Rock/Punk MIDIs
As some of you may know, for a while now I've been writing music, predominantly in MIDI form. Recently I've been writing pieces that are a little more Rock/Punk oriented, as the subject says. I've got two instrumentals that I, myself am fairly proud of, and I would like to hear your opinions of what you all think, especially from those of you more musically minded, like myself.
Awesomesauce - (Temporary name)
This piece follows a very basic structure, and is all based around a simple chord progression. I actually find the riff to be very catchy, btw. Don't know if you'll all agree, though. When writing this, I had a main focus on the drums, and getting them exactly right, as that's seemed to be my main focus, lately.
Oh, and if you're wondering about the name, it's only temporary, my guitarist seems to have a strange facination with the word 'Awesomesauce'. Don't ask me where it comes from, cause I don't have a clue.
Crisis Rock
If you couldn't guess from the name, this is a Rockified/Punkified version of my old orchestral MIDI Crisis (that DaVince helped me a lot with, I should mention), although the only thing I really used is the main melody/riff. I've based a neat chord progression on the riff, although it's usually done the other way around and I think it's really cool. The key change needs work though, so criticism is most welcome on that section in particular. I'm actually very proud of this one, though.
If people like these, I could probably begin to get a serious focus on more MIDIs like this, and maybe get into more of the 'fight scene' MIDIs, specifically with Dink and D-Mods in mind.
Now, I'm sure most of you know the deal: listen, think, comment, critique, etc.
Awesomesauce - (Temporary name)
This piece follows a very basic structure, and is all based around a simple chord progression. I actually find the riff to be very catchy, btw. Don't know if you'll all agree, though. When writing this, I had a main focus on the drums, and getting them exactly right, as that's seemed to be my main focus, lately.
Oh, and if you're wondering about the name, it's only temporary, my guitarist seems to have a strange facination with the word 'Awesomesauce'. Don't ask me where it comes from, cause I don't have a clue.
Crisis Rock
If you couldn't guess from the name, this is a Rockified/Punkified version of my old orchestral MIDI Crisis (that DaVince helped me a lot with, I should mention), although the only thing I really used is the main melody/riff. I've based a neat chord progression on the riff, although it's usually done the other way around and I think it's really cool. The key change needs work though, so criticism is most welcome on that section in particular. I'm actually very proud of this one, though.
If people like these, I could probably begin to get a serious focus on more MIDIs like this, and maybe get into more of the 'fight scene' MIDIs, specifically with Dink and D-Mods in mind.
Now, I'm sure most of you know the deal: listen, think, comment, critique, etc.
Awsomesauce: definitely a strong punk-rock feel. I find the guitar to get a little monotonous after while. Could you break it up with other instruments? The solo is great, but doesn't seem emphasized enough (I have minimal musical skill and no guitar/ band skill, so take it with a grain of salt.)
Crisis Rock: Good for a boss fight
Crisis Rock: Good for a boss fight
When you say 'solo', what part of the song do you mean? Are you referring to the riff, the guitar line that repeats? Because I didn't write any particular solo...
Nice!
I'm actually using Crisis (the original) for the intro to my D-Mod, it fits really well
I'm actually using Crisis (the original) for the intro to my D-Mod, it fits really well
Listening.
Crisis Rock
The same riff is repeated way too much. This isn't a bad thing - as long as you remember to break it up more often (say, every 4th measure you get a variation that focuses on different tone heights). Also try making the entire riff longer than 2 measures.
You don't seem to be using a particular musical structure, or at least not one that holds one's interest much. Try thinking in terms of "verse, verse, refrain, verse, bridge, refrain", in which the different "blocks" all have their own distinct piece playing, sometimes with slight variations. This breaks up the song to be more enjoyable and varied, even if there's no singing for the verse and refrain parts.
I'd also try seperating the bass guitar's notes a bit more from the main guitar's. They seem to be mostly sharing the same notes and rhythm, emphasizing a melody that's already repeating too much. Vary it a bit, or perhaps give the bass some resting space followed by quick fingerwork.
A little bass suggestion. This is just an example, try to find nice variations yourself. Two extra measures thrown in playing only the bass so you can hear it better.
Awesomesauce
Much better! Lots of variation, but still structured. The fourth bit of that high bass in the main sounds a bit off, but other than that I have to say this one's good. I like the buildup you start in the middle of the song.
Crisis Rock
The same riff is repeated way too much. This isn't a bad thing - as long as you remember to break it up more often (say, every 4th measure you get a variation that focuses on different tone heights). Also try making the entire riff longer than 2 measures.
You don't seem to be using a particular musical structure, or at least not one that holds one's interest much. Try thinking in terms of "verse, verse, refrain, verse, bridge, refrain", in which the different "blocks" all have their own distinct piece playing, sometimes with slight variations. This breaks up the song to be more enjoyable and varied, even if there's no singing for the verse and refrain parts.
I'd also try seperating the bass guitar's notes a bit more from the main guitar's. They seem to be mostly sharing the same notes and rhythm, emphasizing a melody that's already repeating too much. Vary it a bit, or perhaps give the bass some resting space followed by quick fingerwork.
A little bass suggestion. This is just an example, try to find nice variations yourself. Two extra measures thrown in playing only the bass so you can hear it better.
Awesomesauce
Much better! Lots of variation, but still structured. The fourth bit of that high bass in the main sounds a bit off, but other than that I have to say this one's good. I like the buildup you start in the middle of the song.
Awesomesauce is pretty good. Its slower than Crisis Rock, but its still definitely a good piece of music. I can picture a slower moving or standard battle between Dink and some regular enemies (further in the game, e.g Stronger regulars) in time with this music.
LOVE this version of Crisis! Its definitely going onto my Must Use list. Once I can manage to get around to finishing a Dmod worthy of being uploaded (rather than all my testing failiures) I'll definitely use this. The moment where there was just a ping (it may have been lag, but all other instruments paused half a second for it) was funny
Both of these tracks are Pure Epicness.
LOVE this version of Crisis! Its definitely going onto my Must Use list. Once I can manage to get around to finishing a Dmod worthy of being uploaded (rather than all my testing failiures) I'll definitely use this. The moment where there was just a ping (it may have been lag, but all other instruments paused half a second for it) was funny
Both of these tracks are Pure Epicness.
I was referring to the Bass-y section starting at 2:00. But when I re-listened to it, I thought it was pretty good, especially how it builds up to the original riff by the end.
I have an issue with Awesomesauce. Starting at about 3:40, there is double bass, or what sounds like double bass. Punk does not use double bass, and neither does most rock. Other than that, it was pretty good.
I think Crisis Rock is really good, but it sounds more like metal than punk.
I think Crisis Rock is really good, but it sounds more like metal than punk.