Woody's music

[woodmouse]

Yeputi yep. (lolwut)

So, I've made two songs, which are... weird. The other isn't really Wesnothy, though.
They both are in my campaign, March of Orcs.
Download the two songs

[woodmouse]

Okay, sorry for the bump and double post...
But I made first song that would fit in Wesnoth, I think.
V download link V
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?jzjnhy5ewdj
^ download link ^

[West]

But I made first song that would fit in Wesnoth, I think.

Hmm.

First of all, I never commented on your old tracks because I honestly didn't think they were meant as serious submissions. More like "look what I did, feel free to use it in your campaign". But as it seems you are actually out to contribute to mainline, I'm going to have to clear a few things up.

First off, a couple of questions. They could be considered rhetorical, as I'm trying to make a point, but you may of course answer them if you like.

1. What is your experience with music and music making?

2. Comparing your track to the ones in mainline, do you seriously think your piece is up to par?

As for #1, I'm betting you don't know anything about music. I know, you probably think that you do, but your composition speaks for itself. There's so many things wrong with it that I really don't know where to start, and I see no point in trying to pick it apart for your benefit. As I've said before, this is not the place for non-musicians to become musicians. In a nutshell, your tune sounds like 2 minutes and 30 seconds of randomly added notes that desperately want to be music but fails miserably because you don't know what you're doing. Like a ship built by someone who's lived their entire life in the middle of a desert, a piece of music written by someone who's not a musician will inevitably be nothing more than an awkward and useless imitation of the real deal. There are rules in music you know, certain fundamentals you must have down pat in order to make it sound any good. It might seem like music is just arbitrary combinations notes of different pitches and durations, but it isn't really that simple. Trust me, it isn't.

Now moving on to question #2 -- and this is what baffles me -- it appears you can't hear any difference in quality between your tune and the mainline music. Which begs the question, do you even listen to music? Any music? Sorry for being rough but I can't help but wonder. It's a bit like not being able to hear the difference between a midi cell phone ringtone and a professional studio recording of a group of skilled musicians.

Let me make this very clear once and for all, if you're not a musician you have no business trying to contribute music for the game. Simple as that. I've wasted 30 minutes of my life listening to this tune and writing this post, time that could instead have been devoted to reviewing serious submissions or working on my own music. Unless you happen to be the proverbial monkey writing Shakespeare (or Bach, in this case), we will never accept any submissions by someone who doesn't have a clear idea of what they're doing. It's just too obvious. As Tyler Johnson said in another thread, that's like him posting stick figures in the art forum and expecting them to be considered for inclusion in the game.

I know that all of this sounds very discouraging but it needs to be said. Partly because I don't want to waste my time having to listen to completely useless submissions, and partly because I don't want you to waste your time writing and submitting stuff that will never be used. If you're serious about becoming a musician -- and if you are, I sincerely wish you the best of luck -- spend that time practicing and researching and listening and analyzing. Being able to write music is an awesome skill that is guaranteed to bring you lots of pleasure, but as with all skills, it must be honed. Everyone can learn it, but no one can do it without learning it first.

[woodmouse]

...I actually make lots of music. The music I make just is black metal and grindcore, so... I have no experience in making music like what is for Wesnoth. I just wanted to try. Sorry.

[Tyler Johnson]

Woodmouse, it's god awful. There's no nicer way to put it. Listen to what West said, he's 100% right.

I was laughing a big while reading it, but then I listened to the song and now I know why he's saying those things.

I'm no LoM here, but I know how things work, and even I occasionally step in even to say "Know what you're doing before you post!"

It's common sense man. Like I said in an earlier thread, I'm not going to draw some stick figures holding swords and shields and post them in the art forum. Basically you wrote the equivalent of what a stick-figure would look like musically.

This piece of "music" has no form, it's awfully out of tune, and the instruments sound like you downloaded them from a SNES soundfont website.

RTFM!

Oh, and have a nice day!

-Tyler

EDIT: You posted while I was posting. Don't be sorry, just realize that this might not be your forte. Stick to the metal/grindcore stuff. I hope you don't take this to heart. If you're really passionate about music, you can learn it like West said, but right now, it ain't happenin'!

[Quietus]

But I made first song that would fit in Wesnoth, I think.

If you're serious about becoming a musician -- and if you are, I sincerely wish you the best of luck -- spend that time practicing and researching and listening and analyzing. Being able to write music is an awesome skill that is guaranteed to bring you lots of pleasure, but as with all skills, it must be honed. Everyone can learn it, but no one can do it without learning it first.

Might i add to what West said by suggesting that you buy a music theory book? Grades 1- 5 (though they go up to at least 8 ) tought me a lot about keys, how they relate to one another, modulation from one key to the next etc. They are a great way to start understanding how music comes together and you can pick them up pretty cheap. If anything it might help out with your metal.