Essay

Show off original scores and recordings made with Linux!

Moderators: MattKingUSA, khz

Post Reply
User avatar
andersen
Established Member
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2020 4:52 am

Essay

Post by andersen »

I confess, this piece was done on win10, but is what I plan to be doing in Ubuntu Studio fairly soon. (and why I'm here.)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/jib2zkscsj33d ... .wav?dl=0/

It's a fairly short essay that I wrote recently. BTW, No, it's not a statement on death or dying.

Let me know what you think.
Less talk, more music - andersen
jeanette_c
Established Member
Posts: 728
Joined: Tue May 12, 2020 5:53 pm
Has thanked: 347 times
Been thanked: 268 times

Re: Essay

Post by jeanette_c »

Hey @andersen, I like the harmonies of the piece. The piano sounds very much like the MIDI piano, because - I suspect - it is sequenced or converted from a written score. Maybe you could improve by at least playing each motif once to capture you performance, both being slightly off-time and introducing more dynamics to it. The same could even help with the strings, although not so much.
Here's something that struck me while listening, perhaps quite a personal twist. I thought another percussive, melodic instrument only picking some notes up from the piano, sort of creating accents, might spice up rhythm. As I say, just a very subjective thought.
I am looking forward to your upcoming work.
--
distro: ArchLinux, DAW: Nama, MIDI sequencer: Midish
All my latest music on https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMS4rf ... 7jhC1Jnv7g
Albums, patches and Csound on http://juliencoder.de
User avatar
psyocean
Established Member
Posts: 645
Joined: Thu Oct 13, 2016 4:54 pm
Location: Saint-Petersburg, Russia
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 88 times
Contact:

Re: Essay

Post by psyocean »

Beautiful miniature, excellent work!
Guitar and synth tales... https://www.youtube.com/user/Psyocean/
User avatar
andersen
Established Member
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2020 4:52 am

Re: Essay

Post by andersen »

jeanette_c wrote: Sat Nov 21, 2020 10:21 pm Hey @andersen, I like the harmonies of the piece. The piano sounds very much like the MIDI piano, because - I suspect - it is sequenced or converted from a written score. Maybe you could improve by at least playing each motif once to capture you performance, both being slightly off-time and introducing more dynamics to it. The same could even help with the strings, although not so much.
Here's something that struck me while listening, perhaps quite a personal twist. I thought another percussive, melodic instrument only picking some notes up from the piano, sort of creating accents, might spice up rhythm. As I say, just a very subjective thought.
I am looking forward to your upcoming work.
You're correct. It's a sequenced piece. Twas initially all piano, then I let in the cello and viola on the bottom lines, and violin on the top. It took a completely different course. Thanks for the very good ideas. The offset is a great idea. I have to add another part and then will re-mix a little better to carve out some space for all the strings, and back off the repetitive piano part. (which actually has a point to it in the center of things). Meanwhile I'm setting up my patch panel in QJackctl to get going on Ubuntu Studio. Learning curve... All new plugins and tools. (low growl) Yeah but it's Linux! (low muttering)
c
OK, my turn, You are creative. I haven't finished them all yet, but I like Endless Day. Frankenfunk is fun. I wonder how long it took you do them. My two cents... Add more bottom end. There are good acoustic drum synths. Bass as well (even a jazz bass). It's a holdover from a background in rock n roll, (along with the ringing in my ears)... but I like a solid tempo on the bottom It gives depth, and... anchors things. One other suggestion... kisses don't lie, needs a Les Paul. (Other direction,... up high) The rhythm guitar is good. But where is the wail? Hmmm??? Good stuff though. Is this a hobby or are you trying to build a career?

Thanks again for the ideas and comments. It's nice to make your acquaintance.
Cheers!
Less talk, more music - andersen
User avatar
andersen
Established Member
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2020 4:52 am

Re: Essay

Post by andersen »

psyocean wrote: Sun Nov 22, 2020 1:02 pm Beautiful miniature, excellent work!
Thanks @Psyocean. I 'm listening to Autumn Park and the second piano piece(as I write this). Very nice. Sorry, I can't read cyrillic alphabet, but the scenery is way cool. Quite a source of inspiration, I'm thinking.
Cheers,
Less talk, more music - andersen
User avatar
Michael Willis
Established Member
Posts: 1451
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 3:27 pm
Location: Rocky Mountains, North America
Has thanked: 69 times
Been thanked: 164 times
Contact:

Re: Essay

Post by Michael Willis »

I liked this. Something about it made me think about haiku.s3m from ye olde mod tracker days of yore. It was probably the sound of the electric piano and how the melody wanders around backed by synth strings.

If I could make a suggestion, try importing the midi tracks from this into Ardour or Qtractor or some other sequencer on Linux, and use it as a way to learn how to produce music in your new operating system. When listening, I thought that just a little bit of reverb and maybe some rich pad synths in the background would really make this come alive.
lykwydchykyn
Established Member
Posts: 227
Joined: Tue May 20, 2014 2:01 pm
Location: Tennessee, USA
Been thanked: 1 time
Contact:

Re: Essay

Post by lykwydchykyn »

I like to preface my feedback by saying, this is just what I'd do if it were my track, there's not necessarily a right or wrong here:

- First, I think the basic composition is good. Nice piano melody, nice harmonies.

- The piano doesn't sound idiomatic to me. That's not a mortal sin, but in my mind I'm seeing a piano player picking out that melody one-fingered, which just feels wrong to me (I started out as a piano player). If I've got a solo line like that, I might rather hear it with a wind instrument. Would be killer on oboe, for example.

- The string parts get very dense towards the end of the piece, and there are bits of what sound like unintentional dissonance. I think this would work better if the instruments were more separated in the mix, right now it seems like a lot of string parts sort of piled up on top of each other. Maybe use a different instrument for the busier string lines, or a solo instrument sample instead of an ensemble?

- I agree with Micheal, bring these tracks into a DAW and give them some ambience, EQ, panning, etc. MIDI alone is pretty limited for doing a good mix.

Above all, keep it up! You've got some good material here, I look forward to more of it! :-)
User avatar
Rainmak3r
Established Member
Posts: 888
Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2019 12:24 pm
Has thanked: 49 times
Been thanked: 180 times
Contact:

Re: Essay

Post by Rainmak3r »

Not sure if it was the intention, but I like the idea of the piano "ostinato" part as time flowing away, which would fit the theme nicely. I agree on the suggestions to work on it within a DAW, just to give each instrument more room, be it via panning, equalization, or more: there's a lot of orchestration happening, and it's easy to drown everything otherwise. Good effort anyway, and I'm looking forward to listening more of your work!
folderol
Established Member
Posts: 2072
Joined: Mon Sep 28, 2015 8:06 pm
Location: Here, of course!
Has thanked: 224 times
Been thanked: 400 times
Contact:

Re: Essay

Post by folderol »

Quite an interesting little piece - don't see the relevance of the title though
The Yoshimi guy {apparently now an 'elderly'}
User avatar
andersen
Established Member
Posts: 21
Joined: Sat Nov 14, 2020 4:52 am

Re: Essay

Post by andersen »

Howdy... been on the road to purgatory so haven't been around much.

Thanks for the responses, and tips, and refinements, for my non-linux contribution. I'm kind of busy on the dark side for now.

I would say don't... over analyze this. It was originally a piano essay that I fit to a string synth,... and then just got completely carried away. It was meant to be a score for a jazz piece initially, but that didn't pan obviously. Had planned to use it as a backing track, for a jam, but when it found it's way elsewhere, I thought I'd share it.

I used SI (studio instruments) strings in Cakewalk. I think they sound, OK... for an unsampled synth, but I agree that they are badly crowded. Klutzy... and the ranges are mismatched. My bad. I only made three passes. I don't do strings very often, but it was a LOT of fun for the short time that I wrote and assembled it in. I couldn't find the variation(s) I wanted so I put it down... for now. Learned a lot, but... So many projects,... so little time. Maybe the next go with this will include a synth voice like Massive. That might be a good jam.

You know, Zappa loved two chord jams ( Black Napkins - Zutes Allures & Watermelons in Easter Hay - Joe's Garage.) Great stuff. Truly tasty guitar work. And then there are the blistering one and two chord jams on Hot Rats. (listening to Gumbo variations right now... Ouch)

Keep creating, Andersen
Less talk, more music - andersen
Basslint
Established Member
Posts: 1511
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2019 2:25 pm
Location: Italy
Has thanked: 382 times
Been thanked: 298 times

Re: Essay

Post by Basslint »

@andersen I think it's good music but the strings IMHO ruin it a bit. They sound like 90s strings, like those used in SNES games.
The community of believers was of one heart and mind, and no one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they had everything in common. [Acts 4:32]

Please donate time (even bug reports) or money to libre software 🎁

Jam on openSUSE + GeekosDAW!
Post Reply