Skyrim Far Horizons - Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Remix

[Randomocity Remixes]

Hey All! I started this remix after seeing a lot of other people on YouTube making remixes for their dream Smash Bros. characters. I tried to make it sound like music you'd hear on a stage in-game so I wanted it to be really epic and exciting. I'm still pretty amateur when it comes to orchestral composing so I was hoping to get some feedback on the quality of the song and some advice on where I should take it since it's not finished yet.

A few things to note:

• I don't have access to any super high quality orchestral VSTs so I've been trying to squeeze the best sound quality that I can out of free VSTs and the ones that come with FL Studio
• The drum loop to me seems really repetitive, which is because I actually used an orchestral drum loop for the whole percussion section (I don't have access to orchestral drums either, lol)
• I'm still struggling with the mixing and mastering for the song. Balancing orchestral instruments is pretty tough and I'd be open to any advice on how to do a better job!
• I'm not sure if I'm using the various string sections (violins, violas, cello, bass) correctly. I kind of just put the notes in the places I thought sounded best

I'd love to hear people's thoughts on the track and any feedback for making it better!

 

Here's my track:

And here's the original song for reference:

Anyways, Dragonborn for Smash! 

[brink-of-time]

You have a good idea going! But let's work on some basics first as to not overwhelm you. I'll start with the basic idea of the track itself. You imagine this as a Smash course song, but as it sits, I don't think it has enough energy yet. Some more drum work and adding some bass in there will help wonders to get that energy. If you listen to the remix tracks that the Smash games use, they all have energy throughout. Even more "symphonic" style themes, remixed for Smash, have energy. You start to build it nicely with the orchestral drums, but it needs more once the theme kicks in.
Now onto the instruments themselves. You have a pretty good selection for what I think would fit in Smash. Only exception is the chorus that you use. Its way too muffled. If you can't find any free VSTs, there are plenty of open and free sound fonts that can do the job. Also as stated earlier, a good bass instrument (I prefer synth types for energy tracks), would do great as well. 
Last for now is when you add the main theme at 1:16 and 3:00. This is almost an exact rendition of the original track. If you are going to use the same instrument for the theme, try slight variations on the theme or change it's structure so it doesn't seem so slow (could be the lack of energy that's emphasizing the slowness). Even better, try increasing the tempo a bit. That might help too with the theme. Comparing yours with the source you provided, makes it almost seem the same.

We can work on mastering and such as we go.

Hope that helps!

Good start! 

[Randomocity Remixes]

2 hours ago, brink-of-time said:

You have a good idea going! But let's work on some basics first as to not overwhelm you. I'll start with the basic idea of the track itself. You imagine this as a Smash course song, but as it sits, I don't think it has enough energy yet. Some more drum work and adding some bass in there will help wonders to get that energy. If you listen to the remix tracks that the Smash games use, they all have energy throughout. Even more "symphonic" style themes, remixed for Smash, have energy. You start to build it nicely with the orchestral drums, but it needs more once the theme kicks in.
Now onto the instruments themselves. You have a pretty good selection for what I think would fit in Smash. Only exception is the chorus that you use. Its way too muffled. If you can't find any free VSTs, there are plenty of open and free sound fonts that can do the job. Also as stated earlier, a good bass instrument (I prefer synth types for energy tracks), would do great as well. 
Last for now is when you add the main theme at 1:16 and 3:00. This is almost an exact rendition of the original track. If you are going to use the same instrument for the theme, try slight variations on the theme or change it's structure so it doesn't seem so slow (could be the lack of energy that's emphasizing the slowness). Even better, try increasing the tempo a bit. That might help too with the theme. Comparing yours with the source you provided, makes it almost seem the same.

We can work on mastering and such as we go.

Hope that helps!

Good start! 

Thanks a bunch for the advice! I tried upping the bpm and also added a synth bass to help push the song along and it definitely sounds more upbeat now! I'll admit that the drums have been my biggest struggle (since I'm using an orchestral drum loop it's hard for me to figure out how to add "variation" because the loop is predone, so I can't shift it around so to speak). I ended up muting the orchestral drums and trying a simple drum and bass beat instead but that coupled with the synth bass is making the song sound more "EDM-ish" than orchestral. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about it but I'll keep fiddling around with it.

I'll try messing around with the main melody too (adding variation, changing instruments, etc.) Also, just a quick question. When you said the chorus sounded to muffled did you mean the chorus of the song or the choir VST? I'm assuming you meant the choir VST (because it does sound muffled now that I listen to it, lol) but I just wanted to be sure

Anyways, thanks for all the advice! I'll try listening to some of Smash's orchestral remixes too, might offer some inspiration!

[brink-of-time]

Yes, I was referring to the choir. It sounds like it was played through an old gramophone lol. 

As for the drums, FL studio has some good basic riff kits you can play with. And if you're looking for some idea where to start, you could always listen to the Smash OSTs. They are a good start for what kind of drums work for instrumental remixes.

[Randomocity Remixes]

2 hours ago, brink-of-time said:

Yes, I was referring to the choir. It sounds like it was played through an old gramophone lol. 

As for the drums, FL studio has some good basic riff kits you can play with. And if you're looking for some idea where to start, you could always listen to the Smash OSTs. They are a good start for what kind of drums work for instrumental remixes.

Is there a specific place where those "riff kits" are kept in FL? I've always just grabbed individual drum samples from the browser and strung together looped beats in the channel rack.

[brink-of-time]

7 hours ago, Randomocity Remixes said:

Is there a specific place where those "riff kits" are kept in FL? I've always just grabbed individual drum samples from the browser and strung together looped beats in the channel rack.

Groove Machine is a good plugin that I use to organize all the samples FL has. You can assign each key to a different sample similar to how soundfonts works. It also has some good presets already setup too.
You can also go to Packs -> Loops and then drag a loop you like to Fruity Slicer. Then set "Dump to Piano Roll". It does a pretty good job setting each sample to a key, so you can change the riff around.