Footsteps

[folderol]

I think this is the longest piece of music I've ever composed, although actually it's four linked themes, so maybe that's not true

They are:
A State Procession
The Old man
Runners In The Park
Marching Band

I still can just about play the main themes all the way through on my SY35, but believe me, my fingers are nearly dropping off at the end and the muscles in my arms ache

At over 9MB it exceeds the upload limit so I've put a direct url in. I hope that's OK.

http://www.musically.me.uk/music/Footsteps.mp3

[Oren]

Will,

The four movements fit together nicely! Orchestral, but with some folksy (folky? folk-like?) themes.

Betcha Beethoven wished he'd had one of those gizmos you are using!

Oren.

[Fred S]

Hey folderol!

The themes do fit nicely together. Nice mix of orchestral and synth sounds. Production sounds pretty good as well.

I'm wondering what you were getting at with the 4 different movements. Is there a musical story? Or, what did you envision when you were piecing it together? Just curious.

[folderol]

Thanks guys

->Oren
I often wonder what the old masters would be able to do with kit we take forgranted. They'd all have a ball I'm sure. When you read any of their histories, one thing that always stands out is that they experimented with new ideas and bucked the current accepted 'wisdom'.

->Fred S
These ideas had been in my 'bits box' for some time, and I'd loosely thought they might go together, but it was while sitting in a park people-watching that I made the connection. As I watched, each of the tunes fitted someone or some group.

I did have an idea of linking the whole passage into some form of oddesey but never managed to work out what should go in front and/or behind this. There would have been a very slow movement to start I think.

[kara]

The state procession : Certainly puts the mood in place, i could directly imagine what you where telling. I missed a bit a sad very slow melody popping in.
The old man : Smooth transition from the previous part. Great sound, very visual
Runners in the park : Sound more like horses in the park  I don't mean it's bad, but a four step arpergio supposes 4 legs, so I was rather thinking about horses then about people running.
Marching Band : Excelent, that tuba gives the rythme as he should.


Overall, you did a great job. It realy puts in place what you descibe, very well done.
The whole piece is very coherent with perfect transitions between the different scenes.

Thanks for sharing here 

k

[folderol]

Thanks Kara.

I never thought of horses, but it would indeed fit. I came up with runners because when you see a group of them in the middle distance there often is a sort of ripple effect as some of them seem to go in and out of sync as it were.

[rharv]

Cool concept. The visualizations fit well. I really enjoy compositions like this, thanks for sharing it.

[Laguna Rising]

Hi Folderol
I had to listen to it three times before posting a comment here, because this longer than the average pop/rock song we hear in this place.
This is a huge work 
I enjoyed the melodies and the sounds are realistic enough, I like the composition and the arrangement are made to let it flow, very organic sounds. There are no highs and lows of the dynamic range, as you would expect from an orchestral piece, but this is just an ascertainment not a criticism.
My favourite part is the final one, very inspiring and nice feel
Excellent.

Cheers

[folderol]

Thanks.

You're quite right. There is very little dynamic range. I debated with myself about adding more expression, but decided against it in the end. It seemed to work well enough anyway.

Actually the last part is my favourite as well.