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Halo 3 - Never Forget (Cris Orchestral Version)


Cris
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Before I say anything, know this: I have ZERO musical training/theory knowledge. /disclaimer.

I'm impressed with it, you can tell from some of the minor(one-note) changes that there's definitely an ear there, and it feels like a solid foundation, but a little vanilla. I would like to hear the backing strings beefed up a bit, especially since they are so strong & carry so much of the track. The piano flourishes are nice, but when they start so early, I'm left thinking that they're going to keep expanding in new directions, and they do, but then just return to the classic 'Never forget' motif.

This track almost feels, to me, like I'm waiting for something. I don't know if you WANT to change it up, but if you feel like you've hit a dead-end, maybe another ReMixer could contribute/collaborate where the string stabs kick in, and extend out out a bit. I don't know why, but I feel like something NOT so faithful to the original would do wonders to surprise your listeners. I'm inclined to think that a nylon-string guitar, or some other unexpected change of style/instrumentation would really freshen it up.

I guess what I'm saying is that the faithfulness to the original is killer, and worthy of praise & respect. Now that you have such an awesome foundation, I want to see what gets built upon it.

I think this is my first review/criticism of ANYTHING on this site, and I've been here since the 'Orange' days. I hope THAT tells you how much I like the track. I'm going to keep following this. I hope what I said doesn't step on your toes, as it's obvious a lot of time & care went into it; As a listener, I feel like it's good, but close to truly awesome. I want to see the 'truly awesome'.

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Before I say anything, know this: I have ZERO musical training/theory knowledge. /disclaimer.

I'm impressed with it, you can tell from some of the minor(one-note) changes that there's definitely an ear there, and it feels like a solid foundation, but a little vanilla. I would like to hear the backing strings beefed up a bit, especially since they are so strong & carry so much of the track. The piano flourishes are nice, but when they start so early, I'm left thinking that they're going to keep expanding in new directions, and they do, but then just return to the classic 'Never forget' motif.

This track almost feels, to me, like I'm waiting for something. I don't know if you WANT to change it up, but if you feel like you've hit a dead-end, maybe another ReMixer could contribute/collaborate where the string stabs kick in, and extend out out a bit. I don't know why, but I feel like something NOT so faithful to the original would do wonders to surprise your listeners. I'm inclined to think that a nylon-string guitar, or some other unexpected change of style/instrumentation would really freshen it up.

I guess what I'm saying is that the faithfulness to the original is killer, and worthy of praise & respect. Now that you have such an awesome foundation, I want to see what gets built upon it.

I think this is my first review/criticism of ANYTHING on this site, and I've been here since the 'Orange' days. I hope THAT tells you how much I like the track. I'm going to keep following this. I hope what I said doesn't step on your toes, as it's obvious a lot of time & care went into it; As a listener, I feel like it's good, but close to truly awesome. I want to see the 'truly awesome'.

thanks for comment. Actually I don't have enough skills and instruments to make something fresh and new. I love classic soundtrack style with piano and strings. It's hard to beat this briliant original track. I done my best with my version. I made an original never forget motiv that early because i thought that it will be more insteresting than strings and strings in the circle. You know people tells me that i'm making a little bit boring tracks so i'm working on differentation in track. Thanks again for comment it is really building to hear that!

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Before I say anything, know this: I have ZERO musical training/theory knowledge. /disclaimer.

...

Oh boy, you are "blessed" with novice commenters, because I have really small training and theory.

thanks for comment. Actually I don't have enough skills and instruments to make something fresh and new. I love classic soundtrack style with piano and strings. It's hard to beat this briliant original track. I done my best with my version. I made an original never forget motiv that early because i thought that it will be more insteresting than strings and strings in the circle. You know people tells me that i'm making a little bit boring tracks so i'm working on differentation in track. Thanks again for comment it is really building to hear that!

"Actually I don't have enough skills and instruments to make something fresh and new."

-Please don't say that. You have a very good start, but it needs something (at least, this is what I think). Something that you CAN do it.

"It's hard to beat this briliant original track."

-True indeed. But you don't have to beat this track. You "just" have to "personalize" it. (Which can be harder than making an original.) Morph it into your taste, your personality.

"You know people tells me that i'm making a little bit boring tracks so i'm working on differentation in track."

Well... that's true, that I don't know you. I am just guessing in the dark, but I think that you lack some courage to "play". In my humble opinion, just play with the track and the instruments. Play like a cat playing with its toy. Again with the personalization (it looks like, it's my flagship :) ): try to make it more melancholic, try to make it something happy. Try to swap/change the instruments, try to make an energetic violin solo (ok, this is just my personal wish, because I learn to play the violin and I like this instrument :) ).

Oh, and.. this is your remix. It {is}/{will be} complete when you feel like it. We (the others) just tell you what we feel about it.

P.S.: Sorry for being a moralist. These are just my opinions and are not absolute truths. Follow my advice if you feel that they will be constructive to you and forget them if you feel otherwise.

P.S. nr.2: ...and sorry for my poor english.

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Aside from the abrupt ending, it's not a bad arrangement. But that's just it, it sounds like it's arranged but not performed. There's some hints of a human performance in there, like some note slips on the piano and the slow attacks on the strings, you just gotta tweak them and the rest of it to feel performed. A real pianist doesn't play all notes the same length, the same timing, the same velocity. Figuring out what length, timing, and velocity edits you need to do to make it more emotive and more human is tricky but it pays off.

In additional to making it more emotive, you should avoid repetition. It's not like you can't have the same notes in two "verses", but when you have the exact same note slip in there, people notice. It's a problem that crops up in a lot of styles, sometimes it's a cymbal or chimes that sounds the same every time, sometimes it's a transition that just seems copy-pasted. And ppl notice.

It's a beautiful source and I find it hard to believe anyone could top it with a remix. Fortunately, you don't have to. As already stated by Geryon, don't try to beat the original, personalize it. Many tracks on ocremix aren't in the same style as their source, and even those that are approach it differently. Your remix seems like it's basically trying to do the same thing as the source, which is gonna make personalizing it so much harder. It might be easier to pick a more distinct style or mood and try to move the track that way - eg give it some jazzy touches, borrow from Chopin, change time signature, build it around a short ostinato, something. If you have a concrete idea to build it around, you'll have an easier time adapting it than to try to personalize it just to differentiate it from the original.

Good luck with it. :)

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I actually like this better than the original... I don't play halo but your cover focuses on the part of the progression I liked in the original. I felt the original moved too quickly away from that progression found in the beginning. And it's really beautiful you can make a who song of those triads (?)... yeah I'm not formally versed in music, I barely have a gasp on instrumentation lol.

Btw, what samples are you using?

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