Originally Posted By: Rob4580
I need to hit these points (suspenseful, action, tension, Western) for a songtradr listing.

I think you're got a very nice piece of music, well put together, with a lot of cool stuff happening in it.

But I think it's unsuitable if the intended purpose is to be backing for a video.

For one thing, there's no discernible theme - just harmonic movement. You'll notice that a lot of great cues start out by stating a strong melodic idea. That's not the case here.

Because it's written as a long form piece of music, there's no way to cut a smaller cue from it - say, the main theme to use in a 15 second spot. Even if you wanted to fade it, because you have strong cadences at the end of your phrases, it doesn't lend itself to that.

The drum also causes a number of problems. For suspense and tension, you generally want some empty space. But the constant beat of the drum doesn't allow that. It also doesn't allow cutting out smaller cues. Do you really think someone wants a cue that runs 3:30?

You've got the "western" flavor, as well as "action". But I'm not getting any "suspense" or "tension" vibe. For "suspense", you're well served with an ostinato idea.

I haven't read the spec, but since I'll just go all out and suggest that if you're writing for something that's intended to be backing for film:

  • Start with an initial melodic idea. It should be strong, and have minimal instrumentation. Write it as a short cue that can stand alone.
  • After a (musical) pause, continue to develop the theme over two chord changes. It's an extension of the basic cue. Avoid strong cadences - this isn't a song, after all. Heck, avoid cadences all together once you've stated the basic cue. Think of this as an "extended" version of the first cue, and write it so it can be faded out at any point without causing the listener any distress. Because the cue has to fit the film - not the other way around.
  • Now that you've got a short cue and extended version of the cue, you can develop the idea. Think of this as an extended bridge. Your short cues have been already been used in earlier scenes, so this is intended to be laid under a longer scene. But since the music has to fit to arbitrary lengths, write it so you stop at any point - harmonically, you're probably treading water, but still being musically interesting. So you're stretching out that idea, either by changing the instrumentation, or altering the melody, changing harmony, or whatever variation makes you happy.

So basically, think of how the music could be used by a potential customer to back their action.

I think you you listen to other tracks people have submitted, you'll hear what I'm talking about.

Then again, I could be entirely off-base here. shocked

-- David Cuny
My virtual singer development blog

Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?