jnWake ⚖️ Posted May 3 Posted May 3 (edited) Another DoD month an... wait, this track isn't from DoD! First time I submit something unrelated to the Duel in uh... probably 10 years or so... Anyway, this track comes from the "A Stop on the Route - Piano Tribute to the Pokémon Series" album by the VGM Pianists collective (which I happen to be a part of) and that you can listen to here (https://open.spotify.com/album/6lA0QMJAKHbv6hKgX4OC6x). It's a piano solo, which also makes it my first submission of this kind! Source covered is "Lake" from the 4th generation of Pokémon games, a chill theme with some fun chords. Given the nature of the arrangement I'll refrain from doing a long source breakdown since it's evident for the most part. I hope you enjoy my first true attempt at a piano arrangement! Games & Sources Edited 17 hours ago by Emunator
XPRTNovice ⚖️ Posted May 5 Posted May 5 Hey there! This is a fun solo piano arrangement! I think it passes the bar for interpretation, and truly sounds like a single person performance, which is nice. I love all the little flourishes, but you also do a great job of keeping this very grounded in the source. The playing is well done. However, something is going on with the piano sample itself that's I think going to bring this below the bar - the good news is, I don't think it's very hard to fix. The left hand is muddy to my ear; we've got a TON of sound information in the 400-500-hz range and the 150hz range that's making this sound really bottom heavy. We're losing the brilliantly played right hand, because the left hand EQ isn't sculpted enough for us to hear all the detail. My gut is telling me that this piano is sampled and not live-recorded, but the problem I'm hearing is actually really endemic to recorded piano because you get the proximity effect of the sound bouncing off the lid of the piano and then back into the microphone at almost the same time the sound is coming off the strings. Honestly, I think some careful EQ carving will solve this problem right away - and, because you're giving more room to the space, you could then probably add in a touch of reverb without it going overboard. That's purely taste though; I like the drier performance, but would be curious of experimenting with something with just a bit more production behind it (literally just a speck of reverb.) However, if you try it before you EQ that mud out it will only exacerbate that problem. Great performance, great arrangement! Just needs a smidge of work in literally one department. NO (Please resubmit)
prophetik music ⚖️ Posted May 6 Posted May 6 (edited) i think it's live - it sounds like this was stereo mic'd and the low mic was over the middle of strings instead of the pillar or closer to the hammers than you'd like. i agree it's overly dense. if it's not live, then it's very strangely EQ'd, and the overall lack of room tone on it also is hurting it. we often say that the fewer instruments that are involved, the more brilliant the arrangement and technical aspects need to be. the minute or so from 0:38 that is single lines in each hand is imo too simplistic for such an extended section, and separately there's a ton of very small tempo push/pulls that are organic in nature but are just enough to make me keep thinking about the tempo instead of the actual piece. if the recording was sparkling, or the arrangement was full and rich throughout and didn't have some bare spots, i'd call it good enough. but the combination of technical and compositional issues are just enough that i'd say that this needs more to make it over the bump. NO edit 5/7: apparently it's not live, which is impressive that it aped a realistic tone so well. i've used the maverick a bunch so i'm surprised i didn't recognize it. i still think that the lack of room sound hurts it and the EQ feels really boomy and low. Edited May 7 by prophetik music
jnWake ⚖️ Posted May 6 Author Posted May 6 I suppose I can clarify a question right? The piano is sampled, it's Native Instruments' "The Maverick". I didn't add too much processing, a tiny bit of EQ/Compression. I don't think this would change the votes so it seems fair to share haha.
Emunator ⚖️ Posted 17 hours ago Posted 17 hours ago Lovely arrangement and performance, it _feels_ very jnWake to me <3 This source feels like it moves in a way that reflects how you navigate chord changes and flowing melody lines in your other arrangements, so this is an obvious fit! Pretty much co-signing Joe's vote here - there's way too much spikyness in the low end of the piano that's eating up headroom and honestly sounds like it's being distorted when it hits the compressor. Is there some analog emulation going on or some saturation involved here? I don't think I love the effect it's having. If you want, I can take a stab at cleaning this up if you can send me MIDI! I have the same piano library you used, but I think some Soothe 2 could go a long way to reduce some of the sharp spikes on the low end of the piano. But if not, I do think that a gentle shelf on the low end of the piano to reduce that low end dominance, or maybe changing the microphone position in the library so that it's slightly further away, would be a good starting point. It sounds miniscule, but for a solo piano piece, especially one played this way, you're doing a disservice to your performance to have the left hand part taking up so much of the spotlight. I think this will sound a lot better with some cleanup! NO (resubmit!)
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