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i would take from 1m to 2m and put something more impactful and different there (in the middle). the start and ends are way too good to have a middle that just is the same thing repeating and not really taking us anywhere, imo. i mean like you wrote that it could be a theme tune, and it definitely could be with a sick start/end like that, but the middle needs to be more impactful and defined, at the moment i think it has untapped potential there
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Hmm I feel ya, will think about it...
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Both songs have amazing starts and suffer a bit of aimlessness after that. Energize end is neat though. I'd try out some gongs/bells in energize and go away from too much violins in the front. Violins work great as front-instrument if your rest is more or less orchestral, but with all the synthesizer-sounds you need something more powerful than a violin (bells/choirs) if you want to have a special impact at a special moment.
If you want to switch up powerful and silent parts in ambivalence the difference needs to be bigger imo. Most of your middle part is somewhere in between. Also since you brought up Zelda: Most great video game composer create a catchy melody and add instruments to it, Zelda being no exception. Both your songs could improve on that with the help of a clear front-melody, although energize needs that less. Somewhat related is that too much stuff going on is bad for video game music, cause it is in the background. I love all kinds of lines mixing if I listen to music actively, but video game music is supposed to be intentionally simple and catchy and easy to understand because it's background to begin with and 95% of the ppl don't listen to it often. If you can't have it play in the background and hum the front melody when you switch your attention for 3 seconds to it, players likely won't either.
While that sounds awfully negative, I think you did a really great job overall and I wouldn't mind hearing those songs in a jprg f.e.. Zelda and FF are known for having great soundtracks, so the bar is set very high.
Do you intend to become a video game composer or is it more of a hobby?
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Great feedback, and I definitely agree with what you're saying, especially the aimlessness thing. I'm already itching to go home and see how I can improve the piece.
So far composing is just a hobby, though I've gotten a bit more serious about it lately. I think being a composer as a career would be a dream job but I don't have any real musical training and my current job probably pays way more haha...
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Glad I could help
Payment as always depends on how good and well known you are (pretty sure Williams and Zimmer are paid a lot), but if you are above twenty and don't have a musical education and not a lot of practice it's probably an uphill battle :/ I certainly know your pain in that regards.
What program do you use to compose?
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I had a pirated version of reason 5 throughout college but I bought full reason 8 pretty recently now that I'm not strapped for cash. Tried ableton and cubase before but didn't really like the work flow as much.
The DAW obviously matters for audio mastering but the hardest part was amassing a collection of good orchestral soundfonts over the years.
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u know i've been listening to energize unwittingly because it always autoplays after my track lol
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