Hello

[Luis J]

Hello, my name is Luis and I am a 15 year old boy from the US. I'm an amateur composer that has been working in Finale up until I found EWQLSO. I've been playing around with it for a while and finally finished a piece. Now, it is my first piece done this way, but I still hope you enjoy it. It is a bit short. If you're interested in listening to any of my pieces done in Finale previously (I have about 2 or 3 at the most), just let me know. Thanks.

http://media.putfile.com/May-11-22


This is a preview of Mvt 1 and 2. Mvt 1 is complete except for some sound problems, yet to be fixed.

http://media.putfile.com/Mvt-1-and-2-Preview

[nikolas]

Welcome Luis,

First of all let me say that you're quite couragous to post here (inthe manner of not being afraid to do so) and I applause this!

Second let me tell you that your work has a very appealing form and although simple in most sneses it works. It is quite apparent that you worked quite hard in terms of composition and recording/producing, so well done.

I do find that you could make it much larger in duration terms, as it is getting a little monotonous, but you probably know that.

Also the fact that you're only 15 made me quite an impression (what wonderfull use of English)..

Anyway keep intouch with this forums and keep in posting your music.

Nikolas

[fongi]

Hey Luis, this was short but really well done, I liked especially the snare drum when it came in although I thought your bass drum was a bit too loud. A very nice Cello line in the opening too, keep at it you´re young and if you keep composing you´ll surely do well.

[Luis J]

Thank you very much for your comments. I truely well appriciate them. I wouldn't know if it'd be right to post this next song here, for I composed it in Finale. Let me know if this forum's only for music composed in EWQLSO and I'll remove it.

This next piece actually took me a while to compose and arrange. I had started it just for fun and about half way through it, a friend of mine asked me if I had a song (that I've written) that I'd like to let him use for a poetry reading. Well, I made this song with the repeating ending for his poem. Now, because I'd like it to have a more...filling sound, I'm redoing it with EWQLSO, but it'll take a while. I hope you enjoy it.

Malinconia

[nikolas]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by 'composed it in Finale'.

I use Finale for the making of the MIDI files and then import them to Cubase. But I could very well use Finale for the production of the music. It doesn't matter which 'sequencer' or hosting program anyway you use, but that mainly you use EWQL sounds. And I put mainly on because I've seen a lot of demos with all kidns of sounds in.

Also if you want, you could start another thread for the second track you've written and posted here, as now it will be a little difficult now for the rest of the members who want to post something here, to know for which one to talk about, and for you to know for which one they are talking about.

Anyhow about the music I could say that again compositionally it works fine as it is.

I think that after listening to both works I could 'guess' maybe the next one you write a little (not completly but...). You could try having a different form rather than repeating the same harmonic progression again and again (which is not bad on its own, but it could be wise not to use it every time).

Also the piano could use some pedal, as it sounds a little empty.

And the general work, seems to be missing some Reverb. If you're using EWQLSO from Kompakt, there are Reverbs there by default which are not that bad, and could fill the empty space.

Other than that, once more:

Well done

[Luis J]

Oh, by "composing in Finale", I mean that I created it entirely in Finale (although I got the melody from the piano). Now I use the instruments from EWQLSO in Sonar and arrange songs with Sonar. I need a MIDI cable so I can hook my piano up to my laptop and write music that way.

Now, about "Malinconia", thank you very much for your advice. While recreating it with EWQLSO, I'll take that into consideration. Also, I would end it with an...ending. And about the pedal part, I have used it when playing the piano part. It just doesn't work when using the Finale instruments very well. I will try to add that with the remake.

I think I'll hold off for another thread once I'm finished with the other one. Thanks again for your feedback.

Luis

[tchoyy]

Hu ?
I can't listen to it, the file is played too fast
Is there a link where I can download it ?

[Luis J]

Hmm, that is strange. You can download it here

http://rappo.gtagaming.com/luis/music/May 11.mp3.

[Counterpoint]

Hi Luis,

Firstly, nice work with your compositions. They show some good ideas both harmonically and melodically. Your orchestrations work nicely too.

A few thoughts:

- When writing parts for monophonic instruments (that play one note at a time) make sure that your notes are not overlapping at all. One of the keys to making your instruments sound natural and less synthesized is to make sure that a note does not trail off and "smear" into the next note. I'm not sure if it's the reverb in the "May" track but some instruments like the cello at the beginning and the oboe later on seem to be more affected than others. If you think about it, it's pretty much physically impossible for a woodwind player to sound as if they are a piano with the sustain pedal pushed down, so you want to avoid this kind of sound if you're going for realism.

- Reverb... this depends on who you talk to, but I find that a more subtle amount of reverb can be more effective than lots of reverb. Adjust to fit the needs of the piece, but if you want clarity and definition it's better to use less of it. A decent rule of thumb (can't remember where I read this...) is to bring the reverb level up from nothing until you can hear it, and then consider lowering it a couple decibels from that spot. Again, some people prefer mixes that are saturated with a deep reverb so this is really only my own opinion on the matter.

- Clipping... this is a nasty one that happens in digital recordings and it is caused when the volume level goes higher than the digital range will allow. You want to avoid this at all cost since it will add undesirable clicks and distortions to your mix. I noticed a little bit of this in "May" when the drums come in. Sonar should have some plugins for compression and limiting, and you can use these to bring the loud areas down to a normal level.

You've done some nice work there, so I hope this info helps you out a bit or gives you a few more ideas.

Cheers,

- Matt

[Beach]

Nce tune, Luis!!!

I really like it, I agree with matt about the melody played by the oboe, maybe you can check the overlapping notes, or perhaps the release trigger!

Anyway I really like your melody and harmony!

Congrats,
Roberto