Earthbound - Tenda Nation

[Melchior]

Hey hey, I'm working on my first project to get an arrangment onto OCR and I could use all the feedback I can get. I've been working on this for about a week and have been learning the robes of this biz for only a couple weeks. There's gotta be some things I'm doing wrong so I would love to know what they are (tear me apart!).

This arrangment is based off of the Tenda Village theme from Earthbound (SNES), and it has always stuck out to me. It's only about 1/3 of the way done as of right now (so don't let the ending confuse you). Style influences include: West African, Java Gamelan, and some Thomas Newman in there. Anyways, let me know what y'all think.

Here's the link. Speak up if it doesn't work for some reason:

http://www.esnips.com/doc/b0f7f146-e5b0-4a6f-a809-a5d355ff85b1/TendaNation_v1

[Melchior]

Really though. I'm itching ever so desperately for some feedback. Even a, "You suck Mr. McSucktington, and here are my reasons..." Since this is my first attempt at something like this, I feel I can't move forward unless I know what I need to improve on.

[OceansAndrew]

As it stands, the mixing is mostly there, but the arrangement is very boring. I can tell the influences well, but throughout the whole mix nothing really attention-grabbing happens. For example, it needs a string bed with a chord progression or something more melodic happening. Alternatively, you could make the drums more pronounced and exciting. The Drums add a nice flavor but don't really drive the track forward, so they can't really be the focal point. Adding a few hooks into the feeling you've created is what this needs most of all.

Production-wise there are a few changes that need to be made. When the hand percussion comes in early on, it is way too close in the sound field for it to sit properly in the mix. It would work up front there for a techno track, but in this instance they need to be further back and natural sounding. The lower drums that come in later are more properly placed.

[POCKETMAN]

What did you use to make this?

At the fade out part, bring in t new lead instrument.

[Melchior]

Great comments so far! Keep em coming!

When the hand percussion comes in early on, it is way too close in the sound field for it to sit properly in the mix

OA, I kinda get your comment about the hand-drum being too close in the sound field, but I'm not too sure how to fix it. I'm guessing you are not saying that it is over balanced volume wise. I still want it to have presence if it's farther back in the sound field. Also, I do agree that the arrangment is pretty stagnant and thin sounding. I might mess around with what you said and also make some bar cuts.

What did you use to make this?

I used Fruity Loops Studio 7 XXL and Kontakt 2 with some Tapspace percussion samples and a few free soundfonts.

At the fade out part, bring in t new lead instrument.

What fade-out part? Are you talking about 1:58ish?

Also, I wondering if anyone thought that the reverb or the general timbre was making everything too muddy. Thanks so much!

[POCKETMAN]

ya

that part.

And ya, too much reverb.

[Melchior]

Here's an updated version of Tenda Nation. Attempted to fix problems listed above and I think the outcome improved things a lot. I plan on finishing the rest of it in the next couple weeks (as this is less than half of the whole thing). Again, I would really appreciate any feedback.

http://www.esnips.com/doc/a8c016d3-49a9-4eff-9edf-e810199faf56/TendaNation_v2