Henry's Ghost

[folderol]

This is a tune I've been working on for a couple of weeks now. It needs more work yet - especially the bass, but I think it's sufficiently 'cooked' for a first airing

As for the title. I dunno. The name just came to me

[MarioD]

Will, this is a great piece of music!  I really liked the orchestration you have here.  Your leads are super, as are the counter points and harmonies.

I do agree with you about the bass line.  A little movement here may be in order, IMHO.  Using bass runs into and out of some chords would put the icing on the cake for me. 

Just my thoughts.
 
Great song!


 

[elwoodblues1969]

Will,

I think this piece is off to a great start-meaning that it does sound a bit incomplete,but not because of the bass(as I see it).

I think that you left quite a bit of room for adding alot of little extras-which is a good thing,in fact,a very good thing,as this song could evolve over time and go into some extrodinary directions.

For instance,if you were to add-say,an arpeggiated riff to tie the song together more tightly,you could just about make it seamless by just doing that.

Sometimes the most remarkable creations are done by gradually adding,subracting,multiplying formulas over an extended period of time.

I have this one song in my collection that I had re-worked,mutated & polished,over a 20 year period and I ended up having two different genres of the same song that I'm very happy with.

Some nice work going on here,Sir.

Cheers,

Thom

[Oren]

What is most charming about this piece is its simplicity.

Perhaps a cello part would replace the current bass track, like the small string ensembles employed in chamber music?

Oh yeah, and, who's Henry?

[Laguna Rising]

I agree on that : simple and beautiful melodies.
very nice composition ! well done

Cheers

[folderol]

Thanks very much for your comments guys.

@MarioD
I shall definitely get to work on that bass line. What you suggested is not a million miles from what I had in mind

@Thom
I usually let tunes dictate to me what 'genre' they will end up as. Often they seem to fall in the cracks 
It might be interesting to deliberately set a style and see how it comes out. I once went though a phase where I arpeggiated almost everything and am still a bit in withdrawl

@Oren
Hmm. Never thought about a cello. I'll give it a try and see how it sounds - I'm a little concerned that it might tend to get masked by the string section though - we will see.

@Laguna rising
Thanks. I do like to try simple melodies out, but it can be a great temptation to keep adding bits

P.S.
I don't know who henry was... His ghost didn't tell me

[offthewall]

I love this tune. It has a truly refreshing melody. Clear and uncluttered.
I see Oren's point about the cello. I think that may work well.
And the title fits the tune.....in my imagination.

 
James

[folderol]

Thanks James.

I had time to do a quick experiment this evening with a piccolo soundfont in place of the synth flute, and a cello soundfont playing the bass part up an octave . I think these will be a definite improvement


P.S.
Where do you get all these smileys from?

[offthewall]

 
http://bestsmileys.com/pageindex.htm

 
James

[folderol]

Thanks james - that's quite a site

... back to business ...

Here is the latest version. I've swapped the synth flute out and used a piccolo soundfont instead. I've also swapped out the bass with a cello and done some editing on that line to give it more movement.

There's more to do yet I think, but mostly details now.

[offthewall]

 
Nice.
I would suggest more realism for the piccolo with the addition of some grace-notes and maybe a tad vibrato (I think you synth chaps call it modulation) on the long notes at the ends of phrases.
I feel that the cello is good but could also be improved by accentuating the 'bowing' sound, would this be accomplished with more 'attack'?  I know that with the likes of StringThing2 and StringZ, the harder you strike a key the more of a 'bowed' effect you get (is this velocity?).
All said, this is shaping up very nicely. 

 
James

[folderol]

Thanks James. Kudos has to go to Oren for suggesting the cello. I had no idea what a staggering difference that would make

[Oren]

Staggering - that's me

It has that lovely chamber music vibe, even more now. Schweet!

To my ear, some of the higher cello notes would be better sounded an octave lower, even if they encroach on double bass territory.  Just to keep your bass line distinct from the other string accompaniment.

Good work, Will 

[Wyatt]

Will,

You have a lovely style and this is a lovely piece..

..bittersweet..reminiscent..contemplative..evocative.

I really enjoyed it.

Wyatt

[folderol]

@Oren
Look mate, I've told you before about this mind-reading malarky Yes, I was thinking that I need to drop some of the higher cello notes, but not a whole octave, I want the part to 'walk' rather than jump

@Wyatt
Thanks very much.

I'll probably do my usual of leaving it to rest until the weekend then have another look to see what can be improved - carefully though. I don't want to 'over-improve' it