First orchestral attempt so apologies to your ears! I learned guitar as a kid so guitar will often feature in my music. I also remember as a child listening to Toccata and Fugue in D minor (I think), played on a church organ and loving the power like standing in a force 9 gale, so I really like that sound so this is a ‘mix’ of those two.
Genre Classical.
Vision was to create an evocative, emotional, powerful piece of music.
I might get music details wrong as my music theory is non existent. Key C, BPM, 80, 3/4 time.
Instruments were BBC Symphony (the free one) and Spitfire Audi Originals, the hero is the free VST - Leeds town hall organ and the guitar is Ample guitar L.
I totally new to this stuff so really appreciate the feedback as it will help me to grow. I really struggled with the transitions so any specific help here would be useful. Also the melody I feel becomes repetitive so how to keep the melody going I’d also be interested in.
not as much about the technical execution as it is about the composition, and it definitely works as a classical composition. Nice work and accompaniment.
Hey Tim! If this is your first attempt, it’s really quite nice! So, you invoked the Toccata and Fugue in D; were you just trying to sound like something classical or were you aiming for it to sound like Bach? I am by no means a master composer myself, but some points I noticed is that a Fugue is a specific style of imitative counterpoint writing, though without getting too into the theory, counterpoint is writing two or more melodies simultaneously and is something that is a complicated topic and requires a fair bit of serious study, but is essential to writing Classical/orchestral music.
Another technique to consider is modulation; this is the practice of changing keys during a piece. This is one way to keep the music interesting and can be used to start a new section of music or to add some variation to a melody from a previous section.
Also, the use of harmonic cadences. This is a specific sequence of chords to give the music a feel of incompleteness/continuation or a sense of completeness/ending. For example, you’ve no doubt heard the classic “da…DA…DAAAAAAAAAAN” ending in many Classical pieces. This is the IV-V-I cadence, or F-G-C chord progression in the key of C major.
Here are a couple of links that you can use for reference to some of these points. The first is Camille Saint-Saëns’ second symphony. After the intro when the faster part starts with the strings, is an example of Fugal counterpoint; each section plays a similar melody line at a different harmony to start while the others play a different melody underneath. The second is a solo piano piece of my own composition. You can hear both counterpoint lines and how I vary the melody by offsetting it by an octave, high, then low. There is also a slight modulation up toward the end of the B section and return to the original key.
Hey Rim, firstly this is a great first attempt. I really get the classical feel. Though if you’d like to get better in this style I’d consider learning about baroque counterpoint (look at bach in particular).
The things to avoid in this style are dissonances, parallel voicings(especially 5ths) and doubling of the third in a chord.
If you inbox I’ll send a detailed approach to counterpoint. It’s a big subject.
I hope this helps in your steps forward.
Very nice Tim - at this stage don’t worry too much about rules just keep writing. Bit of a sudden cut off at the end - when printing to audio remember to leave enough for the reverb tale. A very good first try. Well done.
thanks for taking the time to provide such a comprehensive reply and the links. I’ll read up and listen on the points that you mentioned and have a go at making use of them.
From what Im hearing I can tell that you had a good time making this. I think also that you made good use of BBC Symphony, balance Mixing and good production quality in general. The tune was a happy one and easy to listen to. I liked the organ.