So Far Above

[lc]

Quote:Hi - to clarify -- at 2:20 - It feels like the percussion is clashing with the high synth (something in the top end is clashing) - and that there's too much down the middle. Feels like it needs some more panning & EQing to blend it better. Also watch the velocities on the percussive stuff - if it hits at the same volume and perfectly on the beat it sounds too 'synthetic'.HTHH'BirdOk, I see now. Thanks!Yeah, all this will hopefully come together for me soon. I'd hate to be passed on a forward if the piece was on target, but just didn't sound good enough.I'm usually on top of the velocities. Especially with the percussion...can't stand that "machine gun" effect. The percussion I'm using on this piece aren't really organic. More electronic/synthy. So there really isn't much variety with them like say a good multi-sampled drum kit. At least, the samples that I was using for this particular part.

[mazz]

Finally got around to listening to this piece. I like it a lot. I'm with Vikki that the intro doesn't have much to do with the rest of the piece and it's way too long anyway. I'd much rather hear it start with the piano section and then have the big orchestra come in.If this is a piece for a library submission, there may be too much contrast in it. I'm not sure about that but maybe.IMO what is bugging folks about the mix is that it sounds like it's over compressed. I think that you could do more crescendos and de-crescendos in the brass and that would add more variety and color without sacrificing the power. The brass players sound like they're blowing as hard as they can the whole time and that's pretty exhausting to listen to. In orchestra pieces it's been my experience that if I try to make each part heard, it turns in to a real mess. If you study orchestra scores by great composers you'll see that it's about the blends of instruments and the colors the combinations create, not necessarily about each part standing on it's own.You have a lot of cool things happening here but I wonder if you have one too many ideas (not counting the intro)?I like the synth sounds and the voices. I'd call it Asian influenced minimalism. Listen Aarvo Paart, he does things like this but with a more European influence.Keep up the good work!!Mazz

[elser]

Wow, that sounds great. It seems like it might have been written as a que to a script or a scene. I don't know if it's generic enough for a library placement. It has a real strong transition from the gamelan intro into the orchestral part which to me makes it sound as if it was written for a specific scene, like the Samurai soldiers spending time at home with their families, and then going out into battle or something. Remove the intro and I think it might be more nuetral. But then again maybe you could write a movie around it. Elser

[lc]

Thanks for the listen Mazz!No, this isn't for a listing. It's more for my own enjoyment. As far as the intro goes, I'm not sure what I was thinking about at the time, but when I hear it now, I'm thinking of it being played in the opening credits of a movie or maybe a movie trailer. Maybe a voice-over or quiet spoken scenes are going on during the intro, then when it starts explaining more of the film, (maybe the camera pulls back to reveal a large mountainous landscape at dawn or something) that's when the orchestra comes in. But, eh...just what I envision for those two parts. As for the rest of the piece, yeah it probably does get a bit scatter brained, but I feel it still plays nice with each other. Maybe not And you are correct, in that at times I'm guilty of making everything be heard and not blended; especially with the French Horns. I'll be addressing that in any future pieces I do. I also agree with the crescendos. Some pieces I use them, and others for some reason, I seem to forget all about them! I'm using them here, but for some reason the swells don't seem to really make an impact. I'd like to get a new MIDI controller with better sliders (mine is really old) but I don't know how much of the equation that falls into.Thanks for the critique! This is an older piece written while I was completely new to using orchestral instruments, but it's good to be reminded of what to do and not to do so you don't fall back into those trappings. Looking back on my pieces now, I probably have a lot of tweaking to do!