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Zelda's Lullaby meets Studio Ghibli


freezeTAG
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Hey OCR folks,

I started putting this together last week. The basic idea is taking Zelda's Lullaby and reimagining it as if it were in a Studio Ghibli film. In terms of basic content, it's only about half done- I'm going to do some fun stuff with it from where this version ends.

https://soundcloud.com/trevorgomesmusic/zeldas-lullaby-14152/s-MSx5w

I won't be able to work on it again for a while, but I'd love to get feedback so I can start thinking about what to do with it. I'm particularly interested in mixing suggestions, since that's my biggest weakness (though I haven't really done much yet on this track).

Thanks, everyone!

-Trevor

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Talented artists deserve to be recognized and good art deserves to be propagated. I feel out of place not giving any substantive feedback, but I just wanted to chime in and send a great Big'ol thumbs up squarely in your direction. It's like a designer synthesis of my 2 favorite artistic addictions, Miyazaki films and video game music, I look forward to your final mix.

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This is very nice! I love the writing and arrangement; it really accomplishes that warm, heartfelt feeling of a Studio Ghibli film.

At 0:44, when the strings end their sustain abruptly, I think a touch more hall reverb would be nice to allow a bit of lingering. The legato transitions of your strings could also use some smoothing to make them sound more realistic, especially when they are exposed at 0:49-0:53. Lastly, I feel that the violins run at 1:32 could sound more convincing. If your strings library has mic positions, I might suggest emphasizing a bit more of the ambient mics. Combined with a slightly wetter reverb and maybe increasing the dynamic range to start at a softer pianissimo and go to full forte, this could blur the run and make it sound more convincing. As it is though, great start and looking forward to hearing more!

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Wow, this is all fantastic feedback!

Thanks for the specifics, Neifion. I'm mostly combining Spitfire Mural and Hollywood Strings Gold, so I only currently have the mic positions for the Spitfire. I'll try out everything you suggested as soon as I get back to work on it.

One question- when you suggest using a touch more hall reverb for a bit of "lingering," do you mean I should have a touch more hall reverb throughout the whole track or that I should automate it up in just that spot?

I do in fact have nearly all the tracks running through a hall reverb, so maybe I'll just bump it up a notch.

Edited by freezeTAG
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I think adding a touch more reverb to the strings throughout the track would do nicely. That might also help with blurring the legato and run transitions later on. I use Mural as well (love the tone of that library), perhaps adding a bit more of the Ambient mics there could do to blend things in further.

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This is really nice. Just a couple of things:

- I think it's a bassoon, but I'm not sure. The melodic woodwind thingy is mixed by the note. Especially the D is too hard in comparison with the rest of the melody. It's the last note of the theme, and should be less forcefull. Throughout the mix this is also apparent in other places.

- The left hand of the piano is hit too hard in general. For example at 0:39, when the right hand has the melody, the left hand is supposed to be accompany, and it is. But there is a weird accent on the fourth and sixth pulse. It takes everything out of context. This is also apperent in a lot of other places where there is piano.

These two things may seem pretty minor, but since they're noticable in quite a lot of places it is something you should focus on. And these two things are just examples, the other cases aren't exactly the same, but nonetheless very alike. It's a problem with articulation.

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Janfeae, that's maybe the best possible compliment I could've received for this. Thank you so much! I definitely will finish it, though it may be a while- the next couple months are going to be pretty busy.

Bowlerhat, thanks for the feedback. I believe you're referring to the oboe, though I'm not sure which D you mean... if you mean the high D at 1:08, I definitely do want that one to stand out a bit, and if you mean the end of the phrase at 1:13, it doesn't sound like it stands out to my ear.

As for the piano, I generally try to leave the velocities alone after playing it in to maintain realism, since if I were performing it on a real piano it wouldn't all be perfectly even. I'll double-check to make sure everything is smooth enough, though.

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  • 1 year later...

I've finally gotten back to working on this over a year later and I'd love some feedback. After the initial warm, nostalgic Ghibli-ish section, I'm venturing into some of the more adventurous, up-tempo sort of Ghibli sound. Right now it's a mere skeleton of what I have planned, but I want feedback before going too far with it. The idea is that the melody of Zelda's Lullaby will weave in and out over the busy, nimble textures, then eventually it will return to a feel more like the beginning (I've included a little taste at the end, even though the transition isn't there yet.

Still super rough, but I'd love thoughts anyway. Thanks!

 

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Okay.  Wow.  This is a phenomenal arrangement in its current state (minus the lack of a transition near the end).  If this is super rough then I can't imagine what the finished product will be.  The change into the fast section was really neat, I love the feel of that section.  Though, I would say that the string swell leading into it kind of obscures the very beginning of it, though you also wouldn't want to jeopardize the climactic feel there so I'm not sure if that's a huge issue, or if I'm being too nitpicky.  Those harmonies in the woodwinds around 1:50 are beautiful by the way.  I'm also very fond of the sweeping piano bits throughout that section.


Keep it up, I love the sound you have going on here and I'm eager to hear more.

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As someone who doesn't visit OCRemix often at all, what are the odds that when I do that song I've been looking forward too is the top song in Workshop ReMixes! I was meant to see how this turns out for sure! So far, I'm really enjoying this. When you've finally finished this, I do hope to hear more from you in the future. Both times I've ever bothered to log in were for this song, and I am very pleased so far. I'd be very pleased if this was the final product even. Thank you for sharing your talents with us.

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On April 14, 2016 at 4:10 PM, Amphibious said:

 Though, I would say that the string swell leading into it kind of obscures the very beginning of it, though you also wouldn't want to jeopardize the climactic feel there so I'm not sure if that's a huge issue, or if I'm being too nitpicky. 

I 100% understand. That's a dilemma I'm trying to sort out... The approach I'm taking is trying to split the difference by having some instruments sustain their big "climax" notes and some drop immediately into the faster rhythms. Do you have any suggestions beyond that?

And Janfeae, once again, you are tremendously encouraging! Knowing that people are as interested as you are in hearing the rest makes me want to finish it that much more. I'll keep plowing ahead. :)

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I myself think it's extraordinarily masterful, start to finish. This is extremely quality work. Certainly no complaints from me, but I too think you can produce a more beautiful ending in time if you so choose. I do believe this is now my absolute favorite rendition of this song, and I have heard at the very least a good 40 or so. Marvelous work freezeTAG, marvelous indeed.

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Very nice, I remember this from a very long time. Cool to see that it has progressed so much. 

A few things:

The beginning until 00.47 is really cool harmonically. But what I personally find a bit odd is that it starts with quite a few tensions and as it progresses to the small climax in 00.45 it starts becoming more consonant. I'd say it makes more sense to start a bit more consonant and start adding some tensions after 00.18. That will make the string sweep at 00.47 sound more interesting. 

The syncopic counter-melodic woodwind + snare thingy you've got is cool. But after the woodwinds + snare disappear at 2.24 and the strings is doesn't really work well in my opinion. I'd suggest letting some brass (trombones?) play that line. It's not really a nice line for strings.

I think that most of the reharmonisations are a bit weird in general. Of course it's a taste thing, but I personally never alter the melody line when harmonizing. It makes for some really awkward lead lines, which is something I'd tend to avoid. For example the trumpet lead in 1.51. If you make the flatVI chord augmented you won't have to deal with the B flat. You could also go t Also remember that the concert D the trumpet plays a few seconds after that is quite high. In an actual setting it would blow away the rest of the orchestra, completely destroying the balance. 

And yeah, the transition is a bit odd, but I think you'll find something for that. 

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Amazing, inspiring mix. I could go on, but I don't have the musical chops to get into specifics like other commenters. All the same, here are some notes:

- 0:44ish, there is a ringing from the last piano note that seems odd only because the same note is played immediately after the rest. A clean silence there makes more sense to me and might build a brief anticipation.

-2:00ish, are you incorporating other source material, or would you be willing to do so? Seems like a perfect opportunity to roll in something from Studio Ghibli (as a suggestion, between 1:15 and 1:40:

I'm sure you can find other examples among SG's films).

-2:20 seemingly discordant chords

-2:48 transition is a little jarring

-3:00 male background voices here would be a nice balance and emphasis, perhaps replacing lower background strings. The reason this came to mind is that it already sounded like voices were incorporated. It struck me that something akin to the giants' voices in Majora's Mask would be appropriate, but I tend to try to loop in way too many references.

The ending note seems unsettling. But maybe that's what you had intended.

Great mix, overall.

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Wow, Glasfen, thank you so much... those are some really interesting ideas. I'm struck most by the thought of incorporating voices. It had crossed my mind briefly at one point but then I forgot. When I dive back into this next I think I'll dabble with that idea.

I'll address the other issues as well. I agree with just about everything you said. Thanks again!

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  • 2 months later...

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