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Joined: Oct 2008
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OP
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 17 |
Hi all! This is my first attempt at composing and arrangement. You all have considerably more experience that I do, and so I'm looking for any suggestions that will help me make my next attempt better. The piano, strings and banjo tracks are midi, using Kontakt and Bandstand. The guitar, drums, and mandolin are RealTracks. The initial concepts were put together in BIAB 2011, and the mixing and arranging were done in Reaper. SoundClick - Return to Adelaide Thanks! -Matt
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Nice! A couple random thoughts, in no particular order: - There's not a lot of space for the melody to "breathe". Putting some pauses in the phrases will help the listener better process the melody.
- Both lead instruments are very percussive in nature, and the lack of sustain give a mechanical feel. Using instruments with more sustain might help, because you could add more expression to them.
- There are some leaps that would be difficult to sing which also stand out. There's nothing wrong with them, but they help create an overall impression that the melody is more mechanical than felt. The more "singable" the melody is, the easier it is to process.
- You could split some of the phrases between two instruments - say, a banjo and fiddle. It would help by giving some variety and contrast to the melodic line, as well as hinting to the listener where one musical though ends and another begins.
- It's better to change instrumentation early and often and leave the listener wanting more than to wear out your welcome overusing particular instruments.
Hopefully there's something useful in there... 
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 17
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OP
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Posts: 17 |
Thanks, that's the kind of information I was looking for. I hadn't really thought of it for singing, but I hear what you're saying about giving it some space and also mixing up the instruments. Back to noodling. -Matt
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Journeyman
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Journeyman
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Welcome to the forum, thanks for sharing!
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Joined: Dec 2003
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Matt, welcome.
For a first attempt this is very good. The only thing I didn’t care for was the piano lead; I thought that the banjo lead was spot on. IMHO this style would almost require a honky-tonk piano sound and style. If this were my song I would replace the piano with a honky-tonk piano, banjo or a banjo then fiddle lead, see David’s message. I would keep the guitar lead and end with another honky-tonk piano, fiddle, banjo or a fiddle then banjo lead. Please keep in mind that this is just me and you may or may not agree.
Regardless this is an excellent first attempt. Keep up the good work.
My wife had her driving test today.
She got 8 out of 10.
The other 2 jumped out of the way!
64 bit Win 10 Pro, the latest BiaB/RB, Roland Octa-Capture audio interface, a ton of software/hardware
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Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 17
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OP
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Posts: 17 |
Thanks Robb and Mario! I appreciate the suggestions - I'm playing around with something new, and I'll likely come back to this and try a few of them out. I'll share what I come up with.
-Matt
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