Great piece. It should be longer tho...
Reviews for "A Curious Encounter Preview"
AshleyAlyse responds:
That's why it's a preview! ;) I hope to make this into a full song, I'm working on it. Thank you very much! :)
it's an interesting piece, that bodes well with the masquerade imagery, I'd agree with one of the reviewers who commented on it being reminiscent of Danny-Elfman's works; the piece has a playful, slightly mystical quality to it. I like the space you leave between the motives, and your usage of phrygian cadences (at :16 and the end of the piece). The contrast is nice between the lively string introduction and softer second half of the piece with the flutes and harps. My foremost suggestion would be to bolster up the instrumentation, the first half of the piece could use a contrabass to round out the opening string lines, some high-mid register orchestral percussion such as castanets and/or tambourines could accentuate the groove. Then you could mirror the part in A.) after the soft interlude by complimenting the strings with some brass and or woodwind instruments, IMO bassoon and clarinet sections would fit well with the theme of the piece. The intro could use more varied dynamics, but now I'm just nitpicking...
yeah, the strings are probably too loud in the second half of the piece, but I think it's partially due to the violins patch you are using, it's too aggressive. Maybe the lower velocities have a more delicate layer? If it's available in your library, try experimenting with another marcato or staccato patch. using a viola section (or even solo violin- since the second part is less thick in texture) may be slightly less abrasive. I'm not familiar with symphobia or what the deal with combinators is- but you should be able to manually turn down the volume for each patch within the kontakt plugin. if the combinator is the problem you could always open up a separate channel (or clone the same one) and send it through an individual mixer channel, and adjust the volume externally from there. although seeing as how you used Reason prior to FL Studio, if I'm remembering correctly- you're probably a master already and know all this lol. If you don't use midi controllers as your primary method for sequencing the notes and patterns like me, you're going to have a blast with FL lol
AshleyAlyse responds:
I want to add tambourines to this song so bad! However, I searched for hours and could never find a tambourines vst that you didn't have to pay a fortune for. :( Kinda broke at the moment, hehe. Also, I can't run too many instruments at once on this computer, the sound glitches like a mad man.
I opened the "tool" window for the symphobia plugin and my, oh my, I have no idea what in the world to do! Hahah! It's so confusing, it's probably going to take me a while to get used to this new software. I really don't know much of what I'm doing, I kinda just play with something until it sounds decent. :) Thank you so much for the suggestions! I will see if I can do a few of the things you suggested! I appreciate the time you took to review my piece, thank you. :)
This is fantastic news and it's clear you've put it to very good use!
I saw Symphobia in the description and I was jealous. THEN I heard what you created and it made me even more envious. How you managed to get all that staccato working together so seamlessly is amazing.
some much happening at once and yet it flows so well.
I agree about the strings but (if I may make a suggestion) I wouldn't make them too much quieter. I think their prominence in relation to the other instruments is fitting. This piece has that classical feel to it while still having a modern orchestra sound that I find just simply awesome. I saw the description and the masquerade bit fits the song perfectly. Given the playful nature of the song it makes me think of a humorous chase scene going on in the midst of this masquerade.
I'm very happy for you and simply cannot wait to hear more!
AshleyAlyse responds:
Thank you so much! Reviews like these make me so happy. :) You're right, I think the violins carry the melody and lowering the volume too much would make the song sound odd. That's exactly what I was imagining whilst writing this song. A fun, playful kind of chase in the middle of a grand masquerade. Thank you for your kind words, I appreciate the review. :)
WHEREZ DA WHOLE SONG?? IMMA ZERO-BOMB YOUR PIECE FO SHO!
lol jk, but yeah, a great start to what could be a masterpiece. has a nice classical vibe, but also has a hint of Danny Elfman ticks in there too. I especially love that short violin trill at the pause, after the first phrase. very nice little touch.
p.s. those "scratchy' sounds in the violins that you had griped over a while back are definitely the natural nuances of short string attack, being played at high velocities. so don't worry; it sounds authentic like that. ;-)
AshleyAlyse responds:
NOOOOO, PLZ PLZ DON'T HURT ME!! :'O
I wish to finish this soon! I was so self conscious about the scratchy violins at first, but now I think it fits! Thanks for the review, ol' boy! ;D
This is classic beauty. I cannot wait for the finished product.
Please keep me updated on when the final product releases.
AshleyAlyse responds:
I will be sure to let you know right when I finish it! Thank you, my friend. :)