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Like the title says, I've been recording song arrangements involving acoustic or electric guitar, and voice, in various combinations. The songs are from movies, TV, and videogames. They are not amazing, especially the quality of the recordings, and I'm not an amazing player, so primarily I'm interested in feedback about which of these songs have potential, so that I'd work to record them better. Also, perhaps you don't like some arrangements at all right now, but you know a way to make them good. Finally, maybe you have some mastering tips. I've mostly been cutting low frequencies and bringing out high frequencies to make the acoustic guitar less boomy, and adding reverb where it feels appropriate. I can't do much about my recording environment though. A bit of extra explanation: I started out making these arrangements before I had any recording equipment, so I tried to make them playable by one person in one pass. Which is why some of them will probably sound sparse. This could be changed, although I kind of consider the sparseness the songs' main selling point. That is, they already exist in a complete ensemble form, and I can't bring anything other than my guitar and voice really. I know this will sound odd to some people here, but that's how I feel. One more thing: This is about half of the arrangements I want to record, but I'm not sure at what rate I'll be able to do it. Still, I want to focus on that, and update the thread when I have a new recording. Which means that I probably won't apply your feedback straightaway. The recordings: Siege of Madrigal from games Myth/Halo A theme from the show House Jourey of the sorcerer from The Hitch-Hiker's Guide To The Galaxy The movie version. John 19:41 from Jesus Christ Superstar This is actually an arrangement by a guy called Robb Anagnostis I found somewhere on the web a long time ago, but I recorded it for some reason, and I can't decide that it completely doesn't belong here. Fort Walton from the movie The Rock Words Win Wars from Doctor Who Time Only Knows from the game Prince Of Persia: The Sands Of Time Laura Lyons from a Russian TV show about Sherlock Holmes which no one here will know, but I like the tune. What do you think?  Edit: Forgot the most important thing, right.  (The thread tag.)Edit 2: Forgot a recording now: Theme from the show Sherlock supermikhail fucked around with this message at 14:51 on Mar 29, 2015 |
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Mar 28, 2015 17:14
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| # ¿ May 22, 2024 04:55 |
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First of all, I very much appreciate your reply. Even though I took my time acknowledging it - but for some reason today's a day when I felt like being super-focused on work and chores... Also, you're getting to be a kind of mentor, aren't you. No pressure though. Okay, enough pleasantries. baka kaba posted:I'm not going to get critical about them, but if you do want them a little slicker, they're a little wavery in places (not necessarily a bad thing) and you might want to loop record until you nail a strong take. Playing with a wider stereo field and a little reverb might be cool too, especially moving them away from the centre so the guitar can take the spotlight without being stepped on  Yeah. Maybe we're not exactly thinking about the same thing, but I do run out of air and my voice begins dying. When I simply practice I focus on range and consistency (if that makes sense), not duration. Although to be fair, tutorial videos I've seen don't focus on the latter either.If it's about the general waveriness, I'm working on it. About the stereo: In my head I actually normally imagine a reverse situation - a choir sitting in the middle of the stage, and the instrument slightly to the side. Or I guess not the choir, but the whole band. Rock bands are usually arranged like that - lead singer center-stage and guitars to the side, although thinking about it, that's not necessarily how the sound comes out of the speakers. I'll try your suggestion next time. baka kaba posted:A dynamic piece with loud parts and soft parts really benefits from some compression, which ideally evens out the volume differences without erasing the dynamic feel - it still sounds loud and soft, but it still holds its own in the mix. I've got a confession to make: I use Audacity for everything.  And I haven't been able to figure out the compression plugins that come with it. And I do it currently on Linux, although I'm not some kind of Linux fanatic. It's just that I was able to figure out how to connect everything and record in Audacity under Linux... Plus it seems to work, sort of. Having only post effects is a pain, just as the limited looping options. On the other hand, the internet doesn't make it easy to choose recording software. Any hints?baka kaba posted:I know you posted this one before as an arrangement you found - I really get the feeling you're meant to play it percussively, the rhythm drops out when you switch from drumming to picking, and it's kinda jarring. The rhythm ends up lost and it sort of sounds confused to me. Some of the hits coincide with the notes, so try playing them more aggressively, or actually drumming on the strings so you get the percussive hit as well as the note. The arrangement is pretty sparse so it feels like this was the idea, and even if it isn't I think it's worth trying! Oh, no, I am solely to blame for this arrangement, so obviously you're barely meant to play it as anything. I've been getting more into a kind of recording mood with time, and right now I feel that maybe it's unnecessary to do this song all in a single take. That is, I really could do drumming and picking separately. And maybe add something extra in a few additional passes (as you have perhaps suggested previously). Although this particular recording was done solely with the intent that "these are the notes, and that is the rhythm, make of it what you will". baka kaba posted:I feel like I'm saying this a lot but the pauses between sections are what hurts it, if you practice those changes specifically it'll all tie together and sound way cooler. I just want to mention that I specifically didn't cut out the pauses because this thread is not supposed to provide a polished listening experience.  Admittedly, I don't think I've ever practiced Journey of the Sorcerer to a timer. I've always justified this to myself by wanting to add emotion to the first part by perhaps overextending some notes. Although as you've mentioned, as a result the strummed part ends up behind the beat (and possibly the picked part ahead of it).I normally use fingers actually, on both guitars, thanks to the guitar megathread. You're probably right about switching to a pick for the strumming part. I've just tried it and it sounds kind of more consistent. But to be frank, I didn't have much confidence in this composition from the start. baka kaba posted:I think the main thing that jumps out at me here is that you obviously have some timing issues, where you're struggling to get into position so you end up pausing. There's a dynamic called rubato where you can speed up or slow down in your phrasing for effect, and it might be worth trying to use that when you need a moment - make those pauses part of the ebb and flow, so it feels intentional and natural I actually have been trying to do the word I didn't know until now - rubato - and it's rather disappointing that it doesn't sound like that. I feel that in general this composition should be more liberal about the rhythm and dynamics. Yeah, not tuning up my instrument before recording, I'm guilty of that. Sorry.baka kaba posted:Obviously some of your timing is uneven, but I think what I'd concentrate on here is the transitions - you have these nice arpeggiated chords and the like, and then you slide into a higher 'lead' part, but there's sort of a pause like you're getting ready for the next section, so it kinda feels like 'ok... now this bit'. If you focus on practicing going from one part straight into the next, confidently, that'll change the whole feel. Just in case, there are some pauses in there that are intentional. Although a lot of them aren't, especially in the last third. But the pause before the "lead", I think it's appropriate. No? baka kaba posted:The transitions into the different parts are... they don't feel unconfident here, it's more that there are big changes happening but they're kinda sprung on the listener, so that feels jarring. Maybe work on leading into them, like with the one around 0:30 where it's slow and then fast, maybe really drag out the slow part and then jump into the fast bit, or start the fast part slowly and speed up, something like that. It would help with the key changes too, some of the parts feel kinda disconnected You know, I've just listened to the original... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlpsyMpL8ZY I can't say that I lied very much in my arrangement... Maybe, you know, the 0:30 transition is smoother there. I think I've been skipping some background notes mentally that connect the two rhythms. And also my basses are in the background whereas in the original they very much make up the main course. What do you think? I think just hitting the notes has been enough challenge for me that I haven't considered how exactly I hit them. But it's theoretically possible to apply much more pressure to the basses, I take it? Finally, I suspect there's the innate problem with arrangements - that when I'm playing I hear the original, with its full spectrum, whereas what actually sounds may be much more vague, and appeals only to other fans of the original. Anyway, I've been crafting this post for almost 2 hours now. I have some other thoughts, but I've got to run. Please come back for more! Oh, P.S. Your critique felt actually very gentle to me. Although I glanced at the end first, and perhaps went in with inflated expectations for harshness.
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Apr 2, 2015 15:06
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At the risk of overextending our attention spans -- especially mine since I still have to implement all your excellent advice -- just a few things. I have a Windows installation in a symbiotic relationship with my Linux, and I've just downloaded the trial of REAPER, although I still have to actually try it, as it were, because it's about time I turned in for the night. Well, whatever the result of this trial, looking at the price tags (I've only ever paid this much money for Windows... discounting inflation and exchange rates to rubles in your currency) made me realize that my problems fall into two categories, one of which requires exclusively time and effort on my part, and my crude software tools will be enough for that... As a side note, there is a DAW for Linux, and I managed to make it work once to use with midi files, although I could make neither head nor tail of the interface when I opened it recently. I kind of already anticipate a similar problem with REAPER, from getting a glimpse at its many components during the installation. Of course, it has the benefit of not being produced by volunteers, so we'll see. Finally, at the risk of overstraining your generosity, could you look at the final three songs in the OP? Or maybe only the last one (which I added in an edit). Laura Lyons should be solid besides the usual timing and recording issues, and Time Only Knows... well, I don't promise that the vocals are not disgusting, and the roles of the instruments and voice are almost completely reversed from the original, so I'm not sure it makes a single coherent composition anymore (probably has to do with my disagreements with using Audacity's plugins more than anything)... So, I guess feedback still wanted. On the other hand, I still have a bunch of stuff to record, and then to rerecord. Well, whatever you decide, I'm almost absolutely positive the thread won't get archived before I post the next recording, so your feedback won't just get lost.
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Apr 3, 2015 20:12
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drat. That "folders" functionality seems very nice from that tutorial. I'd like to share that Linux DAW (possibly). Some people consider it "awesome" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db6qViE1ODc As I've said, it was quite useful for midi when that was my only recording possibility. And I still remember those days with fondness. NTT posted:Isn't Studio One Free pretty good for a free daw I've looked at it, and it seems like the free version has very limited effects, among which it's missing compression and equalizer, which we've come here to consider the most important for my case, I guess. And the cheapest paid version is much more expensive than REAPER. At least that's the impression I've got after some browsing.
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Apr 4, 2015 10:32
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Uh, I've been messing about with Reaper. This is something I want to record further down the line, but I've never been able to get the effects in a good enough shape for the sound I usually have in mind - classic rock, Queen and the like. The best I seem to be able to achieve is super heavy metal, which seems to be the default setting everywhere anyway but which is not something I'm into. Does the recording sound palatable at all? Oh, I think there was a program which I managed to tame to a reasonable degree: Guitar FX BOX. Its recording capabilities are very limited though. Eh, maybe there's a megathread for my problems, but I'm too tired to figure out which one.
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Apr 7, 2015 17:28
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Uh. Time of the Titans from Walking with Dinosaurs (TV series). I think I've figured out reasonable distortion, working on panning, although I've probably overdone reverb. For some reason the volume jumps in places, and there's a hitch with playing where I'm pretty sure it's not supposed to be, but I converted the project from Audacity to Reaper which I'm going to blame. Also I don't know what the deal is but my ears almost hurt from listening to this project repeatedly, and my volume actually isn't loud. Any feedback? Anyone? 
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Apr 12, 2015 18:06
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Anezka: An Acoustic-Guitar Arrangement: A Song from Vampire: The Masquerade: Redemption: The Videogame.
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Apr 22, 2015 19:34
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Drangoborn from The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim. I screwed up the rhythm of the section that's important, but I think nobody cares, and in addition to that I've recently established in a scientific manner that I'm never going to be a great guitarist, so I'm not sure I myself care that much anymore. My main motivation now is to get this poo poo out of the door as quickly as possible - hopefully while I still have the REAPER trial. On the other hand, I think I'm getting better at singing - for a test of that skip to around 3:30 - and perhaps I'll switch to mostly that once I've overcome the remaining arrangements. Oh, also, I've recorded this whole song today, in the course of too many hours, and REAPER seems to monopolize sound (maybe it's only on my computer), so I couldn't relax with some videos, or check the original track (I decided not to play over it in REAPER, so it had to be an external program). But mostly it's about relaxing, which strangely makes me want to get done with a song as soon as possible, probably compromising quality. Anyway, however many songs down, one fewer to go.
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May 10, 2015 17:53
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Main theme from Deus Ex. Useless crap! I am, and this place is. It's so cold inside I can barely move my fingers, and I'm constantly hungry because I'm on a diet. In addition I recently realized that to record parts of this arrangement I would have actually had to practice 6 hours a day for the past 10 years, and that's never how I have intended to spend my life. Fortunately the parts in question could be simplified with little impact. I don't know how I'm going to record the next two songs, since they're essentially all like that. Slowed down and bit by bit, I guess.
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May 19, 2015 15:08
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Deionarra from Planescape: Torment (the videogame) Really hard, frustrating, and ultimately pointless. Certainly something to challenge ones's tremolo muscles, but if I were writing music (which I hopefully am going to be able to do), I wouldn't make all of a track a tremolo guitar, especially most of it barre, for the player's sake at least, although the listener probably wouldn't appreciate it either. 
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May 21, 2015 13:54
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What?
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Jun 22, 2015 13:20
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| # ¿ May 22, 2024 04:55 |
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I was wondering if it's a new language, or a borked transcription ("Can you-s ay new ringtone?"). If that's what they mean, sure, although it's technically not my music, so I'm not sure I should legally get a say in the matter. But I feel nice being asked.
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Jun 22, 2015 14:04
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