Demon's Crest: Sunken Aqueduct

[mickomoo]

This is more of a "cover" I didn't deviate much from the source material, it's not finished it's only about halfway done. Though I added some of my own parts... they sound like they work.

Also I need advice on how to mix for orchestra and how to add realism. Also how do you guys input staccato/rhythm sections... mine's kinda sloppy on a count of me doing it manually.

Original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHFj7Ap4bcw

[crypto_magnum]

I hadn't heard this source before. Beautiful.

It might be cover-ish, but this is a really nice start. Orchestral stuff is hard, and you're already weaving together a lot of things nicely here.

I don't have much advice to offer in the way of mixing, as it's one of my weaker areas, but for pure orchestral music I try to mix it as it would sound on a stage (so, visualize where each section would be positioned, and try to create that effect through panning and such). Although, even going by this method, there are a handful of different ways you can seat an orchestra, so there's no one right answer. Also, if you're not writing with the full orchestra at all times, you'll still need to make sure you're keeping the frequencies evenly distributed between Left and Right... nobody likes a trumpet blasting in one ear only with nothing to balance it out on the other side.

For realism, input as much by hand as possible and ride the volume when it's called for. Wise use of articulations is also a must, but this is hard if your samples aren't already made to match up well. Another trick that works with many sample libraries, if your samples are too thin, is to double them. Play the second track a half-step or two below the first, then tune the whole channel back up; this way, you are triggering two different samples to play the same pitch, which simulates multiple players.

For staccato sections, since the attacks are sharp and the rhythm needs to be fairly precise, I input by hand and then quantize everything to 16ths, usually (then go back and fix triplets, etc).

[-Dan]

I really dig this.

Demon's Crest is a game that I have played once and many years ago, so I didn't remember how good its sound track could be.

About the mix, I can't offer some advice, but I'm liking the mood and the way it is starting.

Please don't stop this mix. Go on!

[Cash]

I like it, short and sweet. The performance didn't sound too mechanical, though the balance and volumes of the instruments seems to be a bit off. The flute sounds too loud to me, it kind of steps on other instruments. Orchestral music is not my strong suit, so I don't have specifics.

A well done remix so far.

[mickomoo]

I like it, short and sweet. The performance didn't sound too mechanical, though the balance and volumes of the instruments seems to be a bit off. The flute sounds too loud to me, it kind of steps on other instruments. Orchestral music is not my strong suit, so I don't have specifics.

A well done remix so far.

Yeah I've just considered eq-ing. In fact I uploaded a version in which I've begun the process of trying to normalize the instruments.I'm far off from finished though. I'm still at that stage where I follow my gut with some of these things. The flute is the melody so I wanted it to be "heard" but now I'm going to begin a more critical method of mixing

[timaeus222]

Well, some things I'm noticing:

Something's iffy with the low-mids. It might be the low percussion. I don't know if it's a timpani or something else, but that's what it sounds like.

The other thing is to quantize your notes so they don't seem so off. Offsync them later, but only by a little bit. Do it when you're done with all the other issues.

That's what I got.

[mickomoo]

Yeah there's a timp in there, In addition to... I think the problem is that there might be two double basses here. There's a lot of bass going on