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[Kyle Preston]

So this is my first time ever attempting something like this; ‘covering’ a song that is. And this is definitely my first time notating a piece written by someone else; and let me tell you, it is not for the faint of heart, especially if you aren’t classically trained, which I’m not really.

Putting all of the parts together taught me a ton, not just about music and its forms and structures, but also about how to use my DAW. For example, I haven’t spent nearly enough time actually mastering all of its capabilities, and didn’t realize that it’s even possible to import and export midi files.

 (yuck yuck har har, tech-nol-oh-gee?......)

When I did, I was about 95% finished transcribing the piece. This led to some violent face-palming. But after thinking about it, I’m really glad I went through the whole process of transcribing it myself. Because learning through your own project is THE best way to familiarize yourself with the tools you have. And, if I had just imported someone else’s midi files and used my own plugins, I’m not sure it would’ve sounded like ‘me’ anymore; I tend to base my songs more on individual performances than on fitting a predetermined idea. I’d like to think that most of us agree that having our own voice is one of THE most important things we can offer game developers. And just to be clear, I’m not suggesting that if you use someone else’s midi transcription, you don’t have an individual voice; a lot of writers I know spend more time creating/modifying midi notes on the staff than recording their own takes, which is perfectly fine; I’m only saying that for me personally, I’m not sure my signature would be as perceptible if I hadn’t notated and performed the piece myself (or this is all some cruel trick played by my inner Catholic, masochistic upbringing).

Anyway, I was thinking of old NES games I loved as a kid that had great music, and after listening to the Gauntlet soundtrack for NES, I realized instantly that Hal Canon was/is incredibly brilliant (does anyone know what became of him?); especially given how music was written for the NES. Underneath all of the 8 bit sounds, the main theme of the game is very Baroque sounding, which is why I relied on a Harpsichord in my version. I still have plenty of work left to finish it, both mixing and arrangement, but I was hoping someone with fresh ears could provide some mixing feedback for me; my ears are totally burnt out on this piece, and wow, I did not intend to type this much.

Original Hal Canon version

My version

I also used part of the theme from stage 4

[ZackParrish]

Will listen and give feedback in a few hours... Currently at work.


Also... Remove the pay what you want bit, unless you have a license to sell the arrangement from whoever holds the rights to the original.

[Daniel Pellicer]

I would give it a couple of bpm more :p. I think the original piece was slightly faster

[Kyle Preston]

Thank you both kindly.  The pay what you want thing isn't ideal; but I don't want to put it on DropBox and miss out on a fan email, and I really don't like SoundCloud; plus I'm not sure that it's technically illegal as it doesn't require a payment, but I'm not totally 100% sure about that. 

Also, I know this reasoning isn't bulletproof, but the Zelda remix that HyperDuck SoundWorks did received a LOT of attention a few years ago and they have it up on Bandcamp as a pay what you want? Is this a common thing?

[ZackParrish]

Hyperduck most likely acquired a license to distribute as such, but if you are willingly accepting money for music that wasn't originally written by you without explicit permission granted by the original artist then you are infringing on their rights. It's actually, strictly speaking, illegal to distribute 'covers', 'remixes', or 'arrangements' of music for free too... but nobody seems to care about that anywhere. The likelihood anybody from the company that owns the rights to the music finding that link on your bandcamp page and doing anything about it is pretty much slim to none, especially considering the franchise(from what I can tell) is pretty much dead(the game series). I just feel the need to express my concern since the penalties for a registered copyright being infringed on range from $750 to $30,000 dependent on the court's decision. The level of compensation you may have received, regardless of how little... literally plays no part in that number either. Just think of it like cigarettes... there is a risk, so as long as you are willing to accept the potential negative side effects of taking such a course... keep smokin'.

Now for the feedback...

My main complain is how robotic the arrangements sounds at time. From what I can tell everything is at one consistent velocity with no variation on it, and the humanization as far as start times on the notes just isn't there.  Everything always hits at exactly the same time. They don't have to be so off it sounds sloppy but it's okay for them not to hit at precisely the exact same time on every single note.

I know the original is mostly staccato but it'd be nice to hear more variance in the articulations... perhaps a legato section. There is one part I swear I heard trumpets but they were so quiet I could've been imagining it. Later in the song when you bring in the new section, it sounds like the track stopped and another track started playing. I feel like the transition into that part could've been handled a little smoother. It wasn't a shocking transition but it just felt like two distinct pieces of music playing back to back.  Might benefit from trying to tie the two into one, by using the original motifs as a kind of counter melody during the new section.

Another thing to play with is attempting to recolor the harmony.  You don't have to completely change it but see if you can add more depth to it than was originally there, as oppose to just recreating the original structure over again.  I'm fine with pacing of the track, especially considering the choice in instrumentation... so personally I wouldn't speed it up anyway.  Though I would suggest occasionally tossing in a retard or accelerando from time to time to give it a kind of 'performed' vibe since in most cases a piece like this would likely slow down and/or speed up from time to time in key parts of the music.

The EQ could use a little brightening but not a lot, raise the treb, cut a little out of the middle... and I think it'd be a bit better.

This is all just a matter of opinion though(except the copyright thing which is based on actual copyright laws).

[Jasmine]

Aside from coming in behind on Zack's post (which hits a lot of good points), I'll give a bit of feedback:

First, I listened to the original. Wonderful piece! After hearing that, I was excited to partake in your rendition of it!

I think your preference in instrumentation was great. One thing about using "orchestral" instruments is the level of depth you can gain (which Zack commented on). I felt as if there were times where you could have made it grow into something big, yet rather, you subdued everything, rather than let there be a climax. Also, it felt like you hindered opportunities to fully experience the highs and lows of the instrumentation. Example...
1:13, I felt that the depth (bass line), could have been much more triumphant. As in bringing in the big guns: tuba, trombones, timpani. It feels like it wants to hammer in big time, but for some reason it just doesn't.

Rather than keep the flow restrained, let it burst out!

Then again, that could be my preference talking.

The fact that the piece ends on an entirely different note, in comparison to the theme that precedes it, makes me expect a different mood at 1:24ish. Comparable to Zack's statement of a more legato mood, in comparison to the bouncy. Even a change in instrumentation (solely woodwinds, who knows). Ideas.

I think the transition could use a tad bit more character, since the drive is a bit more prominent, and the feel has a jazzy flair. Definitely agree with possibly merging thematic material from the beginning into the latter portion.

I really enjoyed this, overall! I hope I was helpful.

[Kyle Preston]

Thanks so much for the feedback everyone. A lot of really good points were raised and I genuinely appreciate your comments. Because the main theme cycles twice, I attempted to make the 2nd time through 'pop' more, but maybe I need to unleash a bit more fury yeah? I'm going to take these parts: and turn them into these parts: