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smartpoetic

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    I need to know if this is normal...

    in General Discussion

    Posted

    You will always be your hardest critic. I don't think that's a bad thing though - critiquing your own work helps you get better. However, don't let your thoughts on your work become self-destructive. No piece of music (or sound design) is perfect, and sometimes you have to accept it for what it is. Even the greatest composers or sound designers aren't perfect, and they never will be. This is the nature of our work.

    As someone who has Imposter Syndrome, I feel like a faker all the time. But remember, just because you feel a certain way, does not mean that is what you are. :) Be proud of what you have accomplished so far, and strive to be even better in the future.

    Undertale - Spear of Justice (orchestral remix)

    in Post Your Game ReMixes!

    Posted

    5 hours ago, Nom said:

    Hi smartpoetic,

    Thank you so much for you detailed feedback. It's gonna be really helpful for me since i'm really just started orchestration

     

    • Mixing/mastering: Yeah, i do feel some the drums was too messy. My intention is i wanna give some chillng "boss fight" feel with the drums but it ends up too much. I think i'm gonna try putting it down
    • Instrument: Actually i dont feel quite familiar with the instrument yet so i will give a try with your advice. The main problem is the percussions, that i still dont get the right things. Which part do you think its the most messy part of the percussions ?
    • Dynamic: I'm using Cubase. I do the MIDI from scratch by hearing the original. I think i'm gonna make some change in velocities
    • Sampling: Your video references is so good. It's really helpful. But in my case i can't change the modulation like in the videos. I can only change the velocities. Does the modulation editing only can be one in Logic Pro ?

    I'll do my best. I'll let you know for the revision of this song. thanks smartpoetic :-D

    No problem Nom! As far as the drums go, I think it's the type of drum you are using at some points. Timpanis are a bit lower, and they ring a lot longer than a snare. I'd recommend only using timpanis for hits, and snare for more moving parts. But as I mentioned, I'm not the best at percussion writing, but I'm sure there are heck of a lot of people in this community who can give more sound advice on that topic. I tend to keep my percussion writing very basic. It may also help to look up tutorials on writing for percussion.

    I'm not familiar with Cubase (I use Logic Pro), but from what I can tell you with Logic Pro, you can change velocities, as well as modulation. You may be able to change modulation in Cubase if you have a MIDI controller with a mod wheel on it. (Some MIDI controllers and keyboards have two wheels, one for changing modulation/velocity, and the other for pitch bending.) You may need to invest in a cheap to mid priced MIDI controller to get more dynamic control. As far as humanization goes, this will help out a lot. I also recommend playing your parts by hand on the MIDI controller/keyboard, since that will naturally add humanization (because a real human played it instead of a MIDI).

    As far as orchestrating in general goes, this is a topic that is very expansive. In fact, I took a class in college on orchestration when I was working on my music degree. But I don't think you'll have to go as far as taking classes in it, but it may be helpful to 1) read/watch tutorials on orchestration by other composers 2) listen to music by composers to study how they orchestrate things 3) practice, practice, practice! Just like a good cook, an orchestrator will know how to "pair" instruments together, and where to put them in the score. :)

    Undertale - Spear of Justice (orchestral remix)

    in Post Your Game ReMixes!

    Posted

    Hey Nom, thanks for posting this! I can totally understand where you are coming from. Orchestration can often be the most challenging part of writing music, so I can definitely appreciate the work you've put into this. It's taken me years to get to a level where I feel comfortable with orchestrating and part-writing, so I think it's great that you are reaching out for feedback.There were a few things that I wanted to point out that may help improve the piece:

    • Mixing/mastering: I feel like a lot of beginning composers/arrangers/remixers never use reverb. It sounds like you do have reverb in the piece (which is great!), but it may be a little too much. I think that's contributing to the "muddiness," especially in the drums and strings. I'd reduce the amount of reverb you have applied to the piece, which may help clear things up a bit. It may also help to look into adding some light compression and reducing your levels to prevent peaking (which sounds like it happens when things are trying to get loud.) You should try this step first to see if this helps before looking into my other suggestions.
    • Brass: With the trumpet hits in the beginning, it sounds a little "weak" due to the register that the trumpets are playing in (without a lack of support from other instruments such as low brass or strings). I'd try pairing additional instruments for the hits to give it more foundation.
    • Strings/Choir: Strings and choir seem to be lost completely at some points (example: 0:00 - 0:38). It'd be nice to pull up the strings/choir, and lower the brass.
    • Percussion: Unfortunately, I've never been much of a percussion writer, but I think that the timpani hits also get lost a bit. It may help to implement some snare, especially during parts where there is more action in the percussion.
    • Dynamics: I'm not sure what DAW (digital audio workstation) you are using, but it doesn't sound like there is much dynamic variation throughout the piece. If you have used a MIDI to arrange this, I'd recommend purging the preset dynamics/velocities, and then starting from scratch. Often times these MIDIs would contain artifacts that would totally screw with the dynamics, and it's just best to remove them. 
    • Sampling: The trumpet sampling sounds a little unrealistic, but some of the string samples sound great. I think that no matter what samples you use, if you look into humanizing your samples with dynamic control, you'll find that you have a much better result. This YouTube video helped me gain better control over my samples, and I'd definitely recommend checking it out. (It's a tutorial for Logic Pro 9, but you may find some of the concepts helpful in creating more realistic sounds with your current samples.)

    I hope I was able to help Nom! I look forward to seeing more of your work. :)

     

    The Fallen King (Undertale Orchestral Arrangement)

    in Post Your Game ReMixes!

    Posted

    On 4/7/2016 at 8:25 PM, SegaMon said:

    Wonderful collection of sounds that you have here. You have also mixed the song well, in my opinion. This song is very pleasant to listen to. The song doesn't get "old quick" as k-wix mentioned. However, the build-up certainly could be done quicker. The whole piano part between 4:00 to 4:40 felt like it had no direction. This is another case where building a bit quicker would make the song as a whole better. The climax that was mentioned could use a bit more energy too (I love high energy sections).

    I'd be interested to know where you get many of these sounds. I loved the piano and trumpet sounds the most. I'd also like to think about working with you in the future. I saw in your profile that you play clarinet? I do too! Just keep writing music because I certainly enjoy listening to it. :)

    Thanks, I appreciate it SegaMon! I think the issue here is how I composed the arrangement all together. I usually use a mouse to write music since I'm not exactly the best at piano, but I've been challenging myself to only write using a piano or MIDI controller lately to help "humanize" my songs more. I improvised most of the piece using a MIDI controller and Logic Pro 9, which is why it feels disjointed at times. (Because I also wrote things in sections too.) I guess you can say that this version is more of a "collection of ideas," haha.

    As far as where I got the sounds, I currently use:

    - Project SAM Orchestral Elements 1 and 2
    - I subscribe monthly to the EastWest Composer Cloud (which includes like... 9K+ samples) :)

    Also, I'm totally open to doing collabs, so if you (or anyone else) is interested, feel free to shoot me a message!

    The Fallen King (Undertale Orchestral Arrangement)

    in Post Your Game ReMixes!

    Posted

    14 hours ago, k-wix said:

    Hey there! It's a bit long in general, and the pacing just feels kinda slow to me. I get that we're going to for an emotional orchestral piece here, but it overstays its welcome and needs to develop into something more meaningful faster. I don't even hear the main melody in a recognizable fashion until about half way through the track. Your instrumentation is absolutely fine, the sounds are good - mixing sounds great on my headphones, no problems at all there - it's really just pacing issues.

     - I'd consider opening with the piano and cutting the first minute entirely. Not to say its bad, but it feels like it doesn't really belong.

     - Some parts feel just a bit too slow - don't be afraid to play with the tempo in certain areas. The later half is better in this regard, the early parts of the song are really where things get old quick for me.

     - The late buildup & climax are great (Talking about 5+ minutes in) but they need to come a bit sooner - and I could honestly see this sped up a bit as well.

     - Your drums could be a bit more pronounced in the mix - feels a bit soft to me. Also: More drums! They don't come in until 5 minutes, would love to hear them earlier in the track to mix things up.

     - The bit after the climax is awesome. THAT should be your ending. It is beautiful.

    Hope it helps! ^_^

    Hi k-wix! Thanks for taking a listen, as well as your suggestions! I agree completely about the pacing issues. I'll work on speeding things up a bit, and scraping the beginning. Also, you are definitely right about the drums... they are a bit thin. (You can tell that my weakness as a composer/arranger is percussion writing. I need to work on this more.) I'll keep the ending as is though! :) 

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