Music thread

[DinoToyForum]

@ DinoToyForum - that is lovely! I had a book when I was just an eft called "The Encyclopedia of Ancient Life" whose cover featured a good old-fashioned misty gray-green swamp filled with Triassic beasties. When I was listening to your music I imagined a painting like that, but animated, for each movement. Scuttling trilobites, lumbering sauropods, galloping perissodactyls, and so forth.

Thanks! That's what I was going for.   In my head the scenes change quite drastically. For example, in the Cenozoic movement there are three successive 'scenes' for specific events, 1. Recovery after the k-T extinction event (Palaeocene, Eocene); 2. Diversification of mammals/savannah/jungle (Oligocene-Pliocene); 3. The ice ages (and the appearance of humans)(Pleistocene).

[Spinokaprogorgon]

I created a 'symphony'. 'Eras of Life' is a short (10 minute) four-movement piece celebrating the history of life on Earth. Each movement represents a period in deep time, starting with the oldest 'Precambrian', and proceeding through the Palaeozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic Eras. A bit like Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, or Holst's The Planets. It's my interpretation, but if you know anything about prehistory, you'll probably understand what I was going for. It's far from professional as it's all created digitally, and the sound quality isn't great, so I may go back and make some changes or improvements. But I'm still glad to share it. It's on the DinoToyBlog channel on PeerTube (on the Makertube site) but I'm not posting it directly on the blog because it's a bit niche.

I'd welcome feedback and constructive criticism. Originally, I was going to have a separate movement for each Period, but that seemed a bit ambitions so I settled on 'Eras'!

https://makertube.net/w/2KHHjGvBKUW1AC3AGpVZHQ

that's crazy   for these past few weeks, I've been trying to match a classic piece to points in earth history for example the first creature, first fish coming out of the water, Permian extinction and so on, so I can play them in order for a recital or something. So far I am certain about die moldau for the first creatures, swan lake for KT mass extinction, and dvoraks symphony 9 for Permian extinction or maybe the appearance of humans. If any of you have classic music suggestions for any other part of earth's history, let me know

[DinoToyForum]

I created a 'symphony'. 'Eras of Life' is a short (10 minute) four-movement piece celebrating the history of life on Earth. Each movement represents a period in deep time, starting with the oldest 'Precambrian', and proceeding through the Palaeozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic Eras. A bit like Vivaldi's The Four Seasons, or Holst's The Planets. It's my interpretation, but if you know anything about prehistory, you'll probably understand what I was going for. It's far from professional as it's all created digitally, and the sound quality isn't great, so I may go back and make some changes or improvements. But I'm still glad to share it. It's on the DinoToyBlog channel on PeerTube (on the Makertube site) but I'm not posting it directly on the blog because it's a bit niche.

I'd welcome feedback and constructive criticism. Originally, I was going to have a separate movement for each Period, but that seemed a bit ambitions so I settled on 'Eras'!

https://makertube.net/w/2KHHjGvBKUW1AC3AGpVZHQ

that's crazy   for these past few weeks, I've been trying to match a classic piece to points in earth history for example the first creature, first fish coming out of the water, Permian extinction and so on, so I can play them in order for a recital or something. So far I am certain about die moldau for the first creatures, swan lake for KT mass extinction, and dvoraks symphony 9 for Permian extinction or maybe the appearance of humans. If any of you have classic music suggestions for any other part of earth's history, let me know

Interesting! My Palaeozoic movement has an obvious transition to represent life emerging from the water and flourishing on the land.

As far as existing classical pieces go, I always felt Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights, Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64, I, works well for the Jurassic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XX6GHiFKovw

And maybe Beethoven's, Symphony No.7 in A major op.92, II, Allegretto, has a kind of 'Cambrian Explosion' vibe to me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi05EG6sTVQ

[Protopatch]

I created a 'symphony'. 'Eras of Life' is a short (10 minute) four-movement piece celebrating the history of life on Earth.

I could easily imagine some aquatico-plastico-weirdo prehistoric characters moving to this music
Love it !

[Zhuchengotyrant]

If any of you have classic music suggestions for any other part of earth's history, let me know

This isn't classical music per se, but have you ever heard Stevie Wonder's secret life of plants album? Two songs in particular I always associate with evolutionary time.

Ai no sono has a part in the middle that is just some very rich and dramatic instrumentation that always reminds me of K-Pg for whatever reason.

Ecclesiastes has a sort of foreboding tone to it, but elicits general feelings of progress in uncertainty to me.

So not classical music, but definitely some pieces you may be able to use! I recommend listening to that album to everyone anyway! 

[BlueKrono]

I would recommend "Primavera" by Ludovico Einaudi. Primavera means "Spring", and the song is evocative of the inundating spring rains. Could easily translate to an extinction event. Certainly good imagination fuel imo.

[DinoToyForum]

I decided to expand my short 'symphony', 'Eras of Life', into separate geological periods.

The 'Palaeozoic Suite' starts with the 'Precambrian' movement, followed by six movements that represent the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian periods: https://makertube.net/w/nBxBZWs8gRYZQNeptJFFG2

I'd love to hear some feedback, positive or negative!

I'm moving onto the Mesozoic next...

[irimali]

I decided to expand my short 'symphony', 'Eras of Life', into separate geological periods.

The 'Palaeozoic Suite' starts with the 'Precambrian' movement, followed by six movements that represent the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian periods: https://makertube.net/w/nBxBZWs8gRYZQNeptJFFG2

I'd love to hear some feedback, positive or negative! 

I'm moving onto the Mesozoic next...

I'm loving the expanded paleozoic!  I think it's much better in a longer format with so many different themes. The story of life is such a huge story. I'm looking forward to the Mesozoic

[DinoToyForum]

I decided to expand my short 'symphony', 'Eras of Life', into separate geological periods.

The 'Palaeozoic Suite' starts with the 'Precambrian' movement, followed by six movements that represent the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian periods: https://makertube.net/w/nBxBZWs8gRYZQNeptJFFG2

I'd love to hear some feedback, positive or negative! 

I'm moving onto the Mesozoic next...

I'm loving the expanded paleozoic!  I think it's much better in a longer format with so many different themes. The story of life is such a huge story. I'm looking forward to the Mesozoic

Thank you for listening. Nobody else replied which means they either didn't listen to it, or listened to it but didn't like it (and don't want to be cruel by saying so!). But I'm really keen to hear honest criticisms to help me improve.

One of my friends said it sounds like music from an 8 bit computer game. So, I wonder if I could make it sound better, i.e. more orchestral, by using different instruments. I may be limited by the program I'm using.

[irimali]

Thank you for listening. Nobody else replied which means they either didn't listen to it, or listened to it but didn't like it (and don't want to be cruel by saying so!). But I'm really keen to hear honest criticisms to help me improve.

One of my friends said it sounds like music from an 8 bit computer game. So, I wonder if I could make it sound better, i.e. more orchestral, by using different instruments. I may be limited by the program I'm using.

Ooh!  What program are you using?  I've made some stuff in Garageband. I think some newer versions have a lot more bells & whistles than the one I have.  There's a lot of very synthey/outerspace videogame sounding instruments.   

If you're using Garageband I can track down some youtube tutorials I found helpful.  Some were just about mixing/playing with individual instrument settings.  It definitely helped with overall sound quality.  I'm a newbie at this but i could share the few things I've learned so far.

[DinoToyForum]

Thank you for listening. Nobody else replied which means they either didn't listen to it, or listened to it but didn't like it (and don't want to be cruel by saying so!). But I'm really keen to hear honest criticisms to help me improve.

One of my friends said it sounds like music from an 8 bit computer game. So, I wonder if I could make it sound better, i.e. more orchestral, by using different instruments. I may be limited by the program I'm using.

Ooh!  What program are you using?  I've made some stuff in Garageband. I think some newer versions have a lot more bells & whistles than the one I have.  There's a lot of very synthey/outerspace videogame sounding instruments.   

If you're using Garageband I can track down some youtube tutorials I found helpful.  Some were just about mixing/playing with individual instrument settings.  It definitely helped with overall sound quality.  I'm a newbie at this but i could share the few things I've learned so far.

LMMS on a Mac. There are lots of plugins and instruments for LMMS but I can't install them on my Mac version, so I'm stuck with the default instruments.

[Protopatch]

An exquisite composition which delightfully blends movements in major and minor scales, inspiring thus an overall « mysterioso » vibe.
It would definitely be a great piece for a contemporary choreography, in a David Dawson's style !

One of my friends said it sounds like music from an 8 bit computer game.

lol
Actually, the Cambrian and the second part of the Devonian movements might indeed remind the background music of Final Fantasy VIII, mostly because of the synthesizer.

I've noticed that all the movements are based on 4:4 measures (this is not the conventional way of writing it, sorry) with a great play of tempi.
I'm wondering if some movements in 3:4 or 6:8, such as those we can typically find in classical symphonies, could have possibly brought additional nuances.

Anyway, your full title should now include Maestro as well

[DinoToyForum]

An exquisite composition which delightfully blends movements in major and minor scales, inspiring thus an overall « mysterioso » vibe.
It would definitely be a great piece for a contemporary choreography, in a David Dawson's style !

One of my friends said it sounds like music from an 8 bit computer game.

lol
Actually, the Cambrian and the second part of the Devonian movements might indeed remind the background music of Final Fantasy VIII, mostly because of the synthesizer.

I've noticed that all the movements are based on 4:4 measures (this is not the conventional way of writing it, sorry) with a great play of tempi.
I'm wondering if some movements in 3:4 or 6:8, such as those we can typically find in classical symphonies, could have possibly brought additional nuances.

Anyway, your full title should now include Maestro as well

Pff!    Thanks for the comments and thanks for listening! I experimented with different time signatures at first but stuck with 4:4 in the end because it is so much easier. But I will challenge myself with a different time signature for at least one of the Mesozoic tracks. 

[irimali]

LMMS on a Mac. There are lots of plugins and instruments for LMMS but I can't install them on my Mac version, so I'm stuck with the default instruments.

One thing that helps music sound more like an orchestra is to adjust the panning on the instrument tracks so some are more to the right and some are more to the left.  It mimics the effect of having different instruments on different sides of a stage.  It makes the sound more 3-dimensional, especially on headphones or if you've got widely placed speakers.

Another idea is to add a few backing tracks.  Classical music tends to have a lot of range between the quietest moments and the loudest.  You can duplicate certain instrument tracks (cut and paste the melodies you already have), but only have them play when you want more volume, or just to add emphasis to specific notes.  It's like having the 1st chair violin playing the melody at the beginning and the 2nd and 3rd chair violins joining in to make the music swell.

I hope some of this helps  
 

[Protopatch]

Carboniferous is my favorite movement
It could greatly accompany the end of a film or documentary on dinosaurs.

But I will challenge myself with a different time signature for at least one of the Mesozoic tracks. 

Sounds like a cool challenge.

The Mesozoic Suite's project might explain the half cadence at the end of the Permian movement^^
I look forward to listening to it and, possibly, a Cenozoic sequel !

[DinoToyForum]

Carboniferous is my favorite movement
It could greatly accompany the end of a film or documentary on dinosaurs.

But I will challenge myself with a different time signature for at least one of the Mesozoic tracks. 

Sounds like a cool challenge.

The Mesozoic Suite's project might explain the half cadence at the end of the Permian movement^^
I look forward to listening to it and, possibly, a Cenozoic sequel !

Thanks, the Carboniferous is my favourite as well. There are two alternating segments, for the first I was envisioning vast swathes of Lepidodendron forests swaying in the breeze, while the second represents the swamps underneath with amphibians wallowing and insects darting about. I made the breaks between the sections a little drawn out to try and add a sense of anticipation. It's simpler than many of the other movements. For example, I took out all percussion, which didn't seem to fit the 'planty' vibe.

Oh, yes, the Cenozoic will also follow. But I will base that on the existing Cenozoic movement I shared previously.