A first attempt

[IoN]

I decided to see if I could potentially contribute music to Wesnoth with this piece. I can tell it's not of the quality of the mainline pieces, but perhaps it could be with some work(?)

The themes in the piece actually sound extremely familiar; I hope it's just because I've listened to it so much (I don't want to inadvertently steal anything!)

silver.mp3

[Turuk]

As a non-music developer/contributer, I enjoy it, I do think it is along the lines of Wesnothian music.

However, the music is incredibly faint? I do not know why, but even after being loaded and at full volume, I had to strain at my speakers to hear it. That might just be me, or maybe it is the file?

[IoN]

Yeah, the file is too quiet; I just realized that when testing it on speakers (I had been using headphones before.) I'll see what I can do about that.

EDIT: Done: silver2.mp3

[vladikus]

I like the movement of the instruments at the beginning as well as the instruments you chose. For some reason the middle sounds a bit staticky (as in there seems to be a bit of extra noise). I think it ends a bit abruptly too. Nice piece overall.

[IoN]

I like the movement of the instruments at the beginning as well as the instruments you chose. For some reason the middle sounds a bit staticky (as in there seems to be a bit of extra noise). I think it ends a bit abruptly too. Nice piece overall.

It's probably the subpar string samples; I'll find replacements eventually if I can. On the abrupt ending, it's supposed to loop back to the beginning (like some of the other Wesnoth tracks), though even then it sounds a bit strange. I'm considering extending it to fix this.

Thanks for the feedback.

[IoN]

I haven't posted an update in a while because the newer versions of the piece contain arrangements of TimothyP's Wanderer theme (as suggested in this thread), and he requested that anyone using his themes first okay it with him. We exchanged a few PMs on this, and I requested permission to post the updated versions in this thread. I haven't gotten a response yet, however.

[p0ss]

Higher quality samples are a must, they would transform this piece. I'd also raise the relative volume on the drums.
And I agree, the end needs a resolution.

That said, the melodies are good, the orchestration works well, the changes is mood are well conveyed and the whole piece holds together brilliantly. and it sounds very Wesnoth. Mind you, i turn off the music in game and put on hip hop, so my definition of Wesnothian is far from authoritive

[West]

Mind you, i turn off the music in game and put on hip hop

[p0ss]

hey, its aussie hip hop, not that american gansta crap. look up bliss n esso.

[IoN]

Higher quality samples are a must, they would transform this piece.

Yeah, definitely; I'm beginning to hate Garritan (though I can't afford much more). Anyone have any suggestions on what sample library to use?

I'd also raise the relative volume on the drums.

I already made that change in the newer versions; still waiting for Timothy to get back to me.

That said, the melodies are good, the orchestration works well, the changes is mood are well conveyed and the whole piece holds together brilliantly. and it sounds very Wesnoth.

Thanks!

Mind you, i turn off the music in game and put on hip hop, so my definition of Wesnothian is far from authoritive

Errr....

[IoN]

Timothy still hasn't responded, so I'll go ahead and post the updated versions.

Here are the antiquated versions, for those of you who are interested in how this piece was developed.
silver3.mp3
silver4.mp3
silver5.mp3
silver6.mp3

And the current version, which is finished in terms of length, but still very sketchy, is this:
silver7.mp3 (You can never tell what I'm going to title my files, can you?)
The highest priority right now for me is to find better samples; I'd welcome suggestions on that.

EDIT: I should probably comment on the piece.

The middle transition section with the solo harp and then the soft, eerie (at least that's what it's supposed to sound like) high strings and woodwinds is supposed to smoothly take one back to the 4/4 themes. I can't really judge whether it does this since I'm the composer, so I'd appreciated comments on that.

Originally (and still), I intended for this to be a magi-sort of theme, hence the military-style drums at the end.

Speaking of the end, I wanted to make it loop at least sorta well, but at the same time conclude without looping as well. I think I did this fairly nicely, though of course I'm biased.

[Kobold]

quite nice.
Some part sound really a lot like the actual game music

And this drum in the middle is really ... weird.

Enjoyed !

[IoN]

quite nice.
Some part sound really a lot like the actual game music

And this drum in the middle is really ... weird.

Enjoyed !

Yeah, like I said above, much of the middle is a direct quotation of Still Another Wanderer.

About the drum, you mean the wood block + maraca rhythm? To my ears, that actually is one of the more natural-sounding percussive parts of the piece.

[Jetrel]

Generally sounds great, it's sufficiently complex and interesting as music to go into wesnoth. The only thing that I'd say is holding it back is the low quality of the synthesizers for the instruments.

In fact it sounds really good in spite of that. I hope West/Rain can give you some advice on polishing it up.

That bit in the middle, with the "woodblock", or perhaps "cowbell" (hard to tell from the synth) is an odd choice of instrument to do that percussion. It could work just fine, but it'll be a choice of picking the right instrument for the job - and any speculation on that right now is moot until you've got the final synths you'd be working with.

Good luck, though - this piece could be a really nice addition to the game.

[IoN]

Thanks, Jetryl!

Heh, it seems no one likes the cowbell, er, woodblock, in the middle. Hopefully it'll sound better once I find better samples and get some real reverb going in the piece - is the rule that instruments farther back should have a lot of reverb, and that instruments in the front should have less?