Sapphire Smash (F-Zero - Big Blue arrangement)

[Kat]

This started as a MNP entry, but changed the mood quite a bit more than I'd originally intended. I'm throwing it here in hopes of getting some feedback on what could be improved and where I could take the track from here.

 

https://soundcloud.com/katallen-12/f-zero-sapphire-smash

[T- Ape]

Hahaha, I thought F-Zero was an old 8 bit RPG.

Dude, nice job! Awesome job on making an orchestra arrangement of it. The feel you get at about 0:32 is very good. The rest of the song, I feel like it lacks a bit of body...
Is it entirely MIDI or did you also use physical instruments?

[Kat]

6 hours ago, T- Ape said:

Hahaha, I thought F-Zero was an old 8 bit RPG.

Dude, nice job! Awesome job on making an orchestra arrangement of it. The feel you get at about 0:32 is very good. The rest of the song, I feel like it lacks a bit of body...
Is it entirely MIDI or did you also use physical instruments?

 

None of it was recorded live. It was all sequenced within the DAW. Not sure about the body myself, though. It was intended to feel a bit empty at the beginning(and the reprisal at the end), and is overall a bit lightweight.

[Slimy]

I agree that it seems to lack body. I think this is because everything except the melody and drums are mixed so quietly. Like the guitars doing a rhythm under the melody - I didn't even really notice them at first. The song feels a bit empty throughout because of this, and lacks the energy I think it was supposed to have.

The drums, (especially the drums,) and the solo violin feel like they're in completely different rooms than everything else, because they're mixed so differently, and the disconnect is jarring.

Something you should also conciser - trumpet players need to breathe! 0:21 sounds very midi because of how samey each note is played, with no breaks at all in between.

[Kat]

28 minutes ago, Slimy said:

I agree that it seems to lack body. I think this is because everything except the melody and drums are mixed so quietly. Like the guitars doing a rhythm under the melody - I didn't even really notice them at first. The song feels a bit empty throughout because of this, and lacks the energy I think it was supposed to have.

The drums, (especially the drums,) and the solo violin feel like they're in completely different rooms than everything else, because they're mixed so differently, and the disconnect is jarring.

Something you should also conciser - trumpet players need to breathe! 0:21 sounds very midi because of how samey each note is played, with no breaks at all in between.

 

That's odd. On my monitors, mixing headphones and listening headphones I could hear the guitar pretty clearly. I'll definitely take a look at that though. It wasn't supposed to be filled to the brim with energy, though. Rather, I was going for something a little slower, more deliberate and a bit heavier than the source. The drum mixing does need some work - I'm not that good with mixing as a whole and I was going for a powerful kick and backbeat.

Speaking of the drums and violing, they sound that way because I sort of lazied out on this version. I stuck with the violin's default reverb while the drum kit had a separate plugin. Trying out a few different reverb options now and trying to mix everything a bit better, but I think that and their overall loudness compared to the rest of the instruments played a major part in this.

As far as the trumpets go, that was a combination of lazy sequencing and Kontakt's default trumpet plugings. I sort of layered a few different octaves and counter melodies together to make it a bit less obvious, but yeah. It still needs some work. I got a few new plugins for the holidays and I'll see what I can do.

[timaeus222]

Yeah, I have to say that I barely hear the guitars as well. I only hear the upper midrange of the rhythm guitars. I'll second the brass comments at 0:21; the sequencing is bleeding together, like many people are competing with each other. I'm also finding the violin at 0:43 to be awkwardly sequenced, because I can't quite tell what notes it's supposed to be playing. It's basically almost playing certain notes, and then there's kind of a change of mind in the middle of the note, like the "player" is falling behind.