Dark Passage

[West]

An attempt at some creepy, threatening music. This is highly unpolished and far from finished so yeah, I know it sounds like stuff is missing.

[marcusvinicius]

very good. I'm waiting updates

[IoN]

The glockenspiel arpeggiated chords at ~0.58 sound a bit too cutesy for the atmosphere, but otherwise, I enjoyed it. I'm happy with the level of reverb as well.

[Kobold]

Hey, that's an interesting piece !

The first part is really great.
The second part, with almost only drums sounds really too empty...
This could you a real melody at some point, maybe with a scary violin.


Thanks for sharing.

[West]

marcusvinicius: Thank you.

IoN: Cutesy, eh? Hmm, I see what you mean. The harp and glocken was added for a little extra accentuation of the woodwinds. Maybe it conveys the wrong mood.

Kobold: What's a 'scary violin'? An out of tune one?


Anyway, new version. This isn't turning out very creepy after all, more like... mildly ominous. I can't write creepy. The second half of it is still kind of bleh, but... at least I'm making progress. I'm trying to ignore the feeling that once again I'm just stringing completely unrelated bits of music together.

[Temuchin Khan]

marcusvinicius: Thank you.

IoN: Cutesy, eh? Hmm, I see what you mean. The harp and glocken was added for a little extra accentuation of the woodwinds. Maybe it conveys the wrong mood.

Kobold: What's a 'scary violin'? An out of tune one?


Anyway, new version. This isn't turning out very creepy after all, more like... mildly ominous. I can't write creepy. The second half of it is still kind of bleh, but... at least I'm making progress. I'm trying to ignore the feeling that once again I'm just stringing completely unrelated bits of music together.

It does seem a bit disjointed right now, I must admit. I suppose it needs a more clearly defined theme.

[Skizzaltix]

Nice work--Reminds me of Danny Elfman, actually.
Though, I'm not sure why, but for some reason the parts where the trumpets (I think) are playing chords sounds strange--I feel like each chord should carry through to the next one, instead of ending.
However, I'm probably the last person you want to take advice from, given that I am a failure as both listener and composer

[Rain]

West, I really like the creativity you put behind this piece. Given your other body of musical work (of what I've heard anyway), this piece seems like quite a stretch stylistically for you and it took me to some nice places. Not SCARY places mind you, but certainly ominous and foreboding. :p I have a lot of difficulty staying consistent with 'scary' music myself while writing because I don't really feel comfortable using dissonance to any large extreme for any given amount of time.
I guess if you are intending to to make the piece 'scarier', introduce some dissonance for its own sake into the quieter passages and see how it sticks to some of your sections.

I felt your theme was easy to follow, though not catchy... I'll venture a guess and say you probably weren't intending to make it catchy anyways. I think the piece has a good ambience with the current instrumentation and reverb.

(Apart from using the bell chimes a bit too much in the opening, no huge criticiques from me.)

(Something about the crazy ethnic flute sound reminded me of the metal gear solid soundtrack for some reason.)

Was this a piece intended for Wesnoth?

[West]

Nice work--Reminds me of Danny Elfman, actually.
Though, I'm not sure why, but for some reason the parts where the trumpets (I think) are playing chords sounds strange--I feel like each chord should carry through to the next one, instead of ending.
However, I'm probably the last person you want to take advice from, given that I am a failure as both listener and composer

Danny Elfman? I'll definitely take that as a compliment!

As for the trumpets bit -- exactly what part(s) of the tune are we talking about? From the top of my head I can't remember using any trumpets at all in the piece. Are you thinking of the trombones?

West, I really like the creativity you put behind this piece. Given your other body of musical work (of what I've heard anyway), this piece seems like quite a stretch stylistically for you and it took me to some nice places. Not SCARY places mind you, but certainly ominous and foreboding. :p

It is quite different for me, yeah. My tunes are usually a lot more structured, rhythmic and melodic.

I guess if you are intending to to make the piece 'scarier', introduce some dissonance for its own sake into the quieter passages and see how it sticks to some of your sections.

Hmm, I might try that. The oboe/cor anglais theme that comes in at ~1:49 is probably a little too pretty to fit the mood of the piece.

(Apart from using the bell chimes a bit too much in the opening, no huge criticiques from me.)

Aww, I like the bell chimes... the intro sounds very empty and boring without them. I could try and make them softer, or more sparse, though.

(Something about the crazy ethnic flute sound reminded me of the metal gear solid soundtrack for some reason.)

It's not an 'ethnic flute' actually, it's a home made PVC flute. The samples are courtesy of Herman Witkam.

Was this a piece intended for Wesnoth?

Well, yeah. I figured it might work for underground or other darker scenarios.

[Skizzaltix]

Probably trombones, yes. A little before two thirds of the way through the piece, I believe.

[Iris]

OMFG this is awesome! Just what I have always wished for. It could be of good use in certain scenarios of my campaign*.
I can't wait to listen to more of it.
* namely those in which the heroes enter a hive full of biomechanical creatures who continuously go after them - in the future there should be some actual scary things as my artwork skills improve.

Keep up the good work!

[Sangel]

I love what you have so far. Like you said, it has a lightly ominous feel to it - it makes me think of dark corridors or winding paths on a moon-less night. I can see it working great for any scenario involving evil or disturbing foes - not bruiser types like Orcs, but creepy types like Undead. It could be particularly useful for campaigns such as Descent into Darkness or The Dark Hordes.

Also, not to be contrarian, but I really do like those bell chimes at the start. I think they really add to the ominous tone. On the other hand, I'm no Rain.

[zookeeper]

I thought the first version you posted was already pretty much perfect. Great piece.

[Swift]

Agree, lovley piece! Personally liked the last part/theme best! Nice work! ; ))

[Rain]

I'm no Rain.

Indeed you aren't, and for that you should be quite thankful.

PLEASE, no false pedestals. No one here is perfect, least of all me.

To be honest, the chimes have grown on me. To clarify my position, I am of the thinking that too much of 'something' is far worse than not enough. Very vague but ... The chimes are very effective, but I believe they stick around a tad too long and contribute towards deflecting some of the attention away from the other instrumental narrative going on. There is interesting stuff going on. I just want to hear it a bit more clearly.