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CALL TO ADVENTURE - orchestral test, Music Theory II applied

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  • CALL TO ADVENTURE - orchestral test, Music Theory II applied

    I wrote this quick piece to test my new hardware sequencer (new thread to follow on that soon) as well as apply the tips I have picked up in Music Theory I and II. While taking this class hasn’t transformed my writing, it has certainly informed it.

    All of the orchestral sounds are from my JV-1080 playing a Performance patch live off the sequencer.

    Let me know what you think! Personally, I think there needs to be more movement in the strings and I’m not in love with the snare.

    The key is F, the chord progression is F/Fsus2/C/F. The melody is in C Mixolydian.

    Last edited by TwilightOdyssey; 06-05-2019, 05:01 AM.
    Why don't you take your little Cobra Kais and get outta here?!
    My collaborative PROGRESSIVE ROCK PROJECT, As Follows.

  • #2
    Re: CALL TO ADVENTURE - orchestral test, Music Theory II applied

    I don't listen to enough music of this genre to be able to give you much useful feedback.

    I like how everything seems to strongly pull together from 0:28 - 0:32, and the short little da da da da bits going on in the background. Snare sounds maybe a bit darker that I'd expect . . . but I like a bright snare most of the time so it might just be me.

    To my ears it sounds strongly of medieval themed video game. :P
    Join me in the fight against muscular atrophy!

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    This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.

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    • #3
      Re: CALL TO ADVENTURE - orchestral test, Music Theory II applied

      Cool, thanks or listening and feeding back!
      Why don't you take your little Cobra Kais and get outta here?!
      My collaborative PROGRESSIVE ROCK PROJECT, As Follows.

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      • #4
        Re: CALL TO ADVENTURE - orchestral test, Music Theory II applied

        I dig it. Only thing that stood out (-vely) to me was the snare, just seemed almost off time at parts? Everything else was fantastic
        TOUQUE ROCK...EH???? I AM CANADIAN

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        • #5
          Re: CALL TO ADVENTURE - orchestral test, Music Theory II applied

          That first cymbal is in a screwed up spot, and it makes the snare sound weirder because of it. Try it on a 1 instead of on a 4.

          Needs another two bars of vamping before the melody starts, IMO.

          The syncopated snare throughout isn't working IMO. Sounds like the drummer is trying to play something like surf music behind everything. The snare is also way too loud, which makes it seem even more jarring.

          Near the end, when the one string part (I think it's supposed to be cello – hitting 1/4 notes) continues to play the 1 when the song goes to the 5 (hanging a 4 over the chord) doesn't sound good IMO. Sounds mushy and slightly dissonant. Try C or G instead of F.

          The melody is not in C mixolydian. It's in F major. It just starts on the 5. F is clearly the melody's "home base" here.

          The chord progression you listed is also wrong. Ignoring suspensions and such, your chord progression (starting where the melody starts) is F-F-F-C-F-F-F-F-Dm-C-F-F.

          The chord for the last bar of the second melodic phrase is actually a Csus4, not an Fsus2 IMO. At that point, if I am hearing right, you drop the A note out for that chord (those strings move up to play C instead), and the C notes become very dominant, while the melody sits on a G. It has the effect of making the chord seem rooted on C, while the more subtle F notes become the odd men out (the 4 in the Csus4). Dominant C notes in the arrangement plus a melody on G, while the F notes in the arrangement seem rather subdued – this all adds up to the chord being a C, not an F. And melodically speaking, it just "feels" like the melody, when it is on the G, is sitting on a standard, harmonious part of a simple chord, not sitting on the suspended note in a suspended chord. In other words, the part of the arrangement there that seems "wrong" and creates "tension" is the F notes, not the G note...while if it was an Fsus2, the Fs and Cs would feel "normal," while the G seemed slightly dissonant. If you really want it to be Fsus2 (which you should not want IMO, as it doesn't fit the mood of the music, but it's your choice), then you need to tamp down the C notes and make the Fs more dominant.
          Last edited by ItsaBass; 06-10-2019, 12:00 PM.
          Originally posted by LesStrat
          Yogi Berra was correct.
          Originally posted by JOLLY
          I do a few chord things, some crappy lead stuff, and then some rhythm stuff.

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          • #6
            Re: CALL TO ADVENTURE - orchestral test, Music Theory II applied

            Sorry, I should have been more clear; I was heading out the door when I posted.
            The opening chords are, indeed, as indicated in the OP. The strings thereafter are F, or inversion of F, until the melody switches for that last line.

            Thanks for the detailed reply, it really wasn't needed, this was just to test my sequencer and play some melodies based on a chord progression instead of the opposite, which is the way I normally write.
            Last edited by TwilightOdyssey; 06-10-2019, 05:41 PM.
            Why don't you take your little Cobra Kais and get outta here?!
            My collaborative PROGRESSIVE ROCK PROJECT, As Follows.

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            • #7
              Re: CALL TO ADVENTURE - orchestral test, Music Theory II applied

              Originally posted by Kamanda~SD View Post
              I dig it. Only thing that stood out (-vely) to me was the snare, just seemed almost off time at parts? Everything else was fantastic
              Thanks for listening and feeding back! Yeah, I was not happy with the snare as indicated in the OP, but this was just a test to see if I could track something on the sequencer across all 16 MIDI channels, bounce them to a single track on the sequencer, and still have it play back all 16 channels. And it did! I am very excited to start writing seriously with it, just waiting on one more piece of the puzzle to arrive this week...
              Why don't you take your little Cobra Kais and get outta here?!
              My collaborative PROGRESSIVE ROCK PROJECT, As Follows.

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