Guitar meets orchestra

S

Stoertebeker

New member
This is another work-in-progress. Electric guitar accompanied by a symphony orchestra (not a real one, of course). The solo is improvised therefore please excuse its sloppyness.

Anyway, how professional does this sound to you? Any suggestions?

MP3, 1.4MB


Cheers
Stoertebeker
 
First impression: Not enough dynamics in the orchestra for my taste; you could also back it's volume down to give more space between them and the guitar....
 
TimOBrien said:
First impression: Not enough dynamics in the orchestra for my taste; you could also back it's volume down to give more space between them and the guitar....
Click to expand...

I agree with the above and use a bit more layering on the orchestra...Otherwise very good!
 
Basically if you've used one patch fo strings, one for horns, one for etc then you've not used enough. If you've only used an "orchestra" patch you're naughty. As an bad, amateur - & therefore anal retentive - cello player I listen for all 4 stringed instruments - different lines, different textures etc etc.
The guitar is very Night at the Opera Queenish which is GOOD by me.
A good start so go back & work on it to bring out what you intended.
Cheers
rayC
 
New: Final version!

I put some more effort into it. So this is the somewhat final version:

Final version (MP3, 2,8MB, 3Min):
 
The snare needs to go back farther in the mix and the guitar gets lost in the orchestra sometimes.
Overall it's cool :cool:
 
Not bad. Try this:

1. Turn the orchestra down

2 add a wash of reverb to the orchestra

The Orchestra isnt realistic so get it out of the way. Reverb will help give a concert hall feel, just keep the volume down. :cool:
 
New: April-Version now online!

Meanwhile I continued my work on this piece and would like to ask for your opinion one more time.

April-Version: GuitarMeetsOrchestra

Whats new?

- more dramatic feel
- added call & response phrases
- new verses
- got rid of the snare
- more differenciated orchestration

I think overall, I made some progress, but you tell me! I'm looking forward to your comments.

Bye

Stoertebeker


PS: If you're interested in how some of the musical phrases I used in this piece turn out in the context of a pop song, have a look HERE. There's plenty to be recognized ;-)
 
I liked this last version but did not buy sound of your "clean" guitar.
It is sounding like some cheap record and it seams like you wanted this kind of sound. I don't know, it sounds to me like clean el guitar turned way down on it's volume potentiometer and picked very hard to produce that kind of sound.
Anyway, overall is GREAT. I would use nylon guitar instead but that is only me and my taste. I'm sure very next post is going totaly opposite of mine.

Nice job.
 
I dont think the guitar is necessarily bad, a nylon guitar would give it a more flowing smooth sound. I really like the distorted guitar tone though. Great playing.
 
Hey man, really cool sounding tune. :)

About the mix,

The string need more bass to them. Or more presense. In other words, there should be more of them.

The flute or oboe or horns whatever they are. Sounds small. So it needs to be big. Maybe more layers of it.

The guitar is a little too crunchier for my personal listening preference. I'd want more sweet and warm sound and that would compliment the moods created by the symphony.

But the idea is good. Definitely go with this. :)

The Cymbals and all sound good. :)
 
The new "new" version!

I realized, that the new acoustic section didn't do it for me, so I reworked the thing in large parts and added a completely new beginning and ending section + re-recorded the best guitar parts of all versions + changed orchestrations:

Guitorchestra

What do you think of it now?

EDIT: Fixed the link
 
Last edited:
The new link doesnt work.

For the one a few days ago:

Sounds good, very interesting. Needs DYNAMICS. Orchestras go from whisper soft to blaring loud, they are all over the map.
 
Stoertebeker said:
I realized, that the new acoustic section didn't do it for me, so I reworked the thing in large parts and added a completely new beginning and ending section + re-recorded the best guitar parts of all versions + changed orchestrations:

Guitorchestra

What do you think of it now?

EDIT: Fixed the link
Click to expand...
It sounds pretty good to me....but the louder orchestra parts seem to drown out the guitar too much.....maybe you went for that, and I really am listening to the guitar here. It just seemed to detract from what I hear as the centerpiece. All the sounds are good, just might need some tweaking to get the guitar to be heard better during the louder orchestration.
 
1st impression this time around was Brian May & the GSTQueen piece on NATOpera - but this moves on after an abrupt beginning.
I like the swamping - the guitar is the soloist NOT the beginning & end of the piece.
That said there should be a little more variety & range in the dynamics.
I like the cleaner guitar tone.
It's not Deep Purple revisited afterall.
A really good effort & light years beyond the 1st version.
CONGRATULATIONS on it's & your growth.
BB's comments re the bass & presence in the samples may be valid depending on speakers - I'm using a stereo & so so speakers with my comp playing through to them.
Cheers
rayC
 
Thank you all very much for your comments!

The dynamics issue many of you mentioned will be the next thing I'll put my hands on. I'm currently listening to Mozart's Piano Concert No. 40 figuring out how to make best use of an orchestra's dynamic range.

By the way:
In all versions the clean and distorted guitar sounds were recorded using a PODxt. The orchester was programmed using (the limited sonical capabillities) of Edirol's HQ Orchestra. Ableton Live 5 was used to bring it all together.
 
The dynamics issue many of you mentioned will be the next thing I'll put my hands on. I'm currently listening to Mozart's Piano Concert No. 40 figuring out how to make best use of an orchestra's dynamic range.
Click to expand...

Try listening to something bigger and more romantic period like Tchaikovsky. Lots of swells, ride the faders and automate the mix like mad to get a more imitative sound. :)
 
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