Classical cover of the month

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The last two months I've used the OSC synth, but this month's choice isn't doing it for me, so I tried Fathom instead. This probably isn't the sort of music Fathom was designed for, but I had a lot of fun with it.

https://soundcloud.com/user-260890270/s ... 9-number-1

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Good job. I'd say it very much works. I could point to a couple of passages with lines which could use a harder attack like mallet percussion, vibes or such, were I nitpicky. Or like if this was a strings band arrangement one desk does a pizz or to blend eg., marcato or fp with yer sustain. But the soundworld evokes the right vibe, to me.

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Thanks for the suggestions! If I ever get around to doing the other five pieces in the set, I'll play with some of these ideas.

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Sounds good, the synth works well for me. Enjoyed your version of this. Well done! :)
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Music with progressive intent.

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Very cool ! Perhaps an odd choice of sounds for it but they work pretty well. Opus 19 is a favorite here, I hope you do take a swing at the rest of the collection.

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Thanks! The sounds kind of chose themselves, it wasn't really planned. I just noticed that the sawtooth oscillator in Fathom had an awful lot of parameters, and wondered what I could do with that oscillator alone (plus some filters, envelopes and LFOs). And it evolved from there.

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jancivil wrote: Sat Oct 24, 2020 6:58 pm But the soundworld evokes the right vibe, to me.
100% agree with Jan here...atmosphere it creates is highly appropriate for this little bit of Arnold!

One bugbear to my ears: around about 42 seconds there's quite a sudden and dramatic rise in dynamic levels that seems a little uncontrolled and (even to my ageing lugs) a little piercing?
Mark Taylor, Chameleon Music - Professional composition and sound design for all media since 1994.

https://www.chameleonmusic.co.uk/

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ChameleonMusic wrote: Fri Oct 30, 2020 12:03 pmaround about 42 seconds there's quite a sudden and dramatic rise in dynamic levels that seems a little uncontrolled and (even to my ageing lugs) a little piercing?
Ah, that bit. Yes, I wasn't sure how it would come across: dramatic is indeed what I'm aiming for, but I'm willing to admit it might be overdone.

I'm used to doing these things in live concerts, and still getting used to the changes I need for recordings. This little piece ranges in dynamic from ppp to just below mp (there isn't an mp in the score, but there's a p followed by a crescendo). So there should be at least four distinct levels. In live performance, if you start off ppp, then three levels higher is still quite moderate. But for a recording, if you start too quietly, then of course people are going to turn the volume up (or this might happen automatically via ReplayGain or Soundcloud adjusting things or whatever -- I'm still learning this stuff), and then three levels above your starting volume might be excessive.

I guess the answer is to avoid exaggerating the dynamics (despite various piano teachers having told me literally hundreds of times that I need to exaggerate more), and create the drama by varying the timbre instead. Or please let me know if you have other suggestions.

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I'm used to doing these things in live concerts, and still getting used to the changes I need for recordings. This little piece ranges in dynamic from ppp to just below mp (there isn't an mp in the score, but there's a p followed by a crescendo).
Yeah, believe me, I get that - live performance, whether solo piano or with a big ensemble is VERY different to studio work.

I know this little suite of 6 pieces quite well - part of a 2nd yr study paper on Schoenberg at Uni waaaaay back when! Heard some very contrasting performances of them over the years - some that paid huge attention to the delicate dynamics and others that completely ignored the subtleties and went for ridiculous dynamics.

You can see how loud that peak at 42 secs is by just looking at the wave form - sticks out quite a bit! :)

The other issue with it at that loud dynamic moment is...
The timbre used is quite rich in quite high frequencies between 3kHz and 6kHz and this area can be particularly harsh on the human ear at times.
Mark Taylor, Chameleon Music - Professional composition and sound design for all media since 1994.

https://www.chameleonmusic.co.uk/

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This month I had a go with the OSC synth. To me, Monique comes across as complex and a little bit angry, so of course I thought of Shostakovich.

https://soundcloud.com/user-260890270/n ... ostakovich

I really did appreciate the feedback on the previous track. I'll look forward to hearing what people make of this one.

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I enjoyed your unique take on both pieces. Sonically, the sounds for the Shostakovich piece are more dynamic and interesting. The highs are a bit piercing but that can be tamed with EQ. Thank you!
Jeremy Cubert
Piano | Chapman Stick | LinnStrument | Zendrum
http://jeremycubert.com

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an admirable job, again

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It works very well again, but...

Dude, you've gotta sort out that resonance around the 3 - 6 kHz area in your pieces!

Some of those peaks were quite uncomfortable on my ageing ears...my 21 year old son found them painful!
The highs are a bit piercing but that can be tamed with EQ.
Yes, definitely, but I've also had great success dealing with them via a multi band compressor or dynamic EQ.
Mark Taylor, Chameleon Music - Professional composition and sound design for all media since 1994.

https://www.chameleonmusic.co.uk/

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OK, up to now I've just been relying on my ears, and I thought this one sounded less extreme than the "special moment" in the Schoenberg. But clearly my ears are more tolerant than other people's.

When I get home tonight, I'll run this through a spectrum analyser and see what I can do with it. I haven't used compressors in the past but I'm comfortable with EQ.

(To be fair, if you find the sounds slightly painful then I've captured the character of this piece! But that should be a feature just of this work, not a characteristic of everything I do. If you're finding both pieces uncomfortable in the same way then I'm doing something wrong.)

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I find that synth has a terrifically hard attack (I'll have ditched it kind of quick I think) in that but I wasn't really that discouraged by it.
My ears are 'more tolerant' with sharp resonances as well. People widely tend towards that area 3-6 khz being sensitive.
I listened on the MBP speakers.

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