Ok I better edit this. I disagree but will not argue about it any more.  Sorry Paul - though these arguments do keep your music at the top!  👍

@William said:

Ok I better edit this. I disagree but will not argue about it any more.  Sorry Paul - though these arguments do keep your music at the top!  👍

No problem William. It is an interesting topic. I have been reading a few of the Grimm stories looking for inspiration for a new piece. 

@synergy543 said:

Paul, you've done a terrific job and I've enjoyed listening to you piece.  And thank you for including the score.  I will have a listen and study more in-depth.

As for the sematic arguments, I agree with Guy Bacos that the real focus should be on Paul's work and not semantic and historical detail relating to the title (as interesting as they may be).  It is enough for us today to try and simply enjoy a creation sucy as this and to help each other out with suggestions and ideas that might improve our craft.  Symphonic poems have also been done by many other composers such as Dvorak and impressionisitic as they are, they can also simply be enjoyed for the wonderful and creatively inspired music.  And this is how I look upon Paul's work.

Its quite a job to get beyond all of the technical details involved in composing and creating for samples in a hyper-critical world and for this I greatly applaude Paul's work, plus I whole-heartedly enjoyed it.  We need more of these types of creative compositional efforts as well as focus on constructive criticism and inspiring rather than creating critical divisions.

As for constructive suggestions, I've shared some mixing thoughts privately with Paul that are somewhat of a reflection on some of the comments in this thread so I won't repeat them and he has numerous ideas to try out.  However, despite the suggestions, I also really enjoyed it just the way it is.  Its not always necessary to achive technical mixing perfection for a musical piece to simply be fun and enjoyable.

Thanks for sharing Paul!

Thank you, I really appreciate all of the kind words. Yes, it is a lot of work to put together a piece of this complexity, but also deeply satisfying. And I welcome hearing what people dislike and what they like. Getting feedback will help me with the next composition!

Hi Paul:

That is the right spirit what makes this forum a great support for all working with the great possibilities of VSL-Sample-libraries: 👍

"And I welcome hearing what people dislike and what they like. Getting feedback will help me with the next composition!"

I hope you never have had any doubt that I had no intention to bother you or anyone, but just tried to honestly express what irritated me from my point of view, without reducing any musical work you spent in your render.

I still think that to refer music to literature is a mighty move for a cmposer which deserves to be thought about with care and good knowledge of what one refers to. The better it fits your intention the more the relation might unfold 'its porential aswell for the composer himself while composing aswell for the listener trying to connect to the thought on which the music is based on.

I want to thank all those who gave me suggestions for help with my mix, including William Kersten, Jay Bacal, synergy543 (Gregory) and Guy Bacos. I incorporated all of the advice on the mix. I am sure I still didn't do as well with the mix as others would have achieved, but I do think it is better. If it sounds awful it is my fault, not theirs.

Here is a link to the piece on Orfium.

Once Upon A Midnight Grimm

I also updated the Soundcloud file. Thanks, gentlemen. You are all fine examples of artist helping artist.

There were also some gentlemen on another forum who offered helpful advice including Doug Gibson, Matthias Callis and Michael Anstrom, and I thank them as well. Special thanks to Mike Verta for advice on several small things but mainly the structure. I don't think Mike visits this forum, but I thank him anyway. Now that I have finished the thank you thing, where is my grammy?

Hi Paul,

congratulations on a beautifully composed and rendered piece. The orchestration is so well done. I do like the newer version more. Thank you for sharing the full music and score.

Will you upload this in YT? please do. It should get you a lot of views from a more general audience particularly considering the timeliness of the piece for Halloween.

Its so much better to be commenting on your music rather the other thread which seems to have hijacked this forum!

Best

Anand

Hi Armand,

Thank you for the kind words. And yes, I agree with you, it is a good idea to put our music on YouTube. It seems to be the dominant place for music as well as videos these days. 

I also agree concerning the other thread. I wish I had not posted there as I get too passionate. It annoys everyone else and sends my blood pressure skyrocketing.

Cheers,

Paul