Reworked solo violin part. Feedback, please? Thx, CH

@orbiterred, @OvertSounds, @SoundCity
Hey peeps. I have reworked the solo violin on this piece. I have put in some time performing parts with the expression mod wheel, and think I have made some improvements. Also, I raised it up a couple notches as well. Please give it a listen and let me know your thoughts. Thanks, CH

https://soundcloud.com/charley-hankins/for-my-love-iv

Hey Charley, I don’t know what you changed exactly except the violin but my overall impression is that it sounds more realistic and beautiful. It would help if we could compare it to the previous version, as I see you’ve deleted the previous one. Still, the solo violin needs a little reverb I think, it still sound a bit like midi to me. It’s too clean and dry, needs a little grit. At times the xylophone (or whatever it is) is masked by other instruments and the note is indistinguishable and all I hear is a click, for example at 1:53.

Composition-wise it’s far superior to almost any cinematic piece I’ve listened to on AJ. So if you manage to make it sound realistic enough for AJ, I think it will get a lot of attention, so keep trying.

@OvertSounds, Thanks very much.
I added some violas to double the melody at the beginning.
I’ll add some reverb, etc to the violin, and maybe play with the EQ some.
I’ll check out what you mean about the click at 1:53.

Thanks so much for the feedback. I really appreciate it.
Thx,
CH

hey @charleyhankins i’d basically agree with everything @overtsounds said. That lead violin still sounds a little static and ā€œmidiā€ to me, it’s really all that’s throwing me off at this point, but that’s probably even being too nitpicky. It’s great.

If AJ doesn’t want it, their loss haha! I’m sure you can get it into another library, i’d even approach some of the bigger guys with this one.

Cheers!

Hey guys. Added reverb and EQ’d the violin a bit.
I replaced the glockenspiel with a more mellow one.
Left the original up for comparison.
I really appreciate your time and advice.
Thanks,
CH

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Hey Charley, it’s a lot better! I’d decrease the velocity of the note at 0:35 and maybe in couple other places. Consider using a midi compressor to have the consistent velocities for the violin.

Beyond this, I feel I’m not really competent enough to give you any advice. I’d still wait for someone else’s advice who has a lot of experience in AJ cinematic genre. Good luck!

Thanks @OvertSounds. I really appreciate all the feeback you have been giving me. :smiley:
CH

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hey @overtsounds - I’ve never heard of a midi compressor before but the idea sounds interesting… is it like a compressor that directly effects the midi velocity instead of the actual sound? can you recommend one?

Hey, @orbiterred, yes it’s exactly what you described. Ableton Live has a built-in midi effect called ā€˜Velocity’ which has also built-in presets called ā€˜compression I’ and ā€˜compression II’. I’m not familiar with the other midi compressors but I’m sure there are plenty others, just search for them.

Great emotional composition and arrangement! Maybe for some lines at the end climax, for the brass, the notes are not enough attached, it sounds not enough round / fluid / expressive (just at some places).

For the mix, I would say you have a nice warm bass but it miss maybe a bit of sub in the contrabasses for a modern wide use of the frequency spectrum sound. Maybe you could have more low mid/mid for deepness on some instruments that are a bit harsh and a bit less in the agressive mid/hi mid frequencies (2000-4000hz). Maybe more treble too. It would sounds a more balanced full cover of the freqency spectrum.

All that are not major issues and I find you have great skills in arrangement and composition. I hope it could help! :slight_smile:

@AnthonySigouin, Hi! Thanks very much for the feedback! I’ll see what I can do in the low/mid range to add that deepness. Tough to get that perfect balance, but working on it - ha! I appreciate your input.

Thanks!
CH

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Very nice. I love the way you’ve layered the music and got the right balance with the instruments.

Hey, @govpets. Thanks very much! I appreciate it.
CH