Slimy

I consider this to be a big deal. I always wished StarFox 2 had been released, but the version circulating around the internet is only a fan-patched late beta version, and allegedly not even close to the final build that exists but was never leaked. Even if the SNES Classic becomes as hard to get as the NES Classic, I expect it won't take long for the finished version of Star Fox 2 to get extracted and put on the internet. (As a real game!)

Reaper can be used as a Rewire client with FLStudio.

You may find this video interesting, if you haven't seen it before.

What don't you understand? The arrangement/theory, the orchestration, or the software/VIs used?

Even though you have no midi piano to play on, can you imagine yourself playing the part on a real piano, and what that might sound like? For example, if I were playing this, I would play the melody parts like 00:5 soft and legato, except for the F6 note which I might accent. And I would play rapid bass stuff like at 0:51 harsher, louder, and more staccato. I might even rush it a bit. Also, instead of just randomizing the velocities to get a "real" sound, try basing your velocities on phrasing. Whatever makes sense "musically:" maybe the end of a phrase should be louder, or a phrase should start loud then get soft, or chords with dissonance should be louder, or higher notes should be louder. Not sure how I could describe it better.

Why not learn to make music yourself? At least one thing that keeps me making music is the notion that no one is going to write down my ideas except myself.

Well this is a surprise, I've followed nokbient on soundcloud for awhile and wasn't expecting anything to get submitted here. Do check out his soundcloud, it's an absolute goldmine.

Native sidechaining has been confirmed for Mixcraft 8, and the pro version of Mixcraft currently includes SideKick6. Otherwise, you might find something you like in this list: http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2010/11/10/bpb-freeware-studio-best-free-sidechain-compressor-vst-plugins/

Mixing could really be improved, but I guess you know that already. It sounds strange for there to only be 2 voices accompanying an entire orchestra. Perhaps you could just record some more takes of yourself singing and layer them together?

In order to use sf2 files you'll need a sampler that can read them like sforzando or Sfz by Rgcaudio. I can't really give suggestions for making samples sound better if I can't hear them, but you should probably try playing around with the effects included in your DAW. For example, the instrument might sound better with more reverb, or if it were EQ'd to have a better tone.

But you haven't even come close to using up the potential of EWQLSO. That's why I doubt you'll sound significantly better when using Hollywood Orchestra, even if it does have better sounds. You have to understand how to use samples in a convincing way, and orchestrate well. You aren't as limited as you think, far from it. If you can't find the sound you want sampled, try to think about how you can approximate it with the tools you have. Can you overlap sounds together? EQ the sound to be more appealing? Exaggerate dynamics by adding volume automation? Samples aren't all you have, you have the full functionality of a DAW at your disposal. Well, thicker chords, but I'll get to that. This really does sound more expressive, but the lead violins have a pretty bad attack. I think you could make them sound more legato if you lowered the attack, and slightly overlapped the notes. At 0:21, you can overlap your legato violin samples with some staccato samples if you want them to sound a bit stronger there. I like the articulation at 0:05, I don't think I've ever actually used that sample. And I like the clarinet ear-candy at 0:32. Concerning the thicker chords: At the beginning of the song, there's only a single violin line, and bass line, (and maybe a cello line, if so it's too quiet to really hear.) The chords don't need to be this thin, they would sound better if they were thicker. You could fill up the space in between your bass and violin with a cello, viola, and a 2nd violin part. That's a typical full string ensemble. At 0:11, an oboe is added, but it's just matching the violins an octave higher, so the chords aren't improved at all. As well as the oboe, you could have other woodwind instruments playing under the melody, supporting it with chords. At 0:43, the melody sounds pretty good by itself, but the woodwind chords supporting it are once again sparse. This wouldn't actually sound too bad as a contrast, but the entire song lacks thick chords. I already complimented the the clarinet ear-candy at 0:32 - I like what you're trying to do, but it could be improved if you added in more woodwinds to play with the clarinet. And one last thing - why did you suddenly end the song in a completely different key?

So what. We all have to do it, why should you be the exception? EWQLSO has legato, marcato, portamento and stacatto samples. I don't see the problem here. That song isn't trying to convey the same energy you were trying to convey with your song. When it starts to picks up, the orchestration gets thicker. You thought your thin orchestration was excusable because a random song in the Super Mario Galaxy OST with a completely different style was slightly comparable. You haven't convinced me. I really don't mean to gloat or anything, but can you at least make your orchestration sound as decent as I was able to get mine to sound while using EWQLSO before you decide the only way to proceed is to buy more shit?

Make your velocities varied. Just applying EWQLSO over a midi arrangement isn't going to improve it by much. Your samples would be much more effective if you put in the effort to emulate the real playing and sounds of an orchestra. All your instruments currently are perfectly quantized, and have no variation when repeating. At 0:29, your trumpet consistently has the same harsh attack for every note, without any expression. Not only does this sound unappealing, a real trumpet player would play the phrase with some expression. For example, at 0:29, at 0:39, the trumpet could get softer each note, then get louder right before the legato note. Here's a good rule of thumb for for general/subtle orchestral dynamics - higher notes can get higher velocity, and vice versa. For example, at 0:29, the trumpets can get louder on the C#. Also, you melody at 0:07 seems to come from an entirely different song. Your staccato strings seem to be in a minor key, but the melody is in major?? Your orchestration sounds very thin. Where's all the chords? At 0:44, it sounds like the only parts of the string section you're using is a single violin and bass line. The entire song is like this. In orchestral arrangements, parts are written for entire sections, not just single instruments. You should listen to some orchestral recordings to hear how orchestral scores are usually written, (typically with many instruments blended together.) Watching videos/live will help you become familiar too. I'd also recommend becoming familiar with all the instruments commonly used in orchestras, so that it's easier to consider how instruments can work in sections.

Minor update: FX at the ending has better tuning now Made the quiet bits slightly louder overall. I'm not experienced enough when it comes to drum kits to really have an opinion on this. If anyone else agrees/disagrees, I'd be interested to hear it. I think you misunderstood - I was talking about making an entirely new "song" to go before this one, since this entire song is currently a part 1 of 2. Part "prologue" could potentially contain a hint of the Cerulean City theme, the Route 9/10 theme, and then the Rock Tunnel theme. Basically the journey before you get to Lavender Town. Did I overdo cutting back on the bass rumble? Can someone with better headphones confirm this? I think it'll be ready for submission when the above issues are worked out. Ok, I've limited the peaks and re-done the compression/amplification. The quiet parts should be slightly louder now.