Carol of the Bells

[Geoffrey Taucer]

http://h.xerol.org/f.php?f=475

Metal/folk/ethnic/orchestral (mostly metal) version of Carol of the Bells. Unfinished, of course.

[Sole Signal]

Pretty much exactly how I thought this would sound; dunno if that's good or not. The guitar is right on, but the track needs more instrumentation. Right now it's a tad bit empty; the drums sound a little thin, for example. Layer some electronic percussion perhaps.

Good start though.

[The Instrumental Light]

Interesting, it reminds me of the Transiberian Orchestra's "Christmas Eve" (Which happens to be the same song, not in the sense of being an exact replica, but in the sense of it being based upon the same tune). It is very close in style to that song, but is distinguishable enough to be set apart from the other. The following notes describe my opinions and critiques of this song:

-Decent arrangement and orchestration, but needs more of both.

Has some substance, but could use something that fills the "air" of the song because it seems somewhat open, or empty.

Needs more instruments, something like a filler or synth, although thats a poor way to say it. To summarize it, something in the background that doesn't stand out as a total different thing, but yet can be heard and makes a positive effect on the song.

I hope that what I said is understandable. Anyway, still pretty good, keep working on it:smile:

[Darklink42]

This is a great start. I really like the buildup in the beginning, and I love that you have this song nailed in terms of the way it should sound. It's traditional, but at the same time it has its got it's own character.

I have to agree with the above statements though that it needs to have something more in the background. The drums I really wanted to hear a little more of, they are really quiet and not well emphasized. I also have to say that as it stands right now, the main chorus at :35 is too high pitched and goes against the feel of the rest of the song. It should be toned down a little to give it a heavier feel, which would match the background guitar better.

Between three musicians, that's the best I've got. Hope it helps.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I agree that some electronic percussion could add a lot. I'm a complete n00b with electronic percussion, though (and percussion in general really isn't my strong suite)

As for filling in the background, do you think I should use a simple pad, or should it be something more active?

It has no bass currently; I'm depending on the rythm guitars to fill in the low end. DO you think I should cut the low end on the guitars and add in a bass? And if so, do you think guitar bass or a synth bass would work better?

I'm probably going to drop down for a quieter section where this ends.

[The Instrumental Light]

As for the guitar and bass, i'd have no idea about, not my area of expertise. My skills with guitar and bass are very basic. As for the pads, you could use either a simple one or a complex one, but it would have to fit the rhythm. I personally think simple would be better, because it's easier to match with something rather than a complex one. As for which would sound better, I do not know. A simple pad would be easier to fit in and make it sound good, but a complex one would take more time, in the end it might be better than if you went with a simple pad though. Ultimately the choice is up to you, how much time you want to spend and how you want it.

[227]

It has no bass currently; I'm depending on the rythm guitars to fill in the low end. DO you think I should cut the low end on the guitars and add in a bass? And if so, do you think guitar bass or a synth bass would work better?

You should probably use the rhythm guitars for bass until :49 and then cut the lower end out of them and use a guitar bass for that last part. If you were to do that, you might consider using a pad as a bass to supplement the guitar until the guitar bass comes in.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

As for the guitar and bass, i'd have no idea about, not my area of expertise. My skills with guitar and bass are very basic. As for the pads, you could use either a simple one or a complex one, but it would have to fit the rhythm. I personally think simple would be better, because it's easier to match with something rather than a complex one. As for which would sound better, I do not know. A simple pad would be easier to fit in and make it sound good, but a complex one would take more time, in the end it might be better than if you went with a simple pad though. Ultimately the choice is up to you, how much time you want to spend and how you want it.

I think I should clarify; what I meant was would a pad alone be enough, or should I do a more involved synth line/arpeggios/whatever? Or should it be something entirely?

[The Instrumental Light]

I think I should clarify; what I meant was would a pad alone be enough, or should I do a more involved synth line/arpeggios/whatever? Or should it be something entirely?

Hmm... that's a hard call. I don't want to give you bad advice so this is going to take some effort. It seems to me like a single pad would work better than something else like you mentioned, but of course, that's just my opinion. I think something more involved or active would disrupt the flow of the song and overall would just clutter it up. What I know would work would be a single synthesizer (good quality one, of course) going up in pitch as the song's pitch goes higher and have a basic follow-along so it matches with the song. Hope that was understandable, it was very hard to make a judgement on that.