Homeworld 2 - The Keepers (Ambient/Orchestral)

[Pumpkin King]

This is adapted from the Keeper music from Homeworld 2. It's pretty ambient and orchestral. The vocal melodies are obviously very minimal, but I didn't want to sing an entire song without knowing what I was saying, haha. I had trouble with the translation. I believe the original is in Sanskrit (Indian language). And I read, rather recently, that it is based on a Sri Lankan chant.

I also originally had keyboard leads at the end of the song, but it didn't fit completely... to me anyways. So I omitted them.

Original tune:

My remix:

Edited August 7, 2013 by Pumpkin King

[Garpocalypse]

Thanks for doing this Pumpkin King. I've always enjoyed the music from Homeworld(favorite was Homeworld Cataclysm ost!) and this remix was pretty awesome to see on DoD. Tough material to work with and make unique which is probably why there aren't that many remixes of the soundtrack but I liked this one.

[Pumpkin King]

Thanks man. Yeah this one is pretty different. I don't think many people have tried remixes for this game, so I took a shot at it. Never played a Homeworld game, but I enjoyed the music. Really atmospheric.

[jnWake]

I loved this one at DoD! I think the arrangement is amazing so I have no criticism there.

The acoustic guitar at the beggining sounds too mechanical. The percussions also sound a bit fake, are you using any reverb on them?

I loved the leads that you removed... I thought they added a lot to the song. At the very least, you could have additional strings playing the lead an octave higher, just like the old lead did. It adds a lot more depth to the ending.

[Pumpkin King]

Thanks! I originally had guitar leads in the beginning, but it didn't make sense compared to the second half of the song. I'm sure if the leads were there, the mechanical sounding guitars wouldn't be too noticeable. But I did the best I could to imitate a real acoustic sound. And the percussion did have reverb, not as much as the rest of my instruments. I didn't want too much since it sounded bad in my ears.

The leads I liked, too. But for one, the melody didn't have anything to do with the original track. However, I was going use more of a brass section later in the song to replicate what the keyboard leads did... though the samples I was using sounded too cheesy. I dunno... I personally liked both versions. I just thought it made more sense to me not to include leads here, even though I enjoyed playing to the song.

[Pumpkin King]

Alrighty, I added very slight updates and included my keyboard leads in the end. I guess I just enjoyed the version with my leads a bit better, haha. The link is updated on the first post.

[Brandon Strader]

Haha... I accidentally liked it with my alternate account, then liked it with my main one. Sorry if that throws off your stats, I could unlike it on one if you prefer.

I really liked this song. Do you have any idea at all what the lyrics are? Or have you considered possibly putting in "area vocalizations" using a library like Ethnoworld voices?

I think the acoustic guitar could use more low-end or body to the EQ, even if that would make them a bit more apparent in the mix... Even if they're sequenced it's not bad to have them be have more warmth.. Or you could possibly ask someone to perform them.

I liked this a lot but I think you need those other lead vocals instead of just the "Heeeey". Or even if you just changed the Heeey to an ahhh or an oooh, it might make more sense for the listener. Basically right now it's like someone saying "Heeeey" and then your brain is like "What?" and the song goes "Heeeey" and you're just like ok I heard you the first time, did you have something to say!? You didn't! Well why you saying heeeeey?

The snare in and around 1:46 sounds too static, it could use some velocity variation or preferably get a sample that uses different sounds for each hit... or even have someone play you some live snare... I know I've got one here, someone else might too. Mine isn't a "marching snare" which might be what you need.

My favorite part is the leads at 1:54. REALLY good IMO. The strings behind that panned L/R seem a bit mechanical (and also at 1:38). Shouldn't be too hard to fix. Maybe lower the compression (if any) and attempt some volume / velocity variation.

In general, dig the mix, and it works well at high volumes which is always a plus. I'm crazy and listen to everything really loud.

[Pumpkin King]

I liked this a lot but I think you need those other lead vocals instead of just the "Heeeey". Or even if you just changed the Heeey to an ahhh or an oooh, it might make more sense for the listener. Basically right now it's like someone saying "Heeeey" and then your brain is like "What?" and the song goes "Heeeey" and you're just like ok I heard you the first time, did you have something to say!? You didn't! Well why you saying heeeeey?

Hahahaha. I treated those vocals almost as part of the soundscape. But I can understand now some people's possible first impressions.

This is what I found from Relic News Forum. First, some ideas of what he says in the Sanskrit language:

mana mana mana mana mana mana...

anagha na traana/traati sanda

anagha na traana/traati sanda...

mayaa saha medhaa saaya

mayaa saha medhaa saaya

mayaa saha medhaa eiyo

mayaa saha medhaa saaya

Here are words that are translated, from the same forum:

anagha - faultless

traana - protection

traati - save/rescue

sanda - group

mayaa saha - with me

medhaa - talent

saaya - evening

There were guesses in the forum as to what the first section meant, but I can't confirm anything. Something to do with flawless protection by the Keepers (I never played the game first of all, so I'm guessing there duty was to protect... they are gate keepers)? The 2nd part is tough to translate and understand.

Now, the guitars. I guess I could add more low end, but I don't want them to get to close to the bass. Again, I originally wanted to add lead acoustic guitars in the beginning, from a friend actually. But he didn't have his acoustic. I then played something on my keyboard, but in the end it didn't match the end of the song. I could have just added depth to the textures of the background in the beginning. That could have helped.

The snare I played myself on my kit in Logic (actually I played every instrument and then quantized)... but yeah I guess it's not as varied. But I'll remember to double check and change up velocities where needed in the future. It makes sense.

Again, I did quantize quite a bit (probably why you found the strings to be mechanical). I always do with my Logic samples. Most of the samples aren't very real sounding (yet I do like them), so I never try to humanize my Logic orchestrations. I embrace the artificial sounds and it makes sense to me not to make them sound "real" by doing things like humanizing. I mention this a lot.

Thanks about the leads! I find that my keyboard leads work better in orchestrations when used subtly. And thanks for all the comments! I love production feedback.

[Brandon Strader]

There's nothing wrong with using a keyboard to record those things, I do the same thing myself, but I do not quantize them when i'm done... that may be the difference... I do quantize the drums though. That's almost a necessity. I'd recommend for the future to try not to quantize everything, or at least use a weaker quantize setting.

[Pumpkin King]

I remember back in the day when I composed on my Triton Extreme. I never quantized my orchestrations. Now for some reason I feel it's a necessity. Maybe I'll experiment around and try it.