Hi Janet, I like the new mix and with the strings it is now a real nice soundtrack to an imagery movie. Intriguing.

Greetings, Rik

Thanks Rik.  Intriguing...have we used that one before?  :-) Glad you like it.

Mathew---too loud?  I need to listen to this on my big speakers.  And I'll see what the consensus is now.  Either that, or I'll put up 2-3 mixes. :-)  Anyway, thanks for checking it out again.  I really do appreciate it!  :-)

I can hear the artillery now, and it's cool, but there may could be a tiny bit less of it. And who said war never solved anything? WAR SOLVES EVERYTHING!!

Very nice Janet... laying in the hay that He made... awesome.
 
Thanks for sharing,
 
Julien

 EXCELLENT!!!!!!! Nice to see you branch out and go for it for a change!!!

You have an amazing talent with voicing your opinion through music.  And yes, I am an expert on that talent, because I listen to music.

Add some evil sounds and some voices and it would be perfect, it needs drama, more script, JMO. Maybe movie script sounds or something like that.

 I'm sure someone here could help in that department, if not let me know and I'll give it a try.

I enjoyed hearing it either way!

Excellent!

Bobby

Wow Janet,

There is no box with this one. I think the percussion destroyed it.

I like it.

Just wish the violin was louder!

Nicely done.

   Janet what I see happening here is you being torn between this being a piano
piece or a soundtrack piece (that is how it is being percept'd). And knowing you as I
do I think you want it to be dominant or give the perception of mentally creating
a piece that creates a "visual" of that wall.  And as well you are "trying things"
to accomplish that.

  In my estimation in order to do so you'll need more than "adding drums" to do that.
It would require several things to do so. Just adding drums or even a viola isn't
going to accomplish that. If creating a visual (just to use that as a term) you will
need (parts). That can be done with "more" things like in the production having
more "parts" doing "things" or more (instruments etc) doing more things.

  Whether it's the instruments you now have playing in such a manner as to
create that, or adding more instruments. such words or terms such as "impact"
"dramatic" "ease off" "build up" "tension" "easy" etc might be an aid in your
mindset in creating that type of piece.

  I think I know what you'd like to accomplish in this and applaud you for doing so.
If I'm seeing things correctly I do think it's a bit of a "new" area for you. (That is
doing something of this nature) although it might be similar in it's concept
to an "orchestrated" piece which you can already do, there is "something"
a little different about what you'd like "this" to turn out.

   And I think that you are thinking of drums as a huge part in doing so. AKA
a drummer playing with an orchestra (not just a drummer) but one who
can use "that" drummer" to do (all) of the dynamic things an the orchestra
would otherwise use for that purpose.

  I ran across a youtube video where a drummer was doing that and it was
just "totally" awesome. Of course that is an extreme comparison in "definitive"
terms but it does show "things possible".

  I think that maybe on the subject of drums (in this case) that you might have
to (using a term) "go all the way" in the production, maybe not so much in
busy per say, but more "creation"more "things" More "things to hear".

  Of course all that I'm saying is about thoughts and not critique. (And) what it
seems that you'd like to accomplish with this piece.

  It's a lot of fun to see you do what you do and try things

 

Jimmy, good points.  I'm not sure what I wanted it to be, but as I kept hearing 'guns' it led me in a direction...more of a visual direction.  Whether it would ever work with only 3 instruments, I don't really know.  Whether anyone else besides some of you here would ever like it, I don't know.  But yes, it's fun experimenting and seeing what's possible.  It's a shame not to use this drum program.  So, I'll just keep playing around with it and see what happens. :-)

Reece, you tell me how many drum hits you want and I'll make you your own mix.  ;-)

Reece and I are right. You're a bad girl. Now GO TO YOUR ROOM! And now playing in your studio!

hmm, well i have missed out on some debate here!

FWIW my take is that i can see what you are trying to achieve, i think i would take something from what Jimmy says; find a piece of video footage with actual warfare on it (whether real or from a film) that has artillery sound but no music, and then add your music to that...

or use the artillery/drums as an intro/outro. the music itself is excellent, one of the best tunes you have written, i love the strings.

maybe a change of title? 'the melancholy of war' or something...

I really enjoyed what you have done here which is a very unique combination of Thunder Drums and Piano. They portray extremely different instruments in this case ( The light and subtle piano and the thunderous drum ). You use them very effectively to illicit a specific emotion. Jimmy is right in that you seem to be struggling to present this as either a piano piece or a soundtrack. I think what Reece is alluding to is that there can be a common ground, but for this to be a piece of music as opposed to a soundtrack, you have to find a way to make these two extreme instruments work together. ( This isn't necessary in a soundtrack because the sounds would actually be supporting the images which many have already imagined as artillery fire or the like.   I think the addition of the strings is a excellent way to try to glue them together by filling out the spectrum a bit. I think I have to agree with Reece in that the drums would work best if used as a spice in your soup and use them to taste.....  They are quite powerful and effective and will stand out quite well if used sparingly. Just my two cents .... I think you've done well tackling such a challenge to make these two instruments play well together.

Thanks again, Reece.  I let this one sit for a couple days and now I agree with you.  There are less hits now.  But I know you like the piece and were interested in playing along, so I was really serious...I can do it how you like it just for you.  :-)  It's extremely easy to add or delete gun shots or cannons or whatever these things are.  :-)

Thanks Bob.  I've taken out lots of the drums to make it more, well, austere, I guess.  And I like it that way now. :-) 

Mark, I thought you might like this one better than my fluffy ones.  :-)  It sure was easy to put together for some reason.  Just a tad harder getting it 'right', but I guess that's normal when you try something way different.  I've also been thinking of a different title.  I like your idea.  Anyway, thank you very much!  I've often thought about scoring a short video clip but have never gotten around to it.  And actually don't really know how to go about getting the video in Sonar, or if that's even how you do it.  Maybe some day. :-)

Thanks Tom!  You weren't late....the party was just getting started.  Thanks for stopping by. 

Thank you, Jim.  (TAP)  I appreciate your insights.  This latest mix has way less spice, which will hopefully make it better. :-)

patm300e:  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Yeah, I suppose that first drum hit could be a little loud on earbuds.  I sort of wanted it to be dramatic but maybe I overdid that one.  I'm glad you caught the emotion. :-)

Anyway, new mix up on Saturday 2/5. Thanks again, everyone.  :-)

Thanks Bob.  I'm especially glad you like this version.  :-) And I'm extremely tickled that you stopped by to listen again, too!  OK, I'll lower that first hit.  Fortunately, it's an easy fix.  :-)

Keep fighting.  :-)
I'm sorta enjoying this 'dark side' too.  Not sure if there's any more of that in me, but I hope so. ;-)

Good point.  But if I'm gonna try to pitch this, or anything else, anywhere, they may even pickier than you guys. :-)

Ivory?  Get it!  You won't regret it.  They've got a version that's only about $169.00.  I didn't think I needed several types of grand pianos (the $369.00 version).  One good one is enough for me.  And there are several ways to tweak this one too, for different styles that are way different than how I normally play, and some very nice easy-to-use synths also.
 
Oh, and thank you!  :-)