PG Music Home Forums General Discussion User Showcase New Song - Opus 65

First, it's great to hear from you - with whatever you're able to do! With so much on you're plate, I'm a bit astonished you get anything else done at all. And doing it to spite the devil? Amen!

Second, I'm glad to hear your wife is in remission, and prayers for your wife's victory walk!

Nice title, by the way. Took me a moment to make the connection.

OK, on to the music.

I really enjoyed this - it's ambitious, going for a big sound, but having a lot of intimate moments as well. Nice arrangement, with a simple but memorable theme. I say this with admiration, having destroyed many musical attempts by trying for something "complex" but ending up with a muddled mess.

The intro is nice, but...

I'll interrupt myself to say I sure shouldn't be telling you what your song should sound like. I'll go sit in the "corner of shame" for a moment...

OK, back again, having learned nothing from my time-out.

The opening of songs is where I figure out where to set the volume knob, because everyone masters their songs to a different level. Perhaps having the brass initially come in at pp, and for the restatement a bit louder? Then again, it's brass, so I guess you should let brass be brass. There's really nothing the matter here, just a thought.

The sound of the horns holding chords against the melody? Lovely.

The strings on pizzicato? Also really nice. One of the few advantages of working in the digital world vs. live is being able to balance sections that aren't always well matched.

The entrance at 0:36 of... woodwinds? A bit harsh to my ears, but then, I don't really like the sound of the combined woodwinds, so it's a biased value judgement at best.

The piano sneaks in on the melody, and sounds a touch too bright to me.

At 1:36 there's a bend on the string instrument. So I'm wondering "Is that a koto?" and like a dog seeing a squirrel my attention is pulled away from the theme to the background instruments.

The strings come in at 1:38, and I'm immediately sad because they sound like a synth string patch instead of a group of strings. Unlike a real string section where the attacks are sort of staggered, this part feels like a keyboard is playing it. This is even more obvious when they get to state the theme by themselves a moment later. Perhaps mixing a first chair violin part in there could make it sound less MIDI-ish?

When I say "sad", it's not because I'm complaining about any lack of skill - you demonstrate that throughout the song - but a reminder that you don't have access to an orchestra willing to play this for you.

The guitar and piano section is especially nice, with a close-mike kind of sound that contrasts with the larger section.

The entrance of the horns at 3:10 is lovely, with the bells chiming on top. So nice. Harp flourish and held chord at the end - super!

Anyway, feel free to ignore any criticisms.

Loved it!