Classical cover of the month

[ahanysz]

I find that synth has a terrifically hard attack (I'll have ditched it kind of quick I think)

Yes, I'm not sure I'll use this synth again, but it was an interesting exercise to think of a piece of music where I can make it work.

In the long term, I think I want to choose just one synth (something like Zebra or Surge, or Vital if it turns out to be good) and learn it well. But I'm still at the stage of trying out a bunch of different synths so that I have a few reference points.

[ahanysz]

Okay, let me know what you think of this version.

https://soundcloud.com/user-260890270/n ... ich-take-2

I've left the original up too, for comparision. Thanks again!

[ChameleonMusic]

To be fair, if you find the sounds slightly painful then I've captured the character of this piece!

Emotional pain, angst, torment..fair enough, but I don't want physical pain!

[ChameleonMusic]

Okay, let me know what you think of this version.

https://soundcloud.com/user-260890270/n ... ich-take-2

I've left the original up too, for comparision. Thanks again!

Seems more controlled on a quick listen...but it is simply a quieter mix as well? (difference is 4 -5 dB) so hard to judge remotely.

V2.png

V 1.png

Above you can see that the frequency content of both versions is quite uneven, with loads of big spikes right across the spectrum, but there does seem to be less energy in the high frequency ones in V.2 (top chart)

[ahanysz]

Something a bit more soothing for the Christmas season:

https://soundcloud.com/user-260890270/t ... by-js-bach

Mind you, only a little bit soothing. I always felt that this one had an undercurrent of menace to it.

[ChameleonMusic]

Interesting take on this particular piece!

I enjoyed it, but found the three parts to be unbalanced at times in terms of volume and also very slightly out of tune with each other...i think it's the plucked sound that is the issue?

[ahanysz]

Thanks for listening! It's always interesting to hear your feedback.

When you say "unbalanced", did you find that one specific voice is consistently too loud or too soft, or are you bothered by the way the focus moves between the voices? If the latter, it's entirely deliberate! I spent a fair bit of time editing the midi CC data to match how I'd balance the parts if playing acoustic instruments in a chamber ensemble. I'm just not a "keep it simple and let the music speak for itself" kind of guy, prefer to move around and shine the spotlight on interesting details.

As for tuning, I'm not sure how a synth can manage to be out of tune, but some of the low bass notes do sound a little sharp to my ears too. If I had more time to spend on it, I'd be analysing to see if it's the fundamental frequency that's out of tune, or some inharmonicity in the overtones, or something else about the timbre affecting the perception. Perhaps this patch needs stretched octave tuning the same way a full size grand piano does? But I wanted to get a new track out before Christmas and don't have time to work on it this week. So I went with the argument that it's less out of tune than some live performances I've heard, and therefore good enough for now :-)

[ChameleonMusic]

Thanks for listening! It's always interesting to hear your feedback.

When you say "unbalanced", did you find that one specific voice is consistently too loud or too soft, or are you bothered by the way the focus moves between the voices? If the latter, it's entirely deliberate! I spent a fair bit of time editing the midi CC data to match how I'd balance the parts if playing acoustic instruments in a chamber ensemble. I'm just not a "keep it simple and let the music speak for itself" kind of guy, prefer to move around and shine the spotlight on interesting details.

As for tuning, I'm not sure how a synth can manage to be out of tune, but some of the low bass notes do sound a little sharp to my ears too. If I had more time to spend on it, I'd be analysing to see if it's the fundamental frequency that's out of tune, or some inharmonicity in the overtones, or something else about the timbre affecting the perception. Perhaps this patch needs stretched octave tuning the same way a full size grand piano does? But I wanted to get a new track out before Christmas and don't have time to work on it this week. So I went with the argument that it's less out of tune than some live performances I've heard, and therefore good enough for now

Sorry... Missed your reply somehow...

Yeah, the parts seem to ebb and flow in terms of volume balance rather than one always being too loud / quiet.

Get your point on the editing... Maybe it's a little overdone?

Tuning.. Yes it's weird on a synth, but definitely our a little bit without a doubt... Sadly my ears just can't lie on that sort of thing!,

Neither the dynamic point or intonation one made it impossible to listen to at all... Was just curious!

Live concert intonation... Don't go there... I've had to walk out of a few!

[ahanysz]

It's OK, there's no timetable for this, I'm fine with the conversation being nice and leisurely :-)

"Not impossible to listen to" ... gee, the KVR audience is a tough crowd! No, seriously, I really appreciate you taking the time to listen and comment in detail.

With the volume, I want to be clear on the difference between

• it's not sounding the way I intended, and I'm not listening objectively enough to realise what I've done

versus

• you're hearing exactly what I intended, and your taste is different from mine.

In this case, I think it's the second one. But if I find I'm consistently getting the same feedback from multiple tracks/multiple listeners, I might reconsider that.

Intonation, on the other hand, is a bit more clear-cut, and I'll freely admit that others have a better ear than me for this one. Apart from listening a few more times, and adjusting some notes up or down to see if they get better or worse, do you have any tips for learning to hear this sort of thing more easily?

[ChameleonMusic]

It's OK, there's no timetable for this, I'm fine with the conversation being nice and leisurely

"Not impossible to listen to" ... gee, the KVR audience is a tough crowd! No, seriously, I really appreciate you taking the time to listen and comment in detail.

With the volume, I want to be clear on the difference between

• it's not sounding the way I intended, and I'm not listening objectively enough to realise what I've done

versus

• you're hearing exactly what I intended, and your taste is different from mine.

In this case, I think it's the second one. But if I find I'm consistently getting the same feedback from multiple tracks/multiple listeners, I might reconsider that.

Intonation, on the other hand, is a bit more clear-cut, and I'll freely admit that others have a better ear than me for this one. Apart from listening a few more times, and adjusting some notes up or down to see if they get better or worse, do you have any tips for learning to hear this sort of thing more easily?

i) versus ii) above...yeah, that's up to you to judge when you compile all the various comments..agreed. I listened once for aesthetics as such and then again more analytically and on the 2nd listen I struggled to follow the thread of the individual parts at times as the volume rose and fell.

"Not impossible to listen to" ... gee, the KVR audience is a tough crowd!

Yeah, sorry..that was badly phrased!

any tips for learning to hear this sort of thing more easily?

There are loads of ear training courses (many free / very cheap) find one that grabs you...like anything else in life, they do work if you stick at them. But, the simple truth is:

1) The more music you 'experience' the 'better' your ear will get.
2) Everyone listens to / hears music differently...some are significantly more sensitive to intonation issues than others.
3) intonation issues are very much context driven... certain musical environments are much more forgiving than others.

Me, personally with a background performing live classical music and then jazz, hearing and constantly adjusting intonation on the fly became 2nd nature a long time ago! Add in my dalliances with Gamelan and various other tuning systems across the world and I'm someone who has the potential to be too sensitive to the issue! I'm aware of it and adjust accordingly most of the time, but having said all that... this track was definitely significantly 'out'! But...there will be many who will not have heard it at all.

[ChameleonMusic]

Duplicate... Deleted.

[jcub]

In enjoyed the piece - very dynamic and well executed. One plug in that could address resonance issues for this piece is Soothe by Oeksound (of course you could always just use EQ). It is a very useful plugin.

[ahanysz]

Happy new year!

This month, I'm finding the comb filters in Zebra to be a little wild, needing lots of on-the-fly volume adjustments to tame the notes that suddenly hit a resonant frequency and pop out. But it's been fun, and I think it's settled down to something interesting now.

https://soundcloud.com/user-260890270/l ... e-number-3

As always, I'm interested to hear what people think.