Symphonic Pokemon Remix: Professor Oak

[chriskaudio]

Hello, after posting my first remix here not long ago I tried to use your feedback and made a second one.

I kept this in a more classical style. What do you think?

 

 

Sources from the Game:

- Prof Oaks Theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GmF3musMLU

- Prof Oaks Lab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC3wvIyCOKY&t=14s

 

 

[chriskaudio]

Here is an updatet version. I figured my mix was too quiet relative to other tracks, so i made it louder (and some other minor changes):

https://1drv.ms/u/s!An7aSJP0aIpCkgKv84NFpSHlgybN

[LjB0]

Hey nice to hear a traditional orchestral mix on here! There's loads about this I really like; the horns section in the middle was especially strong and reflective, nice transitions and clarity.

My major thoughts are that the legato string recapitulation of the main theme around the 2:40 mark is lacking expression. The sustained notes really need some sort of vibrato or dynamic push, especially during the crescendos. Given how INCREDIBLE your sound library appears to be (in my humble opinion, as someone who can only afford Logic Pro's in-built sounds! What are you using?) those bits stand out as synthesised by comparison.

I also thought the ending feels slightly rushed given the way you've turned the theme into something with gravitas. A bigger flourish with a longer lead-in might work?

Final point; sections of this triggered recollections of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite (esp. The Chinese Dance) and kept giving me the expectation that more melodic variety was about to suddenly burst on to the scene. This isn't really a criticism, as evoking that sound is impressive! But it did make me hope for a bit more variation.

Hope that's helpful. I'm no expert! More used to thinking about composition than mixing & sound balance etc.

Really enjoyed this - thanks!

[chriskaudio]

I'm really glad you like it  

You are right. I will add some more expression to that section.

Actually, the aprupt ending was somewhat on purpose. Firstly because I composed this with some kind of a program (as in program music), which maybe i should post here too : D  Plus, I didnt want to make it too long, because in my expereince people rather tend to listen to shorter pieces. Maybe I also ran out of ideas for furher sections...

A friend of mine also told me this sounded a bit like Tchaikovsky, but I honestly never listened to that piece until now. However, i can see the similarities, andi think they are mostly because of the melody (maybe Junichi Masuda got "inspired" by Tchaikovsky )

I mostle use libraries from CineSamples because they're high quality and not completely unaffordable because of their bundles and the educational discount of 50% which im able to get. But there is also some Kontakt Factory Library Stuff in there.

Im thankful for every bit of feedback - thanks!

[The Damned]

0:20 to 0:49 is light and bouncy and makes me want to watch a movie where everyone in Pallet Town is dancing to it, ala a big musical production. But at 0:50, it turns moody and gets kind of creepy. This tonal shift is really weird to me, as it's such a huge change from the first part.

I think that from 1:08 and on, you're going for a more traditional orchestral feeling, with a big, sweeping buildup... and then it doesn't happen. by 2:07, it's back to being light and bouncy again.

The big swell at 2:31 feels kind of weak. Those kettle drums could be a bit stronger. Make them heavier, like you're really building into it.

I don't hate it, I think you got some good stuff here. And I do like the fact that someone is actually using this source (hardly anyone ever does the Oak theme... in fact, this might be the first one I have come across in years), so you got that going for you. It's just a couple of minor tonal issues that don't seem to connect with each other quiet right.

Version 3 soon?

[Liontamer]

Sorry for the long wait or formal staff feedback for this one. The main positive first, I thought the arrangement itself was solid. IMO, the middle area (1:01-2:06) went on too long while being more texturally empty, but the eventual rebuild was good and there's nothing inherently wrong with it, just a relative flatness dynamically. That said, it's the production quality that's holding this back from sailing through if it were to be submitted.

I'd say the string samples are serviceable in tone, but are pretty exposed throughout, and that ends up hurting this in terms of the production quality standards.

The way the sustained strings decayed at 1:31 was way too sudden and exposed the samples (again at 2:05 but less so).  The rise in the percussion from 2:27 sounded unnatural as well. At 2:33, for example, the sample's unrealistic attacks for the higher notes are pretty exposed. The humanization needs to be improved, which would help improve the dynamics and expressiveness that's not fully coming across in the composition. It's a great base, and not much needs to be tweaked on the arrangement side.

Use the Music Composition & Production area to get advice on how to improve the realism of the tools you're currently using.

[Liontamer]

[This is an automatically generated message]

I've reviewed your remix and have returned it to Work-in-Progress status, indicating that I think there are some things you still need to work on. After you work on your track and feel that it's ready for submission to OCR, please change the prefix back to Ready for Review and someone will review it again. Good luck!