sirgareth Posted May 12, 2007 Share Posted May 12, 2007 This song is based on the "Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind" theme. I did it in the style of an Irish rock song, with some elements of the classical version during a sort of bridge section, anyway, tell me what you guys think so I can post the best possible version, thanks! SirGareth Here is a link to the myspace account I put the song on, Its called "Off to Morrowind" http://www.myspace.com/garethortiztimpson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Rod Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 Could u post a link to the source for comparison? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dafydd Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 I think the EQ feels very mid-range heavy. More treble and bass, please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanthos Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 Dr. Rod: here are links to a few tracks from Morrowind and Oblivion from the developer's website. The one mixed here is the Morrowind title theme, although you might also want to check out the Oblivion title theme which uses the same phrase in a style similar to Sirgareth's arrangement. Agreed with Dafydd. There is also far too much reverb on your tympani at the start and end of the piece; either that or you're using some horrible samples. Tympani should sound a bit sharper and crisper than yours do. The strings also sound a little bit too fake for my tastes and need some EQ work and they come in fairly loud in what should be a quiet section. You sound like you want to use the strings as a break from the heavy guitar, which is a great idea; just lower their volume a bit more to make sure you achieve what you're going for. In terms of arrangement, there's not enough harmony on a non-chordal instrument (i.e. there are many places where you have the melody being played on both guitar and synth, as opposed to melody on one and a harmony line on the other). I've been a fan of Morrowind for years, and know its music well, and I have to say that this is the first Morrowind remix that I've liked, despite it still needing some work. The guitar work fits the piece well, and the drums are great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirgareth Posted May 15, 2007 Author Share Posted May 15, 2007 Thanks for your posts, I have been working on the EQ Issue for a while now (the midrange issue), I've been able to narrow it down to a combo of the bass guitar and drums, each by themselves sounds fine, but added together sounds mid heavy, and when I compressed it, it just made I worse, I think my next version should fix that, I'll let you know when It's up. Now the Timpani is in fact not Timpani but a concert bass drum, which is a much deeper sound, therefor sounds nothing like Timpani, but if you think it doesn't work I can certainly try Timpani, I'm not that attached to that part anyway, so I don't mind changing it up. I kinda like that Flute/Guitar doubled part personally, but I have added a guitar harmony on the last section. (again posted on the next version) Anyway, thanks for posting, and I'm glad you like it so far Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirgareth Posted May 15, 2007 Author Share Posted May 15, 2007 Ok, the new version of the song is up, so please check it out and keep the constructive criticisms coming, I appreciate them all, thanks again http://www.myspace.com/garethortiztimpson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanthos Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 Sorry about mixing up tympani and a bass drum. You're right, of course. I still think that the drum has too much reverb. It needs to be a little drier and have a little more punch, although it should remain fairly subtle like it does now. I have a couple more comments. I like the harmony line for the most part; I'd just put it somewhere besides the last repetition of the theme. If you're only using it once, put it more in the middle of the piece to vary things a bit instead of having flute and guitar play melody together several times and using harmony at the end. I do like the doubled melody though, just as long as it's not the only thing you hear. The harmony sounds slightly off in places; I can't easily pick out any specific notes since for whatever reason, I can't scroll backwards in the song. For the most part it works, but I'd listen to it again and remember that the harmony part doesn't have to be an exact transposition of the melody. If you feel competent as a soloist, you might want to do a longer solo instead of one of the repetitions of the melody. I like the little 4-bar guitar riffs you have and would like to hear more. In terms of submitting here, you're not going to be penalized at all by deviating from the original version a bit, as long as you don't go overboard. I'd do the solo coming out of the string chorus; you build the drums back up nicely and going into a solo would give it a bit more punch than going back to the melody again. Lastly, the tambourine part at the beginning of the piece needs a bit of work. The sound itself is good, but it sounds like it's cutting off too soon. On a real tambourine, there's no way that I know of to choke the sound, and after a tambourine hit, you'll get a bit of a ring for a short period afterwards. That's missing in your version, either a result of the samples you're using or possibly the samples have the ring built in but need to be longer for it to happen. Good work again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardbeat Acolyte Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 Would you please be able to upload it to a site that I can download it from since I can't listen to it on the computer that I'm using the internet on; I'm at a library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirgareth Posted June 4, 2007 Author Share Posted June 4, 2007 Ok, I added a short little guitar solo, tell me if you think it works, thanks again for the comments. Oh you should be able to download the song where it is, if anyone has any problems with that let me know, i can e-mail if I need to, thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tensei Posted June 4, 2007 Share Posted June 4, 2007 Pretty much everything about the production has been said, so I guess I'll comment on the arrangement: unfortunately, though I like the guitar solo's, there hasn't been that much done to set this song apart from the source (except for durrrr the instrumentation). What I'm getting at, is that I would love to hear you either expand on the constantly reused dun dun dunnn-melody, or maybe change the key at some point to give the melody a whole different ambiance, because at this point your just repeating the original melody a lot. ( which the source did as well, but that doesn't necessarily mean you should!) Anyway, those were my 2 cents Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirgareth Posted June 6, 2007 Author Share Posted June 6, 2007 Pretty much everything about the production has been said, so I guess I'll comment on the arrangement: unfortunately, though I like the guitar solo's, there hasn't been that much done to set this song apart from the source (except for durrrr the instrumentation).What I'm getting at, is that I would love to hear you either expand on the constantly reused dun dun dunnn-melody, or maybe change the key at some point to give the melody a whole different ambiance, because at this point your just repeating the original melody a lot. ( which the source did as well, but that doesn't necessarily mean you should!) Anyway, those were my 2 cents Thanks for your 2 cents, greatly apriciated. You know that has been running through my mind as of late, but no one else seamed to be bothered by it 'till now, I was considering maybe taking the main theme out of the section after the solo and maybe write a new part over the same chords, I'm not sure if that would change it up enough or not, but ill change it and see what everyone says think. I'm very pleased at the amount of useful and intelegent, comments I've been getting on this forum, with all your help I'm sure this will turn into a great piece! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirgareth Posted August 12, 2007 Author Share Posted August 12, 2007 Ok guys, It's been a while, but I made a few changes to my song, tell me what you all think, again its posted here: http://www.myspace.com/garethortiztimpson, its the V2 one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnappleMan Posted August 12, 2007 Share Posted August 12, 2007 Sounds good, except your drum track is too boring, and poorly mixed. Your bass drum is completely buried. Sounds like you're using DFHS, and the kick sounds like either the DW2 kick or the Premier kick, both of those have a very "pumpy" quality to them, what you have to do is boost the low end, about 3-6dB in the 50-65hz range. Scoop a 3-6dB hole in the mids at about 250-750, and boost 1db at 1500-2000k, then give a high shelf of about 8db from 4500khz-16000khz. And don't be afraid to compress it, but first I'd add a noise gate with a threshold around -40dB to catch the unwanted rumble, if you're gonna be boosting EQ and compressing then you definitely want to gate the kick. Also, the snare eludes me, sounds like the Ludwig 1 snare, or maybe the Tama 1 snare, either way, it needs to be compressed a little more, and EQed to boost the mid-highs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirgareth Posted August 12, 2007 Author Share Posted August 12, 2007 Actually its the BFD program, and its only the version that comes with Pro Tools (limited budget here) anyway, I must have gotten carried away with the other instruments and forgotten the drums, I defiantly see the need to scoop out more mids on the kick, and put a comp on the snare too, thanks for your feedback! Gareth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SnappleMan Posted August 13, 2007 Share Posted August 13, 2007 You should also consider spicing up the drum sequencing as well. There are a couple of spots where the drums would sound great in 3/4 time. Keep the rest of the track in 4/4, but sequence the drums in 3/4, do this for 12 beats, it'll even out very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirgareth Posted August 13, 2007 Author Share Posted August 13, 2007 Ok people, check the site for version 3, some more mixing and a slightly altered drum track http://www.myspace.com/garethortiztimpson Thanks again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirgareth Posted August 16, 2007 Author Share Posted August 16, 2007 Does anyone have a reason I shouldn't try and submit this song yet? Any comments would be appreciated! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avaris Posted August 16, 2007 Share Posted August 16, 2007 It's hard to pinpoint places bc myspace doesn't allow you to rewind. IMO the rhythm guitar is too dominant. Turn the volume down when you got all of the ethnic instruments going on. Maybe add a touch of saturation and reverb (with a very minimal decay setting) to add a lil polish to the guitar. The guitars come in too suddenly in the beggining. Some pretty good orchestral writing. Overall some of the transitions feel a lil dull IMO. The crashes lack presence. Some more EQ'ing and pannning are in order as not everything is coming through the mix clearly. Def a good mix, but it needs more. The writing in the intro is sooo much more interesting than the second half where it's just distorted guitars. Vary up the velocity on the snare a lil bit too. I'm on crappy headphones and can barely hear the bass. Try giving the bass a 2db boost at 400-500 with a very high Q rating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirgareth Posted August 17, 2007 Author Share Posted August 17, 2007 I am going for more of the rock sound with this mix, so the very (stable) snare I guess you could say is mainly due to the compression, the whole point of the guitars coming in suddenly is very much intentional I'll definitely look at it a bit more though, I'm getting varied opinions on the guitar volume a lot of people want more some want soft, I'm trying to get a good balance, so will see what happens in that department. I do agree with the bass suggestion , depending on the headphones its hard to get a good sound anyway, but I would imagine most people will be listening to the song with crappy headphones or computer speakers, so I should probably make sure it sounds good an them as well. I'm definitely still working on that orchestral section, keeping up the energy of the song while switching between the rock and orchestral sections was difficult, I think I was using the wrong crash samples for this song, I think that might be contributing to the "lack of presence problem." Thanks for the comment I will definitely take a closer look at some of those issues! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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