Emunator Posted February 3, 2023 Share Posted February 3, 2023 (edited) To Whom it may Concern, This is another attempt at this tune, and it's completely different than my last crack at it. I took a more atmospheric approach this time, and this was done on my desktop as well. Also, with the slower tempo, I wasn't able to make the middle section that was in my first try seem to fit in context, so I removed it. The name if the track is Rest&Relaxation, and it's a remix of the village theme from Dragon Warrior Three. MP3 is attached. Thanks! Respectfully, Eric Original below. Edited February 8, 2023 by prophetik music Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emunator Posted February 3, 2023 Author Share Posted February 3, 2023 Off the jump, this definitely feels more ambitious in terms of sound design than Eric's earlier submissions, so this is moving in the right direction! There's more texture here from the distorted sound effects that give it a more modern feel, despite many of the synths still using very basic patches. There's a very wide quality to the mix that gives it a nice sense of space. There's a lot here that shows that you're moving in the right direction! The mixing is where this still falls short in my opinion; the balance is off. The growly bass is far louder than everything else, and many of the other instruments are mixed loud and abrasively. It still feels like all of your instruments are maxed out in volume and competing with each other for space. Another issue is that the arrangement is very short - at just over 2 and a half minutes, there's not a ton of time to fully develop your idea, and to be frank, the short coda at the end of the arrangement doesn't feel like it was integrated in a natural way at all. It comes so shortly after the main arrangement fades out and is gone just as quickly. I hate to keep sending your arrangements back, but it's promising to see you applying some of the feedback that we've been providing. I also feel like the arrangements that you've shown the most growth with are new submissions, where you're less tied to your previous ideas and more free to experiment. At this stage in your musical journey, there's diminishing returns in trying to polish your earliest ideas compared to working through as many ideas as you can muster the creative energy for. Eventually, everything is going to start falling into place as you settle into using your new DAW and develop a workflow, and although I don't think this submission is the one that's going to crack through our judges panel, I have so much admiration for the effort you're putting into your craft. Keep at it! NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted February 7, 2023 Share Posted February 7, 2023 Emu's comments are all on point, but I'd like to talk about instrumentation, too. The synths are indeed pretty vanilla, which we've mentioned to you before, though they are a notable improvement. But also, you don't have to change leads every other measure to retain interest. The constant swapping around makes the arrangement as a whole feel a little incoherent. It's especially odd when it switches to a sampled "real" instrument instead of a synth. When you're just starting out, I recommend you pick a sound palette and stick to it. Ideally, choose a palette that matches the genre you're going for. For most of this particular submission, you have mostly house textures (though it varies a ton), but the style is more like downtempo. The contrast is jarring. An experienced composer can break outside the box and be creative with sound design, but it's easier to use what already works. Get one or more sample libraries or preset patches designed for the genre you're going for, structurally — lots of these are free — and stick with those for now. Keep at it, and maybe use our workshop forum so you're not waiting for feedback from us for months. At where you are right now, rapid feedback and iteration will help give you the practice and experience you need. NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted February 8, 2023 Share Posted February 8, 2023 some fun FMy intro synths with lots of action going on. the initial melodic presentation is in a shorter synth that's fairly generic. this is followed by several lead changes in a very short period of time. there's a quite loud transitional effect at 0:56, and some more lead changes, and the main track feels like it starts at 1:17. the lead here has some variety in what it's playing, although the hornet lead again feels randomly chosen and not really suited to what it's playing. there's more changes (is that an oboe?) and then it kinda just ends, until it doesn't for one last chord, and then it's done. this feels pretty scattered, both in terms of the cohesiveness (or lack thereof) implied by the leads, and in terms of where you're trying to go with the arrangement. you've got some personalization in the melodic content, which is great, but your constantly changing synth choices and lack of percussive elements until much later in the piece make the first half feel disjointed and the second half feel incomplete. i recommend, as MW said, identifying a style and sticking with it until you're comfortable enough with the rules to understand when breaking them is a good idea. i'd also suggest hitting up the workshop for some more assistance on iterating your remixes instead of just waiting for us to get to them NO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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