Just messing around...

[Tyler Johnson]

After I finished that defeat track, I thought it would be cool to write a counterpart to it.

I'm not even sure you guys are wanting more defeat/victory tracks, but here is something I was just messing around with on the piano and scored a little victory fanfare:

http://www.tyler-johnson.net/wesnoth/victory.mp3

It's a skeleton right now, just a test, I probably won't even work on it past that, was just a fun little 30 minute project

[marcusvinicius]

It was made with ewql? I think it needs a bit of EQ.

[TimothyP]

It's a good enough skeleton. Now let's see how it sounds once you add some flesh. It also sounds a bit synthy. Try to breath some life into those samples - make sound like real people are playing them.

--T

[Tyler Johnson]

Hmm...I wish I knew how to do that. See that's my main drawback is my lack of knowledge of the orchestra. Being a classically trained pianist, I never really had the chance to hold an oboe or a bassoon or a viola, or violin, let alone know how to play them! When someone tells me "Make it sound like a real person is playing it" I have no idea what to do. And with EWQLSO SILVER (which is what I have) there's not a lot of room for that, it's a pretty basic set of instruments. I shortened some of the notes a bit, to avoid the "perfect" quantization, added some EQ and fixed a few other things, here's an update:

http://www.tyler-johnson.net/wesnoth/victoire.mp3

[TimothyP]

With a minute to respond, I can say that with a whole orchestra at your fingertips, you're using a really small number of voices. Sometimes that's a good thing. In the case of this track, I feel like it needs more. It's got a nice loud oboe, but why? Oboe probably isn't the best victory voice. You could use some brass for sure. I hear a little bit of quiet horn, I think. You might want to add more color too. This can be done with instruments like flute or viola/violin on harmonies that fill out the sound at a lower dynamic level.

One of the main issues is that the balance doesn't seem right. The oboe is too loud considering the other instruments that are being played, specifically, the horns and low strings.

Do you want to know the best way to learn balance? Listen. Listen to other orchestra recordings. Find some orchestral recordings you like and listen carefully. Put on some headphones and listen just to analyze and learn. Pay attention to how loud woodwinds tend to sound in the mix, and brass, and strings. If your ear is trained by practice to hear dynamic levels correctly, it will come more naturally when you are composing your own music.

You're right that EWQL Silver is limited, but I think you could pull off some really good stuff if you work at it. I think you are already doing well with the use of swells. Instruments should never sound stale and flat. There is always motion and fluctuation to musical phrases played well. Spend more time listening. Take note of how other composers accomplish what they do. Listen to something you like and pick it apart with your ears. What makes that particular bit of music sound the way it does?

That's all I can write for now. But it'll pay off if you do what I recommend.

[dkaufman]

Wise words from TimothyP...
I also noticed you used the word quantize - I would avoid quantization like the plague when composing wesnoth-style music. It's a great way to suck believability right out of it.
Also, the expression knob (or wheel) is your best friend!

[TimothyP]

Yes, expression knob is good if you have samples that can utilize it. These would be the DXF samples in EWQLSO. I don't know how many of those Silver has though.

[Tyler Johnson]

It's got enough, now why do the DXF samples utilize C11 better than...say the Master KS samples (which is what I use 90% of the time).

[TimothyP]

Do the KS samples include DXF in them? If so, then there's no reason it should make a difference. I never use KS, so I couldn't tell you for certain without looking it up in the manual.

[Tyler Johnson]

Some of them do. Some of them look like this :

VIB DXF LEG PDL KS

which i'm assuming means Vibrato, (DXF?), Legato, Pedal, Keyswitch.

My EWQL didn't come with a manual, where'd you get yours?

[TimothyP]

They shipped in the box for Gold and Gold XP. OTOH, the new PLAY version didn't ship with one. There's probably one on the installer disc, or maybe it installed it in the program folder.

[Rain]

I am kind of on this piece. It's not working for me, atm. The woodwind introducing the melody doesn't carry the melody at all for me. Something about its presentation just sounds a bit foofy. The orchestration itself is good, along with the mixing and the general idea of a grand finish with the percussion. Overall, the presentation sounds a lot like a piece I wrote for the 'victory theme' but your piece definitely has its own sense of character.

I would say perhaps think about modifying that woodwind patch and perhaps allocate it to a different instrument entirely because it just sounds a bit too thin.

Good luck!

[Tyler Johnson]

Yeah, Timothy mentioned brass, which is a good idea. As soon as time permits, I will mess around with it, and I will post an update ASAP.

[Tyler Johnson]

Here are the 2 trumpet tracks I have right now :

http://www.tyler-johnson.net/wesnoth/victory_tpet.mp3

As you can hear, the last 3 notes were obviously recorded seperate as they sound completely different. That being said, how do I make these last 3 notes sound like the previous ones...I'm looking to make these notes "tongued" if you know what I mean. They sound so thin right now, and there is nothing I can do to the sample itself.