MacJams.com - Song: Rainy March by drakonis

Rainy March
by drakonis

Get Flash to see this player.

| Download |

Song Info

Licensing Information:

Attribution-NoDerivs

Guest views: 1960
Member views: 0
Song comments: 28
Tokens: 0
Plays: 307
Last Played:
Downloads: 80
Fans of this song:
Submitted on: Oct 28, 2004 - 01:59:48 AM
Last Updated: Nov 21 2005 - 01:47:59 PM

Keywords rain (84), thunder (15), march (19), myth (9), game (32), bungie (1), harmony assistant (15), drakonis (57)

Description Written March, 2002, revised and remixed Fall 2004. A Mythed opportunity has forced a group of weary warriors to break camp and continue their march, now under a dark Spring storm. Inspired by the Macintosh strategy/warfare game "Myth" by Bungie Software. Beware the double entendre, quite a surprising weapon. I would appreciate any critiques you can offer on structure, harmonies, choice of instruments, eq/levels etc., and of course, overall opinions on if you liked it.

Hardware Macintosh dual 1Ghz G4, lots of dark chocolate & coffee.

Software: Harmony Assistant & GoldBase sampled instruments (harp, french horns, rain/thunder), hand-scored note by note, no loops. Exported via Dent Du Midi (and raw AIFF) to GarageBand (GB rendered the drums & eq/reverb.)

Fan List

You must be registered and logged-in to comment.

MissChaos said 1533 days ago

intricate
The harp is played beautifully, and the french horns are so
appropriate, but I would've liked to hear one of harmony
horns to play continuously throughout the melody instead
of following the breaks and pattern of the lead horn. That
may not make sense... sorry if I'm being ambiguous. I'm
not familiar with "Myth", so I may be way off here as well,
but I think in a song with so much darkness and implied
power, there should be more dynamics. In other words, I
kept thinking I was going to hear this long marching build
that was going to climax into a war zone (so to speak) and
then a resolution (think "Night on Bald Mountain").
Perhaps more crescendo/decrescendo (and note
velocity) with the percussion and strings would hold more
interest and keep with the warrior story. Of course, this is
just an opinion and small nit picks. I can't imagine the
time you spent keying the notes into an editor. I liked this
tremendously... and now I'll be humming the harp line for
the rest of the day. ;) I can't wait to hear more of your
stuff! 7-9-8-8
Miss Chaos (mmmm, dark chocolate & coffee...)

drakonis said 1532 days ago

intricate
Thank you very much for taking the time to critique my song m?��lady! I
very much appreciate your thoughtful suggestions. I?��m also pleased to have
lodged the harp melody in your ear, hehehe, "mischief managed!"

but I would've liked to hear one of harmony horns to play
continuously throughout the melody instead of following the breaks and
pattern of the lead horn... Perhaps more crescendo/decrescendo (and note
velocity) with the percussion and strings would hold more interest and keep
with the warrior story.

That's an intriguing thought. When I revamped it this month I had the
french horns "bleed over" into the bridge more, and I also added more
dynamics to build it up to the middle climax before the troops regroup slowly
at the end. However, I can probably think up more harmony parts for my
second-chair french horn (though he'll probably want a raise then, hmm,
maybe an extra 2 bits.) And I'll think about how to give it more crescendo
punch.

I can't imagine the time you spent keying the notes into an editor.

I try not to think about it either, although now that you mention it, the
software ironically tracks the amount of time worked on a piece, hmm, I'm
sure I'll be embarrassed to find out... (goes and finds out...)

This document has been created 19/03/2002, 8:50:16 and modified
118 times. 46 hours 50 minutes 12 seconds have been spent on this
document. Music duration: 2 minutes 52 seconds.

Yes, now I'm embarrassed. But given that my only musical instrument
training was clarinet in high school (long ago), I've always preferred writing
music the old-fashioned way (dropping notes on the treble clef) and having
others perform it :-)

I can't wait to hear more of your stuff!

Well, I do have a small number of tunes that I am now slowly coaxing
into GarageBand as I learn more about its capabilities (Jazz, electronica, rock,
even a "Mexican Waltz?") I look forward to adding something enjoyable to
this great web community, I'm hooked!

ttfn,

Drakonis---
deja vu, it's the next best thing to being there

	TennesseeVic said 1406 days ago
	Sweet! Sounds like one of those symphonic composers who has suddenly discovered the joy of simple melodies and now writes a folk piece, but can't resist using the resources of a symphony orchestra. Very nice piece. Folksy, yet sophisticated.

drakonis said 1401 days ago

Sweet!
...one of those symphonic composers who has
suddenly discovered the joy of simple melodies and now
writes a folk piece, but can't resist using the resources of
a symphony orchestra.

Hmm, like Dvorak, or Liszt maybe? Great composers who loved to sneak in
folk tunes... and I can't remember which piece it was, but Beethoven wrote a
piece that has the tune "The bear went over the mountain" in it :-) But yes,
you've come close to pegging me :-) Now if only I could use the resources of
a symphony orchestra well! I'm working on that... thank you for the
insightful comments!

ttfn,

Drakonis---
deja vu, it's the next best thing to being there

said 1401 days ago

Could of really used a Jam Pack 4.
Well considering that a jam pack four would have made a
world a difference back then, and the amount of work that
went into this as I know how hard it is to score this way, I
am impressed.

That said, the instrumentations are really fake sounding,
and it just makes me thankful for how far we have come
wth digital audio sample quality. Again Jam Pack 4 if you
don't already have it.

The piece is really nice and everything, but almost too
nice. Not much of a build throughout and I think that the
melody gets boring really quick. OF course that is
personal opinion, but I really think that you were limited
somewhat, by the technology that was around, as to the
authenticity that would have helped deliver a more
dramatic performance.

I would say throw this one out and get on something else.
Good Job all around though.
MMM

drakonis said 1401 days ago

Could of really used a Jam Pack 4.
Hmm, you say that this could benefit from me using Jam Pack 4, but then
that you think it is done and I should move on to something else. OK, I
accept those two suggestions, and will either work on it more, or not. :-) I
have been eyeing JP4 for the very reason that I love composing for orchestra.
And Tiger is coming, and there's iLife 5... However, my budget constraints
don't allow me to bleed money on toys for my hobby, so I have to make do
with my current minimal setup and minimal knowledge. The latter accounts
for "the melody getting boring pretty quick", as you point out... I am slowly
learning how to write key changes and write for more than one index finger
at a time :-) Thank you for critiquing!
ttfn,
Drakonis

---
deja vu, it's the next best thing to being there

Magritte said 1386 days ago

Very Myth-appropriate
I agree that some of the instruments, like the horn and harp, could maybe use a re-scoring with some Jam Pack 4 instruments, but then again since it is inspired by a video game the sound does work well for that. I would have liked to hear much more percussion, like some timpani and a stronger snare. Right now it has a pretty, ambient feel but I think it needs to be more of a soldier's march. The melody would still work perfectly.

	said 1222 days ago
	great tune I love the fake instrument sounds, you have put so much work into this piece, and I think it paid off. Totally got into warrior spirit. Fine choice of instruments and harmonies. The overall level of the piece could come up a bit. Inspires me to actually play a computer game some day. Cheers

	said 1218 days ago
	hopeful music in the forecast hand-scored note by note? very impressive...great composition...original film score?

	savage4hire said 1188 days ago
	:) Nice song drak, does sound like a slow march through rain.

	Einarus said 1175 days ago
	Rainy Very nice track. It really reminded me of Myth - perhaps it was just the song art, but that's beside the point - and it brought back a lot of horrible memories of my brother slaughtering my men, again and again and again etc. Really nice work. Especially liked the harp.

	thetiler said 1175 days ago
	terrific orchestration Nice going here. Like those horn combinations, The marching percussion has a real nice feel to it indeed. Like the cello and the list goes on. . . . .

	said 1161 days ago
	mood setting The composition is pretty good. The french horns are the weakest as far as realism of sound....they could be a bit brighter and have a little more dynamism, resonance and reverb/slow decay. The harpsichord is very fine.

	notsosweet said 1156 days ago
	There's a... great medieval feel to this piece... I love the combo of horns and harp you chose.

	screamalexz said 1154 days ago
	zelda fantasy it makes me think of a fantasy land, the beggining with the thunder makes me think of merlyn, and it sort of has a zelda game sound to it. this would be great video game music for an enchanted forest or something. parts make me think of unicorns as well. it's beautiful.

Theisovian said 1120 days ago

Nice feel to it
Totally reminded me of Myth... has that sort of epic quality to it. And I
enjoy the 'fakeness' of video game music. For people like myself of the
Nintendo generation, video game music was never at risk of people
wondering if it was real instruments playing it, and it was/is cool
despite that. The very fact that it obviously isn't a real orchestra
playing it just adds to the nostalgia for me; some of the best sounds in
game music are completely accidental side effects created more by
hardware limitations than by compositional intent.

Nice work,
-Theis

	AEROjet said 1095 days ago
	From the Game Music Post Hey, I could see this in a game, some of the parts reminds me of the music in call of duty. Did you get the rain SFX from The Vision of Escaflowne? maybe not, but hey I really apreciate the fact that you didn't use loops.

	perceptualvortex said 1059 days ago
	Video game I haven't played Myth, but this really does belong in a video game... some kind of adventure, role playing thing. I'm still laughing here about this bit of advice from an earlier post: "I would say throw this one out and get on something else. Good Job all around though." Ever feel like you're getting mexed missages?

	Enrique Gil said 816 days ago
	catchy and enjoyable finally having a little time to enjoy macjamspace. NIce use of special effects superimposed on a simple catchy melody. very cool.

drakonis said 816 days ago

This is just the beginning..
Hi Enrique, thank you for taking time to listen to my pieces, I appreciate you
listening and commenting. I must tell you, this is the very first piece I posted on
Macjams. I even have a newer version of this (with Jampack 4) higher in my list
after I got feedback and learned a little more... so you are listening to an earlier
"me" :-) Happy to hear you liked it!

ttfn,
Drakonis

---
Deja vu - It's the next best thing to being there<br>
### Today's song:<a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/23351">Sometimes - Magic Flute mix</a>

	slumbering said 680 days ago
	Lovely I wanted to give one of your songs a listen before i went to sleep, and the word "rainy" caught my attention. This is really beautiful. I'm not the best at critiquing anything, but i can say that it is a most pleasing listen for me.

	said 274 days ago
	Well, well Hello Drak I am at the moment doing the rounds visiting first posts and I found your little gem. Its lovely to my ears. But I am not an expert. Well done,it sounds lovely:) Peace Dee xx

	dirigent said 231 days ago
	Rainy March A catchy tune, enjoyed it :-) Like the medieval celtic atmosphere ...

MarkHolbrook said 58 days ago

This is deep and dark
Drak... Very cool indeed. The opening static is a nice effect.

You should not be embarrassed:

This document has been created 19/03/2002, 8:50:16 and modified
118 times. 46 hours 50 minutes 12 seconds have been spent on this
document. Music duration: 2 minutes 52 seconds.

Great music rarely comes fast! It needs to be carefully and laboriously constructed with love and emotion!

	drakonis said 274 days ago
	How fun! Thank you for checking out the very first thing I posted at Macjams... hopefully I've gotten better over the years :) And you ARE an expert at what you like in music, so your opinion and thoughts mean a lot to me. Thank you for taking the time to listen and comment to my piece, and so many others! I learn a lot from getting feedback, and really appreciate it! ttfn, Drakonis

	drakonis said 231 days ago
	blush wow, my very first tune on Macjams... I hope I have come some way since that first tune... but I admit I have a soft spot in my heart for this piece, and I'm glad you liked it. Thank you for listening and commenting on my works, Andreas, I really appreciate your great ear and thoughts! ttfn, Drakonis

Username:
Password: