FunkyEntropy Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 It's been a while since I've felt like I had anything worth presenting to the WIP forum, but I'm back and with a tune from Xenogears that I cranked out in about 2~2.5hrs. I think I set a personal record for speed vs quality. A couple of things - 1) The ending is actually a transition for going into "Aveh, the ancient dance". 2) How to elegantly notate "Aveh..." is giving me fits since the drum rhythms work best in cut time but the melody is definitely in a quick 3/4 (in 1, about 2x as fast as the 3/4 of "Leftover dreams..."). [edit: solution found. I could always just use duples. DERP] 3) Hopefully the french horn player won't violently murder me when I put the part in front of her. 4) I need a good name for the piece. "Sand, whips, and giant robots" seems a little silly. My standard WIP disclaimer applies, obviously. http://www.mediafire.com/?tc73g74e55r53rf ------------------------------ Latest version: Notes: Lee was out of town, so we had a different trombone player with us this time around. Docnano's critism was prescient. Not only is the harp part so difficult as to be unworkable in the horn, but it's really inelegant means of conveying the harmony as well. This piece needs some work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docnano Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Cool. This is definitely more of a cover than a remix at this point, but maybe that's your intent. I'd love to hear a more even distribution of the moving harmonic lines across different instruments around 1:24, other than just french horn (I think it's french horn anyway ). I think there's an opportunity for some more creative writing for the backup parts. Maybe. Can't wait to hear it played live! You guys are always awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyEntropy Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 Bump with a few things: - Added a fireslash link. - Issue #2 has been resolved. I use them so rarely that I forgot I could just use duples. DERP. - "Aveh, the ancient dance" is going to be fun. I'm seriously considering adding some clapping segments to the parts, hopefully this won't come across as cliche. [edit] @docnano - Yes, that's french horn. I couldn't figure out a way to break up the harp part from the source without severely impacting the overall flow of that section. Some of the stuff is too low for trumpets (giving them breaks is also important) and it's too fast to be elegant for a trombone, sooo....horn it is. And yes, like 95% of my own arrangements, it's closer to a cover than a remix. Hopefully the second segment will differ enough to take it out of basic transcription territory (minor editing of arpeggios doesn't cut it), but I'm not completely worried. OCR standards for live instruments (for non-guitar stuff, anyway) seems to be that you can get away with either (a) halfassed performance or ( halfassed arrangement, but not both. As long as you do a good job in one of those things, it seems like you're given a bit of discretion. Since I've got your attention, two things - do you think the part just before the transition (2:12~2:14) works? I'm not completely happy with it - it strikes me as being a little awkward and abrupt. Second, my offer for a collab still stands. Since you mentioned that you couldn't think of any pieces to do, I've got some suggestions that might spark your imagination: Radical Dreamers - Distant Promise, Chrono Cross - Star Stealing Girl. I did fairly strict transposition for both and I can see the potential in both of them but, as previously noted, writing new material can give me fits. [/edit] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docnano Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 Hopefully the second segment will differ enough to take it out of basic transcription territory (minor editing of arpeggios doesn't cut it), but I'm not completely worried. OCR standards for live instruments (for non-guitar stuff, anyway) seems to be that you can get away with either (a) halfassed performance or ( halfassed arrangement, but not both. As long as you do a good job in one of those things, it seems like you're given a bit of discretion. That may be true, but this arrangement is almost like a transcription. Some original sections or tasteful variations on the melody wouldn't hurt. Then again, you might bring out some distinct character with the actual performance, and a more interpretive Aveh section would definitely help. Since I've got your attention, two things - do you think the part just before the transition (2:12~2:14) works? I'm not completely happy with it - it strikes me as being a little awkward and abrupt. Nothing rubbed me the wrong way from 2:12-2:14, but the part immediately after that seems unfinished. I'm not sure how you're planning to get into Aveh (and will it retain the "dance" feel of the source?), but at the very least you'll need a ritard preceding the fermata, I think. In lieu of a ritard/fermata, you might consider keeping the momentum going, and ending with some crescendoing bass notes/fifth chords on the beat to establish the rhythm for Aveh. Second, my offer for a collab still stands. I'll PM you if I come up with anything halfway decent. Got some new samples that might give me more inspiration. EDIT: Just for kicks, here's what I meant by splitting up the moving line (sorry to beat a dead horse). I'm using the solo French horn and trombone settings in EastWest, so they should be within each instrument's range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyEntropy Posted July 13, 2011 Author Share Posted July 13, 2011 Just so we're all on the same page, here's the portion of the score for the B section plus the opening of "Aveh". http://www.mediafire.com/?1qdxl4k62b47k23 I really, really like what you did for the moving line. I think part of my problem is that I get stuck on "this is how the piece goes" and that prevents me from doing anything that would deviate from that cherished ideal. So using the B section as an example, we can see the trumpets trading off on the melody, the horn in the harmonic movement, and the trombone doing the base line (adding tuba at the end for that extra oomph). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docnano Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 I think part of my problem is that I get stuck on "this is how the piece goes" and that prevents me from doing anything that would deviate from that cherished ideal. Well, on the flipside, I'm definitely not a fan of changing things just for the sake of change. I find that I'm usually less conservative with arrangements when I'm tinkering on my keyboard, as opposed to deliberately dropping notes into a sequencer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FunkyEntropy Posted July 16, 2011 Author Share Posted July 16, 2011 Bump with new version. See OP for more details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.