Here is my latest composition. This is a “piano quintet” with a very emotional vibe to it. I put piano quintet in quotes as it’s not really solo strings, but Orchestral Tool’s Tableau Chamber Strings, which is the first time I’ve used this library, but the sound comes across as being more of a solo quintet in my opinion. It’s a nice library, but I feel the violins I patch is a little lackluster; for whatever reason, it contains a few less articulations than all the other patches and it’s mid register sounds a bit artificial to my ears, but in context with the other instruments, it passes.
My initial inspiration for this track was really non-existent, I was just improvising with the instrument patches to see how they sounded but then came up with the cello melody in the intro and took it from there. At first it was just going to be a quartet and I used the piano to map out the chords, but as usual, I ended up leaving it in😄 From there I tried to make a musical description of the feelings of reminiscing about passed events in life that one might regret not being choosing to do, or not see through to conclusion and leaving them unfinished.
The piece is in C minor and largely sticks to diatonic chords, with a few chromatic passing tones in the melodies. I also went from Gm as the dominant to G or Bb to B dim as the 7th to create some classical-style C natural minor to C harmonic minor movement that has a real nice emotional color.
Instruments:
Orchestral Tool’s Tableau Chamber Strings
Orchestral Tools Berlin Inspire Steinway Grand Piano
Native Instruments Kontakt Electric Bass
Percussion: Audio Imperia Nucleus drum kit
Mixed/Mastered with iZotope Ozone 9
I really liked your chord progressions. I agree, the progressions did a good job of providing a reminiscing atmosphere. The whooshing sound you had around time 42 was good but I think I would have it quieter. It sounded too strong a transition. Softer and maybe fading out (but that’s just my personal opinion). Not quite sure I liked the drums though. I felt it distracted from the melodies and did not add anything to the reminiscent atmosphere. Great job though and I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Thanks for the feedback Chris! I did fix the cymbal swell, as you were right, it was too loud. I dropped the volume a bit and actually auto panned it a bit from left to right. As far as the drums, I decided to add them just to give a bit of motion overall to the piece and to make it a bit poppy sounding as I felt overall the melodies were very pop-like and less cinematic (maybe unfortunately )
An emotional and intimate work that tugs at the heart.
I was looking at the Orchestral Tool’s Tableau Chamber Strings but after listening to the samples I decided not to get it. Nonetheless you’ve used it quite well here.
Well done Matt,
Cheers,
Charlie
Thanks for taking a listen Charles. Tableau Strings aren’t too bad. I bought it when they first released it since the price was discounted to $150 I think. I just personally happen to like the natural sound that Orchestral Tools has with their instruments that were recorded in the Teldex studio. It has a real nice classic, cinematic scoring sound to it that I find I don’t need to add any extra reverb to get the sound I want. The only other library that I’ve found that has a sound closest to what I want is Spitfire’s Abbey Road One.
I love this kind of reminiscent sound and I like the strings and rhythm instrumentation you used. Perhaps the bass could come out a bit more or fuller… it sounds a little safe in the mix. But that’s just a matter of taste. Great work!
Hey Brandon! Nice to hear from you. Thanks for taking a listen. I actually thought it was the piano that sounded a bit too quiet But I did forgo using the contrabass and only used an electric bass guitar, so maybe that left it a bit too thin?
My hearing might be off but did you leave us wanting a final note to resolve the piece - I really thought there would be one more piano note – if that was my hearing I apologize, if you purposely left out the resolution, then you really took the theme expressed by the title of the piece to its logical conclusion
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