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.

I've updated the file in the first post. Fixed the loud tuba honks at 1:15. Decreased the volume of some of the percussion at 0:42 and made the snare darker. Tried to make the drum kit less wide. Decreased the volume of the bass rumble, although it gets louder at 2:37. I made the FX at the ending in-tune with the last chord to hopefully make it less jarring. I still have the original FX fresh in my mind though, so it sounds a bit strange to me. My headphones don't have a lot of bass, so I'd appreciate knowing if the bass rumble if it's still a problem, or if it's too quiet. If I have to guess at what might instruments might possibly be wrong, and then guess at whether it's the loudness, articulation, or timing that bothers you - then no, it feels more like I'm wasting my time. However, there were a few spots you mentioned that I did notice, and have changed. Oh boy. I'm afraid you're listening to the first half of an 11 minute medley. No, I'm not changing that. I'm not going put the battle theme in the beginning, because there's no battle happening in the beginning of the song, if that makes any sense. And I'm not going to add Lavender Town to the end because that would ruin the mood, and it would be impossible to recapture the emotional tone from the middle right after that giant climax. (And I'm not going to add a "goofy-scary" section because I don't consider Lavender Town "goofy." Also because that would just make the tone confusing. Yes, the tone changes, but it stays consistent within each section.) Basically, I really, really doubt I'm going to take any idea seriously that involves re-writing the entire structure of the song. I'm not re-writing the entire thing just because you just don't like medleys. To put it even more bluntly, and I apologize in advance - I don't think yours or anyone else's random ideas for the structure of the song is anywhere near as coherent as the one I've been working on for years. (There's one possible exception though - I could write an entirely new part based on the Rock Tunnel theme, to give the intro of this some emotional context. I would have to write ~4 minutes worth so that it could be it's own separate part though, and that's pretty daunting.) The intro is an interpretation of the route 3 and route 11 themes, which gets explored more in the 2nd half. After that, it actually is a remix of the Lavender Town theme.

I can fix the brass honks, but which percussion elements do you find bright and exposed? Could you please phrase that in a way that helps me? What about it do you find annoying, or un-subtle? Is it too loud? Does it need better EQ? Can you elaborate? What about the drum kit sounds "stretched as wide as the orchestra itself?" Can you elaborate? I believe this may be your problem with the ending. ____ I'm really sorry if I'm coming off as an asshole, but almost none of these comments actually help me.

Nope. Most DAW's have "humanization" options. I actually don't use a keyboard for most of my compositions. (Though I do have 2+ years of piano playing under my belt.) And it's not hard to just go through a track and give it a dynamic rage via velocity controller, especially as you're writing it.

I'm not sure what you're talking about. The ending of the current version doesn't exist in the WIP. The song is going to slow down as long as it contains a Lavender Town section. Can anyone tell me why the song shouldn't have varying mood and pacing? I'd rather not, I think it's plenty varied as it is, sorry. (Actually, the bass rumble was inspired by Eraserhead.) Edit: I've made an update. I've improved a few of the chords in the Lavender Town sections, and added some chimes for flavor.

First post now contains an updated version. Fixed the rouge clarinet velocity at 0:56. Raised the overall volume of the Lavender Town section. Added cello chords at 1:47 to transition into Lavender Town better. Adjusted the volume of the low bass rumble, and gave it some better EQ. Added bowed crotales to Lavender Town for effect. Fixed some of the sour staccato string notes in the Tower section. Minor stuff - made the bit at 2:30 longer, fixed the ugly brass at 3:39, made the snare sound more consistent, etc. Is this technically a FireRed remix, since it contains FireRed SFX at the end?

I'm glad OCR's "your arrangement must be substantial and original" rule hasn't been taken to an extreme.

Last time I tried submitting something like that the judges didn't like the transitions or the contrasting slower sections and it got rejected. But remixes covering multiple sources aren't actually banned or anything, just make sure it's not something that would sound better as multiple songs, I guess.

I like the cleaned up soundscape in the updated version, but... is the opening supposed to be funny? If not, then that's my only criticism of this. It's the helium voice speaking gibberish that gets me, everything else about the intro is fine. Although I guess if Pokemon were real, and Marowak's ghost started talking to me like that, I'd be pretty scared. Maybe you could just try making it more subtle? And wait a bit before it plays so that we have time to get immersed.

I've been away from my computer for awhile so I couldn't listen to this. The string melody at 1:14 seems rather midi to me - every note seems to have the same amount of seperation between them and the same attack. I didn't like how dark/tinny the EQ on the strings was, and I also didn't like how "open" the chords were at 1:28 and 2:35 that the staccato string arpeggios were making. Combined with the EQ on the strings, it seemed to give the song a bit of a "hollow" feel that I found a bit weird. Despite that, I liked the song overall, and the intro in particular.

I can't think of anyone more affected by this than random theshizz members.

So because you are not willing/able to contact everyone, of course their opinions probably fall in line with yours! I'm glad I don't have any songs on your albums, I'd have to become paranoid and constantly make sure my remix was still on the site. (Regarding the topic on-hand, this is the only strong opinion I've had since the thread started.)