DuckTales - The Moon Symphonic Rock

[Magellanic]

I wasn't sure whether to post this or not as I have a feeling its probably one of those sources that has been done many many times, but fuk it. Archangel inspired me to do some orchestral arrangements and I thought I'd kick it off with a source I truly love.

Its really early days. Some things I'm aware that need altering:

• The string sequencing at the start
  
• Trumpets at 00:44 need some more humanizing
  
• I need to actually learn the guitar part properly
  
• Write a drum part that doesn't loop
  
• Mixing at 1:51 needs cleaning up as it gets a bit too busy
  
• 2:15 onwards is just a skeleton arrangement. Need to flesh it out.
  

There are many other things that need sorting I'm sure, but that's why I thought I'd post it here

Any help, as always, is much appreciated

Source:

Remix: https://soundcloud.com/draft-arrangements/wip-lunacy

UPDATED Remix: https://soundcloud.com/draft-arrangements/lunacy-finished

Edited July 25, 2014 by Magellanic

[AngelsDen]

The Flute coming in at about 0:15 sounds a bit overfiltered. Cut of a tiny bit of the mids. The Orchestration idea is realy nice and i like the pace.

It also reminds me alot of "Harden the Duck up!" by norg.

[MusicHunter]

Love this mix it sounds straight out of something the magical quest staring mickey mouse or whatever its call and its soooo addicting keep up the good work i've listened to it 100 times already!

[MindWanderer]

Yeah, this one has been done a lot. Star Salzman's "Duck Blur" has been on my playlist for years.

The strings at the beginning sound a bit muffled to my admittedly untrained ears. I think they're missing some of the highs.

The flute sounds sound cut short after the french horns come in. Probably competing for that middle range, as AngelsDen said.

Trumpet is a bit piercing.

The french horn at 0:48 isn't strong enough to carry the melody. It sounds as if you just forgot to include a melody line in this section.

Similarly, the guitar needs something (probably EQ) to keep from drowning.

Overall the orchestration is coming along nicely, though.

[Archangel]

OK, I can't believe it took me nearly a month to get around to listening to this. Sorry for the delay, Liam!

All in all, this sounds really nice, and much better than anything I came up with when I first started writing orchestral music. Well done!

After a couple of listens, I have some suggestions on what you could improve. Some of the things I'm about to list aren't necessarily wrong, they're just something I would do if I were working on this track.

1. The strings at the beginning sound nice and flowing, but like someone said, they're a little muffled, so try playing around with the EQ settings or maybe even adding some higher tones to the progression.

2. At 0:20, the strings disappear completely. I'd at least put some really quiet string chords in the background in that section, and maybe a high (but quiet) tremolo note with the violin section. You can use the strings to gradually build up to 0:50.

3. The trumpet is probably the worst sample in the Eastwest library, so you need to be really careful when you use it. I almost never use it as a solo instrument, only in tandem with strings or horns, and even then I try to mix it down, because to be honest, it just doesn't sound that good. =D At 0:47, I'd replace the trumpet either with strings or something else.

4. Adjust the volume of the glockenspiel at 2:14. It's too quiet compared to the brass. You could also adjust the volume automation of the brass instruments to get a more varied dynamics (swells etc.) instead of monotonous chords.

That's it for now. =D I hope you finish this. I'd very much like to hear the final version!

[Magellanic]

Haven't had much chance to work on music recently but thought I'd dust off my DAW and get stuck in by finishing off my ducktales remix. Any feedback is welcome. As far as the trumpet samples go... I haven't got any better and I can't get anything else fit as well so keeping them.

Remix: https://soundcloud.com/draft-arrangements/lunacy-finished

[timaeus222]

Sup again!

Okay, so some small things I noticed:

- The second note at 0:02 is a little loud and detached from the previous note. Can be tweaked to feel more legato for this section.

- The note at 0:08 also sounds detached from the previous note. Previous note can be lengthened.

- There's some sort of click at 0:13, and whatever it is, it doesn't feel natural.

Bigger things... That flute at 0:17 - 0:44 and other similar spots is too loud by at least 2 dB. It's not an EQ issue at the moment, just volume for now. The notes also feel a little static and can have some more evident automated swells. Try imagining a conductor. The brass at 0:44 is also too loud. Louder than the drums at 0:48. 0:48 - 1:00 also has some pretty loud brass. Could be toned down about 1~2 dB. It also doesn't feel fitting for a lead to play with such a slow attack, so maybe switch more concretely into rock rather than sticking to orchestral up until 1:00.

For me, 1:00 felt a little strange having the guitar panned right and coming in from the right to the middle. It feels more like a spatial compensation than stylistic choice to me. 1:12 has some muddiness issues in the strings. Are they playing pizzicato? I can't tell because the bass is covering it up. As earlier, the leading parts of the orchestra are too loud in comparison to the guitar and the other rock elements. The violins are a little too bright in the upper treble, IMO.

Guitars are already there and ready to go. Cool idea overall, can have more TLC with loudness, realism, and low-mids mixing.

Edited July 27, 2014 by timaeus222

[Boogie]

I think you got a great idea here =D I also made a cover for this song including an orchestra.

I think that as long as you continue improving your skills this idea you got here can become an outstanding cover =D

greetings.

[Magellanic]

Cheers for having a listen bud. Gonna give this another once over when I get chance methinks. Will most likely rewrite some of the parts/sections and do a fresh mix.

Thanks guys