jordanrooben Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 In an attempt to gain more experience, here's my first shot at orchestral music. I decided my last attempt ant Phendrana Drifts isn't worth going back to yet, so I decided to use that song. I think it turned out pretty well. Any opinions on the arrangement would be awesome because I was trying to put my energy towards that. Version 1: http://soundcloud.com/jordanrooben/strings-of-phendrana Version 2: http://soundcloud.com/jordanrooben/icy-strings-version-2 - Fixed issues of having notes not fitting with the scale. - Altered the volume levels to balance everything better. Version 3:http://soundcloud.com/jordanrooben/icy-strings-phendrana-drifts-3 - Added to the intro - Fixed more volume issues - Fixed more scale issues - Changed some instances of the flute to a violin - Fixed issues with notes within the chords clashing - Added a snare drum Version 4: http://soundcloud.com/jordanrooben/icy-strings-4 - Fixed some notes in the intro - Added to the drum - Changed some of the chords in the ending Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozovian Posted January 11, 2012 Share Posted January 11, 2012 Jordan, Jordan, Jordan... You should read my guide, in particular the chapters on writing: harmony and mixing: volume. I won't spoil your listening practice, but on a quick listen I easily heard an instrument that's too loud and seems like it should be further back, and that there are clashes between the chords and the melodies. You're still making these mistakes - learn to avoid them and your music will improve drastically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jordanrooben Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 Jordan, Jordan, Jordan... You should read my guide, in particular the chapters on writing: harmony and mixing: volume. I won't spoil your listening practice, but on a quick listen I easily heard an instrument that's too loud and seems like it should be further back, and that there are clashes between the chords and the melodies. You're still making these mistakes - learn to avoid them and your music will improve drastically. First, I (think) I fixed the scale issues. I shouldn't even be making those mistakes though ... I'll do better. I tried to change the volume levels, but I'll need much more practice before I'm good at it. That sums up the first update. How did I do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozovian Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 1:58-2:30 sounds okay, with the exception of the higher flute notes (like at 2:20) - they sound out of tune. It's not like there aren't improvements to be made in this part, but it's the best part in the track in all regards. The bass drum is WAAAAY too loud. If you don't want to reduce its level, EQ down its lows until it stops dominating the track. The flute doesn't really fit most of the track. Seems to be a combination of writing that doesn't quite agree with the chords, and its high notes being out of tune. The pizzicato strings have a really weird delay/reverb on them, and are too upfront. Work on your ears. If you need listening practice, here's one of my tracks from when I was fairly new to ocr (mid 2008 or something). It has some of the same problems you've got, including out of tune instruments, off-scale stuff, and unbalanced mixing. It has a lot of cool stuff, lots of ideas worth revisiting, but it's not a good track in this state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jordanrooben Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 1:58-2:30 sounds okay, with the exception of the higher flute notes (like at 2:20) - they sound out of tune. It's not like there aren't improvements to be made in this part, but it's the best part in the track in all regards.The bass drum is WAAAAY too loud. If you don't want to reduce its level, EQ down its lows until it stops dominating the track. The flute doesn't really fit most of the track. Seems to be a combination of writing that doesn't quite agree with the chords, and its high notes being out of tune. The pizzicato strings have a really weird delay/reverb on them, and are too upfront. Work on your ears. If you need listening practice, here's one of my tracks from when I was fairly new to ocr (mid 2008 or something). It has some of the same problems you've got, including out of tune instruments, off-scale stuff, and unbalanced mixing. It has a lot of cool stuff, lots of ideas worth revisiting, but it's not a good track in this state. Okay, I lowered the bass drum and you can actually hear the other parts now . I also changed the patch on the pizzicato strings, which should fix the delay issue. I noticed what you said about the flute not fitting, so I changed it into an arpeggio and it sounds much better. Are there any more BIG issues I missed? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozovian Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Big issues you missed? Yes. Still some weird notes. Here's an idea: Make a copy of the whole song, then replace all instruments (except drums, obviously) with piano. Write down all the parts where the melodies sound weird together, then figure out why. Fix it. When it's fixed, write down how you fixed it. When it's all fixed, go back to the original version, and fix it there. That way your ears won't be distracted by the different instruments and will more easily hear dissonance and just plain weird harmonies. Still volume issues. Here's an idea: In that piano-only version, change track levels so stuff that's supposed to be foreground is louder than stuff that's supposed to be in the background. Write down which tracks are where. Now apply this to the original. Then there's the snare. It's not a terrible sample, but it's the same sample on every note, whether soft or loud. I you have other snare samples, especially grace notes, flams, rolls, use them. If you have a snare instrument (solo or in a kit) with different samples for different velocities, that helps too. The idea is to make sure it doesn't sound like the same sample over and over. If your sampler lets you do this (you may have to put the snare on a separate track, on a separate kit), set the attack time to change depending on velocity. You can also use the filter to mask the sample, tho that works best when it's subtle and together with other methods. You're getting there. 2:14-2:44 is nice. The ending sounds written ok, tho you need to fix the strings slow attack and fast release. There were other parts where the snare or flute was the only big detracting element, so you're moving in the right direction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jordanrooben Posted January 14, 2012 Author Share Posted January 14, 2012 Big issues you missed? Yes. Still some weird notes. Here's an idea: Make a copy of the whole song, then replace all instruments (except drums, obviously) with piano. Write down all the parts where the melodies sound weird together, then figure out why. Fix it. When it's fixed, write down how you fixed it. When it's all fixed, go back to the original version, and fix it there. That way your ears won't be distracted by the different instruments and will more easily hear dissonance and just plain weird harmonies. Still volume issues. Here's an idea: In that piano-only version, change track levels so stuff that's supposed to be foreground is louder than stuff that's supposed to be in the background. Write down which tracks are where. Now apply this to the original. Then there's the snare. It's not a terrible sample, but it's the same sample on every note, whether soft or loud. I you have other snare samples, especially grace notes, flams, rolls, use them. If you have a snare instrument (solo or in a kit) with different samples for different velocities, that helps too. The idea is to make sure it doesn't sound like the same sample over and over. If your sampler lets you do this (you may have to put the snare on a separate track, on a separate kit), set the attack time to change depending on velocity. You can also use the filter to mask the sample, tho that works best when it's subtle and together with other methods. You're getting there. 2:14-2:44 is nice. The ending sounds written ok, tho you need to fix the strings slow attack and fast release. There were other parts where the snare or flute was the only big detracting element, so you're moving in the right direction. I added a lot of different sounds to the snare so it won't be as repetitive, and I gave the volume level another shot. I think it's as good as I can get it with my skill level and headphones. I'm currently using extremely low quality ear buds. I'm planning to get better ones soon though. I'm at a loss as to what to do with those weird notes. I'm sure it's just a lack of experience, but I can't hear anything weird. I may be able to catch them, if I had some idea where to look. If it's not too much trouble, could you point out what sections are off? I tried your suggestion with the piano, but it didn't help with the volume levels, because it's not as loud as the other instruments are in higher pitches. 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.