Track #3 "It Hurts To See You Go"

[Donny Pike]

Your thoughts please :-)

[Kristofer Emerig]

Very beautiful piece, almost Fandango-like feel in the syncope. Donny, please dedicate this to my ex-wife, but change the title to something like "It Hurts to See you Go, but It Hurts Worse to See You Stay"

[Donny Pike]

lol That's funny.

[AndrewG]

For me it sounds too mechanical to get any other impressions. Sorry...

[Adrian Allan]

You could perhaps tell us if this is intended to be a demo for real instruments to play or is considered finished in itself.

As it stands there are some nice progressions, but (as has been pointed out) it is spoilt by a tempo that has zero expression. There must surely be some sort of midi control graph on your software that you can use to vary the tempo because at the moment this factor is really letting down what could be a good piece.

Nowadays a composer has to develop some basic skills in production (not that I have many, I just about get by) because nobody else will do it for you, and using a control graph for tempo is one such basic skill.

[Ray Kemp]

Hi Donny,

I think you've been studying at the Larry Alexander school of music for this one, but it's not a patch on the master :)
He has impeccable counterpoint on his piano roll tunes.

Ray

[Donny Pike]

Thanks for listening anyway Andrew.
Donny

[Donny Pike]

Adrian. Thank you for taking the time to listen and comment on this piece. This is one of over 100 tracks that I have written over the past eight years.My original intent was to write some songs that would have enough content to stand on their own before a vocal line was added to make it complete. I have had my 15 minutes of fame as a vocalist. You can do a Google search for Donny Pike if you are curious. I would love to hear my music played by live players and I feel it could happen if it reaches the right set of ears that can listen through the soundfonts used to create it. At this point in time I am lucky to have what I have to write with as I have been homeless for those eight years and have no resources to upgrade to samples and current compositional tools. I am a limited self taught guitar player with no official music training. Everything I write is totally by ear. This does not mean that I don't have experience. I have done over 2500 concerts and recorded many albums for Capital records since 1961 when I was 12 years old.
As far as tempo is concerned, I can't see how altering it would improve it. To me the consistent tempo is a major factor in how the instrumentation flows. What did you have in mind for tempo changes?
Basic skills in production. Don't you mean up to date software and hardware and the knowledge of how to use them to portray your composition? Yes noeadays you have to be an engineer as well as a composer. This forum is a good example. It should be called "Producer's forum" as it is far more that than a Composer's forum from what I have seen so far. I think it is great that a composer has personal control over how his or her work is presented. In the past I would write music. hand it to my conductor then show up at the studio to record it..I just don't like seeing the music take a back seat to the production.
Donny

[Donny Pike]

Hi Ray, Who is Larry Alexander? I am sorry, this comment flew right over my head. lol
Donny

[Adrian Allan]

Thanks for the lengthy reply.

By tempo changes what I mean specifically are small changes in the speed or tempo for the sake of expression. This is what makes music sound human rather than metronomic or robotic. We practise with a metronome for sure, but no performer wants to play with a rigid beat all the way through unless it's house or modern dance music.

I would like to know what program you use to make the tracks. Even the most basic programs have a facility whereby you can vary the tempo by means of a graph. So in the middle the tempo is your norm, and where you move the graph up the tempo speeds up, vice versa. You should be able to do this on your program. By using this technique you can add small amounts of rubato which will breathe much needed life into your work.

Your concern that this forum is too focussed on production is a moot point. Unfortunately (as everybody else here will also tell you) the current state of affairs is this: It's not good enough to just be a great songwriter who can produce poor demos that somebody else can tidy up. Nowadays people (eg producers, record companies) expect demos that are almost good enough to release. So in that climate, to hear something that is very good musically, but badly produced is, sadly, going to create a very bad impression - rightly or wrongly.

I'm still a beginner in terms of production, so I really shouldn't sound like I'm lecturing - but this is how I see things and I'm sure others will agree.

I can hear all your musical skills, and will look you up on google as you suggest.

Can you see where I'm coming from ?

[John McIntyre]

Larry Alexander School of Music.. not nice. I liked parts of it, but found some of the intervals and progressions a little awkward. The constant texture could perhaps be alleviated by a contrasting section?

[Donny Pike]

Thanks John, Good suggestion.

[Donny Pike]

Hi Adrian, I can see where you are coming from and I appreciate your input. I use "Guitar pro" to write my stuff and yes I can alter the tempo with it. I will experiment with it and see how it feels.
Yes record companies have had to change their approach to the business. Why should they spend money recording something that has already been recorded with quality as good or better than they can reproduce. With the general feeling of the youth of today thinking that music is free and easy to get for free the record companies cannot support the high budget recordings they used to distribute on records. You have to be a superstar to get any effort from them. I have three cds available at online record stores through "The Orchard" an on line record company. When I signed up with them I was supposed to receive $.87 cents for each downloaded song. What they didn't tell me was that if a song is downloaded as part of a 100 free downloads for signing up to Itunes or Napster or Wallmart downloads I only receive $.01 cent per download. So if I get 1000 downloads I receive $10,00. I have thousands of downloads with very little to show for it. I only keep those three cds there for a presence in that market. Thanks again for for your thoughts.
Donny