Banjo-Kazooie - Mumbo's Hut

[Silent Martini]

Hi. This is the start of my first potential submission, a remix of "Mumbo's Hut" from Banjo-Kazooie:

Version 3 (Latest):

http://www.box.net/shared/gdh6gdq0wc

It's still in the early stages, so I've been focusing more on arrangement than effects, volume levels etc. but I thought I should get feedback before I get too far ahead. Anyway it's sort of a dark take on Mumbo's theme but picks up a bit at the end. Let me know what you think, and/or if it's worth pursuing.

[SplinterOfChaos]

I think the piano is too dominant. It starts to loose much of it's charm at around 30 seconds.

Get some more (non-piano) variation in there. The piano's definitely good, just too much.

[Dafydd]

Yeah, the piano is definitely hammering. Try to vary velocity on the notes.

[Silent Martini]

Thanks for the input! I've shortened the intro a bit so it's not as repetitive, and quietened it a bit and adjusted the velocities. There's a few new instruments and a new section at the end (I'm probably going to add variation to the snare later on) as well as drawing more from the original for the piano solo.

New link is in the original post.

[Dafydd]

The piano is much better now. I like the Italian-ish feel this song has with the tremolo strings and the general rhythm. At the very middle of the song, where the bass is playing alternating notes (C, G, C, G, except in a different key) and the strings hit the off-beats, I could kill to hear a mandolin or some other guitar like instrument there, just playing the same thing as the strings do there, it would fit so perfectly. The piano solo at about 3/4 of the song's length feels pretty unrealistic, maybe it should have more velocity there but less volume to compensate, and maybe some more reverb.

Anyway, I'm liking the general style, and it will be interesting to see where this is going. I still think you should throw in a mandolin or something in the more up-beat parts. If you finish this and polish it a bit I think this should have a fair chance to pass the panel, because the arrangement is very nice.

[Silent Martini]

Honestly I wasn't really going for the Italian/mandolin style, but it's an interesting suggestion. I'll experiment a bit and see what I come up with. Actually I'm a bit worried I'm being too liberal with the arrangement and drifting too far from the source. Any thoughts on this?

[Dafydd]

I wouldn't worry about it, it's still pretty obvious where this mix is coming from, at least to anyone familiar with the source.

[tweex]

Glad to hear someone else is trying to give Banjo-Kazooie some attention. It's certainly on my list to cover at some point. In the meantime, I'll give some feedback here.

Short answer, the arrangement sounds fine thus far. The piano is hammering out the theme which is followed by the marcatto/pizatto strings. Since this is still a WIP, the arrangement will develop, I have no doubt.

Production wise, I have some suggestions.

The tremello strings at the beginning have a nice tone, but the transition from each note is a little rough while they play by themselves. When the other instruments come in, it masks it just fine.

The piano sounds out of place a bit. Not in the sense that the sample is wrong or that you need to choose another instrument, but rather, it's much dryer than everything else. You have reverb on the strings (whether intensional or not) and the piano has very little if anything at all. It doesn't match/fit with the rest of the soundscape.

The string hits, while the tone sounds decent, they sound very mechanical. I think it was bLiNd that turned me to the phrase "machine gun." They sound too quantized. Particularly at :43 when they take the center stage, so to speak. Try shifting the notes (not collectively, but one at a time) just a tiny tiny hair left or right.

Your cello sample that comes in at :57 is hurting a bit. It sounds too dry and rigidly sequenced. Work with the velocity and note transitions to humanize it a bit more. Also, process it (reverb, delay, or whatever you feel would be best).

I agree with Dafydd about the piano "solo" but I think it largely goes back to what I said before: the piano just doesn't fit the soundscape too well right now.

Also, I'm still trying to see if I like the piano playing that low for so long at the beginning. The frequency range shifts to higher areas after a short time. But once more, the piano might sound a bit better after it's processed a bit more.

Bottom line, not bad for a start mate. Keep it up!

[SplinterOfChaos]

I actually like the piano's low counter to the violins. Acquired taste? Although, playing around with different piano's, and maybe even switching from one to the other mid-song might be interesting.

I'm just not in love with the piano solo in the second half.

The end is nice. It's a little exciting and makes me want to hear where it's going,,,until it fades out. If you give it a real ending, that'll solve that. If you extend it, that'll solve it too!

[Silent Martini]

I'll definitely work on humanising the strings and cello and adding effects, but as for the piano solo, I'll probably just abandon it if I can't salvage any of it and replace it with something else. I should mention that that isn't how it's going to end - these's more to come after that.

[Dafydd]

Before you kill it though, try some more reverb.

[Silent Martini]

I think I'm pretty much done now. I added reverb and sustain to the piano and also worked on humanising the strings etc. so I think they're fine now.

I've finished the ending as well, so let me know what you think about the whole thing.

Link is in the original post (version 3)