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I can't believe I almost forgot, but ERA Medieval Legends is also pretty amazing in terms of realism. Particularly if you want to add some period-accurate rustic solos to your piece. It's very performance-based, with lots of algorithms going on as you play such as fret slide, hand movement, and string slap, with simple knobs to adjust each parameter.

Nice! I agree with timaeus that some of the piano could use a bit of work, particularly the intro when it's completely exposed. However, I particularly like the piano glissandos at 3:13.

All right, I posted an updated version. Touched up the violins, got rid of the pitch bend in the beginning, and low end on the strings and choir shouldn't be as muddy anymore. I have to say, I do like it better without the pitch bend. It allows for a nice little sustain there.

I know you're asking for technical things like what samples to use and such, but for a "realistic" sound, performance technique is huge. You can make cheap samples sound decent by playing well. Conversely, you can make expensive samples with lots of articulations sound crappy by playing poorly. What I do is I picture my orchestra in my head as they play the piece, focusing on one section at a time (or a single instrumentalist if I'm working on a solo). A lot of the time I'm a dork and I actually "play" my air violin. I think of what emotion I'm trying to get across in that particular section of the piece. It's amazing what you can do with a bit of natural off-timing and velocity flow, as well as MIDI CC like Rozovian mentioned. Of course, having the more advanced articulation patches is nice as well. Personally, I use EWQLSO. It's pretty loaded with a ton of sampled articulations as well as decent goodies like Portamento, Round Robin repetition, etc. Some criticisms that others have brought up though is that vibrato is built-in and the samples all come wet.

Thanks! I think I got a pretty good idea of what I need to do, except I'm still not hearing the mechanical-ness of the violins that Brandon mentioned. Is anyone else noticing it and can maybe suggest what I should do?

Hey there! I'm new here myself, so welcome. I liked this, particularly the bass and percussion throughout. Solo trumpet sounded a bit artificial during the chorus at 0:30 and 2:01; you used some nice articulations there but I feel like some of the transitions between notes could be smoother. Overall real good though and I like the upbeat energy.

That was awesome! Seriously made my day. They need to put this through the speakers on a roller coaster or something.

Thank you, I'm glad you liked it! Sadly I don't have access to a decent choir, but I'll work on the vocals to get them sounding more natural. Pushing them farther back like Brandon suggested should also hopefully help.

Hey Brandon, thanks for the critique! Sorry about the neck; some ice should do the trick. I'll try to fiddle with the bend to see if I can make it work, such as using a different articulation and adjusting the speed. If it doesn't work, I might just have to split the notes. No biggie, as it's just that one time where it bends. As for the violins sounding more natural, could you be more specific please? I thought I did quite a bit in terms of mixing the dynamics between soft and strong, legato, a bit of off-timing, and swelling during the more emotional parts like a real violinist, but that's just me. Are there specific parts you could point out where it sounds particularly mechanical? I had a feeling some people might wade into a bit of mud later on. Should I put some more low-end EQ on both strings and choir, or just one? If so, which one?

Hey everyone! Neifion here. Long-time OCR listener, first-time hopeful OCR remixer! Old Remix: https://soundcloud.com/matandteresa/romance-of-the-two-worlds-ni New Remix (06/22/13): https://soundcloud.com/matandteresa/romance-of-the-two-worlds-ni-1 Source: For this remix, I wanted to describe a lonely sound. Not lonely in a personal sense, but rather in a spatial sense: like the feeling of being dwarfed by a towering mountain range or endless desert. I also wanted to dip into the mixing of eastern and western music and culture over the centuries, hence the embellishment of the erhu interweaving with the violin. That idea is what led to the name "Romance of the Two Worlds", a name which also lightheartedly combines the Chinese historical novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and "Ni no Kuni" (Two Worlds). Hope you enjoy! Feedback is very much welcome and appreciated.

Hey everybody! Neifion here. For as long as I can remember, I've loved video game music. Unfortunately, most of my friends growing up thought that was weird ("video game music?? What's that??") It's freaking awesome that there's a huge community of "my people"! Like many of you other newbies, I've been listening to music here for a long time (ever since Kong in Concert back in '04). After spending the last few years improving my skills, I'm finally looking forward to submitting my first remix! Good to meet you all and looking forward to an endless supply of amazing music for years to come. Oh, and I use Cubase Artist and mostly EastWest Quantum Leap stuff for my samples.