Looking for some musical feedback

I've been working on this MMO with some guys for a while, as some of you know... all I really need is some feedback on these tunes (which will be recorded live in a few months for the game)

Any kind of feedback would be great, from the point of view of wether you feel these would be playable (I don't know all the ranges and such for all the instruments I used as I never had to worry about things being playable before really) or how well you think they fit the mood of the area they are supposed to play in.

Or even if you just like or don't like them.

I'm not typically so self-concious about my music... But seeing as these will be played by a full orchestra full of professional musicians, I'm having a minor personal meltdown about their quality...

If nothing else, this community is one of the most honest I know of on the internet... So don't hold back, Tell me exactly how you feel about these.

Dusk Mountain - A town and the surrounding lands of a once-nomadic people who settled in a picturesque mountain setting, something like the rocky mountains with some light snow and which is absolutly beautiful at dusk. The nomadic people are very earth-centric with a love for animals, plants, and nature in general.
www.apoc-online.com/music/DuskMountain.mid

Lone Forest - A vast forest-jungle which stands as one of the last true woodlands on earth. Dense and overgrown, this forest surrvived because of a complex deep inside the woods which was once used to house and create plant growth hormones and fertilizers in a bygone era.
www.apoc-online.com/music/LoneForest.mid

Wasteland - Any of several locations tainted by various kinds of waste. Home to mutants, genetic experiments, and outcasted peoples.
www.apoc-online.com/music/Wasteland2.mid

Tundra - Snowy, cold, and sometimes stormy. The tundra covers most of the landmass of the game. As such, this theme is once of the most important, and really has 2 parts. While, in the midi, the 2 parts are played one after the other, in the game, the loud and chaotic section will only be played when there is storming or boss-type enemies around, and the quiet part will play when the land is calm.
www.apoc-online.com/music/SnowyTundra.mid

Thanks in advance for any feedback you guys can give me.

Its difficult to say.

Personally I despise .mid format music. There's just something not quite right about the way it all sounds. I've only ever heard one .mid tune I was impressed with, and that was a note-perfect rendition of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall Pt 1".

They do seem to more or less fit with the descriptions you've given, though, but they definitely need to be more 'orchestral', imho. They'll probably sound OK when they're recorded properly.

Fair enough. These midis are essentially score sheets too, so I didn't bother to go in and make sure all the sounds were really right, or fiddle with all the instrument settings. So they sound a bit flat.

But seeing as these will be played by a full orchestra full of professional musicians

What kinda of orchestra, how many players?

So don't hold back, Tell me exactly how you feel about these.
Ok, but no complaining afterwards then eh? :P

In general, what GFK said, a .mid isn't going to impress anyone. Well, more strictly speaking: a little GM soundset isn't going to impress, a big one neither.. GM on its own is just pure evil.
In general the notes are quite uninspiring, a real orchestra can add little to that, other than a better aural presentation. So, the next judgings are based on the idea of having it played by real performers.
The notes are clearly beginner's notes, real pieces for orchestra (film, classic, any) are written in a completely different way, way more interaction between instruments, way less vertically-on-the-line (these *really* are NOT lines for strings, they *really* aren't!). I *can* imagine how these lines would sound with proper samples or real performers, but the core of the composition won't change to something more positive because of that.
The sterileness of the strings is obvious from the start already in Dusk Mountain, furthermore the other instruments don't create 'logical' melodies to follow, themes that sound natural the first time you hear it. (note that you've heard these themes for the 300th time already, that *is* a difference compared to someone hearing it for the first time)
Lone Forest's drums are quite sterile also (notewise). The melody enforces a somewhat weird tonal mode onto the listener, while I don't mind non-standard modes, this one does sound a bit too weird for me to perceive it as 'realistic'.
Wasteland, melody is just plain weird and (amongst other minor details) a weird tonal mode is to blame again.
The first seconds of Tundra start ok, but too soon it becomes a tune with sterile popmusic movements.

In short: to me, you don't master the art of making natural-flowing themes, and you don't master the art of counterpoint and orchestrating. Having this played by performers would be a waste of money I think.. (if it costs you any, that is..)
Sorry I can't be more positive (all the time :P), but you asked for honesty..
Note that I'm 100% *sure* that my ex-fellowstudents and our teachers would say the same.

Best midifiles I've heard are those of Transport Tycoon, Warcraft 2, the Lucasarts games (MI, Tentacle, but also XWing to name something), so it's not entirely impossible, it just requires decent skills on melody, arranging and orchestrating.


* bends-over for the incoming whip ^_^

I'm not going to whip you. I'm just not sure how much you are judging general midi and how much you are judging the music.

I had no intent to create true orchestral music, mind you. My goal was to create game music. Music that loops in the background of a game, sets the mood of the area you are in, and does it's best not to annoy while doing its best to be catchy.... I'm no Nobuo Uematsu.

I can respect your opinions far more, now that I have heard some of your serious work. It brings you down to a level I can comprehend. Namely, that of someone who is never satisfied with anything that he feels he could write, because you feel like you, yourself, are nothing special.

Which logically means, anything you feel you could write, must not be worth listening to...

I feel the same a lot of the time.

I'm just not sure how much you are judging general midi and how much you are judging the music.
The music. As you could've read, throughout my 'review' I commented on notes, not sound (other than the intro-rant on GM :P). I commented on your printed score, so to say..

I had no intent to create true orchestral music
and, originally:
But seeing as these will be played by a full orchestra full of professional musicians

So, is it gonna be played by some orchestra or not? This is not really clear to me, I commented on the notes with the assumption of this being played by the instruments I heard, IRL.

Actually, not intending to do orchestral music and yet using strings is a bit contradicting.
and does it's best not to annoy while doing its best to be catchy
Complex music can perfectly work behind a game without taking the attention or trying to be catching. In this case it was the other way around rather, because notes sounded so unnatural regarding their flow, it was in fact taking the attention away!

The next alineas are uhm... weird and nonsense. :P If your reply was code, I'd say you divided by zero somewhere. :)

I quite liked Dusk Mountain - wasn't too keen on the others.

Thanks puki...

CS
Being played by an orchestra and being written in an "orchestral" fashion aren't the same.

If what you are saying is that an orchestra -couldn't- play this music as it is written, then say that. What I understood you to mean, was that the music wasn't written like orchestral music. Which I agree with, as this is not the style I wanted.

I'm essentially using the orchestra (which I am getting to use for free) to play the music, regardless of the style.

In addition, the Orchestra will be able to play bits of the score that my midi software ignores.... they will be able to change the texture or playing style of whatever they are playing to fit what I really want...

I don't see how it is relivent that they won't be playing music arranged in a traditionally orchestral style...