OCR04866 - *YES* Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim "Dragonborn Symphony, Movement 2"

[prophetik music ⚖️]

To put it simply, the entire "Dovahkiin" theme is cut in various parts and remodelled in several ways between the instruments (just like in the first part but in a more complex way), while still using the harp to pay homage to the original guitar transcription by Harry Murrell, as cited in my last Skyrim submission.

To maintain coherence with the guitar arrangement, I'll post the link to the video again and reference the exact minute and second to explain which part I'm reworking with the orchestra.

This ReMix begins at the 1:05 mark in Harry's video, this time with a lighter, calmer, and more soothing version. Thanks to the combination of oboe, clarinet, and bassoon in an expressive "conversation" with the harp, the various melodic cells from the theme are imitated and intertwined.

We then arrive at the 1:34 mark in Harry's video. In my version, while the harp echoes Harry's guitar, the strings and choir in pianissimo help convey the emotion that specific segment evoked in me. The next section takes a different approach:
Inspired by the passage between 1:49 and 2:13 in the video, this time the violins take the lead with the main theme, while the rest of the orchestra gradually builds a more dramatic and intense effect. Personally, I really like this moment, as Harry's corresponding arrangement is as beautiful and nostalgic as it is limited by the expressiveness and dynamics of the classical guitar.

A brief — but intentional — silence introduces what would have been the third part. To merge the two parts seamlessly, I cut out a solo harp section of approximately 30 seconds that simply replicated what Harry played between the same mark that inspired the previous section (1:49 to 2:13).

The third part begins with an almost astral-like hiccup conversation between winds and the choir/strings. This merges and develops into yet another hopeful reimagining of the theme, resolving in D major and adding vibrant color before transitioning to the final climactic buildup (Harry's 2:13 to 2:40). This first section is also thought as a "re-building section" after the "crushing drama" that came before the silence.

The "grand finale" is an attempt to orchestrate Harry's ending with as much energy and power as possible.

I truly hope you all like this.

-SupremoMusico400

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Games & Sources

Since the first part was accepted by the OC judges as "Dragonborn Symphony", I decided to name this one "Dragonborn Symphony 2".

The source material remains the same, and the composition process hasn’t changed either. I merged the two parts using Shotcut, exporting the two MP3 files of my original work from Musescore 4 and then combining them in the video/audio editing software I just mentioned. From there, I cut and exported the final file to WAV format.

I genuinely don’t want this to come across as superficial work. However, my life circumstances don’t allow me the time to delve into audio editing and mixing. To be honest, I’m again relying on Musescore 4 and its soundpacks to be sufficient for this kind of project.

Staying on the "honest" note: yes, the piece is 8 minutes and 48 seconds long. I realize it’s almost two minutes over the limit, and I apologize for that. However, I couldn’t bring myself to cut more than the harp solo I referenced in the other section. Doing so would have left me dissatisfied with my own work, and that would have made me reluctant to share it with anyone until I could rework it to my liking.

I noticed that Musescore gave me some problems with what I believe to be the horns at a certain point, and there's a buzzing sound of some sort which I couldn't find out how to fix.

I couldn't manage to upload the file directly into the site, so I use google drive again, with a link for you to access it at anytime.

-SM400

Part 2 - YouTube

Part 3 - YouTube

[prophetik music ⚖️]

the limit on length is to prevent someone from submitting a 25-minute EP in continuous form. 7 minutes isn't a hard limit - i think we have a 13-minute remix? it's just hard to write long tracks well, so we generally advise against it.

opens with some harp and very light textures. i appreciate how much time is taken and the amount of rubato - i'd still have loved for the harp parts to be live so they've got more push-pull, but what's here is nuanced and carefully rendered. the texture at 1:21 is really nice. still surprising how well musescore does for representing the instrumentation when care is taken with it. there's a chord at 1:51 that i can't visualize what's going on, but the subsequent resolution is really nice (albeit a touch long). 2:18 again demonstrates really nice patience with the approach and has some really great scoring and voicing.

3:07 has a huge orchestral crescendo that lasts a solid 20s - again, great job with the scoring to avoid sustain-itis and make the notes being played all matter. there's some really fun chord structures in here as well. i'm also struck how you've managed to go like five minutes without really touching the actual iconic elements of the theme, and it's still so obvious what you're arranging. 

6:08 is where you really dig in the spurs and get after the melodic line we've all been waiting for. the timpani here are pretty boomy, and 6:28's chord is a bit sketchy with what's put in the lower voices. and finally, after over seven minutes, we finally get the recognizable melody line. there's a hard dynamic cut at 7:22 that's pretty obviously artificial. we get a final resolution and sustain, and it's done.

this is superbly handled and excellently scored - easily the best example of proper orchestral scoring i've heard in months. extremely enjoyable approach. there's some nitpicks here and there, but within the scope of the work this is easily over the bar. nice job.

 

 

YES

[Hemophiliac ⚖️]

Good follow up to your previous work. Fits right in as a continuation of the story you're telling. The arrangement and orchestration choices are very well done. The dynamics are mostly handled well, and the tempo rubato in the beginning was a nice touch for some extra humanization.

4:17-6:02 was a particularly sparse section and before the timpani joins at 5:20 there could have been some light background textures added to help this space not drag so much. The long slow burn crescendo that follows after was good, and included some spicy harmonic choices that I liked.

7:04 is where things fall short for me, it's the climax and delivery of the theme as we've expected it finally. The upper strings' attack doesn't feel fitting to the drama of this moment, too legato and not enough bite. 7:22 there's a sforzando or fortepiano that didn't seem to work right. The cut to piano there is very abrupt and you don't really have the reverb tail to follow it so it sounds very unnatural. The other thing that felt unnatural was the harp coming through very clearly in the crescendo build to 7:01 and after. In reality the harp would not cut through a full double forte orchestra.

While I do have some criticisms I don't feel they were deal breakers and the strength of arrangement and orchestration choices outweighed a few minor issues.

YES

[XPRTNovice ⚖️]

I guess I COULD nitpick this to justify my own existence, but I'm not sure there's a lot of feedback for me to give. I could stand for the piece to be mastered louder overall, but orchestral pieces are tough that way and there's so much nuance in there.

The attack on the violas (I think) during that sus4 to minor hold could be smoother; the sound breaks there and I think maybe your intent was to have it legato into the minor third to highlight the transition, but I noticed the break. 

The swell at 3:25 was divine, but there's a flute popping out there in a way that makes the notes seem like mistakes - like there's a BOOP coming through once or twice in that section.

The crescendo at 6:00 that goes into the sustained violin note is a bit abrupt; could be smoother. You did such a good job with the swell at 3:25 that I wanted it again but this one's automation ramp was a bit too steep. 

Agree with Prophetik about the chord dissonance at 6:30 ish. I'm not sure I was totally sold on it. I get it from a creative perspective, but I'm just not sure it is the right amount of ick. It may be too much ick. 

Woah what the heck happens at 7:22, was that like a tutti sfp that went awry? That is the only thing in the whole piece that I think absolutely 100% needs to be fixed. It's climax-breaking. 

Personally, I enjoy the slower ending that takes us a while to get there - if there was a way to get a softer release of the final note, that would be chefs kiss. I know the samples aren't perfect and that can be difficult, but maybe a fun suggestion to work around it would be to literally add a reverb automation on JUST THAT NOTE. 

Overall, spectacularly done. but that sfp is mix-breaking for me. It kicked me out of the mix so hard that I can't pass it unless it's fixed.  I get that musescore has its limitations, and I hate doing this for like half a second of music, but there has to be a way around this. 

NO (Please resubmit)

Edited April 21 by XPRTNovice

[pixelseph ⚖️]

Coming to this one having not heard the first part of the suite from Supremo. I really enjoyed the pacing and dynamics throughout the piece. Plenty of time to sit and and just digest the music.

I'm not an orchestral programming expert by any stretch, so I'm glad Proph, Hemo, and Joe can speak to how you used the samples from MuseScore. The composition overall is excellent - the rubato at the beginning, swelling into and out of sections without awkward tails or too-loud brass samples jumping out. But we've reached the elephant in the mix room, and it's the harsh cut to piano @ 7:22. I agree with Joe that it's hard to ignore, given how well everything goes up to that point. And while our standards do ask for a cleanly and clearly produced piece, I find this is still over the bar for quality.

YES

[jnWake ⚖️]

Long one! I'll try to make a shorter breakdown.

Begins with a harp plus some winds in B minor doing the motifs from the beginning of the piece until a soft choir joins. It keeps building up and creating some tension until 0:57 where the focus moves to strings. I like that you don't rush to things and let the chords rest, even those with more tension. My only nitpick here is that it feels it should get louder on the biggest chords, it feels like it's going to somewhere grand but it kinda stops middleway. Around 2:17, after the string chords, we reach a new section with winds+strings. It's fairly quiet. Around 3:20 there's a big increase in volume with brass, flute and more. It gets a little muddy until we reach another rest at 4:20 approximately. Like before, we have some slowly evolving strings and eventually some percussion that hints at something to come. At 6:03 there's a volume increase as the harp returns, we then get some brass and some nice dissonant chords around 6:32, things continue to increase and then... a pause? Neat! We stop for a few seconds and the main melody finally kicks in around 7:05. I was expecting it to be more epic honestly, maybe a more lively percussion or something like that, other than the new melody it felt like it kept the same vibe than what came before, which was a bit disappointing after such a cool build-up. Climax lasts around a minute and then the volume starts to decrease until we resolve in E major.

K, on arrangement this is fantastic. The writing of the orchestra is really cool, a lot of awesome chords and moving parts. To be completely honest I do feel some of the build-ups are too long, especially because the track starts slow, builds-up until a rest and then does this at least 2 more times, so by the third long build-up I did feel some tiredness. I also felt the final climax could've been more grandiose, it's fine as it is but the writing was hinting at something even bigger.

On production I don't have that many comments, the programming sounds great and, because of that, the orchestra sounds lively. There's that issue at 7:22 pointed out above but, although it definitely sounds weird, it doesn't bother me that much. Maybe my main nitpick would be the overall loudness of the piece, the only part of the track that is truly loud is the climax at 7 minutes in, before that the track is generally very quiet, even on the crescendos. It could definitely use a bump in the master.

Overall though, this is very well written piece that sounds great. I have some nitpicks about the arrangement and production but nothing that comes close to putting this below the bar.

YES

Edited April 28 by jnWake