I absolutely love Irish music! Now you've mixed Irish and epic and made my favorite piece of music ever! I wish I could rate it more than 5 star! Incredible!
Author Comments
Videoclip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeRkDLe6SfI
Song I made with an Irish War in mind, I used a lot of instruments creating this one, Including my new french horn en some irish flutes which where really fun to learn.
It started out with playing the main melody on my violin after coming out of the shower. The rest is all improvised in little pieces of 20 a 30 seconds every evening. After I knew exactly what how the song was going to sound I recorded everything over the temp work file.
Instruments I've used:
Random pieces of drums I have in my room,
My old 1930's acoustic guitar,
Irish flutes in the key of C and D,
French horn 3/4 Size,
Nord Stage 2,
Neumann TLM 103 Studio Set,
DPA d:vote 4099,
Tascam DP-24,
Thomann Classic Violin,
Thomann 111E BR 3/4 Double Bass,
Good stuff!
I really like the tone of the track. It sets for an energetic feel, which is sustained by some epic melodies playing on some really nice instruments! I really like the way it's all put in together. It all works very well, I enjoyed it! However, there's still room for improvement.
Melody-wise, it was perfect. I don't think it lacked anything. The instrument variety was there, it kept things interesting. I liked the way the acoustic guitar and piano came in to create counterpoint at those very moments. It all works beautifully together.
Something that really bothered me is the mastering. The low frequencies all seemed mushed together and it made everything sound very muddy. I think you wanted to create an effect of power, however here it doesn't really work. You seriously need to EQ them out a bit! I think they are clashing with your double bass, too. I could barely hear it!
From what i understood however, you recorded a lot of those instruments yourself right? That's awesome! I loved the tremolo on the violins. They just add so much so musical compositions, yet a lot of people seem to forget about them! I don't really have a whole lot of money, and being a student, I lack time to learn how to play these instruments. If I ever do find it, I most certainly will! For now, I mostly work digitally. I think it's awesome you're playing all the instruments live! I saw the video and yeah. Awesome stuff.
My only suggestion at this point is you try and work on your mastering. The mix was definitely muddy and didn't sound crisp and clear as one would expect. Lower the levels on your drums, make them a tad higher on your violin, add some EQ to add some sparkle (try it on instruments and percussion!). Mastering is though, you'll need to keep a balance while also trying not to squash away the dynamics. I'm still learning too, don't worry! The more you practice, the better you'll get.
I think you did a wonderful job on this. Definitely needs some work on the mastering, but globally the piece is well thought and well put together. Props to you my friend~!
Basset-Hound responds:
Hey Thanks for the review! I really appreciate it. You are right about the EQing/Mastering on the track being the main weak point (along with a few sharp notes here and there).
This was one of my first multi-track recordings where I used almost all the instruments I owned (along with some brand new ones like the flutes and the french horn) so there was a lot of experimenting with how to record those things and mix them. It was my first time mixing a massive song like this so it was very hard. I still think recording, mixing and mastering is one of the things I should work on but I can also see improvement in my newer recordings so its going somewhere :)
Thanks for the review and tips :)
Cheers!
I love the Irish flutes and the whole marching overtone you have going on. Overall a really nice piece.
so epic, i love it!
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