Kind of an old post. I wonder if Luke K is still around? Great comments by Leah! I agree that the sounds are a little thin, particularly on timpani rolls.
I really liked most of the sounds, though. Good movement on some of the percussives. Strong filter sweeps. Unpredictable chord changes. In fact, the chord changes seemed to be playing opposite of expectation, a bit much. I really did like listening to the songs though. Very atmospheric and not afraid to linger on the soft parts.
What keyboards do you use? I find that the Novation Nova and the Access Virus C can compliment each other well. One is thin and trebbly and the other is fat and beefy. Here's a couple of my creations....
I alway wanted the Supernova 2! I have a Virus TI and love it. I enjoyed your Discovery Channel wildlife song. I was wanting some more melodic hooks from the progressive trance song. It did sound very slick and polished, though.
I would love some feedback on my stuff.
I think your stuff is alright. The instruments are decent quality, but it sounds like you only use a few tracks, so the songs seem kind of sparse. "Suspense Demo" and "Sad Demo" sounded too similar and repetitive for me. I often use many sounds, so that I can have sonic motifs, as well as thematic ones. For instance, horns for the hero, low piano, timpani and snare for the battle, strings for the love theme, waterphone for the mystery moment, hiss echoes for the monster, etc.
You have a pretty upbeat style and being able to do your own guitar playing is a wonderful thing. I do think that any of your songs will work for a movie's background. I would suggest that you try to incorporate some more organic composing, by mimicking or counterpointing what appears on screen. Obviously, these are demos. Composing to picture should change your mood and timing. Try and add emotion to your tracks - downbeat, as well as upbeat, loud and soft.
You have the chops. You have the sounds. You also have a guitar! I think scoring to actual scenes would be a good exercise for you.
I made this superchick movie, called
THE AWAKENING. That is a potentially difficult subject to bring emotion to, but here are a couple of examples:
RADIATION EXPERIMENT
This scene shows the doctor sneaking in his cancer stricken wife into a military lab, so it starts with a soft synth underscore and some bell sounds, as the wife is being revealed. When the experiment starts, you hear the plucked strings and all is methodical. The pace picks up, as the base commander is shown approaching the lab. The plucked strings stop when he opens the door and the wife is disguised in a lab coat.
HEADACHES, SUPER STRENGTH AND SPEED!
This runs the gamut from Lara reacting to her headaches and breaking a water glass, to her realizing that she is super strong, at which the music goes upbeat. The drums kick in when the cancer survivor exits her house in sweat clothes. She's sexy and healthy. There's a bass line, when she is jogging. A sports car goes by and the driver yells something derogatory at her. The bass line picks up, along with a bass drum, as Lara runs and actually catches up with the car, slapping the back of it. The guy speeds away and she is feeling invigorated.
CAPTAIN BREAKS DAVID OUT
Trying to glean his secrets, Black Ops hold the scientist, David, hostage. There's a knock at the door, but no one is there. (plucked and tremolo strings) The base commander storms into the room and shoots the interrogators. (Bowed strings) He unties David and they start walking out the building. (Wavesequence sounds) They get into a truck, but the other ops see them. They squeel out of there (drums kick in) and get through the front gate, escaping.
OPS SEARCH WAREHOUSE
Kind of a cool beat as Black Ops enter the warehouse, where Lara is hiding. She smacks them out of commision and the beat stops.
LARA TAKES ON BLACK OPS!
Lara still has headaches and just wants to escape. She sneaks up behind a Black Op (tremolo strings) and takes his gun. (ride cymbals) She asks for help. He pauses, then yells on his radio, so she slams his head into the wall. (Echo Tom and brass section) She sits to rest, but a squad of 12 Ops mass around the corner. She decides to fight them all and marches into the line of fire. (drum beat kicks in)
Those are all 2005 compositions. I have a bunch of clips on Youtube, if you want to see more
Recent Work.
