Phoenix Wright: Cornered - Ghibli style Orchestration

[LjB0]

This has been on my to-do list for over a year, since my Ghibli Orchestra arrangement of Objection! (2016) - found it hard to pin down the right direction! 

I think this is less Ghibli-esque than that piece, but partly because every time I tried a new angle or rhythm it felt like the character had moved too far away from the original. Thought I needed to somehow keep the pace or at least the sensation of pace, while giving it a little more variety in harmony & tone + piling on the power when needed. Breakthrough came with Logic Pro X's new String Studio (hallelujah!), but I've been so deep in the piece for so long it's hard to really step back and see whether it's where it needs to be! Would love your thoughts on it.

Here's the orchestral rearrangement (after a couple of updates today):

And here's the original:

Cheers!

Edited April 9, 2019 by LjB0
Updated version

[BloomingLate]

I like it a lot. Especially when more instruments are kicking in around 0:49 and later around 2:00 with the build up. The different instruments sound nice and clear and don't seem to clash all that much. I'd love to learn how to do that I'm not familiar with the source material so not much I can say about that.

PS: I favorited some of your works on SoundCloud and did a "Follow", just so you know I'm not some crazy bot.

[LjB0]

Hey thanks so much for taking the time to listen and comment! I really appreciate it, and the Soundcloud likes!

I actually updated the track and published it to my YouTube channel a while ago - here's the final version:

Interesting you've picked out the clarity; I spent ages trying to figure this out! No expert at all, so I looked at a few guides and obsessively listened to things, and ended up cutting out a few frequencies at the instrument & master level. I think it was something like 200-300Hz & around the 3000 range too. Also created something like 4 reverbs on Buses so I could send different instruments and different playing styles there when necessary (e.g. one reverb for bassy sustained instruments, one for treble-y sustained, same again for staccato). Really helps  kill muddiness and gives clarity without losing the atmosphere.

Or at least that was the plan! In some ways I feel like I should've put in more reverb to make it sound grander or something, but I actually prefer being able to pick out different instrument parts on the whole, and to hear how they intersect with each other etc.

But there are people on these forums who'll be able to give you a much better angle than me!

Thanks again for your comments!

 

[BloomingLate]

You're welcome And thank you for the tips. I'll have to look into that more because muddiness is definitely a thing that keeps ruining my tracks i.m.o.

15 hours ago, LjB0 said:

In some ways I feel like I should've put in more reverb to make it sound grander or something, but I actually prefer being able to pick out different instrument parts on the whole, and to hear how they intersect with each other etc.

Hmm, yeah, choices. I personally think the parts with multiple instruments are appropriately "grand" as they are. I only felt that the piano was a little solitary and distant in the beginning, but it is realistic in the sense that it feels like it is set on a larger stage shared with the other instruments that come in later. Since the piano does play a big part in the whole composition, it would be a shame if it got washed out because of reverb or something. It needs that clear rhythmic stuff.

Will you be submitting the final version to OCR?

[Native Dialect]

Your musicianship is superb, but I prefer the urgency and texture of the arrangement found on the Gyakuten Meets Orchestra soundtrack. 

 

Edited May 5, 2019 by Native Dialect