Rexy Posted November 2, 2020 Share Posted November 2, 2020 (edited) My Contact Information ReMixer name: theconsoloist real name: Chris userid: 34798 Submission Information Name of game(s) arranged: Shovel Knight Name of arrangement: Grand Shovel March Name of individual song(s) arranged: Main Theme Link to the original soundtrack (if it is not one of the sound archives already available on the site): Your own comments about the mix, for example the inspiration behind it, how it was made, etc: This is an orchestral arrangement for a full symphonic orchestra, which could actually really be played. I really love Shovel Knight's Soundtrack and always thought 'damn this would really fit an orchestral arrangement'. Anyway here it is I alway tried to have the main melody playing. Sometimes straigtforward, sometimes a variation of it (especially in the middle sections). But I think the prominent part of the melody (e - A - f#) sticks out pretty well.I hope you enjoy it! It was always a little dream of me to submit my own remix to ocr but never really got to it. So I'm really glad now that I finally submitted one. Edited January 23, 2021 by Emunator Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jivemaster Posted November 8, 2020 Share Posted November 8, 2020 Things open up cleanly and quite formally. The orchestra has a playful feel in the opening sections. There’s a good level of variety here in the arrangement, with various build-ups and changes throughout. The piano at 1:42 sounded extremely robotic and ended more like the conclusion of the mix. The second half of the mix explores some different ideas and winds things down well. Production wise, the sound set used here is quite basic, with the brass particularly lacking, which broke the immersion at times. I don’t normally have issue with this, but I felt the sound set particularly lacking, especially with the lack of humanisation in the different parts. There are some good ideas here, but I’d like to see improvements made to the sequencing of each section to make them fit the part more convincingly. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rexy Posted November 19, 2020 Author Share Posted November 19, 2020 Considering the source tune is one grand explosion of "theme and variations," I'm not surprised with the direction taken with your arrangement too! When introducing the theme at 0:16, you soon showed no expense at changing the backing as the melody evolved while also finding room to use different chord modulations and add transitions between sections when the source initially didn't have any. The string section at 1:53 feels more like something John Williams might do, using the familiar leitmotif and moving through chords. Finally, at 2:35, you went back to the theme, but with a different variety of backing and a transposed scale, and went in with the big finish. It's a peculiar arrangement - it can tread through the theme in one place and develop a fragment of it in another, making it a worthwhile effort overall. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for how you presented your orchestra. Credit where credit is due first; you mixed it well and made sure the parts are all distinct enough to identify in the mix. But as Joel alluded to, your notation feels robotic and lacking humanization. The legato notation on your brass and strings feel flat and unexpressive, the piano run at 1:42 sounds like it's locked to the grid, and your stabs also feel like they're at the same consistent volume. I don't know what patches you use, but if they have key switches, they're worth experimenting with changing your instruments' articulations on the fly. The same applies to any volume envelope shaping on your legato notation, which can be especially useful to trail notes in or out, depending on how you'd see it fit. I'd also consider it a good idea to input with a MIDI keyboard if you have one, but otherwise, go through your notation and manually edit your timings so that they're not entirely locked right on the beat. With the setup you've got here, I see potential in you. It's a great arrangement, but the humanization and lack thereof must get checked out if it'll get posted. Not bad so far, Chris, and I hope you get to return to this project. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted January 23, 2021 Share Posted January 23, 2021 I'm right on board with Rexy's assessment here - both the good and the bad. The mixing on this is surprisingly well done and rich sounding, with an excellent frequency balance from lows to highs. I think the shortcomings of this remix can be chalked up to a lack of variety in velocities, which ends up giving the track a robotic feel that doesn't match the richness of the arrangement itself. The piano section at 1:42 is by far the most noticeable offender, but I'm picking up on the same effect basically any time you have an exposed or repeated staccato riff. Bev's suggestion about performing parts in via MIDI controller, if you can, is an excellent way to naturally introduce some variation in velocity and timing, but the effect can also be achieved by tapping into the different articulations/keyswitches in your sample libraries and manually adjusting velocities and note timings, too. Either way, this shows a great amount of promise, and your arrangement is plenty expansive, but the sequencing side is not fully there yet. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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