Duel on the Cliffs

[Josh Rickard]

This is a little action sequence that I wrote that is quite difficult. It is inspired by a scene in a series of fantasy novels I have read; the Legend of Drizzt. The music depicts the sword duel between the protagonist, Drizzt the dark elf, and Artemis Entreri, the evil assassin and Drizzt's arch enemy. The duel takes place high on a mountain cliff side outside of the dawrven stronghold of Mithral Hall.

Both combatants are lightning fast with thier weapons. Drizzt weilds twin scimitars while Entreri fights with a long sword and dagger, Listen for the part where Drizzt fools Entreri and sends him plummeting off of the cliff...

[Roger Noren]

Wow, that was something out of the ordinary. I almost felt out of breath, somehow. I can definately see a struggle and very exciting moment with a lot of tension. Fantasy genre, could be, but I wouldn't have pinpointed it without knowing.

It is very much going on with melodies and counter-melodies, changing instrument all the time. For most of the time, it works great! The exception few, but one is the cymbal crashes, which sounds like its from a drum set and not epic orchestra crashes.

I think the tempo is to high, it is rushing too much, imo.

In the beginning, at 19s, I first thought there was synths introduced, but at second listening I don't think that was the intention, it sounds more like a viola or cello playing staccato with strange articulations. Same as the violins at 2:32. At some other places I feel the velocity and quantize is to straight, maybe a bit humanize here and there will do.

Feels like I'm complaing a lot, but I like the music and just want it even better!
I wish I could have at least a share of your creativity and fantasy when I compose...


Roger

[Michael Porter]

It's not bad, but be wary of slipping into some generic fantasy game style. It does flow well, and the beginning is decent, but what really gets me into it is the dramatic buildup starting at 1:10. Actually, it's that piccolo/flute that really does it; that's what makes this piece. I don't even know if a real flute would sound as good there (I'm assuming it's a flute sound), but the sound you have works perfectly. I was extremely disappointed at the chord changes that serve to transition out of this section at 1:38- it really needs to keep going. The rest is well written, but doesn't have near the potential as this middle section. I think you could really take some time and develop that middle section to create a piece that really pulls you in.

By the way, I think the tempo is fine.