Silent Sorrow For Absent Friends

[JJ_Jettflow]

My first offering. This song has gone through many changes but this seems to be the best suited for it.

https://soundcloud.com/j-j-jettflow/sil ... nt-friends

[phoenstorm]

Hi, this is pretty great stuff! I really enjoyed this! I think the title is a perfect fit for the melancholic, pining mood here. I'm a big fan of the subtle orchestration. Two minor quibbles - the first is at the end of the 'first' part around the 1,52-2,00 mark - the piano becomes more insistent, but also somewhat harsh and comes to an abrupt end I don't know whether it's possible to keep the insistence but smooth things out a bit and let it breathe...maybe lengthen the rest there. The other thing is the choral patches that come in at 3.24 - I really like what this does harmonically and I see the point of adding an 'epic' touch, but to me it's a bit too much compared to the subtle fragility of the piece. I might try and fade in these sounds more carefully & then try to keep them a bit more balanced with the main line, sort of going for a mysterious sublime touch there.
Currently on my third listen & it doesn't really bother me by now, so there you go. Add reverb & be more repetitive & and you are in Eluvium territory . Thanks for this!

[JJ_Jettflow]

Hi, this is pretty great stuff! I really enjoyed this! I think the title is a perfect fit for the melancholic, pining mood here. I'm a big fan of the subtle orchestration. Two minor quibbles - the first is at the end of the 'first' part around the 1,52-2,00 mark - the piano becomes more insistent, but also somewhat harsh and comes to an abrupt end I don't know whether it's possible to keep the insistence but smooth things out a bit and let it breathe...maybe lengthen the rest there. The other thing is the choral patches that come in at 3.24 - I really like what this does harmonically and I see the point of adding an 'epic' touch, but to me it's a bit too much compared to the subtle fragility of the piece. I might try and fade in these sounds more carefully & then try to keep them a bit more balanced with the main line, sort of going for a mysterious sublime touch there.
Currently on my third listen & it doesn't really bother me by now, so there you go. Add reverb & be more repetitive & and you are in Eluvium territory . Thanks for this!

Thanks for your kind words and your positive critique! Its funny but the part you mentioned about the piano was a trouble spot for me during the writing. I had tried a bar of 6/4 but that seemed too long so I decided to use a retard but I think I starts too late and is not slowing the part down enough.

As for the chorals, I was going to a bit of slap in the face you might say.

The song originally was in the key of Gm (now it is in C major) and began as a Genesis-like song complete with bass pedals, mellotrons and theremin. It is even titled after 2 different Genesis songs; Silent Sorrow in Empty Boats and For Absent Friends. I had began the song in this style as a tribute song to my late Parrot, Betty, who was a huge Genesis fan for the 35 years she was with us and was entitled "For an Absent Friend". However, trying to create 70's prog rock on samplers and VSTs just somehow didn't work and after our little dachshund, Oliver, passed on, I retitled it, changed the key, changed the title and made it for both of them. I think it turned out as a very nice way to see them off.

Thanks again.

[JJ_Jettflow]

Here is the final version, mastered and complete. Many thanks to Pheonstorm. I used almost all of your points of advice for this song and it came out even better.

https://soundcloud.com/j-j-jettflow/sil ... nal-master