cool to see and hear clearly at the same time, too 

Maybe it's just me, though...

[dlt.fm]

And whatever you do, keep showing people your tracks - too many good composers sit in the dark and don't get heard or improve.

This.

[JudahRoydes]

Ok humans, here is my entry for the challenge. I ended up focusing on the internal aspect of this theme as opposed to the environmental. It was inspired by the T.S. Eliot poem Wasteland.

http://soundcloud.com/judahroydes/no-one-nowhere

[lamontx]

Ok humans, here is my entry for the challenge. I ended up focusing on the internal aspect of this theme as opposed to the environmental. It was inspired by the T.S. Eliot poem Wasteland.

http://soundcloud.com/judahroydes/no-one-nowhere

Very cool! It's pretty fast for a theme you're going to be hearing quite a lot but god damn this was awesome. I wouldn't mind hearing this in an RPG-wasteland setting at all. If anything, it'd help keep me playing 

[JudahRoydes]

@Lamontx, Thanks a lot. It's definitely on the short side. I didn't have a lot of time to work on it but I wanted to get something done for this challenge since I have missed out on so many of them.

What I wanted to focus on was the emotional state of the character/player lost in this wasteland.

I hope there are many more entries for this challenge. Lots of great music so far from everyone. 

[lamontx]

Most people compose in a hurry though, so whipping out good stuff in no time tends to become a habit for composers 

Do you mind letting me in on which VST you used (unless it was recorded?) and just maaybe letting me see the MIDI because the harmony seems so complex! 

[JudahRoydes]

@Lamontx, The piano is from an older version of the ewql silver orchestra with some convolution reverb added. I used Zebra 2.5 and the Abstrackt library from soniccouture for everything else. As far as the harmony goes the first section is built around three chords. E9, G and Fdimm. I used a simple G major line as if it were a pedal tone for the main section which gave it a cool tension when it gets to the Fdimm because that line still has the F#. the end section is mostly maj7 chords Eflat maj7, C#maj7, Bmaj7, Amaj7, Aflat maj7, G7, C.

[lamontx]

Oh my, I can imagine how you came up with the F diminished chord, but that last one was really cool. How did you manage to keep the melody sounding stable throughout that kind of non-diatonic chord progression?

[EveEllis]

http://soundcloud.com/judahroydes/no-one-nowhere

Gorgeous! All that could be said :D I only wish it had more of a discernible melody, a "hook". But you can't have everything, I guess 

[Soundhound]

Turns out I did manage to make something for this competition, so here it is:

http://picosong.com/whdd/

I actually started it before I went away, just messing around with a sitar in the Phrygian mode  (or was it Lydian? I can't recall), but wasn't 'feeling it' but I revisited it and messed around with it some more and voilà! 

Brief description? You're in the desert, you start seeing mirages and other crazy stuff. Gaming ensues. 

[lamontx]

http://soundcloud.com/judahroydes/no-one-nowhere

Gorgeous! All that could be said :D I only wish it had more of a discernible melody, a "hook". But you can't have everything, I guess  

Ah I see. It felt "fast" to me because the melody had little repitition. So it felt more like a solo. But at least it had a nice ostinato in the middle  

@Soundhound: I'm not really sure what to say about this one. Perhaps you used lydian in the harmony but phrygian in the melody? It sounds kinda nice but not so dangerous. But I won't blame you since you didn't have much time 

[MoritzPGKatz]

SoundHound, I like your entry.

The sound you ended up with is pretty curious and quirky, I enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing!
Sounds a bit static because of the one bass note, but then again that might be quite fitting for the theme.

Your piece is in neither Phrygian nor Lydian, by the way.
Best way to describe what the melody does is "minor with chromatic twists" - you have a #11 in there and a major 3, but then again there's a b6 and a minor 3... didn't hear any Phrygian b9. Anyway, it doesn't sound modal at all and trying to fit everything happening in there into one scale is pretty pointless.

Cheers,
Moritz

[Soundhound]

Thanks for the feedback both of you,

@MoritzPGKatz Ah you're right about the key, as I said I started it before I went away so couldn't really remember what I did. As for the bass notes and general bass section I used a small range of notes because I had in mind Indian Raga's in which the backing sections are often quite repetitive and drone-like with a sitar soloing over it.

@Lamontx Nowhere in the competition description does it say it has to sound 'dangerous', I was under the impression the aim was to compose to the theme of 'Wasteland', but thanks for not 'blaming' me 

[JudahRoydes]

@lamontx, I will PM you about all the theory stuff so we don't eat up this thread.

@EveEllis, I know what you mean about "hook" I have a tendency to make things very dense. In this case i wanted it to feel like a piece by Ravel.

@SoundHound, I really like how the rhythm comes in at :32. It's like it starts on the end of the phrase. At first i thought it was going to switch to 6/8 but it has that 2 count on the end
Moritz is right about trying to analyze everything down to one scale being pointless. Theory is how we speak of music and we would all analyze it differently. To me it sounded kind of like the Hirajoshi scale with an added flat V.

@MoritzPGKatz, Did you play the drums in your piece? If not the drum fill at 1:56 is pretty convincing. very cool use of reverb and space. It paints a very vivid image.

[MoritzPGKatz]

@MoritzPGKatz, Did you play the drums in your piece? If not the drum fill at 1:56 is pretty convincing. very cool use of reverb and space. It paints a very vivid image.

I wish I had the means to record a drumset without renting out a separate studio! It's all programmed, glad I kinda fooled you.

Your track is pretty cool, by the way.
I miss a bit of "breathing space" in the first half with all the elaborately arranged piano fills (probably also because you arranged them very "close"), but the abstract maj7 chords are indeed awesome, especially because they end with a simple bVI-V-I. It's strange how our ears are surprised by "expectable" harmonies when the previous phrases are so unusual.

Cheers,
Moritz

[lamontx]

Man, Moritz can hear pretty much anything. /jealousface

@lamontx, I will PM you about all the theory stuff so we don't eat up this thread.

Cool, thanks 

thanks for not 'blaming' me 

You're welcome 

[Soundhound]

thanks for not 'blaming' me 

You're welcome 

*Sarcasm.

@JudahRoydes Thanks, glad you liked it 

[EveEllis]

Turns out I did manage to make something for this competition, so here it is:

http://picosong.com/whdd/

I actually started it before I went away, just messing around with a sitar in the Phrygian mode  (or was it Lydian? I can't recall), but wasn't 'feeling it' but I revisited it and messed around with it some more and voilà! 

Brief description? You're in the desert, you start seeing mirages and other crazy stuff. Gaming ensues. 

Wow! Really impressive. Easily my favourite. Comes down to the really peculiar choice in sounds and ethnic percussion. I'd say it looses it's theme slightly once the hi-hats enter, well yes it progresses it but I just feel like it could've been done with something a little less traditional and more peculiar.

What is the sample of? It almost sounds like a vocal but also a whistle of sorts.