KVR Audio

tuckermc · Post by **tuckermc** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 5:05 am

Light Dawning

http://www.tuckermcclure.com/music/Tuck ... awning.mp3

6m30s, 9MB, 192kbps

Synths: Atmosphere, ProteusX, Stylux RMX, Sonata.

I was thinking of winter, when light begins to fill the sky in the morning, and so I wrote this. I've been told it is like a lighter VNV Nation-ish feel (quite a complement! I can only hope to be compared with such an excellent artist!). I'm looking for some feedback on it, so please let me know what you think.

- Tucker

intel · Post by **intel** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 8:28 am

I definitely hear the VNV Nation influence. its light enough and the drums aren't "trance enough" that it sounds less like VNV Nation and more like... I dunno... a Vangelis soundtrack?

I do love that amount of dramatic orchestration in music, but its not dark enough for my taste. it reminded me more of the theme song from The Neverending Story -- and all that that implies.

tuckermc · Post by **tuckermc** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 5:56 pm

Hey intel,

Thanks for the feedback. After your comment I'm now listening to the Neverending Story soundtrack (haven't heard it since I watched the movie as a kid and couldn't remember it). I kind of like it. But what is "all that that implies"?

- Tucker

Gargoyle · Post by **Gargoyle** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 6:02 pm

I would agree with intel's comments entirely. I like that same kind of orchestration (you might like to give [SITD] a listen sometime for a comparison). I did wonder if the strings were a little "dark" in tone, and whether you might consider layering a higher octave on top of what you currently have, at a lower volume to add some depth and brightness to the sound (that's different to intel's comment about darkness in taste, I should add).

Worth developing I reckon

tuckermc · Post by **tuckermc** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 6:16 pm

Hi Gargoyle,

I'll be sure to check out SITD, and I'll try it with some doubled-at-the-octave strings to see how I like it.

- Tucker

tuckermc · Post by **tuckermc** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 6:33 pm

Re: doubled strings.

It doesn't sound right to me. It certainly makes the strings bigger, but it also makes the piece sound thinner to me because we've added some new part writing but no new content, like we've watered it down. It also makes the switch up an octave that happens a couple of times much less interesting I think. Part of the play of the piece is the movement back and forth between high and low octaves. Thanks for the advice though. Would you agree that there's plenty of brightness at the very end? Within the piece, the music keeps moving towards lighter themes, and the brightest point is really supposed to occur at the end. Let me know your thoughts.

- Tucker

Gargoyle · Post by **Gargoyle** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 9:41 pm

Tucker,
Fair points. Listening again as I just have, perhaps it's more a question of texture that I'm missing from it. All the "string" sounds have a similar texture/tone and I'm just waiting for some real strings or at least some brighter (i.e., not JP saw) sounds to come in, really lift it off, and complete the palette of sounds. It might just be me, of course.

So, perhaps earlier I was not expressing myself clearly or hadn't really got it straight in my own mind what was bugging me.

On a side note, I think this also explains why it really does sound Vangelis-like (the synthesised strings) rather than something a bit more modern like VNV.

I hope that this helps whether it's just a matter of having a think about method/tonal palette rather than changing the song

tuckermc · Post by **tuckermc** » Mon Jan 22, 2007 11:38 pm

Hi Gargoyle,

I like the suggestions. There could probably be a greater differentiation among instruments in the palette. I will have a little think about that.

Thanks again,

- Tucker

[VNV-ish] Light Dawning