030406.mp3[4.13mb] Piano, violin, string, horn, and bass... cc please!

That is beautiful. I like. Thank you for sharing with us. [inlove]

Outstanding music. I always love the music that have flute/violin in it. Outstanding work. What I would add is a little bit of.. bright part... you know... If you've played the SpellForce and heard the track made by Dynamedion, you'd know what I'm talking about... Because piano gives overall 'sad' background because of the way it sounds. The violin changes that abit, but not too much. Good work anyway.

As opposed to music for your elbows?

Hey there, thanks for posting this! I like your naming convention. I used to use that all the time for tracks without a name, just the date. Though it would have the date I started the piece as the name. Got too confusing when I started game audio, too many projects going on at the same time.

But that's not why you posted this.

You want some critcal criticismery? Fine. The composition is great. Very nice moods, every once in a while I wanted the tempo to swing or hold here and there but it's pieced together very well using strong central thematics.

No, my main concern is with the mix. Maybe you weren't looking for critique in that area, but there's very little I can offer in the way of the comp as it is. It does what it needs to do and it does it very very well...I'm looping it as we speak.

There's some clarity issues here. Starting with the piano patch. Most piano patches need some EQ adjustments when not playing Solo. As is the case with your piece...When one or more instruments join the piano, it gets very murky in the low midrange (100hz-400hz). What that does is brings the rest of the instruments in that hole (since they all have strong freq's in that range as well) and actually sucks the stereo imagery away leaving it kind of narrow. Not thin, just narrow, mono'ish.

I was able to pull up some piano that was getting buried by all the instruments by boosting 450-475hz with a very narrow Q, not too much unless you want some harmonics ringing in.

Was this done with a Creative card? Sometimes it all has to do with your DA converters and Creative cards are notorious for making mixes sound like this.

To reiterate (because I'm starting to confuse myself and afraid I'm sounding like a snob or something), the mix is not really that bad at all, while the piece is altogether fantastic. But before I slap a "final" on the end of this I would decide what instruments I would want in what frequencies and make some judicious EQ carving.

Let me know if you want to see what I'm talking about and/or upload a mixed version to compare!

Off,
Tony

I've always found it difficult to come up with names for my songs, so that is indeed why I have my numbering system. Once upon a time I started with '001' and went on from there, but I've found the date a better system (And it is actually the day that I started the piece, I did it all today... er... yesterday)

Anyway, you make a very good point about the mix and I would not mind hearing your version of it. I'm sure that when I do my local EQ on it I can get it to sound even better, as I can edit the individual tracks, not just the master =)

But once you said that it was getting murky in the midrange, I did notice it. Thank you for pointing it out!

This was not done with a creative card, I do all my work in Finale and Reason (this one was synthed in Reason, not GPO) So it wasn't that... But I now know what to expect of creative's cards =)

Thanks, I'll give a listen to your version, reEQ mine, and repost... =)

Just listening to it now. It seems quite nice. Are you creating this music for a particular purpose, or would you let someone use it in a game?

The purpose of the song was just for practice. I find that if I don't compose on a regular basis I lose some of the ability... You may use it in a game if it is for nonprofit and I am given credit. (Jeff Hopkins http://jeff.hopkinsmultimedia.com)

Here you go. I would still spend some more time with the piano but this really elevates the string track a lot and brings space and clarity to the mix.

New EQ'd track

Essentially I have to resort to mastering tricks (EQ, multiband, phase) with this since it's bounced audio (and MP3 at that) but I think you get the idea. Hope it helps!

Tony

A well written piece indeed. I definetely enjoy the chord changes in the piano.

But try giving the violin a more defined melody. Something easier to remember... something easier to whistle. Right now it's a bit vague. You absolutely have the chord progressions down. Now refine that melody you have now into something more catchy.

Good stuff. The intro reminds me of Chopin's "Nocturnes".

The Doctor