Emunator Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 Contact Information ► Arranger name - Serjo De Lua ► Email address - ► Website - https://www.youtube.com/c/ClassicGameOrchestra/ ► Ocremix userid - 37324 Submission Information ► Name of arranged game - Batman NES (1989) ► Name of arrangement - Epic Orchestral Arrangement ► Name of individual arranged song - Stage 4 Theme 'Laboratory Ruins' ► Composer - Naoki Kodaka ► Platform - NES ► Release date: JP: December 22, 1989 NA: February 13, 1990 EU: September 14, 1990 ►Comment - Batman for the NES It's an outstanding game and Naoki Kodaka is one of my favorite composers of all time!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted January 6, 2022 Share Posted January 6, 2022 Epic orchestral is probably my favorite genre, although it's not my favorite title. This would need a new one for us to accept it. I love this arrangement, unsurprisingly. Powerful, sweeping, checks pretty much all the boxes. I do think the kettle drums are a little relentless, unvarying for long periods of time, and I'm not crazy about the last half-minute: 2:57-3:30 is a near copy of 1:21-1:54, and then it fades out. It's not a dealbreaker, though the fade-out in particular is disappointing. However, I do think the realism needs improvement. The intro starts off quiet and builds up, but it sounds like only the volume is being adjusted, not the velocities. A live orchestra wouldn't sound like that when playing quietly. Then the instrumentation in general has mechanical timing and articulation throughout. The solo instruments, like the single string notes that start at 1:40, sound particularly fake, as well as being too loud. Speaking of supporting elements being too loud: The melody in the main hook, from 1:05-1:35, and again from 2:41-3:08, is buried, especially under the drums, and is inconsistently audible. The issue is present in other places as well, but is most dramatic there. This is a great start, and you have good ideas for orchestration and impact. It just needs that extra work to make it sound more realistic and crisp. I'd love a better ending, as well. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 fun style on this one. this is a great source for this genre. the intro didn't bother me as much as it did for MW, i think. i liked the way you built volume by adding in instruments rather than specifically via volumization changes. the first big orchestral sound we hear at 0:36 has a few oddities - the violas or second violins (whatever that sustained line is) are pretty loud comparatively speaking, and the toms are essentially just attack sounds and then tons of booming noise that should be filtered out so it doesn't sound so muddied. the first real melodic content at 1:06 is great, but the orchestra is playing at full bore for close to 30 seconds at that point, and it needs some more dynamic contrast to make that feel important. i would suggest bringing down the toms there (they're doing fun stuff, it's just too much) and lighten up on the background instrumentation a tad, then bring it back in to give it that boost you're hoping for. the spiccato at 1:29 is fun. by 1:45 i was getting a bit tired of the ongoing driving toms, and lo and behold there's a break right after it for a bit - then we're back into the main body of the arpeggiated section (which sounds copied from the intro). there's another break here - an actual one, and then it picks back up with more of the original copied section as MW pointed out. arrangement-wise, there's some fun ideas here - the initial presentation of the arpeggiated intro is really nice, there's some fun orchestral tom work throughout (although it's too much by the end), and the overall form is not bad. there's a lot that could be improved though. the energy level is too much - having the section between 0:35 and 1:55 be all go, all the time is just exhausting. Separately, there's not much contrast between the quieter parts and the bigger parts. this is mostly a byproduct of having too many instruments doing too many sustains behind the scenes. this isn't a real orchestra - don't layer in instruments just because those players need parts! use just what you need to get what you want and don't use extra fluff to pad it out. that will help drive the bigger parts a lot better since the low/mid energy sections won't be so full and loud. improving the piece's dynamics throughout and using less copypasta will vastly improve the overall product. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarkSim Posted May 29, 2022 Share Posted May 29, 2022 What a fantastic start, and a great choice of source tune. Fits the 'epic orchestra' genre perfectly. MW and proph are the experts when it comes to orchestration, and they've got some great critiques and advice. For my part, there weren't enough dynamics to it. The intensity was very high for the majority of the track. It needs to ebb and flow much more, to provide moments of intensity within the surrounding atmosphere, making each one more dramatic. It's like a Michael Bay film - too many explosions, and you get bored of explosions. In addition to the overall dynamics, the individual performances could also have a more natural ebb and flow to them. MW mentioned the strings, and from 2:11-2:41 they've very noticeably playing with the exact same character. Try and mix it up a bit, the way a real performer might. Overall clarity could also be improved - perhaps it's a result of a little too much reverb, or sample quality, but if there's a way you can bring the instruments further forward in the aural space then that would be appreciated. It's a NO from me now, but a great start nonetheless and I'm sure you can improve on this if you wanted to resubmit. NO (resubmit) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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