Objectivity lost

[mixopenta]

I've lost my objectivity for this track. Any feedback on arrangement, structure, production is welcome.It's kind of like when starting on a project you think you have a great idea, then at some point into the recording you start to wonder if it was such a good idea after all...I sense there might be some potential in there somewhere, but I might have steered it in the wrong direction. Although appropriate for a track such as this, I feel it's a little bit too stiff perhaps?There's no listing for it, so there's time for some heavy tweakingSong doesn't even have a name yet, just called Gmin:http://www.broadjam.com/artists/artist_ ... NDEX=13311

[davewalton]

Quote:I've lost my objectivity for this track. Any feedback on arrangement, structure, production is welcome.Nice track... definitely a keeper. My only comment is that it's catagorized in the wrong genre. I would put this squarely in the New Age category and not in the Electronica-Downbeat genre. The background ryhthms have some "downbeat" properties to them but the thick, lush sounds of the music says "New Age". Definitely a more modern New Age and very useful I'd think.

[dgolding]

Quote:It's kind of like when starting on a project you think you have a great idea, then at some point into the recording you start to wonder if it was such a good idea after all...I hear ya there. That's usually the point where I hit the exit button on Cubase and go play yahoo pool for a while I like this track a lot, and I could easily imagine in as a backdrop on TV. Nice sound textures, unobtrusive production, nicely produced. Good job

[hummingbird]

Hey, this is really neat. Definitely new age ambient IMO. I'd tone the piano down just a little (seems just a touch too bright & takes away from the soft texture of the piece), but I really like the feel of the music around it. Nice modulations throughout. I'm suggesting pushing the piano back a little so it sits in the mix a little more, with a slightly softer/darker texture. Nice ending too.I can hear this playing behind a scene in a movie. If you want a suggestion for a title, I'd call it "Carpe diem" (sieze the day). cheersHummin'bird

[mixopenta]

Thanks everybody for your great and valuable input. I guess sometimes it's just those little details one tends to overlook that needs attention.I wish everything was as easily fixed as the categorization. I will change that to New age, of course. I agree that the piano is not how you'd normally play a pure piano arrangement, so I'm gonna have to think about if the melody should be played by something else (or even sung), or if I should bring more melody into it. Thanks to all feedback, I can think of other tricks to try as well... I'll also have to get some more RAM to my PC so I can use the 'Steinway Dark' patch, because for some reason I can use only the "bright" patch. If I launch another Steinway preset I get a blue screen. I guess 512Mb is not enough for these samples. I also need to be very careful not to load too many instruments in Kontakt player, or Cubase will report that a serious error has occurred, - recommends saving the project under a different name, and close the application. Of course, this does not solve a thing, and the project is lost forever. In General, Cubase 4 and EW doesn't seem to like each other. I don't know if it has something to do with the fact that Steinberg apparently implemented vst version 3 in C4 without any backwards compatibility, and as the Kontakt player is vst version 2, they don't seem to blend very well...This is no excuse for a less than perfect performance, however it does get a bit tedious having to worry about all those little quirks when you're working on something... In any case I'll let you know when I have a new version ready.Thanks again! These boards really make a difference

[davewalton]

Quote:512 MB seems quite lean for cubase 4 and sample-based instruments. Absolutely. The max on my computer is 1.5GB which is what I have now and I don't run into any problems. Prior to that, I had 1GB which I thought was enough and it was most of the time, but every now and then I'd run into "issues" because of a lack of RAM. For a virtual instrument based composer/musician, I'd recommend a MINIMUM of 1GB, more if possible.Dave

[hummingbird]

Quote:Quote:512 MB seems quite lean for cubase 4 and sample-based instruments. Absolutely. The max on my computer is 1.5GB which is what I have now and I don't run into any problems. Prior to that, I had 1GB which I thought was enough and it was most of the time, but every now and then I'd run into "issues" because of a lack of RAM. For a virtual instrument based composer/musician, I'd recommend a MINIMUM of 1GB, more if possible.DaveI used to have 512MB and it was hopeless when it came to mixing more than 6 or 7 tracks, especially if I had efx or VIs running too. Now I have 2GB of ram and it is such a pleasure to be able to work on my 25 track songs without overloading the system. Check it out and see if it's expandable.

[hummingbird]

PS - one option, I think, might be to isolate the piano track - do a save as, and delete all the other tracks, and then load the steinway dark... and then render a 24-bit wav from that track only. Then go back to your previous version & upload the piano track.(If that doesn't work -- I don't know if there is any way you can render a midi of that track... I could pop it in my system, add the VI, and then render you a 24-bit wav & shoot it back to you.)

[mixopenta]

I have uploaded a new version. I finally managed to render a Steinway dark patch (after two crashes), but I think it was really worth the effort I will probably drop the flute from this version though, and replace it with something else (but similar).The strings has still some velocity/attack issues that needs to be addressed. Levels might not be exactly where they should sit, but I think it's mostly a matter of fractions of dB's. Anyway, it's best not to mix the same day as tweaking and recording. If you wanna have a listen, you should be able to use the link in my original post, as I just re-uploaded it. And it's now called "Carpe diem", - Thanks Vikki, for the title! I have also ordered 1GB of RAM today. I'm sure this will fix Cubase vs EW's erratic behavior. You are all very kind and helpful. Thanks again for all input!

[hummingbird]

Oh yes!! The piano now has right texture. I hear what you are saying about the strings. I like the beautiful motifs. You're right about mixing later on -- always seems to be better to mix the next day.