It lacked any depth or richness. It was the same sound all the way through, the same theme repeated over and over again with little variation, and (in my headphones, anyway) an unpleasant 'comb-and-tissue paper' timbre. Definitely not epic. You need more variation, some more musical voices - especially bass notes, maybe some quieter passages and some sense of progression so the end is different from the beginning. IMHO.

I really liked it, concidering that most medieval film soundtracks sound the same. My only concern is that it kind of seemed out of sync.

Maybe you shouldn't use a keyboard? I don't know Garageband, but i'm sure there's a way to arrange the notes different though.

About the timing... Make sure you use the metronome function of garage band to your advantage when playing the various loops. I like the general sound of it though

@WoutStopMotion
The two main ways to arrange music on computers are using loop based software such as garageband / mixcraft / FL Studio or using notation software where you write the 'dots' onto manuscript in programs such as sibelius / finale / musescore.

Personally I think orchestral and classical music are more suited and easier to write on the latter kind of program. (I use Sibelius)

Last edited by BoatsAreRockable (May 9, 2014 (02:54pm))

So for the most part, you all seem to like the melody of the theme itself good, any issues are in how I go about playing it and what I use.  Thanks for all the feedback, and I really like to hear that y'all like it!

@BoatsAreRockable I used the metrenome more this time around, I was having trouble with it last time. 

@Dyland
The motif is a little bit different each time; it repeats itself twice, then the chord pattern changes slightly which then repeats twice, then then an entirely new one twice (not in the recordings) and back into the first part.  That's basically what I've got for a main theme.  I see what you're saying about it getting a little annoying, but I think that if I introduce it right in the actual film and then don't just repeat it exactly the same way over and over it'll be fine. 
I plan on repeating the main theme a few times throughout the film, each time hopefully with an entirely different feel to it.  I expect it to sound more like this second test for the most part, more brass and strings than whatever random stuff was in the first one.  I might go with something more period sounding the first time then use an orchestra kind of one later. 

I like the idea of adding a guitar, I think for the third section of the theme (that I haven't tried recording yet) it'll probably use either a guitar (or guitar-like instrument) or a flute. 

So this time I tried slowing it down a bit and tried to give it more of an orchestral feel.  I only used brass, strings, and a flute this time.  I really liked what the flute did in the first part this time. 
I think this is better than last time for sure, but it the second part might almost be going overboard.  I guess I'll find out.  https://soundcloud.com/user495470665/kn … e-test-two

edit: wow, I started like every sentence with "I"

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I liked this one better, but still think the transitions between volume could be more smooth.  As it stands it's good, but I think it could be improved.

It sounds much improved, although I think it might be a bit too slow now!

I think it's great, but I have a suggestion: keep the main theme at the same volume while lowering everything else down a bit. It will sound better, I think. Oh, and good luck with your film, I can't wait to see how it will turn out!

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This sounds really great. I'm not particularly musical so this might be rubbish advice, but I can imagine it sounding nice with some long, drawn out notes in the background, to connect things a little more. Or some percussion if you wanted a variant of this.