Factory Yoyo presents: The Blessing of St. Edwin, a classical piece

This one has been a real labour of love. I have spent a lot of time composing and getting the articulations down. Perhaps my most musically-adventurous piece, so stick with it.
Dedicated in honor and memory of my late Uncle Ed, who passed earlier this month. RIP.
The Blessing of Saint Edwin
 

absolutely not what i was expecting James, either from the title or your description. almost like an overture in how it introduces new themes. i think a little overdone with the verb, but technically this is superb, the work on the articulations has paid great dividends. excellent development of the piece, in the manner of 20th century English composers such as Walton and Tippett, fantastic stuff. the vocal bits are i guess limited by software, which is a shame, as that is the area which could develop the most. i'd love to listen to more in this area!

I already thought you were the most diversified musician around here and this just proves it even farther. 

But mostly...WOW!!  I wish Ron F. were still around to hear this as it seems like something he'd do.  

I enjoyed the writing very much. It's not the type of piece I would associate with you, which makes it that much more cool. There seems to be a lot of short articulations which are a little "machine-gunish". This would sound terrific with better orchestral samples, but it would be a bunch more work to get it to sound good. I've often resorted to using short samples as well because it's hard to get the lower-end sample libraries to play their other articulations in tight rhythm. That aside, it sounds like the reverb you are using isn't true-stereo, so you're not getting all the depth you can out of your existing sounds. I'd suggest downloading the demo of ValhallaRoom and see what difference it makes. Cheers, J

James,

What a masterpiece and honor to your late uncle.    So much detail, the transitions are super cool, the articulations are realistic, the piece is very creative and original.  Great!!!!

Regards

Jim, this was "really good." I've been really busy w/work and my own studio creations as of late? But I enjoy all kinds of music? Both Country "and" Western? And this was good... I enjoyed the creativity, and the production. And the .wav? Is "dead sexy..." I've tried to lay claim to the most versatile? But you continually thwart my efforts to do so... Hat's off. I can't wait to listen in the cans again, it was still great on the laptop speaks. 

Hi, James,


Wow, this is really amazing, and the orchestration, is fantastic!  I'm sure that uncle Ed is smiling from above.


You can definitely tell that an astounding amount of work went into this. The entire production really shines, and the composition and arrangement was top notch.



Excellent work, and very tastefully done.  Have a great weekend!
Bob

Herb:


Thanks

mgh


absolutely not what i was expecting James, either from the title or your description. almost like an overture in how it introduces new themes. i think a little overdone with the verb, but technically this is superb, the work on the articulations has paid great dividends. excellent development of the piece, in the manner of 20th century English composers such as Walton and Tippett, fantastic stuff. the vocal bits are i guess limited by software, which is a shame, as that is the area which could develop the most. i'd love to listen to more in this area!

Thanks, Mark. I was thinking the whole time, "This is really an English classical piece", with the kinda staid, formal lines and the chipper oboe. Glad it got translated across the pond that way.

Philip


Insanely exqusite and masterful ...  'pure water', with no dirty percussive tricks -- haha!

On 2nd listen, I'd possibly consider making the symphonic scat choirs more complete by dubbing your own vox into the male singers a bit more ... (if you are apt)

TBH, this is my fav piece of yours and probably my fav on the forum to date, fwiw (or my most repeated listens).  Things just had to cascade and increment climactically ... into pesky inquiring scatmen, swirling-bells, dancing vios, heralding trumps, and splendid and multiple melodic tear-jerking chants (in the last quarter).

I did consider putting some of my fake opera voice onto this, but decided to keep it kinda gutteral and simple with the stock "do, re, mi, so" stuff the choir was singing.

Janet


I already thought you were the most diversified musician around here and this just proves it even farther. 

But mostly...WOW!!  I wish Ron F. were still around to hear this as it seems like something he'd do.  

Thanks. What happened to Ron F.?

timidi


This is incredible Hammertoe.........................
I have no idea how you envisioned this and then brought it to fruition. Bravo....


edit: 
it ended. geez man, how long did you spend on this?

I never envisioned it....what I find when I write orchestra pieces they allow me to run in all sorts of different directions...this is where they fell. To be honest, I always just start with a chord progression and work around that...in this case, F-Eb-D-C, IIRC. I guess it took a bunch of hours over two or three months, as I am always working on a bunch of stuff concurrently.

jsaras


I enjoyed the writing very much. It's not the type of piece I would associate with you, which makes it that much more cool. There seems to be a lot of short articulations which are a little "machine-gunish". This would sound terrific with better orchestral samples, but it would be a bunch more work to get it to sound good. I've often resorted to using short samples as well because it's hard to get the lower-end sample libraries to play their other articulations in tight rhythm. That aside, it sounds like the reverb you are using isn't true-stereo, so you're not getting all the depth you can out of your existing sounds. I'd suggest downloading the demo of ValhallaRoom and see what difference it makes. Cheers, J

Those short articulations probably could have used a bit more humanizing, for sure. Thanks for the reverb idea.

LpMike75


Well that was interesting.  I like the dynamics of the piece and how you flowed from mulitple instruments in a section to solo instruments etc.

The choirs near the end- the males were a little overbearing compared to the female section.  This is probably what you were going for but it seemed a too much (atleast to me)  Nice job, I can appreciate the time you put into this.

Sorry to hear of your Uncle Ed.

The males were intended to be a little hotter...perhaps I overdid it!

markno999


James,

What a masterpiece and honor to your late uncle.    So much detail, the transitions are super cool, the articulations are realistic, the piece is very creative and original.  Great!!!!

Regards

Thanks, Mark.

Hi James, excellent compositions and sounds, enjoyed listening to this.

Rik

Hi James. Really remarkable piece of music. I think the last tune I heard of yours was the Atlantis funk tune. This is well written. I was listening closely to the variations of the main theme and it always cool when a reoccurring melody gives itself a feeling "here we go again" in a good way. Probably not the clearest way to put it. Not a big fan of the staccato vox patches. I would even prefer more instrumentation in it's place but I understand your vision and what you have to work with vox wise. It's very subjective anyway.  The piece is excellent, easy to listen to and a great tribute to your uncle. Thanks.

Remarkable piece of work. 

Hi James,

Sorry to hear about your Uncle but this is a beautiful tribute to him.

Outstanding composition and mix.

Man, this is fantastic!  You've outdone yourself, IMHO.

Hell of a tune, James.  You must have spent endless hours on this... it shows!  Excellent job!

I am a classical music fan and have quite a collection. This is WONDERFUL! Thanks for sharing. WOW!