Bowlerhat

Wow, thanks to all of you!! Since I don't have a second microphone and I'm just a poor part-timing dishwasher who just got out of high school (and thus can't buy more microphones) I can't use a multic-mic setup. But I did just find out that my Zoom H2N has a 4ch suround sound mode that I've never used yet, and after reading through quite a few articles (thanks for that!!) I think that placing my mic a little further from the piano should help. Until now I always used the XY mode, because I also use that when I record other solo instruments. But the 4ch mode should help to catch the ambiance of the room more. On another note, before I remove the topic from mod-review. Is there anything to improve with the arrangement itself? I personally think it's pretty acceptable, but If I'm gonna rerecord the whole everything anyway then I might as well improve the rest too.

Thanks!! I indeed recorded this through a microphone. Compared to the piano in the video, my sound is indeed a lot hollower, but I recorded my track on a normal piano, while the piano in the video is obviously a grand piano. Is it still possible to get the same sound? And if so, how? Thanks again for the feedback!

Ah, thanks. I think I got it right now.

Bump. I'd like to change the post to mod-review, but... I don't know how... If anyone could tell me, then it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

Hey, This is my pianocover of Rainbow Road, from MarioKart 7. I'm pretty happy with it, but if there is any feedback, then I'd be happy with that as well. If not, then I'll change the post to Mod Review and then I'll try to get it submissioned. It's like 100% source, so that shouldn't be a problem, but if anyone has anything to say about the arranging, audio quality, performance and/or other stuff then it would be great to share it. https://soundcloud.com/jorik-bergman/route-de-art-en-ciel Source: Thanks!!

I tend to travel quite a lot, which restricts practising multiple instruments. It's possible to pack my flute in my bag, but if I have to take my singing books, piccolo and trumpet with me as well than it gets harder. And then I'm not even mentioning the impossibility to pack a grand piano... So I mostly break up my practice sessions on conveniability. Which results in some pretty desastrous situations. Since I've been in Oslo for almost two weeks now I haven't touched a single instrument except a crappy recorder I tried out at some marketplace! And because before I went to Oslo I was in Malmö (Sweden), and also had exams in Leiden (The Netherlands) I haven't touched my trumpet for over 2 months. My advice for other people with similar problems as me is to practise music that doesn't require any physical instrument efficiently. I train my transcribingskills while listening to music in the train or plane. By combining absolute pitch, intervals, recognising chordprogressions and an iPod you can get pretty far. And if you don't have absolute pitch you can at least practise your intervals and such. With knowledge like that I just do the arranging in my head and work it out on actual instruments when its possible. And of course, you can sing scales and such wherever you are. And then, when I'm back at home I can do some hardcore trumpet playing, spent at least an hour a day on the piano and still have time left for some actual recording because I already did all of the arranging in my head. It's perhaps not the best way from a schedular perspective, but it works for me and it's better than trying to pack your piano.

Hmm, when I'm in a musical pinch I always listen to Marc Papeghin. That guy's a genius. Ibrahim Maalouf and the band "Tally Hall" are really inspirational as well. Of course the three classical B's Bach, von Beethoven and Bartok help as well. For OCR I'd name Harmony, Sam Dillard and 7bitHero.

Yeah, I agree about the sound clearness. I think I might rerecord it when I've got some time left. 1:15-1:28 is definitely a little out of place because the chord progression has a different pattern than the rest of the song. But it was neccesary to transition back to the mainmelody. As for my influences, I'm not really sure. I think that when writing it I was going for that careless ambiance from forest themes from the Legend of Zelda. Something that you want to hear when you're exploring an unknown forest all on your own.

Here's a small pianocomposition I made. If anyone knows any way to improve it, and is kind enough to share it, then that would make me tremendously happy. If anyone doesn't know a way to improve it, but liked it nonetheless, then he or she is allowed to share that as well. https://soundcloud.com/jorik-bergman/forest-waltzmp3

Oh, that's a shame. I'm afraid I can't help then. Sorry

Being in one of the best amateur marching bands of the world (K&G), I do know quite a number of skilled percussionalists, but we've only got one bass drum. So I actually can't really imagine a bass drum piece. Except if you've written it for several differently pitched bass drums, in which case I can't help you. Could you expand on your piece please? We won the world amateur contest on Marching two years ago, and were the best of Europe in show. I was just 16 back then.

Here's a small composition I made. If anyone knows any way to improve it, and is kind enough to share it with, then that would make me tremendously happy. If anyone doesn't know a way to improve it, but liked it nonetheless, then I'd be happy to hear it as well. You know, for my ego. https://soundcloud.com/jorik-bergman/riomp3

I have only had one pair of headphones in my whole life, and I got it half a year ago, but I nonetheless really recommend the Beyerdynamic DT-880. It's not really fancy or anything, but everything just sounds so... Right. You can simply hear anything that's happening. But... The only comparison I've got are my IPhone earphones, so I'm no expert.

Hey, A small piano arrangement of Zelda's lullaby. It was kind of a prepared improvisation. Any feedback at all would be appreciated! https://soundcloud.com/jorik-bergman/zeldas-lullabymp3 I assume everyone knows the source.

My favourite jazzmusician is definitely Ibrahim Maalouf. Seeing him live a few months ago must have been the best concert I've been to in my whole life. He's a French trumpetplayer who blends Jazz with Arabian shizzle on a whole new level. It kind of reminded me of Tigran Hamasyan, but then a lot livelier and more melodic.

Going back to the original question: I believe that if you lack in music theory, then you should get better at it. Finding ways to avoid the problem could help on a short term basis, but if you want to make music your whole life then you should be able to read sheet music. I'd also recommend playing around with a piano, keyboard or guitar and get used to harmonies, rhythm, flow and other things you actually only realise when you're actively making music. And when you've got that down, then you'll see that things like composing, arranging and transcribing will go a lot easier.

Creativity. A solopiano that's harmonically and melodically the same as the original, but masterly arranged is fine by me. And songs that sound really different from the original, but are relatively simple in sound, arrangement and stuff like that don't really interest me. The way the artist interprets the original and makes it his/her own is really important for me. And whether that way is 30 minutes long, only french horn and some weird mash up of every known genre doesn't matter. As long as its musically interesting.

Haha, just when everything was fixed I read your post... But I nevertheless appreciate your help. It defenitely prevents it from happening again. A link to the new version is here: https://soundcloud.com/jorik-bergman/danse-macabre

So, I had this huuuge project for graduating from my high school which I had been working on for the past few months. After a lot of arranging I recorded some live flute in my room. Good recording devices, good program, good headphones and a very crappy laptop. But I managed and everything sounded really good on my laptop. Today I finally finished all of the editing and stuff, which was good because today was the deadline, and this project is like 50% of my music grade for graduating school. But when I transferred the recording from my laptop to my computer, and took one final listen, there were some huge audioproblems. Noices, hissing, clipping; all of the very hated recording problems that I had carefully edited away were suddenly present again. Now I had to send some amateurish audio file to my teacher, besides having worked on it for several monthes. There's a link here: https://soundcloud.com/jorik-bergman/danse-macabre-pwsmp3 Does anyone know how this could have happened, how it could have been prevented, how it could be solved or anything else that might be helpfull. Because I'm pretty stressed...

Just chipping in really fast: if you 1-up a flute with an octave, then you get a piccolo, not a recorder. There is a distinct difference between a piccolo and a recorder. So if you lower a recorder with one octave, then you don't get a real flute. Which explains why the flute doesn't sound like a flute, but more like an ocarina. Furthermore, after listening to the mix, Timaeus was right about the performance lacking a natural flow. I do like the harmonic choices you made, though. I think the arrangement is pretty cool!

First of all I want to say that I really like your work. Your new album sounds incredible! But... There are still a few things to say about this mix. Right now it's just a collection of nintendosongs that not always fluently flow into each other. Except for the instrumentation and general feeling, it's not really a whole song. The transition from Zelda's lullaby to Rainbow road just asks for a Good Egg cameo, but right now it's just a few measures of blatant filler. I'd recommend unifying it arrangement-wise as well, because right now it's still really straightforward. The general sound and instrumentation is really, really cool but sometimes the timing is a bit 'vague'. I can't give exact data because of tindeck, but at a few points the instruments aren't played at exactly the same time. The flute is too legato. It's just not humanly possible to make an octavejump or to play the same note twice without changing your articulation. It sounds okay at small intervals, but when it exceeds the fifth it gets too 'round' to sound realistic. I think that that little thrillerthingy in the oboe at Verdanturf Town sounds a bit odd, but that might be my personal taste. But it was really nice nonetheless!

Haha, I didn't mean both of those D's. Those are fine. I meant the D at 1:04, but it was just an example of odd articulation.

This is really nice. Just a couple of things: - I think it's a bassoon, but I'm not sure. The melodic woodwind thingy is mixed by the note. Especially the D is too hard in comparison with the rest of the melody. It's the last note of the theme, and should be less forcefull. Throughout the mix this is also apparent in other places. - The left hand of the piano is hit too hard in general. For example at 0:39, when the right hand has the melody, the left hand is supposed to be accompany, and it is. But there is a weird accent on the fourth and sixth pulse. It takes everything out of context. This is also apperent in a lot of other places where there is piano. These two things may seem pretty minor, but since they're noticable in quite a lot of places it is something you should focus on. And these two things are just examples, the other cases aren't exactly the same, but nonetheless very alike. It's a problem with articulation.

I recommend musicophilia, Tales of Music and the Brain, by Oliver Sacks. It's pretty hard to read, but if you're into music and psychological stuff then I'd dare to say that it is one of the best books available. To link that with music theory, it also deals with the more psychological side of making music,that is the effect music has on the brain. So it is a really really specific part of music theory, but really interesting nonetheless.

I've got my last exam (philosophy) tomorrow, and after that I don't have any school until the beginning of January. So I'll set up my recording facilities in a few days.