KVR Audio

alphabetgreen · Post by **alphabetgreen** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 7:06 am

Hello Music Lovers,

I thought I'd test the water by putting up one of my compositions for a slating. It's the first movement of my latest completed work, "Concerto for Piano and Orchestra". It differs from a piano concerto in that it isn't so much centred on the piano as much as an actual piano concerto is. It's not the greatest of mock-ups, generally because I've only been sequencing on a serious scale for about a 8 months and this is about 6 months old. Also, it's been sequenced using Miroslav Philharmonik exclusively, so it has it's limitations. Since I wrote this, my tweaking skills have developed quite rapidly and I have just purchased HALion Symphonic Orchestra and Wizoo Reverb, so any future mock-ups will be significantly better.

However, I would be grateful for any feedback on the composition itself, if anybody enjoys it. It's typical eclectic 20th century style classical music scored for a piano and full orchestra:

http://www.galerieskacelik.cz/concerto% ... pro-02.mp3

Please enjoy and comment,

Simon (ABG)

duncanparsons · Post by **duncanparsons** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 8:31 pm

It's nice

I like the use of 5, I think it works well.

Some of it reminds me a little of Camel's Snow Goose

I think it would benefit from better orchestral sounds, some of it is a little mellotron-ish, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it's clearly not what you were after, and the piano sound doesn't quite seem right played ff, the mf and quieter passages seems fine. But compositionally, it's very nice, there's a lot going on, and the dynamics and melodic changes are interesting.

I look forward to hearing the completed work

ATB
DSP

folderol · Post by **folderol** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 8:48 pm

Very much agree. This compositionally very good, but is let down by the 'instruments'.

alphabetgreen · Post by **alphabetgreen** » Fri Jan 09, 2009 10:32 pm

duncanparsons wrote:It's nice I like the use of 5, I think it works well.

Some of it reminds me a little of Camel's Snow Goose

I think it would benefit from better orchestral sounds, some of it is a little mellotron-ish, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it's clearly not what you were after, and the piano sound doesn't quite seem right played ff, the mf and quieter passages seems fine. But compositionally, it's very nice, there's a lot going on, and the dynamics and melodic changes are interesting.

I look forward to hearing the completed work

ATB
DSP

Thanks Duncan, you've convinced me to put up the second movement. However, the finale will have to wait. I'm still in the process of remixing it. Watch this space.

duncanparsons · Post by **duncanparsons** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 1:03 am

Good.

I'll keep an eye open for it
DSP

skipscada · Post by **skipscada** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:05 pm

I didn't really have time for this, but listened all the way through - a compliment in itself, so bear with me. When I comment on something, I tend to point out what I find keeps whatever I'm commenting on from being perfect, and consequently I tend not to give praise. An error, I know, so I made an effort to start with a couple of positive points.

Apart from the obvious mistake of failing to have it recorded by the Berliner Philharmoniker/Barenboim/Celibidache (who was dead long before you wrote it), my impression is that it is ...

- Rich on ideas, yet fairly disciplined. Rarely a dull moment, but it hangs together although "rhapsody" or "fantasia" might be more descriptive than "piano concert", if it weren't for the fact that it has three movements.

- Successful in its Gershwinian ambition to bring elements from popular music into a (fairly) classical form. The percussion is at times borderline comic (that pub rock pan roll ...), but for me it just about works.

- Too democratic. It's a bit like a workstation demo song where all the available sounds are given a fleeting moment in the limelight. Fewer prominent individual instruments would help clarify what's happening below the sonic surface.

- Suffering under weak lines for the string section. At times I get the feeling some sounds simply serve as padding, and I never really get any sort of emotional reaction to the strings, which means something's wrong. You could try to let your violins spend more time higher up the frequency spectrum, cut down on the long notes and legatos and work a bit more to make your strings harmonically more engaging.

- Too metronomic. There are plenty of tempo changes and (successful) movement between swing/non-swing, but within these sections the orchestra sounds a bit too precise and robotic. Not surprising, of course, since you're working with a digital orchestra, and I suspect that's one of the things you've learnt over the last 6 months.

... sorry if I'm too negative. Really, I liked listening to it, but have no talent for praise.

alphabetgreen · Post by **alphabetgreen** » Sat Jan 10, 2009 10:30 pm

Mr Skipscada,

There was plenty of praise in there for me to be getting along with for the moment, both in writing and I suspect between the lines.

I completely agree with you about the strings, and there is a reason for it. At the time, I was working with just one library (Miroslav) and one of it's few downfalls is the lack of decent legato strings, especially in the upper violins, so my composition tended to work around that. However, I've added HALion to my sample collection now, so my new symphony (when finished) will be a lot more fulfilling for the Yehudi Menhuins among you.

Thanks again for the time you've taken to listen and comment.

First Movement of my Concerto for Piano and Orchestra