Gario Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 (edited) Contact Information ReMixer name: Danilo Ciaffi real name: Danilo Ciaffi email address: website: youtube.com/c/DaniloCiaffi userid: 34668 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Name of arrangement: The Court of the Goddess Name of individual song(s) arranged: Fairy Fountain Comments:I took inspiration from renaissance music, kind of inspired by Winifred Phillips on Assassin's Creed Edited August 2, 2019 by Rexy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gario Posted May 22, 2019 Author Share Posted May 22, 2019 The arrangement is pretty dynamic, and does a good job expanding the sparce source using overall density and changing rhythmic patterns in order to keep the audience interested. The instruments in this do need some work, however. While there was some work done in order to humanize the dynamics, there's unfortunately more to humanization than altering the levels to simulate dynamics. The articulations, for example, are often the same with stringed instruments as they perform their counterpoints, having some level of swell in each attack. A normal performer would forego such a swell in the middle of a phrase. The reverb is also inconsistent between instruments - the harp has some room reverb on it, while other instruments (like the strings) are very dry, which ruins the illusion of this being a "real" performance. Some reverb is necessary, and it should be applied roughly equally to all of the instruments. Production-wise, it's not terrible, but there does seem to be considerable amounts of bass instruments from time to time (like at 1:04) - the bass frequency overcrowds the rest of the instruments, so you need to be careful about you mixing when using so many bass instruments so that the overall arrangement doesn't sound muddy. It's a solid beginning, and I don't think it's out of reach of the front page, but the humanization of the instruments and the reverb levels need to be adjusted as to maintain the illusion of realism. Also adjust the mixing or dynamics of the bass instruments so that the arrangement isn't so muddy and we'll be in good shape. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted July 30, 2019 Share Posted July 30, 2019 Keeping it brief in following up Gario's vote. The arrangement concept, compositional dynamics, and the level of interpretation were solid, Danilo. Gotta agree with Gario though; the sequencing was very mechanical/unrealistic-sounding, and you had crowded moments. For an organ, not as big of a deal; for strings & winds, much bigger deal. Organ was very clearly off-key from :43-49, and again from 2:21-2:23. Flute from 2:34-2:37 was off-key as well. Not much of a resolution to the ending, which felt very abrupt. Humanize the instrumentation and watch for the brief off-key moments. You can also clean up the textures and fashion a genuine ending, but those are more in the nice-to-have category. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rexy Posted August 2, 2019 Share Posted August 2, 2019 This semi-baroque feel sounds like an exciting direction to take a minimal source. With the moments where the harpsichord would take more center-stage and where the strings would become a lot more forward, the characterization feels refreshing and well interpreted. However, there is some robotic sequencing going on here. I appreciate the change in velocities, but you also need to think about what a performer would do in a live setting. If you look at your strings and woodwinds, they have this constant use of sustain and identical attack. You can remedy it by experimenting with attack/release envelopes or looking at the VST's key switches to more realistically articulate them. Another issue I had was the dominance of low-mid instrumentation and their contributions to a muddy mix. There's nothing wrong with having cellos in most of your string section in the loud parts (1:04, 3:53), but their notation made the bassoon and harpsichord troublesome to pick out. If I were in this situation, I'd transpose the strings up an octave to let the bassoon and harpsichord breathe and fill in a void in the mids, just like you did at 2:58. But let's say you do want to keep the pitches as they are. If so, you'll need a considerable amount of EQ separation between those three instruments alone to give them their own space. It's lovely to hear an arrangement that's more classically inspired and will be great to hear on the front page. As of right now, it needs more care with string/woodwind humanization and making louder areas cleaner whether by shifting pitches or doing another mixing pass. Please keep at it - arrangement-wise it's a pleasant listen, and I hope a second version will push the production values up there as well. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts