Over the Northern Mountains (Cold :P)

[West]

The link to the last version doesent work anymore, but I've listened to it yesterday.
And i strongly preferred that version.
Ive thought WOW thats was god.

Thanks JAP. And yes, I deleted the first test version; my web space was getting cluttered, and after all the original was identical to this, only longer.

[JAP]

Ah i didnt even notice that post before i posted.
Well after listening to all of them the 960 is still my favorite, mostly because of the "rolling thundery" sound it gives the drums.
But on the other hand i like what th Spa pavillion does for the bagpipe

[yobbo]

Heh, yeah . Of course there are differences. But without some underlying reason to pick one or another, the differences don't have much weight.

My underlying reason for liking the original reverb was it's coldness / crispness.

I'm fairly happy to agree that the 960 reverb does sound "nicest".

[Smashworth]

It sounds realy good. I would suggest a mild re-arrangement.

The first section with the French horn melody would be A
The second section without any melody would be B.
The third and fourth sections with the violin melody would be C and D.

I suggest BCAD.

After D, maybe a half-time section as a kind of respite, then you can go back to BAD as a buildup to a finale? Just something to think about.

[West]

It sounds realy good. I would suggest a mild re-arrangement.

The first section with the French horn melody would be A
The second section without any melody would be B.
The third and fourth sections with the violin melody would be C and D.

I suggest BCAD.

After D, maybe a half-time section as a kind of respite, then you can go back to BAD as a buildup to a finale? Just something to think about.

Heh. I just spent the last 20 minutes scratching my head, thinking "WTF? What's he talking about, the whole piece is in D minor!?"

Then it dawned on me, just before I posted a quite vitriolic comment, that you weren't talking about keys, you were talking about structure. A, B, C, D.

Okay, I get it now. The thing is, if you've only heard the most recent short clips, be aware that this is not the entire tune. There are sections missing from those clips, as I just selected a short snippet to demo the reverb. But IOW, are you saying I should use the bagpipe part as an intro instead?

[Smashworth]

The thing is, if you've only heard the most recent short clips, be aware that this is not the entire tune. There are sections missing from those clips, as I just selected a short snippet to demo the reverb. But IOW, are you saying I should use the bagpipe part as an intro instead?

I listened to the mp3 which is linked in the very first post of this thread, filename "mountain.mp3". I didn't hear any bagpipe in that recording. Maybe I missed something? I didn't really care so much about the reverb.

I'm much more interested in composing than production values. It's not so hard to produce something of professional quality. It's really hard to compose something which people hum while they work and whistle while they play.

In the US we typically describe a song's structure using those capital letters, like BABACBAA for a pop song or something.

It would be great to hear the entire piece.

[West]

I listened to the mp3 which is linked in the very first post of this thread, filename "mountain.mp3". I didn't hear any bagpipe in that recording. Maybe I missed something? I didn't really care so much about the reverb.

Oh. TBH I don't remember what that version sounds like; normally I remove old versions once a new one is up, but I must have forgotten to do that. A new revision will be up today or tomorrow though.

It's not so hard to produce something of professional quality. It's really hard to compose something which people hum while they work and whistle while they play.

I'm not sure I agree with that. Writing catchy melodies is relatively easy, making pro-sounding productions is not. Not if you don't have pro equipment, at least

[Rain]

It's not so hard to produce something of professional quality. It's really hard to compose something which people hum while they work and whistle while they play.

.... You are making it sound as if you speak the truth.

Musicians typically have different strengths and weaknesses. Some will be better with the actual music and some may have a preference for the production. It's kind of dumb to generalize what is easy and what is not considering there are so many different kinds of musicians, easy with diversely different talents to draw upon... Are you drawing upon your own experience here?

In my eyes, making a professional quality recording is much more difficult than coming up with a melody. I am with West on this one.

[West]

New version. No big changes or additions though, I really don't know where to go with this piece right now. Or more correctly, I know where to go with it (I'm going to repeat a couple of parts), but I don't know how to make everything sound good. Everything after 1:05 is very sketchy; I tried adding a glocken to bring out the string part more, plus a snare. I dunno... it ends up sounding too festive somehow.

This is all still very much unfinished. Things are missing, the playing is sloppy, and some instruments just abruptly stop playing in places. I'm fully aware of this.

[marcusvinicius]

Very good work!!I like the percurssion mix in the brass section passage.

[Tyler Johnson]

On the downbeat of bar 8, is there a reason why the horn drops in dynamic? Kind of threw me off there. Anyway, I don't know about pirates, it makes me think of a helicopter-cam panning over the shire. I dig it.

[Jetrel]

Just wanted to chime in and toss some encouragement at this piece - it's really nice.

[Aleksi]

Nice work West, you've progressed a lot! I really like your themes. Its sounds very professional, it reminds my a bit of of tune in Secret Of Mana, that being a huge compliment!

Aleksi.

[West]

Thank you guys, I really appreciate it. As mentioned, I've had some trouble figuring out what to do with this tune in terms of arrangement and instrumentation. Hopefull I'll figure something out before long.

[Garen Voh]

Och! Ye got the bagpipes in, laddie!!!!

I *am* a musician, although the caliber here seems to be slightly higher than I am currently... this is amazing... and I love the bagpipes mixed with the deep drums.

That said, the first ten or so measures (until the bagpipes start) seem... synth-y to me. The trumpet (or whatever brass you've got going there) sounds great. On the other hand it just feels "wimpy" at first, as if it's attempting to sound like a famous piece of work. I don't mind the triangle and cymbals, but the quick arpeggio-thing that leads into the work seems fake. And I'm having trouble identifying what they are, just sounds like synths to me, the "duh / duh duh duh / duh / duh duh duh" etc... yeah, whatever they are, they don't sound right to me.

Further in, the trumpets sound quite good, as well as the bagpipes again.

This is something that would get stuck in my head... great melody/tune. And for the record, PotC didn't even enter my thoughts.

As you continue, I think just climax it more and more as you go. More drums, add the bagpipes and brass and woodwinds back in. Things like that, although not necessarily in that order. Build a lot. Not sure if that helps any. But this is a song I look forward to hearing in future versions of Wesnoth.