Cinematic Sociopath - A Gangster's Theme

Share your music, collaborate, and partake in monthly music contests.
Post Reply New Topic
RELATED
PRODUCTS

Post

Hi everyone,

I did this short track as an entry for Junkie XL's contest to make a theme for notorious gangster Whitey Bulger, and I thought I might share it here and see what you think about it. Comments are greatly appreciated!

https://soundcloud.com/davidstiles/cinematic-sociopath

Post

Hi David.
Before I go on with any comments, just like to state that I could never create orchestral music like you...and that is impressive right there.
That said, I`ll make my amateur comments.
At first I didn`t know whether you were chasing John Cage or Bugs Bunny.
The middlish section struck me as good incidental. After that, it just seemed a bit schizophrenic. I couldn`t relate to it or get a visual from it.

I know that I don`t know what i`m talking about, but i`m allowed to say it anyway...what a country! :lol: :party:
....................Don`t blame me for 'The Roots', I just live here. :x
Image

Post

Good noir-ish soundtrack material with lots of ideas. Perfect for a gangster theme. :tu:

Post

I can imagine men in Fedoras, skulking around in the shadows, preparing to ship 30 cases of Hooch to a speakeasy across town, whilst the G-Men parked across the street wait for their chief to give the order.

Good work :)

Post

Certainly sounds like it could come from a Gangsta movie. I think there is someone behind me... Very cool. Well done! :)
Bandcamp
Music with progressive intent.

Post

Really nice and evocative piece, as usual.
I see pictures, I see men, very good job.
I think you have an excellent command of your projects and good knowledge of the role of each instrument, with great musical sensitivity.
:tu:

Post

Thanks for the comments annode, Frantz, seismic1, Allomerus and Daniel! I'm glad you enjoyed the track, and generally found that it connected well with the theme.

Annode, I definitely see your points. I guess I may have been going for something that is somewhere in between John Cage and Bugs Bunny... something that embraces the darkly absurd nature of gangster life. And I agree that it may move a bit quickly between different musical ideas toward the end - that's something that I tend to do at times in my compositions, and it's not always the right decision.

Post

Well in a real movie you're likely to be thinking in short duration, ie., cues while this is more structured as a song. I think you're very accomplished in the composing and orchestration. (gonna say something said to me several yrs ago which really spurred me to act) The mix leaves something to be desired. The flute's too big, it screams of 'this is samples library' and there is no proper spaciality. I mean rather than sense anything reflecting off of walls, sounds almost as tho' people were isolated in studio and then reverb added on. A bit muddy, I mean there are eq cuts to be made. That and focusing the players (more narrow in field, certainly the alto flute) and getting convo 'verb together. See 'back to front'. But interesting piece. I can kind of see Bugs vs. avant gardeisms but I like that kind of thing.

Post

I hear you, jancivil. Mixing is definitely not a strength for me, although I'm certainly looking to improve. I've been trying to write music for a lot longer than I've been trying to produce it on a computer (if you asked me three years ago, I wouldn't even have been able to tell you what a DAW or a VST was). So it's still kind of early days for me from that point of view.

Actually, if you (or anyone else around here) has any suggestions on a good, solid basic guide to better mixing, I'd love to know about it. I mostly seem to find scattered tips here on the Internet, but maybe there's a website (or a book) that I'm missing that would give a nice overview.

Post

That was really well done David. I've not listened to your music before, but having now listened to a few pieces, you have a talent for telling a story through your music :)

cheers

andy

Post

Thanks very much, Andy! I appreciate the kind words, and thank you for listening!

Post

My path to better mixing was not all that coherent. I'm not real young and I'm skeptical of what I read, so KVR is a mixed bag for me but there is some really good knowledge conveyed at times. I began to grok compression via the video tutorial for the one I use the most, VSL Vienna Suite's Compressor and Master Compressor. I didn't even really grow before I got ahold of good tools. You'll see 'a good craftsman doesn't blame the tools', but that's me, I needed a better workflow and a smoother path to understanding than was happening with Cubase internal plugins. I didn't get on with the convolution reverb in that. I like having EQs with a spectrum analyzer. I kind of hate algo 'verb for, particularly these kind of instruments and finally the convolution 'verb in VIenna Suite, through itself sounded good. And the m.o. in it made sense. For instance the crossfeed fader means 100% = fully diffuse, 0% = reflects as narrowly as possible. So then the focused players, power-panned have a certain reality at lower settings. I'm def. no expert and I gear knowledge focused on my sound.

Post

I think you instinctively know the power of the "gesture." My composition teacher would sometimes hear my work and nod in approbation, saying "Nice gesture … " It didn't occur to me until much later how effective a good gesture really is and that what he was teaching me was something profound. In film music and electronic music the composer has to make sounds a second or two long memorable. I'm pretty good at it but now I want to expand it into longer and longer forms (he didn't teach me THAT!) So I'm studying Beethoven now and he is a supreme master of the gesture. I think your vi libraries have a subtlety that you use quite well with your gestures.

Post

Thanks for your thoughts, jancivil. I'll have to see what I can find in terms of guidance from video tutorials and the like - that might be a good jumping-off point.

And thanks for your thoughts as well, Nickel Smith. I don't think anyone has ever told me that about my musical gestures - I will do my best to trust my instincts!

Post Reply

Return to “Music Cafe”