Hi all. This is the first instrumental I have listed here.

I need to hit these points (suspenseful, action, tension, Western) for a songtradr listing.
All comments welcome. Rob



Thunderhead


****** Song Summary *************
Title: Green Strategy
File:Thunder head.SGU
Key=Em , Tempo 65, Length (m:s)=3:26
4 bar intro, 48 bar chorus, from bar 5 to bar 52. Repeat x1 chorus
No Melody
No Soloist track.
Song is saved with Volume, Pan, Reverb, Chorus, Bank0,
Song is saved with bar changes for RealDrums Changes,
Style is _MARCHON.STY (March On - Determined Country)

RealTracks in style: 1190:Bass, Electric, ModernRnBRock Ev 065
RealTracks in style: 842:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm PopBalladSlowGritty Ev 065 (A:arp)
RealTracks in style: 843:Guitar, Electric, Rhythm PopBalladSlowGritty Ev 065 (B:heavy)
RealTracks in style: 1543:Synth Pad, PopBelieve Ev16 065
RealTracks in style: 2446:Guitar, Baritone Electric, Background SpaghettiWestern Ev 065
RealTracks in song: 1518:Guitar, Electric, Soloist CountryWorkinBrent Ev16 090
RealDrums in style: BluesRockEv^1-a:Snare, HiHat , b:Snare, Open HiHat

Mixed with Studio one
Presence,Aria and Dimension pro

*******************

Rob this was exciting and cinematic, I could honestly hear this in a movie.

What I would consider is the drums, do you need them all the way through ?.

I would look at the drums being like a harmony/chorus sort of thing.

Cool stuff & cinematic but possibly a little too cluttered too often.

Just beautiful Rob. Guitar melody was excellent. Well done..

What a tune! I thoroughly enjoyed this one. As others said, it has a very cinematic feel to it. It definitely lives up to the title. I love how it slowly builds and builds, and becomes more and more epic. It truly does feel thunderous.

Really well done - thanks so much for sharing

You hit all the points in my book Robert, Great job!!! Love the sounds and flow of this!!

I saw that listing. We feel that you nailed the request. Hope they select it!!

J&B

This song is very impactful and definitely atmospheric. I think you nailed all the things you set out to do.

Certainly hit your key points. Agree with some comments here about the benefit of simplifying the arrangement--would let individual elements stand out. Also, I've noticed that in soundtrack arrangements they really make an effort to give each "round" of the theme a little different feel in the arrangement.

Really like the sound effects you selected!

Only suggestion I'd make...why not let your initial sound effects overlap the start of the music a bit more--as kind of a cross-fade.

Yeah, what Janice and Bud said. I saw the listing also but didn't have anything to fit the need. I have a couple for other listings I'm waiting to hear back on.

I think you hit all the points they mentioned. let me add my hope they select your song! Best to you and good luck.

Alan

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.

Hi Rob. This is great and I really enjoyed my listen. I think it meets the criteria. I also enjoyed reading what David said since I am also often submitting instrumental music for songtradr. Wonderful community this!

Ohhhh what a wonderful music. My compliments.