A Work in Progress Entitled: "We Won" by Kevin Adams Music

[Kevin Adams]

Hello All! I would very much appreciate your constructive criticism on this track. I'm still learning orchestral arrangement and would love to hear your input on where I'm doing good and where I need to improve. Thanks!

"We Won" Is an epic theme for use in a video game or movie. I tried to convey the emotions of victory, the relief that a long fought battle is finally over, and (the new hope) for a brighter future.

[Kevin Adams]

Hey Jon thanks for the reply! I'll take that into consideration as I continue working on it. I can definitely see what you mean as far as the "jubilance" level of the piece. I was trying to stray away from conveying full tilt ecstatic sounds of victory only because when victory is had in war, there is always loss, on both sides of the conflicting forces. So in that sense, I wanted to also convey the emotions of realizing how many comrades were lost in effort to obtain that victory. I'd welcome any advice as to how I may portray this more effectively. Also, if I didn't tell you it was  victory piece, how would you interpret it?

Jon Corelis said:

It's a very nice piece of music, but to me it doesn't sound jubilant enough to be a victory song.  I wouldn't have known it was that without being told.

[Tim Plaskiewicz]

Wow kevin this is really great work! (I gather this is more of a sketch then a final) I think your going in the right direction with this! haha I listened to it without even reading your entire post about what you intend this for, and I knew it was intended for a video game!

So my suggestions if you were to make this into a more finalized presentation. 

The theme's are too wild for a piece of music like this, the shifting of one idea to another is too quick, unless you want the listeners to feel like their being tossed through eons of civilization in a manic-dream-like fashion. Despite how harsh that sounds, it's not. The idea's themselves are well done, the climax though suffers as a result of too much differiation between your melodic groupings, it doesn't feel entirely connected through out the piece... 

If you were to take maybe 5 of the idea's (take from what I mean by "idea's" by what what you are hearing in your own music) and expand on them, really work them one at a time, sketching in different details as you go, trying different variations. In a matter of months or a year you will have excelled greatly! Either way you decide and ultimately do go about it, you my friend are on the right track : )

thanks for sharing

[Anders Christensen]

The first thing I notice is that you track sounds like it compressed very much and the volume is just to loud so that some audio clipping happens. I would strongly recommend correcting this as it is a good composition.

 

As for the emotions you are trying to convey I thinks it is pretty close - the dark and horrible part of war is however to my ears kind of hidden.  If I was to make a track like this I would make it very dark at the start and then make it shift it to the hope for a brighter future towards the end.

 

At some places better string samples could be sellected, at these places the strings sounds quite artificial.

 

Overall I think you have done very well with this compositon and you are on the right track.

 

Have a great day :-)

[Mikolaj Holowko]

It's defenetely not a victory song. It's sound like title screen or city or maybe even hope theme bot certainly not a victory theme. But it's a good composition for sure.

[James G. Watson]

Is that brass at the beginning, or a combination of strings? Either way it lacks the brightness and power that the rest of the peice has. I think overall it is a very good piece and perhaps see more victory in it than others, but I hear more of an after victory piece, an overture to the war.

Perhaps the choir could have more definition (by which I mean not just aah and ooh but sah and ruh). Also maybe subtley alter the percussion - lower the chimes a little and at the end reduce the drum and perhaps add a crash?

 

That's what I would do had I written such a great piece myself. I'm far from pro, but I like to think I have an ear for things.

[Kevin Adams]

I just want to thank eveyone for thier input on this track! I've made a lot of progress and will post it soon. All your suggestions definitely helped! :) I'll be sure to respond to your postings as well when this crazy week of college finals is over!!