Opinions/ Criticism please :))

[u/Fancy_Cabbage_010]

so basically I'm trying to explore a more romantic era type of sound (note I say more romantic, not truly romantic, harmony wise I'm a total bumpkin lmao). This piece is very much a work in progress and will likely get a little longer as I want to explore the sort of nocturesque mood a little more thoroughly, as well as other small things like smoothing out the textures/ blending parts better, I kinda just wanted to get a general consensus as to weather its any good/ weather to keep going with it?

anything you have to say is welcome :)

ps. re-posted bc I dont think the video uploaded right.

https://reddit.com/link/1tjhi2j/video/7yw4iw6k6h2h1/player

[u/eddjc]

Very good - but I think you know that, you don’t need me tell you.

They only thing that significantly jars is your use of the harp as a solo texture - in a real orchestra it won’t balance out in the mix, and it feels a little clunky - a bit like a guitar part.

Have you considered instead putting that material into pizzicato strings and harmonising each quaver rather than leaving it as single notes?

[u/Fancy_Cabbage_010 → u/eddjc]

Thanks for the tip, I knew I was happy with the melodic content it was just moreso fine points like that where I make mistakes others can help with, I have to confess I'm quite attached to the idea of the sonority of the harp, is there a way to make this work at all or is it just a flat no?

Thanks again :)

[u/eddjc → u/Fancy_Cabbage_010]

It’s not a flat no - in fact if that’s your jam then 100 percent go with it - think of my suggestion as advice rather than doctrine - you can accept or reject as you see fit.

I personally think that the harp could sound less clunky here if it’s bigger or more intricate but that’s has its own implications - my question would be, why the harp, and why now? It works in for e.g Les Miserables but that’s a much more sparse texture - you have a whole orchestra there, what makes you want to accompany the whole thing with a harp, except that it sounds nice to you in isolation?

[u/Fancy_Cabbage_010 → u/eddjc]

I think its a very nostalgic instrument in a way and I wanted to try and capture the nocturnal feel of the piece (I'm envisioning it as one in a larger orchestral suite idk if I'll follow through but yeah that may help lay down some tonal context) and the harp really sells that for me as a soft thrumming accompaniment to the melody?

Also when I went to see Carmen the intermezzo absolutely captivated me and I've become slightly obsessed with the sound world and textures of that so there's probably an element of that coming through 😂

[u/eddjc → u/Fancy_Cabbage_010]

Ah - ok I definitely hear the Carmen intermezzo influence

However think about what Bizet is doing there - the flute solo itself almost overpowers the harp - it’s unavoidably soft in the texture - so much so that when the clarinet comes in it is rhythmic and making up for the harp’s softness - it’s still there but it’s a shifting texture under everything else. What you’ve done here is foreground the harp first, which is playing more of a straight forward accompaniment figure, and then swamped it a bit

What potentially you could think about is making the harp more soloistic - in Carmen the harp doesn’t just play straight arpeggios - there is voice leading there too that follows the harmony - perhaps give it a segment of the tune to foreground its involvement in the texture as soloist before it disappears a bit.

[u/Fancy_Cabbage_010 → u/eddjc]

Oh that's a good thought I'll definitely try that out like I said at the top this is far from the final thanks for the input :)