As usual, this is just knockout stuff from you Paul. I love it!
The mood and depth is superb!
I can picture the scene you describe perfectly.

Thanks

Steve

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I don't know about the city, but this works on top of Blue Mountain where it is currently nighttime and raining.

Thanks,

Rick


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Rick,
Glad you like the tune. Thanks for giving it a listen. Am particularly happy that it is evocative of something you experience, too.
Peace.
Paul

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Love it.... This is the best I have heard so far here today 10s...and Kudos.

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It's 5:59 a.m., I just hit my desk at work, and you just made my day with your very nice comments. Happy you enjoyed this little tune. I appreciate your giving it a listen and taking the time to comment on it. Thanks a lot.
Peace
Paul

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Paul, you have a real talent for choosing and combining sounds in very pleasant, tasteful ways.

Your chord progressions are also very refreshing for the most part, with unexpected little twists and turns in a mellow, "smooth-jazz" style.

In this quiet piece -- perfect for early morning -- there are some magical moments. The first of these is at the beginning when the piano punctuates the eighth notes just before the flute's first entrance.

There is some marvelous rhythm vitality in these early bars, flute and piano trading off. The second little magical "gem" occurs when the piano plays an eighth-note riff immediately imitated by the flute. I wish I could have heard more of that!

There are a couple of other clever times when the piano and flute are briefly in unison.

Very nice chord progressions just before the cadence and pause signaling the last quarter of the piece.

I hesitate to say anything less than "sunshiney" about this piece because 1.) I do not wish to offend, and; 2.) I feel that I'm starting to sound repetitious.

However, I will risk all this and suggest some things anyway, and hope that you receive them in the helpful spirit in which they are intended.

Throughout this piece, I never heard the same melody more than once, although there were a number of really wonderful ideas here. Any one of them, if repeated and developed, might have pulled this piece together even more.

Having said this, you *DO* achieve consistency via the MOOD of this piece from start to finish, with chords and textures. This is no small accomplishment, and is satisfying to a certain degree.

However, I think that you could do even more in the way of melodic content; choosing several themes and perhaps not having so many, and then developing those more fully rather than jumping on to the next idea. This would make the music more coherent.

For example, the first six notes of the flute were truly wonderful, and could be built upon throughout the piece. But this cool little passage was never heard again.

This is more noticeable to me because the flute is largely treated as a solo instrument, which implies melody, which I couldn't quite grab onto throughout the piece.

You also included some very catchy rhythms, those punctuated eighth notes in the piano just after the beginning flute, which are excellent, but then disappeared shortly thereafter.

Please forgive me for going into such detail here. For some reason I am attracted to your music; you create very nice moods and you put together pleasing sounds, but I simply wish that it were more melodically coherent.

All the best,
Cameron


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Cameron,
Hey. This is a place to share, to critique, to learn, and...to have a little fun and get some feedback. I am so grateful to you for taking the time to listen to my music and am glad that you a drawn to it. I hear what you are saying about this number, and I don't wish to provide an apologia for the composition, but here are a couple things to consider, too: 1) yes, as you pointed out, the MOOD is paramount in this number; 2) the middle section (oh, maybe 24-32 bars in) sets up a rhythmic motif that I think is pretty consistent throughout the section...with lots of little imitation going on at that level; 3) the opening flute tune is reprised in the final section -- I think you missed that. All that having been said, your comments and insightful and carefully considered and I appreciate that kind of honesty. Thank you for them.
Peace.
Paul

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Thanks, Paul, for your understanding response (I was concerned after posting my comment!) and for pointing out certain things about this piece.

It will be a pleasure for me to listen to this several more times today to catch what I missed earlier.

Keep that MOOD going! ;-)

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I dont know why but this reminded me of blade runner, but in a happier sense. I dont know if you have seen the movie or heard the main score. the soft flute over the changing melody is what i think carries the listener through I realy enjoyed this piece thanks for sharing

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Thanks, Ego. I DO know the movie, though I had not thought of it until you mentioned it. Glad you enjoyed the number. Put behind the right setting, I would hope it could be evocative of all sorts of thoughts.
Peace.
Paul

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I like this very much. I love the piano tone here and, as you and Cameron have already discussed, you are one of the masters of mood here... That's the level at which this piece is perfectly coherent to my ears...

I have to say as an aside that any time I read a Cameron comment I get an education... Always gets me thinking...

I like the flute lines well enough, but I find on this one that I wish there was a more natural flute tone available. Where the piano sound is deep and full in the headphones, the flute sound is less convincing. That's not about the playing, just about the flute sound you've got available. I think the same holds true for the strings.

I think your one line description is absolutely accurate... that's what this sounds like... another cinematic one... a romantic/noir blend...

I continue to be envious of your musicianship...

Ed

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Ed,
Thanks a lot for listening to this new number...and I am happy that you caught the mood I was trying to create. Yes, I agree with you about the flute, though it is the best one I have found. (Garritan Personal Orchestra). At least it plays in tune and doesn't talk back to me! I always bury the strings a bit (Roland standard mod) because they AREN'T real. But isn't it wonderful that guys like us can at least simulate orchestral sounds right in our own little studios? I just enjoy the writing and the recording business is a big bonus I wasn't expecting. Anyway, your encouraging comments are so very much appreciated. Many thanks.
Peace (on the earth!),
Paul


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This is a lovely mood piece. Nice triadic harmonies-- I like the way it
moves into that F chord and gives it a modal flavor. But jazz is, at least
traditionally, a song form that plays a set melody(the head) and harmony(the changes) and the soloists play over that form thus inventing from within usually with no rubato. Anyway having said my peace (I am a jazz purist) I reiterate that this is a lovely mood piece.
mbehar

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thanks for your comment. I know practically nothing about jazz, so I should probably just list a song like this a "film scoring" and leave it at that. I can totally appreciate your more-erudite understanding of the form...and am grateful for putting me straight ... and for enjoying the number. Thanks.
Peace.
Paul

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I'm just gonna hafta burn me an MP3 of all your stuff. It's so beautiful and peaceful and always holds my interest. As per usual, great stuff Paul. What a wonderful addition to MJ you are.

Be well!

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I love the flute/piano combination, and they work so amazingly well together here... and backed by those light strings... well, I guess I don't have the words to say, other than 'wow'.

Thanks for sharing your art here.

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