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Castlevania - Swing When You're Killing (Vampire Killer - Jazz)


Nostalvania
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I thought i should continue with my castlevania jazz remixes. Here's another one i'm working on. It's a jazz trio this time ( Piano, Bass, Guitar). Maybe i'll add more instruments like a vibraphone, and some solos.

Remix: https://app.box.com/s/ym556jyc47fyyvms8np9

Source: http://youtu.be/0AZ5XZHIDh0 dada-da-daaa!

:)

Edited by Nostalvania
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I only hear piano and bass except for 1:43-1:53, when I just barely hear guitar playing the exact same part, pitch, and timing as the piano, and 2:16-end when it finally breaks free.

Ending is kind of abrupt.

Otherwise, it's simple but effective and enjoyable.

The first half of the remix is only piano and bass, the guitar actually comes in at 1:20. Well i agree, the guitar is probably a bit quiet/buried in places. The arrangement isn't finished yet, hence the abrupt ending.

Thanks for the feedback.

Edited by Nostalvania
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Man, those chords you pull off keep amazing me. You've really got a knack for improv. :) I'm definitely hearing the source on top, and it's really gelling nicely with the chords you have. The octave shift on the melody at 0:34 is subtle but quite effective. I also really like the syncopation at 1:10! The source usage stays throughout and the source itself is cycled through more than once, but you keep maintaining interest, which is such an important thing to do.

The guitar seems to be a bit quiet, to me. It comes in at 1:20, but something you may want to try is to lead into it, and perhaps think of a panning method that makes it more present; it's just my preference, but maybe just panning it widely could really create a full stereo image. The piano's great, and the bass is quite good (a little bit quiet, but still pretty good); the guitar's the weakest link here, IMO.

If anything, the arrangement is what really carries this. I know the source usage is enough for this to not get rejected based on that, so I believe the main thing to work on is the production. Overall, if you can make the guitar gel more nicely in the stereo field and bump up the volume on the bass just a bit, this will be quite a strong candidate!

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Man, those chords you pull off keep amazing me. You've really got a knack for improv. :) I'm definitely hearing the source on top, and it's really gelling nicely with the chords you have. The octave shift on the melody at 0:34 is subtle but quite effective. I also really like the syncopation at 1:10! The source usage stays throughout and the source itself is cycled through more than once, but you keep maintaining interest, which is such an important thing to do.

The guitar seems to be a bit quiet, to me. It comes in at 1:20, but something you may want to try is to lead into it, and perhaps think of a panning method that makes it more present; it's just my preference, but maybe just panning it widely could really create a full stereo image. The piano's great, and the bass is quite good (a little bit quiet, but still pretty good); the guitar's the weakest link here, IMO.

If anything, the arrangement is what really carries this. I know the source usage is enough for this to not get rejected based on that, so I believe the main thing to work on is the production. Overall, if you can make the guitar gel more nicely in the stereo field and bump up the volume on the bass just a bit, this will be quite a strong candidate!

Thanks for the review man!

I'm not sure what you mean with "panning widely" . You mean the double track, pan hard left, hard right method?

Edited by Nostalvania
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sweet! very cool.

as noted, u gotta work on a good ending to wrap this up nicely. there certainly isn't much missing, but as far as abrupt endings go (if deliberate), i've heard better ones.

also i won't lie, it's good as is but i'd enjoy hearing this with drums. with the dynamic range u got here, they'd be really fun to write too, going from super soft and muted to pretty busy.

great work, good luck with this.

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Thanks for the review man!

I'm not sure what you mean with "panning widely" . You mean the double track, pan hard left, hard right method?

Yeah, something like that could work. It could make room for the piano, but at the same time still be more audible. However, while simply doubling a mono signal and hard panning both is double tracking, some people may not call it "true" double tracking. "True" double tracking involves two different recordings that are each unique in their takes and their timbres (round robins), and in that sense it's more dynamic than simply doubling a mono track and hard-panning that.

Edited by timaeus222
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Really cool stuff. This kind of reharmonization is something that just eludes me. You have a really excellent foundation here (the bass and piano are mixed quite well, the guitar part doesn't do much), and the abrupt ending kind of works for me (you could probably make it a bit less surprising by building up to it with a bit in the bass/guitar). it'll sound awesome with a more meaty guitar part.

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Update! https://app.box.com/s/synz34zzjmf7borkckz6

Ok i worked on the guitar part, how does it sound? I also added an ending, it's not great but at least there is one. Bass now should be a bit louder.

Edit: I added a Vibraphone solo at 2:38 and some walking bass action. The ending is not the real ending, only temporary, I will continue the piece.

Edited by Nostalvania
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Sounding really cool! Maybe narrow the piano stereo field, if you can, by a very small amount to make room for the guitar; I'm talkin' maybe 2~5%, so not much. I thought the piano wasn't too wide earlier, but I guess it was almost as wide as the guitar is now.

That's about it! Looking forward to more! :)

Thanks T! Ok, I'll try to narrow the piano.

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[M-M-M-M-M-M-M-OOOOD REVVIIIEEEWWW]

Okay, so, if you know me at all, you know that this totally reaches me from a musical perspective. I'm a jazzer, and having more jazz on this site really excites me. It also means I'm listening really hard :)

I think the bass might be a bit too out in front (I know you made changes to it earlier, though the problem is inconsistent. I'll talk a bit later about the stereo-wideness of the rest of it. Part of the problem COULD be that the bass is the only thing in the mix that's close to dead center. Perhaps a TOUCH of compression to even it out might be nice; it seems when the bass gets enthusiastic, it squashes the piano, but otherwise it fits decently.

The guitar that comes in at 1:20ish is good, though I'm not sure if I agree stylistically with the double hard panning of the track. I can't say I'd ding you for it, but I'm not sure it fits the club/combo setting you're going for here. Take a listen to some similar tracks of live groups and really listen to the stereo field. You don't HAVE to mimic what's already been done, obviously, but it's a suggestion

If I were doing it, I'd put it in its own very distinct space, and I might even move the piano around a bit so it wasn't so much in both ears. As it is, the piano and guitar feel like they're either competing, or combining in a way that makes them sound like a totally different instrument. That works in some settings - here I think it's a bit confusing. I want to hear both keys and guitar distinctly.

The vibe solo is quite nicely done.

On listening to it a second time I picked up what I think might be some clipping starting at 2:29 when you get those really big piano hits. I'm not 100% sure it's in there, but go back and look at your levels during that build. I feel like I might hear some more around 3:56. It's VERY slight, but therefore easily corrected.

Musically, this piece is on point and I love it. My biggest complaint is definitely the position the piano and guitar have in the mix in relation to each other. It makes the bass feel like it's right in the middle of my forehead among other effects.

Aside from that, I might actually consider putting in some drums, but that's a style choice that is entirely up to you.

Nice ending!

[/MOD REVIEW]

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Okay, so, if you know me at all, you know that this totally reaches me from a musical perspective. I'm a jazzer

He he, yeah I know, and I'm actually glad that you did the mod review :-). Thank you very much!

I'll try to work on the position of the instruments. I'll definitely listen to some piano/guitar jazz trios/quartets to get some ideas.

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multo bene tres bien sehr gut!

nice vibes. good ending. very enjoyable!

one thing i might change is give the piano a little boost in the lower mids and cut the bass down there a tiny bit.

the piece's freq spectrum as a whole is satisfying, because the full sounding bass is on permanent duty. but if you focus on the piano alone, it sounds a tad tinny.

i already dig the bass, but i'd enjoy a few subtle slides into notes, and maybe a couple ghost notes. i think the walking bass during the vibe solo would be an especially good place to work in a few touches like that.

that's all i can think of.

this will get accepted 100% ^^

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