Waters of Redemption

[Nayrb]

(08-29-2016, 06:33 PM)Mattias Westlund Wrote:

(08-27-2016, 02:23 PM)Nayrb Wrote: There's definitely some good fantasy music out there that aims to tell a story. Here's a link to a project I really like, if anyone's interested in checking it out. Sort of a marriage of synth and sample based "cinematic symphonic" sounds. I like how this guy is able to blend between "real" and unreal and still achieve a dynamic, organic sound. For instance, his brass is primarily an old Yamaha PSR keyboard, it doesn't sound real, but it sounds massive.

https://murgrind-music.bandcamp.com/albu...est-throne

Hmm. I kind of wish I could go back in time and switch my monitor off and just listen to the music, because the black metal imagery and the video narration completely ruined it for me. Is this guy like 12 years old or what? :| I can't really give the music a fair shot after that cringe-fest.

Sorry :/

Haha, well it's not everyone's cup 'o tea...

---

(08-31-2016, 09:17 PM)Mattias Westlund Wrote: Three new ideas here... not uploading to Soundcloud just yet, they're far too short and sketchy.

Chapter XII: Betrayal and Sorcery

Chapter XIV: Escape From Vaz'Dinah

Chapter XV: The Journey Home

Let me know what you think.

These are sounding good. Journey Home really sets the tone for how I imagine that scene and I love how the harp is sounding. A little reminiscent of Morrowind or Oblivion.


I like that there is a bit of a recurring theme with the tracks that feature the city itself, a kind of desert feel.

[Mattias Westlund]

Chapters XII, XIV and XV are now up on Soundcloud. All tracks have also been re-rendered with various little edits. 30 minutes of music so far, whoop whoop! Playlist for the lazy ones:



Things I'm on the fence about:

1. The F minor chord in the opening theme of Betrayal and Sorcery (around 0:19). I wanted to mix things up a bit, throw an out chord into the descending figure there, but it might be a little over the top as there's already an A# minor instead of the expected A# major.

2. The neoclassical part that the above mentioned theme resolves into (0:39). It really felt like the intro wants to go there, but I'm not sure if it fits the dark and dramatic storyline here. OTOH, it's just a brief thing, and the tune moves into darker territory directly afterwards. Deep breath before the plunge maybe?

[Otto Halmén]

2. Why not neoclassical? I interpreted it as a subtle thematic counterpoint (or thematic dissonance (?)), which is a great spice when reasonably applied.

1. Not sure what it's called when you're flipping major chords into minor in a minor key progression. Still borrowed chords? Anyway, I don't think it's quite over the top. Besides, it amplifies the contrast between the big bad evil part and the neoclassical part.

EDIT: Has anyone told you that you're good with ballads? The Journey Home already gives me shivers. It's sublime.

[Mattias Westlund]

(09-02-2016, 07:45 PM)Otto Halmén Wrote: 2. Why not neoclassical? I interpreted it as a subtle thematic counterpoint (or thematic dissonance (?)), which is a great spice when reasonably applied.

No reason why not really; I just have a slight phobia of using obvious classical things... because we've been hearing these trite harmonic minor and diminished scales and progressions for a few hundred years now. OTOH... I don't do it very often and it's kind of fun to go down that route every once in a while.

(09-02-2016, 07:45 PM)Otto Halmén Wrote: 1. Not sure what it's called when you're flipping major chords into minor in a minor key progression. Still borrowed chords? Anyway, I don't think it's quite over the top. Besides, it amplifies the contrast between the big bad evil part and the neoclassical part.

No idea what it's called either, it's a pretty typical movie soundtrack sort of thing though. Replacing the expected major chord in a progression with a minor one instead (e.g. E minor -> C minor, or E minor -> G minor) sounds instantly dark and threatening, yet with proper voice leading it's not as weird as it might seem.

(09-02-2016, 07:45 PM)Otto Halmén Wrote: EDIT: Has anyone told you that you're good with ballads? The Journey Home already gives me shivers. It's sublime.

Thanks! Yeah, stuff like that is probably my forte, most often I struggle with the larger and more dramatic arrangements, but the sad, soft, slow pieces... they tend to fall into place much easier.

[peastman]

I think the chord at 0:19 works fine. It's a little unexpected, but in a good way. The transition at 0:39 feels kind of abrupt, perhaps because so many things change at once: rhythm, instruments, harmonies, etc. If you had the brass keep playing for another measure, that might smooth things out a bit.

[Mattias Westlund]

(09-03-2016, 04:07 AM)peastman Wrote: I think the chord at 0:19 works fine. It's a little unexpected, but in a good way. The transition at 0:39 feels kind of abrupt, perhaps because so many things change at once: rhythm, instruments, harmonies, etc. If you had the brass keep playing for another measure, that might smooth things out a bit.

Yep you're right, that transition needs work; in fact the brass just trails off in the previous bars as I'm not quite sure where the melody is going right now. Good idea about letting the brass linger for a bit (though maybe softer) while the strings move into the neoclassical thingy, thanks!

[Mattias Westlund]

Also, I have a question for everyone who has listened to (all or bits of) this.

Are there any instruments that, in your opinion, stand out as a lot worse than the rest? Taking into account, of course, that I can't work wonders with a setup like this. Is there anything that strikes you as annoyingly bad, sample qality-wise? Anything you think I should really, really replace?

I think I have managed to create a template that sounds fairly "together" under the circumstances, but there's a few things that bug me. The snare for one, but I'm at a point where I've used it in so many places that I can't easily switch it out without re-recording ALL snare parts, so I think I'm stuck with that one.

There's a couple of other things as well, but I'm going to keep them to myself for now. Just curious if they're bugging anyone else as well.

[Otto Halmén]

To me, nothing sounds out of place when it comes to the sound of the album. Even the solo strings fit quite nicely.

I didn't even think about the snare until you brought it up, so it probably isn't as big of an issue as you think.

[Mattias Westlund]

(09-06-2016, 12:43 AM)Otto Halmén Wrote: To me, nothing sounds out of place when it comes to the sound of the album. Even the solo strings fit quite nicely.

I didn't even think about the snare until you brought it up, so it probably isn't as big of an issue as you think.

Well that's a relief! Maybe I worry too much

[Mattias Westlund]

Soo... I have a project title, a couple of deadlines, and an album cover/release ad type of thingie.



I've set myself a compositional deadline: November 1st. Which gives me about a month for mixing/mastering and ironing out the details as far as distribution is concerened. With some wiggle room for unexpected snags and whatnot. Expect it to be out somewhere between December 1 and Christmas.