I Think

Strongly agree with Dj Orange's comments. I think the instruments generally sound pretty nice in terms of timbre (maybe the trumpet around 3:40 feels a bit off somehow). I personally dislike the use of drumset-style drumming, but that might be an unpopular opinion. Humanization: There are a lot of ostinatos, which in an orchestral arrangement feels like a great big lost opportunity, and really reinforces the fact that you're listening to a synthetic performance. The basson-overlapped-into-high-winds produces a really cool effect at the start, but gets really repetitive really quickly without some more variation thrown in (despite the harmonic changes). Dynamics, articulation, instrumentation, and silences are all knobs I'd like to try tweaking! I think some attention to phrasing, particularly via dynamics (e.g. simply introduce a little bit of a swell towards the late middle of each phrase, ease off a little at the end) could be of significant help to the humanization and to dynamic contrast. I do quite like the overall shape of what you've got here. The overall structure and texture feel pretty good to me!

I'm not familiar with the source so unfortunately I can't provide much input about whether it's too ambitious/conservative... I do think it's awesome though, and hopefully someone else can chime in. I found the brief ostinato-only bits (~a measure or two, each?) to be a bit too repetitive, personally, especially towards the end. I think when you choose to use a highly uniform ensemble (8x of one instrument, which by the way is awesome) it might be better to provide some higher variation/contrast between the repetitions.

Really enjoyed this! I'm not totally sold on the ending (except the little arpeggio at the end, that was wonderful) which came a bit suddenly, but maybe that's because I was hoping to hear even more of the track

Overall I liked many of the component sections, but I felt that generally the melodies were repeated verbatim too many times throughout. I hoped that we'd get to hear more examples of taking motifs and snippets of the themes and combining/modifying them in a development section. I really enjoyed the opening fanfare (:17 to :37), which was very dramatic and led me to set very high expectations. I enjoyed the way the Brawl theme snuck in around 1:30. I think this interplay could be leaned on a bit more elsewhere too! The transition at 2:00 felt a bit weak/sudden; there wasn't much leadup to it, and it clashed a bit with both what came before it and the subsequent segue into the Brawl theme. 3:07-3:11 -- I really liked this deviation from the original Ultimate line. All in all, some condensation and variation would spice it up, but well done!

I really enjoy the harpsichord-y Baroque-esque take on the theme, e.g. the end section starting at 1:52 -- I think it really suits the melody and would love to hear a more fully-developed fugue on it or something. Overall, quite a fun (maybe eclectic) little track you've put together!

Very fun arrangement! A few aspects felt a little bit off to me, but overall I quite enjoyed listening! At 0:59, the instrument that carries the B(?) melody sticks out because it sounds thinner than everything else we've heard; all of the other instruments sound (impressively) like typical orchestral instruments, but this one sounds like an oddly-processed saxophone, or something. At 3:03 and through several sections to the end, the rhythm in the timpani sounds a bit jarring. I enjoy 3+3+2, but personally I don't feel that it fits into the "Russian folk" style. I could be wrong! At 4:15, the dotted rhythm feels over-dotted; it sounds like a mistake because it occurs nowhere else in the arrangement. Compare 4:12 and 4:25.

This was really entertaining and a really interesting take on the source! I would personally have enjoyed it more if I didn't have a bias against hip-hop/rap backing tracks (which this was unfortunately reminiscent to me of), but the track is really well-crafted and surprisingly relaxed/calm for all its strangeness :D

The only thing that stuck out to me was the intonation and timing on the flute, especially in the earlier parts of the track. I really, really enjoyed the rest of it!

Dang, that sounded quite difficult! A few thoughts: Either your microphone or my crappy earbuds (or YouTube's encoding?) did not really capture the low notes very well. I wonder if there are better spots for breaths -- honestly I'm already pretty impressed at how few breaths you took but they really do stand out a lot Your note transitions sound very clean, intonation is quite good except a few bits where you seem to stretch a bit hard at the higher notes. I like your tone!

This sounds intriguing but your link appears to be broken! edit: aha, fixed your link from "https://youtube.be/SDR39fhyZRI" to "https://youtu.be/SDR39fhyZRI"

I'm going to use the checklist, since I'm 100% a beginner on this. Seeing a post with no comments makes me sad though, and makes me worried about my own future prospects (... when I actually finish my attempt at an arrangement and then at recording...), so here's an effort at some feedback! ARRANGEMENT / INTERPRETATION I'm not familiar with the source, can't speak on this! PRODUCTION [ ] Low-quality samples: The main thing that stuck out in this regard is the trumpet synth, especially where it is super in-your-face around 2:00; as one of the more "realistic" instruments you use, I feel like it needs more realistic articulations, too. [ ] Overcompressed (pumping/no dynamics): Dunno about any compression per se, but I feel that the dynamic contrast could be stronger. STRUCTURE [ ] Lacks coherence overall (doesn't "flow" enough): around 1:00 for instance, the introduction of the high voice feels very abrupt; I think it's a combination of its contrasting timbre and high pitch that makes it particularly piercing. [ ] [not actually abrupt] ending: I feel like the ending overall needs some attention. At 2:52 it feels like you're introducing a new idea, and then it sort of goes away, and then you have the lingering cymbals and... other stuff... which sounds overall a bit odd to me. WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THE TRACK [ ] Instrument choices: Aside from the trumpet, I feel like there was quite a bit of color in the instrumentation! PERSONAL COMMENTS (positive feedback, specifics on checklist criticisms, any other thoughts) Overall I found the tune quite catchy, even though the style isn't quite my cup of tea. I think it has a comfortable amount of complexity/subtlety, and mainly wants a stronger sense of overall structural development?

I think probably not. Even if he is using digital tools to touch it up, he's probably working with rather good raw material anyways... It is really hard to take not-so-good audio and patch it up to sound great, as far as I recall.