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Super Mario Galaxy - Little Glockenspiel


Guifrog
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This one's quite a little piece, but it's probably the most intimate mix I've already done. To sum it up, it's about feeling small and innocent, like a lil' child, towards a big and complicated world. He wants a partner, a family and a beautiful dream to come true; is it possible to have everything? Which of these can he give up on if it's not? He's pretty reluctant to walk and decide, yet he has to walk. Etc :P

ReMix:

*update*

*update of the update*

*update of the update of the update*

http://ocrwip.fireslash.net/?fid=1379

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?mjy20wbsse0l91m (if the other link's down)

Source:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64Czms00U2w

Breakdown:

0:00-0:12 => original writing

0:13-0:43 => corresponds to 0:07-0:31 (or 0:32-0:56) from source

0:44-1:08 => melody's original, harmony's from source overall

1:09-1:33 => corresponds to 0:07-0:31 (or 0:32-0:56) from source

1:34-1:58 => corresponds to 0:57-1:21 from source

1:59-2:11 => original writing

2:12-2:30 => corresponds to 1:22-1:33 from source

2:31-2:36 => original writing

2:37-end => corresponds to 1:22-1:33 from source

Put some italian influences to this btw. Hope you enjoy ^^

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Love the Latin-sounding guitar in there, and the strings flow very nicely, though the lower bass strings sound somewhat midi-esque--if that makes any sense. The quality of them isn't very good. I would have upped the volume on the glockenspiel and maybe done more with it. Maybe a second playing a counter-melody or something like that. And maybe make the percussion a bit louder as well. I do love the arrangement though.

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I haven't even listened yet and I can tell you I like it just because you used the word Glockenspiel. I don't care if the mix actually has a Glockenspiel but I friggin' love that instrument AND that name.

[don't get me wrong, I'll listen to it after I clear out the Mod Review backlog]

it does ;)

Yo Gui, just so you know! Your glockenspiel plays out of the playable range of the instrument. Not a big gripe, it still sounds pretty... just in case, you know, you ever wanted someone to play it live ;) That, and a glockenspiel that plays that low wouldn't be so little! One thing I would recommend is to put those low notes on tubular bells (chimes) as part of the ensemble!

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Mmm, this one's absolutely beautiful! I love the SMG soundtrack, and this really does it some justice. Some suggestions for you though:

When the strings play, the stereo field feels too left-heavy, maybe the strings are panned too much, or something needs to move to the right more.

The glockenspiel sounds a little too exposed at 2:12. Only a little, so maybe dial back on the velocity or add a bit extra reverb.

Really nice track, good luck with the sub :)

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I second Lv99 - The glockenspiel is a badass name and a kickass instrument. Anyone who calls them 'bells' or the sort needs to get their head examined.

Yeah, as DrumUltimA mentioned, having really low notes on a glockenspiel can be distracting because they don't exist irl. His suggestion to used tubular bells is a good one - try it out.

Otherwise, my only gripe is the strings - they're good, but a little on the unnatural side. They all sound like they're using extreme detache for every single note with their fade-in attacks. Try to adjust the attack of the strings so they don't swell for every note (especially the relatively fast notes).

Otherwise, I love it. Keep the glockenspiel alive, bro.

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It gets better and better every time I hear it. DrumUltimA brings up a good point about the glockenspiel, though, which I didn't notice before. He suggests tubular bells, but I don't think that would quite fit with the ensemble you have right now, though you might try the vibraphone. It's got a nice, natural reverb on it with a really deep melodic tonality. Compare that to bells, where the tone is harsh and very sharp sometimes. Very nice, though.

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Many, many thanks, guys!

I could also adjust the notes so they don't go away from the real range (thanks youtube "^^)! Done that, yet I decided to take (part of) the suggestion and applied a single bell to end things, instead of that low glock note.

Ugly strings! Yea, having some trouble with them. What about the new ones?

*see update*

Also, moved them a bit to the right ;D

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Yeah, I really like it overall. Strings are giving you some trouble? I don't know about your setup, but I think there's a way to get the strings to start their sound at the looping point rather than the beginning of their attack. If you used Reason's sampler I could explain it better, but by the sound of it you are not (thank God). There are ways to bypass the attacks in the middle of phrases, but it's not really easy. The effect can be worth it, though.

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This one's quite a little piece, but it's probably the most intimate mix I've already done. To sum it up, it's about feeling small and innocent, like a lil' child, towards a big and complicated world. He wants a partner, a family and a beautiful dream to come true; is it possible to have everything? Which of these can he give up on if it's not? He's pretty reluctant to walk and decide, yet he has to walk. Etc :P

ReMix:

*update*

*update of the update*

http://ocrwip.fireslash.net/?fid=1377

Source:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=64Czms00U2w

Put some italian influences to this btw. Hope you enjoy ^^

This sounds great, wish there was a acoustic solo in this though :P

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XD Oh boy! I might try soloing on the next mix if I decide to go spanish, dun' worry ^^

Btw the old strings were from Miroslav Philharmonik, and no matter how I adjusted the attack settings, the ensemble cello samples seem to love playing in crescendo. There's the results, a free sample caught from somewhere around :P

Didn't notice the noise fighting with the glock... Too much reverb.

Fixed that, done some small extra touches, now to mods \o/

http://ocrwip.fireslash.net/?fid=1379

or http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?mjy20wbsse0l91m

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This is a great piece, but I do have 2 cents to throw in.

The guitar and the strings at 0:22 and later have very similar ranges, and I think it's just a little muddy here. Plucked/strummed and bowed strings seem to have that effect together.

Also, this is such a beautifully "natural" piece that the synth sounds at 1:32 and 1:44 sound very out of place, even ugly IMHO. If you feel something like this is really necessary, try to find a real instrument to take its place.

I like the ending as-is, but the judges seem to prefer more use of the full range of sound, so DarkSim's suggestion might help it pass. A mod review on this question specifically would be useful.

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Yo! Excellent choice of source material dude :-D It's really nice to see you doing more intimate, relaxed mixes like this in addition to your usual dance-y style.

The arrangement here definitely checks out, it's conservative but very highly personalized with countermelodies and a bit of original writing, so you're fine there! The production is a little more problematic, there's a few points that need looking at. For one, some of your glock/guitar notes feel a bit harsh on the ears, perhaps bring those down just a tad when they play the loudest notes. The bongo samples themselves sound like they're causing some clipping/distortion (Stevo pointed out 2:15 as an example of where this happens) and probably just need to be replaced. Lastly, your string writing is generally ok, but when they're most exposed it's obvious that they're not very humanized. Particularly in the intro of the mix, see what you can do to make them even a little bit more realistic. 1:34 is also another point of interest as far as the strings are concerned.

Damn solid attempt here, but let's see if we can't get the production to the next level before submitting, yeah? :-D

(this review was written with the help of the other workshop mods, as well!)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Yesh, let's \@/ You guys are awesome!!

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?rcjdjqdvec92629

Here's what I've done so far: EQ adjustments for fuller soundscape, a lil' bit of work into strings, taken off the echo effect from the bongos, replaced synths from 1:32 and 1:44 with cymbal crash and wind chimes respectively. If glock and guitar don't sound okay for your ears yet, I'll see what I can do later :P

What do you think?

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