Hey fellow VSL-ers!

I've just wrapped up a rearrangement of Frog's Theme from Chrono Trigger:

Here's my orchestral version of it. 

Brass is Sample Modelling, but strings, winds, and percussion are mostly VSL. I'm looking for polishing feedback if anybody has the inclination!

This baby is in a rough cut right now, and I was hoping to get some feedback from trained ears before I get too deep into the reworking. The brass on this is Sample Modelling, and I've thrown in a few Hollywood Strings here and there, but the rest of it is VSL.

 

Any feedback would be helpful! Thanks a million!

Harpy Attack Cue

Hey folks! Just wanted to share what I've been working on!

We all know (and love!) this piece: it was a real project to get the whole thing sampled. And of course, there are still some improvements to be made: I recently upgraded my computer enough to move all the reverb over into MIR, which I hope will be an improvement.

But, for your enjoyment:

John William's Superman March

(Not pure VSL, sadly: used Sample Modelling for brass, sprinkled in some Hollywood Strings for the runs, etc.)

Here's a chiptune rearrangement I recently wrapped up; I'm happy to say that the good ol' VSL winds actually fooled a few listeners into thinking I'd done live recording.

https://soundcloud.com/evan-witt/duck-tales-nes-the-moon-arrangement

 

I'll be polishing this up soon, so any advice from people on how to get a better sound would be much appreciated!

Hello fellow VSLers!

If you've got 60-seconds to spare, I've recently been working on understanding how to build thick textures and could use any tips from others on using those Vienna Strings and Winds to best effect.

Lux Dare (because it was written for Ludum Dare... get it?)

Any tips on how to get a broader, fuller sound in orchestration, or how to use the reverb to best effect, would be much appreciated!

Praise from Hetoreyn is praise indeed!

Thanks for the advice, especially those details about how to make that timpani sound realistic. I've listened to your stuff forever: just trying to follow in your footsteps.

Yes, I very much like the slow processional sound that basically builds into a march as the piece progresses, and I think you handle the solo instruments at the beginning nicely. 

My only critiques would be that the strings at 0.22 come in a little sharply for me, and might do better with a softer attack (or maybe a little more focus on reverb?). They also sound a little choppy around 0.43, maybe in need of thickening?

 

That's just my two cents. Great stuff!

Ahoy, fellow VSLers!

I'm trying to brush up on my reverb and mixing skills, and am looking for advice on a first cut my recent piece:

It's only two minutes.

Any suggestions on whether I need to boost reverb for certain sections, or cut, or what have you, would be most appreciated. Many thanks for the help!

Thanks, Gilles, that's exactly the kind of feedback I've been looking for! After listening through it again, I completely agree with your points: did a little clean-up. 

Thanks again!

Ahoy, GillesCostard!

Ah, John Williams... always a gold standard for testing effectiveness of MIDI, because it's so unforgiving. Anyhow, I very much like the balance of your piece, and your big percussion hits on cymbal and bass drum really fill the space and sound great. My main suggestions for possible polish areas would be in the opening figures from the French Horns and such: right now, they sound very dry and cramped to me, as if they were playing through radio speaker far away. Maybe pan the horns wider and give them a longer reverb tail? Once the main theme comes in, I don't really have any suggestions on the brass, though.

 

If you want to repay the favor, I'm looking for feedback on my first minute of Vaughan-Williams (in this same forum).

Ahoy fellows!

As a technical exercise, I transcribed the first minute of Vaughan-William's famous romantic piece, but sadly I feel like it's still lacking some important polish that my ears can't decide on. 

Listen Here

Any advice would be most welcome: I can't decide if the reverb is too boomy, or I need to rebalance, or maybe it's just that I'm using Special Edition strings instead of Dimension Strings. Can anyone with a fresh pair of ears help me decide?

Aha... now I get it, Casiquire. Thanks for the info!

I'm sure this is a very obvious question, but after looking over the product pages, I'm still not sure:



I currently own special edition strings Vol. 1, Vol. 1+, and Vol.2. I'm considering upgrading to Dimension strings... but I'm not exactly sure what my investment will buy me. Better samples? More detailed sound editing?


Many thanks for your help!

After mocking up the introduction to Rimsky-Korsakov's "Cappricio Espagnol", I wanted to apply some of the orchestration tricks I picked up to my own piece. So as not to bore you with the whole thing, here's just the first statement of the main theme:

The March of the Minions


I'm looking for any advice on mixing and balance: I've been trying to really hone my reverb skills, and I can't tell if this sound is too wet/dry, or maybe too close. Any suggestions would be most helpful!

Hey-yo!


I'm trying to develop an ear for appropriate reverb, and altogether I'm finding it very difficult and confusing. Let's take my latest practice piece, that great introduction to Capriccio Espagnol from Maurice Ravel:

The Mockup

I have a good friend/teacher who keeps telling me to tone back the reverb (this bounce is after following this advice), but I can't help but feel like the strings and other instruments are still coming off a little too dry. What do you think?

Just for reference: I currently have everything being bussed into only two reverbs: an early response, and a medium-length tail, both in Space Designer.

Many thanks, Paul, I hadn't even considered that possibility!

I'm running a medium-range computer, and thus am always happy to take advantage of any optimization I can use in my big projects.
Trouble is, it's very tedious to go through every single VI Pro instance and switch it to Learn mode, and then go through a second time and switch them all to Optimization.



Is there any way to do this for all instances simultaneously?

Hmmmm... I'll have to give Dimension Brass a closer look. My only hesitance is that as far as I can tell, Dimension Brass is only for ensembles: it has no solo instruments. Still, I only hear good things about it.

Many thanks, Casiquire, that's exactly the kind of information I was looking for.

I know this seems like a "Why don't you just click on the 'Pruducts' tab and see," but I was hoping to hear some information from people who have actually purchased the complete brass (or even complete French Horn) package. Does the actual sound of the sample change when upgrading from the basic Special Edition packages, or is it mostly the new full set of articulations that you get?




Many thanks for the advice!

For those who aren't familiar with GameJams, they involve forming an ad hoc game development team and building a game in less than 48 hours. I was writing music for three teams, and this one ended up being mostly VSL.


The bad news: My teammate critiquer was worried that it wouldn't fit well with the game's tone.
The good news: He finished his sentence with "...because it sounds like Final Fantasy." W00t!

A touch cliche, but fun.


Any tips, especially on the mixing? I'm trying to understand how to 'fill out the space', even when few instruments are playing.

Ahoy Shawn!

I'd love to give a single man's opinion on the piece. Here's my rundown:



0.00 - I very much like the texture of the opening.


0.20 - Similarly, the color here is very enjoyable: the celeste and chimes together mixes excellently in the high registers, while the piano takes the middle ones, and the bass pizzicatos fill out the bottom.


0.35 - Around this spot, I felt like the piece's slowing and broken beat felt more 'lost' and 'enervated' than 'calming' or 'rebuilding'.


0.43 - The dryness of these woodwinds really distracted me and took me out of the piece, unfortunately.


1.15 - I personally didn't care for the solo instrument choice at this spot.


1.39 - I like the faster movement here: feels like we're building up to a bit of a climax.



That's my take on the whole thing: hope it helps!

If you want to pay me back, I'm looking for suggestions on my mixing (and maybe orchestration) for this short theme:

Reduced Redemption Theme


Any advice would be helpful!

- Evan

That's exactly the kind of breakdown I was hoping for, Beat. Many thanks for that explanation, I think I understand now how or when to switch from one form of listening to the other. You've been a big help to me!

Many thanks for the help, Beat, you always have particularly useful advice.



One quick question though: can you elaborate on the suggestion to use monitors rather than headphones? I flip back and forth between using them, and I'm afraid I don't have a good sense for when I should use one over the other.

Many thanks for the help, Stephen (and for the nice juicy pieces of flattery to help me swallow the advice!)


Yes, I think I know exactly what you mean about the orchestration drifting away into a muddy space, and I have some ideas for how to go about fixing that. It's that eternally tricky point of making it sound like the orchestra is close and bright, but still in an expansive space. Your details are particularly helpful.


Thanks again, I owe you!