Decided to post my entry for the community music soundtrack here so I could get some feedback on what people think. This is my first try at composing, so I’m interesting in some constructive criticism as well as comments on what I did right.
Thanks!
More Music:
first, let me say that i absolutely enjoyed that piece… very well done! 
my only critique, if you can call it that, is that i dont feel this fits a city theme… its somewhat, somber i suppose? seems more fitting for adventuring, or perhaps entering a more “moody” biome…
bottom line though, excellent first submission, and i hope you produce additional tracks…
I feel like you are lying to me when you say this is your first try at composing… it’s to good for that! 
@KingMooCow thanks!
@SteveAdamo Yeah, I didn’t really have a good name for it, so I just went with what came to my imagination while listening to it. Any suggestions would be welcome.
And I do hope to do some more composing, now that I seem to have a feel for it.
@81throw It is my first fully composed piece. What I will say is that I’ve been playing music for 14 years, so I have a good grasp of how it all works. I’ve just never really sat down and put anything like this together before.
I do think this is super amazing, good job! But i think Steve is quite right, i would see that more on a biome like a hell mountain biome or something rather then a city. But it is really amazing!
Very nice piece!
I would have to echo the views of the others in that it’s quite melancholic (gotta get those synonyms in there).
This might just be me, but there are times when it doesn’t sound clean, it sounds … quite ‘tinny’? Particularly when it all kicks in at 1:51?
It seems like it might benefit from some bassier sounds? But hey I’m not a trained music man so take that with a pinch of salt
If it were a city theme I can imagine it fitting nicely with something quite industrial and bleak, it’d probably sit well after a battle when you’re mourning your lost troops, or midway through winter when the food supplies are running low due to @SteveAdamo’s insatiable hunger!
Overall I’m a big fan and look forward to what else you have in store!
That’s actually what I was thinking, the sombre element of it, including some brass instruments gives it that very feel. Funeral music for a soldier.
This was really good! I likey 
@ownerpure5 Thanks! Yeah, I can see it being more landscape oriented, or maybe battle or after battle like @SteveAdamo or @Geoffers747 and @Smokestacks are saying. Maybe even end credits or opening menu sort of thing as I think about it now.
Anyone having a better name idea for it is welcome to pitch in
@Geoffers747 The empty/tinny and sometimes messy sounds from it are probably a result of the program I’m using to do this with. I’m using a free program called Musescore, and I don’t think it was designed for what I’m using it for lol. But I’d agree that the dynamics need some work and all.
If they decide to use any of my tracks for the game, they’re going to probably need some good recording before I’d be satisfied with them. Either they can take what they were going to pay me and instead have it recorded by an orchestra (that would be awesome if it would work), or I’d need to go out and actually get some good software to do it myself.
Edit: Also, I’m not really sure on the base side of things. There is lower ranged tones there, and I tried to bring them out, but I don’t know if its just not enough, or if the program isn’t bringing them out enough. Something I’d have to experiment with if/when I get some better software.
In my school they have Sibelius 6. If you send me a file, I can put it on Sibelius and save that sound file for you, as I am doing with any of my pieces I compose at home. Would you like me to do that?
@Smokestacks I was actually going to ask what software different people were using, as since I now have a little bit of money to spend I might actually get something. I’ve long meant to start doing this sort of thing, but never really got around to it.
What sorts of programs do people recommend to buy? Depending on what I learn, I might take you up on that offer @Smokestacks
Also, another song for ya’ll. I’m not really completely satisfied with how these two have come out, mainly sound wise on a few things (like drum/rhythm parts) so that’s why I’m looking for some possibilities. Updated the First One as well with a new title, I decided to pay tribute to 'The Man the Myth the Legend: Mer Burlyhands!"
Again, a good track … in terms of feedback:
I like the intro, that first one to two seconds really reminded me of some of the Halo tracks, perhaps the voice transition is a bit too swift from there on out, who knows? Sounds good though.
I personally find the synth from 20 seconds to 44 seconds to be a bit overpowering and a little bit grating.
But I have to bear in mind you are doing this on some free software, so there’s obviously going to be some limitations!
When it all kicks in around 1:02 it realy starts to give the impression of managing a desert settlement or traversing desert terrain, so good job!
Why don’t you create another thread in the fan media category asking people what program they use? I think that’d be best 
Keep up the submissions!
I would agree with @Geoffers747 to make the melody more prominent. The drone tends to normally be less dominant, being just a more background effect for texture and harmonisation.
You picked the perfect scale, was it C D E♭ F♯ G A♭ B C? It certainly gave off quite an Egyptian feel, which the brain automatically links to desert. It sounded quite desolate too, quite empty, again desert.
I definitely enjoyed it and await your next!
As for software, I use Finale Notepad 2012 at home, a free programme which has it’s limitations. For example, you cannot change time signature or instrumentation in-piece, which is extremely frustrating. You cannot bypass the inability to change instrumentation by just adding loads of instruments either, as there is a limit of I think 5 per piece. The other big problem is that the instruments sound a bit rubbish, for example singular violins and violas are unusable, and nothing provides me the really bass-y drum sound I’m looking for, the kind that makes your organs vibrate.
At school they have Cubase version something I can’t remember, and Sibelius 6. Sibelius 7 is the latest version, and is I believe fairly widely considered the best score-writing programme on the market. If Sibelius 7 is simply an improvement of Sibelius 6, it gets a big thumbs up from me. Sibelius 6 is great, easy-to-use and far smarter than say Finale Notepad, for example. Its sounds are pretty beautiful too.
I know FL Studio is popular, but generally for electronic music - I’m not sure it would be the right purchase if this kind of music was the style you were looking to make in future.
I’m not overly knowledgeable of all the good programmes out there, but I would recommend a Sibelius if this is the style you intend to continue with. If anyone knows of any other programmes though, I’d take their word over mine, as I have no experience other than my small amounts in Sibelius and Finale Notepad, and my miniscule amount in Cubase (which although I didn’t discuss, follows the similar line of FL Studio, certainly in terms of UI).
not much i can add in the way of feedback that hasnt been covered by @Geoffers747 and @Smokestacks… i think its another great submission as well, but i definitely get the desert vibe toward the latter portions of the track…
@Smokestacks … Finale Notepad 2012? hmm… im intrigued (i mean, notepad?)…
Notepad…I’m not sure how intentional the pun was 
it basically is a notepad though, you think of an idea which in this case might be a melody, a drum part, anything really, and you note it down. Very much the idea 
Well, I’m still here, been lurking around a bit, and now that I’ve got a little more time I’m going to see about finishing a third song and maybe updating and bettering the first two.
Also, if there’s a particular style or song type that someone would like to see, let me know. I’d love some ideas for inspiration for further stuff past the 3 I’ve got working on.
excellent! perhaps something for the glacier biome? something that evokes walking across a frozen wasteland… you know, real uplifting… 
Alrighty, here’s number 3. I have another one that I’ve been working on, but I just can’t seem to get it to what I want, so I decided to work on a snowy piece as requested. I’ve called it Snowhearth, and I like how it came out. As always, comments/criticism/suggestions are welcome.
I have updated versions of the first two songs also in the pipeworks, so those should be around eventually. Don’t know if they’ll get in by the 15th though. Should I post all of the songs in the first post?
very somber… i thought it was very evocative of a cold landscape… nicely done!
its hard to go wrong with that subtle wind effect you integrated… 
Yes, or at least mantain some kind of list with links to the respective posts, so they don’t get lost between the comments.
Nice music you make