XPRTNovice Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 (edited) Goal = turn Kepora's theme into a late Romantic-era piano concerto. Piano is played live (but sampled). Otherwise there is live clarinet, french horn, and trumpet in there in different places. This is sort of my first attempt at doing anything orchestral. Remix: https://soundcloud.com/xprtnovice/flight-of-the-dark-owl-v6 Source: Edited April 10, 2013 by XPRTNovice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cash Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 Hi! Great remix you have here! I love the addition of the other instruments, adds great depth. I think the arrangement is well done, the interpretation during the intro is especially nice. Your performance added a lot of emotion to the original piece. The intro and outro feel like something you'd hear during the dramatic section of a play. Maybe an accompaniment to a court jester's performance. The middle section feels very comforting, like a child being spoiled by a grandmother, at least that's the vibe I get. Overall, arrangement is great in my opinion! As for production, I can't hear any noticeable issues. The piano sample gets the job done as far as I'm concerned. The piano has plenty of humanization thanks to the live performance. At times the higher frequency of the piano seems a bit harsh, maybe that's just me. Also, the piano sounds a tad distant during the quieter parts. The other instruments sound great, the levels are all good. For a first attempt at orchestral, I'd say you nailed it. Awesome remix! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPRTNovice Posted February 12, 2013 Author Share Posted February 12, 2013 Thanks C&C. I actually think the piano might be clipping at some points, which is giving it that harsh sound. I had to double-track the piano to get it to carry and then I didn't do a great job of adjusting the levels or applying compression. That should be an easy fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timaeus222 Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 (edited) Nice, reminds me of Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. Something of note, the piano playing is slightly off. Examples: 0:53 (between hands), 0:59 (between hands), 1:59 (rushing a bit), 3:49 (wrong note?). Edited February 13, 2013 by timaeus222 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPRTNovice Posted February 13, 2013 Author Share Posted February 13, 2013 Thanks Timaeus. A little too human of a performance, maybe. I'll fix those in the next iteration. I haven't gotten a lot of feedback action on this in the last few days. Do we think it's ready for mod review? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cash Posted February 13, 2013 Share Posted February 13, 2013 From my perspective, I'd say it's ready for mod review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnWake Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 Does this come from a rejected idea for Steiner's theme? Chord progression is very similar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPRTNovice Posted February 16, 2013 Author Share Posted February 16, 2013 Not that I know of? Was it yours? Next thing you know I'll be posting everyones OCR tracks to my soundcloud and claiming that I wrote them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnWake Posted February 16, 2013 Share Posted February 16, 2013 I didn't mean that I saw you posting about Steiner's theme on the FFIX project thread so I thought this song came from that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSim Posted February 19, 2013 Share Posted February 19, 2013 Hey Joe! Really enjoyed this one, but a couple of things that I think could be improved are a little more mid-low presence in the strings, particularly in the intro. Also the panning could be a little wider - you could either turn up the master stereo spread, or change it individually, but with orchestral pieces you can generally hear quite a bit of stereo separation, as if each person was in front of you on a stage playing their instrument. The outro was excellent - sounds very "Russian". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPRTNovice Posted February 19, 2013 Author Share Posted February 19, 2013 Thanks DarkSim! I've had to put this one aside for a bit due to other projects, but once I get back to it (hopefully soon) feedback like that is great for helping me really fine-tune the mix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPRTNovice Posted March 30, 2013 Author Share Posted March 30, 2013 Hello everyone, I've cleaned this up a bit and wanted to see if I couldn't get a couple of more head nods before I put it up for mod review. I took all of your suggestions. I've modified the OP but the link is here: http://soundcloud.com/xprtnovice/flight-of-the-dark-owl-master Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 It sounds really good... strings still sound fake-ish, mostly where they are exposed, but I think that can't be helped in this piece. The only other teeny thing I hear is that the piano solo sounds a little ahead of the beat at 0:46-0:59 and again from 1:34-1:56, and not every note but just a few. If you only move ONE note, let it be the very first one at 0:46 so an off-beat note isn't the first thing we hear when the piano solo begins. Other than that, I gots nothin. It sounds great! Tweak a few note timings and submit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timaeus222 Posted March 30, 2013 Share Posted March 30, 2013 0:34 & 0:46 - the piano note is a bit late. 1:19 - sounds like you rushed and then slowed down. 1:28 makes it seem like you were falling a bit behind reading sheet music. 2:33 - 2:55 seems a little off on the piano. 3:06 - the piano could be more impactful with a left hand part and a little automation to dip down the lows on the strings there. 3:38 - the piano is a bit late here too. 3:50 - the piano chromatics here are pretty buried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPRTNovice Posted March 31, 2013 Author Share Posted March 31, 2013 Thanks for those time notations, I will fix them. Problem with the strings is that I did this piece before I bought EWQLO...I really should switch the samples, shouldn't I But that's gonna take foreeevvveeerrr... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPRTNovice Posted April 6, 2013 Author Share Posted April 6, 2013 New version on OP! Fixed all timing and string expression issues thanks to much help from youz twoz. https://soundcloud.com/xprtnovice/flight-of-the-dark-owl-v6 Editing the OP as well. Would welcome any comments before I switch to mod review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpazilla Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 Personally, I now think you've nailed it, as near as possible using midi strings. Great job. Totally ready for a mod to chime in! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnWake Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 This is cool! You should try to shorten that silence at the intro Does the intro have any relation with the song by the way (all the section 'til :30)? At 0:57 it'd make more sense to have the piano make a faster trill. The current one sounds odd because it is too slow. Is the fade at 1:04 done using velocities or with the volume fader? I feel it sounds slightly fake... At 1:47 aren't there some timing issues between the piano and horns? The piano section at 2:09 is very cool, gives a nice feeling. The crescendo afterwards is also nice. The section at 2:33 is good, but a little muddy. I feel you should lower the piano volume there, since it's mostly doing ornaments and filler stuff. The instruments that are playing the melody are drowned by the strings and piano. Nice use of the orchestra at 3:03! I like the progressions you used to return to the main theme. I'm not sure but aren't there some timing issues in the following sections too? The piano seems a bit off a few times. Section at 3:50 is cool, nice ending! Overall, the arrangement is very good. I'm not a classical musical expert but I feel the arrangement nails the feel. There are some slight issues with timing and the "realness" of the piano though. Also, some of the more crowded sections are a bit muddy, maybe you can play with panning there to free some space for the main melodies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexstyle Posted April 6, 2013 Share Posted April 6, 2013 So, uh, I could nitpick this, but what's the point? I listened to the entire thing and just got lost in it, it's really good. I'm sure it would be an easy pass on the panel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPRTNovice Posted April 7, 2013 Author Share Posted April 7, 2013 lol was that my mod review? I love you Flex! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WiFiSunset Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Wow. I listen to A Lot of Classical, and you captured the era perfectly . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flexstyle Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 lol was that my mod review? I love you Flex! I didn't tag it with my customary <MODREVIEW /> tags, so I can go super in-depth if you want! I just don't think it needs it, is all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnWake Posted April 7, 2013 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Woops, I didn't mean to sound nitpicky with my comments in the other post, just thought you were expecting someone to do that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPRTNovice Posted April 7, 2013 Author Share Posted April 7, 2013 I didn't tag it with my customary <MODREVIEW /> tags, so I can go super in-depth if you want! I just don't think it needs it, is all. Thanks Flex. I think we're good. There are a couple of things I'm nitpicky about and will change before I sub. Woops, I didn't mean to sound nitpicky with my comments in the other post, just thought you were expecting someone to do that No worries, that's what this is for! They were good comments and I'm a bit of a perfectionist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rozovian Posted April 10, 2013 Share Posted April 10, 2013 I could be lazy and do a Flex review too. Cuz this doesn't need much more than that. But I keep hearing these little weird noises. It shouldn't be clipping, but I'm hearing some kind of distortion or noise on the loud notes in the intro. At 0:46 and on, there's like a snare hitting on every other beat. Maybe it's just a bad piano with clipping samples and odd noises and no round robins. Maybe you thought it was appropriate to put a soft snare sound under every other beat. I don't know. But I keep hearing it, and it bothers me. There's some timing things that bother me too, but those seem more like artistic choice things. I'm not gonna nitpick about that. See if I'm imagining those noises, what you can do about them if I'm not, before subbing. I don't think they'd get in the way of getting this posted, but I'm pretty sure they'd bother you once this was posted and you noticed them. Unless I'm imagining them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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