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Amicus717

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Posts posted by Amicus717

  1. Posted

    Evocative and atmospheric, I like it a lot.

    One thing that might add an extra dimension, especially to the second half of the piece, is a deeper percussion instrument showing up. Maybe a nice deep, thrumming tympanum that hits maybe once a bar on the downbeat - or some variation of that.  Might just give it a bit of a tribal/ritual feel, which is also really appropriate for the whole Celtic vibe (to my ears, anyway). 

    Love the use of voices in this one -- I often use them the say way, and it works really well here. 

    Rob

  3. Posted

    This is really good -- slick and polished, and lots of great hooks in there. A very enjoyable listen. 

    Like a few folks above, I listened first without images, so now I gotta see the video (which at first glance, looked pretty slick as well). 

    Really nice work, Nigel.

  4. Posted

    Great! I like this a lot -- very soothing and hypnotic.

    I think you struck a really nice balance between the ambient sounds and the music, and also between the various layers of instrumentation; from the low-end to the high it meshes together pretty well to my ears.

    Enjoyed listening.

    Rob 

    • Like 1

  5. Posted · Edited by Amicus717

    Hi folks,

    This one is a purpose-written piece that was requested by a friend of mine who is making a documentary video about a historical re-enactment society we belong to. The video will focus on the arts & sciences community within our group, and he wanted something for the opening credits that was a) uplifting and energetic, and b) features a broader than usual cultural palette.  

    So I've spent the past two days creating this from scratch. As is my habit, I write and record fast, don't look back and just get it done -- then go back and try to make something from the debris. This is what I have so far, and I'd be curious to get some feedback on it, if folks are willing.

    Some provisos: 

    1) This music is timed and tailored for the opening credit sequence, which I can't show yet (since it is neither finished nor released to the public), and so  it will probably be more musically coherent when watched with the images it is designed to accompany. 

    2) This is literally a first-and-a-half draft, and about as raw a piece as I’d ever consider posting. I've tweaked and adjusted some stuff, but there are a lot of things that need more tweaking -- or even total overhauls to parts and sections.

    3) For that reason, the mix is all over the damn place -- some instruments are way too forward (I'm looking at you, Viola de Gamba), and some are way too far back (elderwood flute, lute), plus a ton of other problems. I also think the last third is waaay too boomy, and I think I gotta thin it out.  And be warned: it gets LOUD towards the end. 

    So, it's rough but I'd be really curious to get folks sense of how it hangs together overall. Do the transitions from section to section work ok, etc? Also does the combination of instruments work; this uses a much broader selection than I am used to, including: full symphony, sitar, lute, gallinchon, primitive flutes, viola da gamba, and a didgeridoo --  plus a bunch of other stuff that may not be audible at this point in the mix process.  What do you think of its overall energy and drive? 

    There is lots to be done with this piece, but for two days work I'm fairly happy. 

    I normally list all the libraries and patches I use in my recordings, but in this case that would be a damn long list, and so  to sum up: Dark Era, Era II, Cinestrings, Cinebrass, Cineperc, Taylor Davis Violin, Sampletank 4, Rise&Hit, Embertone, AlbionOne, Ethera, 8Dio Lacrimosa, Sonokinetic Tutti Vox, Strum II and a few others that escape me for the moment. 

    Thanks for listening!   

    Rob

    Update: I have uploaded a new mix, with a slightly extended ending...

    • Like 3

  6. Posted · Edited by Amicus717

    Hi Kenny, 

    I just caught up with this thread -- I've been out and about for a few days and wasn't checking the forum much. Just saw your heartbreaking journey with Duke.

    My sincerest condolences, and if it helps to know this, you are not alone in dealing with this kind of grief.

    My girlfriend went through the challenge just a week ago -- she had to put Luna, her beloved 12 year old Lab, to sleep after the sweet girl had sickened with a large cyst on her liver (among a myriad other health problems). She was positive it was the right decision, and she and her children gave Luna a great send-off: as Luna's pack they gathered all around her 24/7, and for those long finals days she got only the BEST food (prime steak, fresh-cooked chicken, cheese and red peppers - Luna was a delightful dog and a bit odd, and red bell peppers were her most favorite food in the whole world).

    And then the Vet came over, and my girlfriend and her family gently let Luna go, while their hearts broke wide open. They too clung to her for a while after she passed.

    They were all shaken by this, and it will take time. But even now, a week after the sad moment, my girlfriend is cheering up -- the grief is easing and a lifetime of great Luna memories remain, and she is busy memorializing her beloved companion in photos and written tribute on Facebook. 

    I truly hope your experience is the same.

    All the best,

    Rob 

    • Thanks 1

  10. Posted

    Just great. Really like everything about it -- love the arrangement; Mrs Daryll1968 sounds just great, and is perfect for this piece of music. Mix sounds great on my monitors and headphones. A really fun listen. 

    Also, the video ads a lot to the overall vibe. Really nice stuff.

     

     

     

     

  15. Posted

    Hi treesha,

    I enjoyed this one. Nice sounds, and a good mix - I could everything cleanly, and the balance is nice.

    I'd call this a hybrid type piece for sure -- the kind of piece that could play over a montage in a movie or similar. From that perspective, the drums as currently recorded would work just fine, to my ears. 

    Rob

  18. Posted

    Hey Wookie,

    Like this one a lot. 

    In regards to the vocal parts, I kinda like where they are currently situated in the mix -- sort of deep inside the soundscape and haunting the music, rather than leading it from the front, so to speak. I think that kinda matches the vibe of the music overall, and I think it works. Just my five cents. 

    Rob

    • Thanks 1

  19. Posted

    This is a really good song. Nice vocal work, also. Really enjoyed listening to it. 

    The one element that didn't really grab me was the drum sound, in particular the snare - a little too thin and kind of anemic, or something. That's just a personal matter of taste, though.  

    Rob

    • Like 1

  20. Posted

    Hynpotic and fascinating all the way through.

    Like Tom, I found the second half more arresting and more unpredictable, which is an element I really enjoyed. But overall, very nice work. I'm curious if you composed all this on paper first, or it came together during the recording of the parts, or how you created the music. 

    Thanks,

    Rob

  21. Posted

    I liked this a lot. Very nicely put together. The soundscape is huge and all-encompassing -- which I like -- and despite the large number of instruments and the complexity of the arrangement, I thought I could hear all the details. I particularly liked the guitar sound that entered at 4:45 - really nice.

    Rob

  22. Posted

    Kaustub, I think that's pretty well done! Your music is synced beautifully with the action; didn't override or otherwise obscure the essential audio ingredients of the clip; and is present enough to set a tone but not so forceful that it intrudes. 

    Rob

    • Thanks 1

  23. Posted

    Hi folks!

    Wookie - Thanks! Yeah, I think there is a bit of mud in there, for sure, and I want to clear it out without gutting the impact of the piece. I will experiment!

    Treehsa - Thanks for the kind words, appreciate it. I've always understood this kind of stuff -- orchestral in general tone and scale, but employing a lot of synth and sound-design stuff -- to be classified as hybrid orchestral or hybrid-symphonic and similar. Seems to define it pretty well :)

    Deering Amps - Thanks! Appreciate the listen and the kind words.

    emeraldsoul - Thanks, and appreciate the kind words and the input. I think adding some more high sparkle would potentially be very helpful. As for the violin (it's actually a fidule -- a medieval/Renaissance progenitor of the violin), yeah I've been wondering about its placement in the soundscape. It does have a fair amount of reverb applied in the mix, but it's a very dry sample library and tends to stand way out front. I sort of like that, actually, but also wonder if I need to tame it a bit. I will experiment. 

    bjornpdx - Thanks for the listen and the kind words! Appreciated, as always. Yeah, Eduardo's libraries are flat-out awesome. I use them a lot. They are geared for a pretty specific kind of sound and vibe, but they excel at it. They are well built and well-designed, but you will need to learn how to work his libraries, as they have have a LOT of details and quirks, and are loaded with ways to tailor the sound: finger noises, instrument noises, fret noises, etc, -- all which can be turned up or down or off, depending on what sort of vibe you want. Plus, the patches have all sorts of keyswitches for different articulations, accents and ornaments, etc. I cannot recommend them enough, but you gotta take the time to learn them if you want to get full value out of them.  Also worth noting that they run in Engine 2.0, as opposed to Kontakt. Some folks don't like that, although I personally have no problem using Engine. It has its quirks, but I don't find it any harder to use than Kontakt, and I like it a lot more than Play. As always, YYMV :)

    Thanks for the input, everyone!

    Rob 

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