Halo: Last Dance of the Covenant.

[Flam1ng Dem0n]

Here is a song that I have put together. I made it in FL Studio, please let me know what you think. Can it be improved? Or it is pretty good as it is?

Here is the link.

https://soundcloud.com/f1re-dem0n/last-dance-of-the-covenant

This theme is based off of the Halo 1 song called Covenant Dance. Though I have renamed it to Last Dance of the Covenant. Since you are more (in the game) like ending their last dance by killing them.

Please let me know what you all think.

Thanks

[Rozovian]

One of my fav Halo tracks.

Right off the bat, I notice the drums being a simple loop. Not only isn't there that much dynamics to it as it goes on (except an extreme one before the B part), but there's not a lot of dynamics to the loop itself, either. The original has a cool groove because the drums vary in strength. Do that.

Arrangement isn't for ocr, it's too conservative. It's a good source to play with, because it only has four elements - the drum rhythm, the choir part, the B part bass and pad melodies. Once you know those elements, you can work out how you wanna arrange them. For a non-ocr remix, this isn't necessary.

Sound design could use some work. there's nothing wrong with using a raw waveform synth, but it does stand out as the one sound that feels out of place here. I'm sure it can be done well, but that'd take plenty of screwing with the mix. I would suggest going for some overall sound, either something organic (the drums and choir count) or something synthetic (like the synth melody here), and picking individual instruments that fit that sound and work well together. Find a cohesive sound.

Overall, it just feels like a remix made just to make a remix rather than something based on an idea. What is it you're trying to do with this track? Have fun with the rhythms? Play with the bassline? Convey a specific emotion or hint at a story?

You're new at this, so I wouldn't expect everything to be excellent. And this isn't terrible. It just isn't interesting either. Keep at it. You'll get there.

[Flam1ng Dem0n]

One of my fav Halo tracks.

Right off the bat, I notice the drums being a simple loop. Not only isn't there that much dynamics to it as it goes on (except an extreme one before the B part), but there's not a lot of dynamics to the loop itself, either. The original has a cool groove because the drums vary in strength. Do that.

Arrangement isn't for ocr, it's too conservative. It's a good source to play with, because it only has four elements - the drum rhythm, the choir part, the B part bass and pad melodies. Once you know those elements, you can work out how you wanna arrange them. For a non-ocr remix, this isn't necessary.

Sound design could use some work. there's nothing wrong with using a raw waveform synth, but it does stand out as the one sound that feels out of place here. I'm sure it can be done well, but that'd take plenty of screwing with the mix. I would suggest going for some overall sound, either something organic (the drums and choir count) or something synthetic (like the synth melody here), and picking individual instruments that fit that sound and work well together. Find a cohesive sound.

Overall, it just feels like a remix made just to make a remix rather than something based on an idea. What is it you're trying to do with this track? Have fun with the rhythms? Play with the bassline? Convey a specific emotion or hint at a story?

You're new at this, so I wouldn't expect everything to be excellent. And this isn't terrible. It just isn't interesting either. Keep at it. You'll get there.

Thanks for all the helpful advise! Means a lot and just to let you know I did improve (in my opinion) the song a lot from the one I originally linked.

Here is the new version of the Covenent Dance Remix.

https://soundcloud.com/f1re-dem0n/last-dance-of-the-covenant-2

Does it sound better? Or about the same as the first one I linked?

Also, I know it says "Final" but that may not be the case. I plan to make it MUCH better, but I am trying to figure out how at the current time. So for now, just ignore the word "Final".

Thanks again for the advise and help.

[timaeus222]

It's too quiet, after looking at the waveform. Anyways...

V2 is drier than V1. There is less reverb, but the only thing that suffered was the arpeggio.

At the beginning, it sounds kind of like an attempt at cinematic percussion. Not bad, actually. Not convincing, but it sounds pretty good in general, if it's not imitating cinematic percussion specifically. Maybe a little dry, and it would benefit from some room reverb and drum compression.

0:30 has some pretty decent sounding choir. It seems to be lacking some treble though, from the sopranos, and some bass from the basses/baritones. There should also be a little reverb for the choir too, but it's not necessary unless you know what you're doing with reverb selection.

At 0:53, the square-saw detuned arpeggio is pretty exposed and dry. It's pretty static, and could benefit from some slow modulation, like an LFO on the filter. It can also be pushed back a little bit because although it seems to be the main focus, it's too loud, or the other pads/choirs are too soft.

Other than that, it's a simple arrangement. Not OCR level, but it's not bad on its own. Good effort, hope to see more from you later.

Edited April 28, 2013 by timaeus222

[Flam1ng Dem0n]

Thanks for the helpful advise everyone!

I am planning on adding a intro to the song, and I am inspired to do some guitar in it. Here is the thing though...

What guitar is used in the song from the Halo 2 Main theme from the Halo 2 Soundtrack? The song is called Halo 2 Mjolnir Mix.

Here is the song on Youtube:

The Guitar starts at 0:20 seconds into the video. If someone can identify or even come close to the type of Guitar, and then post it here that would be awesome.

Thanks