DS's Performance Submissions (12/31/16 "Melee Opening")

[daj]

Ooh! Sweet cover. I like it

Pretty solid accuracy (also i saw you cheating, but that's okay), spot-on rhythm for the most part, and a really good arrangement in the pianistic sense. I've got no comments for the arrangement or performance, haha.

Though, if you're using Logic, you miiiight want to consider this magical device called a high-pass filter! Slap one on the first piano track (the one that plays in the higher register), cut about 400Hz down, and suddenly your second piano bass part becomes much clearer. On the subject of reverb, I think you could do with a little less too haha.

Production aside, solid arrangement, great work!

[DS]

...cut about 400Hz down...

Oh my gosh, I actually think I saw that somewhere on an epic orchestral production tutorial that "400 Hz is dangerous" or something like that. The main reason I didn't put too many highs into the mix is because on a spectrum analyzer you can see that Logic's default mix brings out frequencies above 20kHz that for some reason just sound 'too high' (even though technically a person shouldn't be able to hear it, maybe it's just me XD) so I've also set a high cut filter for around 1950+ kHz or something like that. Maybe it's cutting into the mix too much.

Thanks for the feedback and comment!

[daj]

Oh my gosh, I actually think I saw that somewhere on an epic orchestral production tutorial that "400 Hz is dangerous" or something like that. The main reason I didn't put too many highs into the mix is because on a spectrum analyzer you can see that Logic's default mix brings out frequencies above 20kHz that for some reason just sound 'too high' (even though technically a person shouldn't be able to hear it, maybe it's just me XD) so I've also set a high cut filter for around 1950+ kHz or something like that. Maybe it's cutting into the mix too much.

Thanks for the feedback and comment!

Whoa, whoa! Please don't cut the highs. Eep. Apologies for the asian english.
(haha dont worry we're cool~)

I meant, cut the lows of the upper piano part starting from 400Hz going down. That should clear up your bass. The highs are fine

p.s. If you'd like the theory, 300-500Hz is the range where things sound like hitting cardboard boxes. Eww. While a good balance of this is necessary, your mix is muddy because there are way too many cardboard boxes being struck. If you clear out the cardboard for one part it should balance out nice~

[DS]

Cool I did another thing:


[Wii] Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Classic Mode Results Screen (Master Hand) by the Deku Trombonist

https://youtu.be/G79v5nWf-1M

This time the mixing should sound a bit better as it's a slower song with less happening (I'm actually pretty proud of how close it sounds to the original thing).  Also, that sheet music is quite a bit off from the actual song and I had to change a few notes in the sheet to get it to sound like that, so when I get the chance I think I'mma edit it and make a replacement

[The Deku Trombonist]

lol I did do some pretty dumb stuff in that sheet

[mikey]

I'm noticing some frame skips.  Is that due to your editing or is your video device not the greatest?

[DS]

lol I did do some pretty dumb stuff in that sheet

It was nothing major, just a few wrongly-spaced or missing chords and missing arpeggios, not trying to say "Git gud" or anything XD

I'm noticing some frame skips.  Is that due to your editing or is your video device not the greatest?

On my computer the vid seems to run smoothly though... at what time marks do you notice frame skips? I literally just use my computer's webcamera and iMovie to record and edit video, and for this one I didn't do any major video editing.

[mikey]

like :05 :10 and :15 are noticeable

[DS]

OK, new thing (probably my best one yet):

[WiiU] Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U - "Classic: Final Results" by K-NiGhT

https://youtu.be/gs59MLaNX5E

[DS]

Cool cool here's another thing:

[GCN/Wii] The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - "Midna's Desperation" (is that really the right title?)

https://youtu.be/JxfagqDHxXg

[mikey]

can confirm "Midna's Desperation" is correct

[daj]

Hey, I've tried the Midna's Desperation/Lament before! ^^ It's so tranquil and melancholic haha. Though the left hand part is awkward.

Mmm...it's not the best performance video you have. That's something I'll need to say for sure. Especially when you're recording, the one thing that you cannot afford to do is lose your pulse. And I think, especially in the last section (A minor part), you lost it quite a bit.

I understand it's the left hand, hehe. I've got small hands (too?)! And a figure like that is just urgh. But I don't think you have the best fingering for this. In the first section you did (at least for what I could see) 5-4-3-2-1-1. Consider using 2 on the last note of each set instead; it ensures that the legato is there and it's better for accuracy because you avoid the jump. In the last section you did 5-3-1-2-1-2 (or something), and I think a better fingering would be 5-x-1-3-2-1 (x: choose 3 or 2), once again for the legato and to minimise skips.

Lost your pulse a bit there, so that wasn't as awesome as I'd hoped. Also saw you almost hit a wrong chord at some point, hehe. Not your best work, but it's a mind-confounding piece that's not as simple as it looks haha. If you've got any questions feel free to drop a pm! Hope the suggestions helped

[DS]

Though the left hand part is awkward... a figure like that is just urgh.

LOL that was exactly what I was thinking XD If you thought this was bad as far as pulse goes, wait until you see my "Farewell Hyrule King" cover X( [EDIT: The E3 Trailer thing I did also was kinda choppy, I guess that's just a perpetual problem of mine where I need to take a few moments to think about what I'm going to play next before I do it]The reason I kept my hand in that awkward 5-4-3-2-1-1 position is because I wanted to be confident I would hit the root of the arpeggio each time as long as I kept 5 down on it, but you're right it was very, um, awkward (for lack of a better term). However, this reason is morely due to the fact that my fingers are so long that if I tried doing  5-x-1-3-2-1 then on the next arpeggio my pinky would overshoot the root note

Did you like the delay though? I couldn't quite get the right rhythm so I settled on something that seemed pretty close. I even added some stereo imaging for further sparkle

[daj]

LOL that was exactly what I was thinking XD

Ahh, so we have both come to the realisation that, you know, this part would be infinitely easier if we had six fingers. Which we do not. Thus making that little figure not pianistic (debatable) at all. Though it's played by a piano in the real thing, so how the heck does that work?!! Urrgh. Painful decisions.

Haha, i've got so much to rant about this buuut nah. It's still a beautiful arrangement ^^

I guess that's just a perpetual problem of mine where I need to take a few moments to think about what I'm going to play next before I do it

Hmm. In a typical Singaporean piano lesson this would be slammed as unfamiliarity aaand you'd go home feeling sad that you didn't practice more. But bleh, don't we all hate practicing? :p

That being said, I think that part (the A minor bit) warranted at least some working. ^^ It's quite tough because the left hand spreads much wider. And the right hand gives you not much time to look at your left hand.

Also, this part might sting a little, apologies for that - I also noticed that you paused just a tiny bit before the high sparkles (for the lack of a better/less lazy expression) in the opening section. The pause is a little unnatural, but what I see in a kinda blanket-judgment way is over-carefulness. Your last finger's already on the D pedal point, soooo you don't really have to check to ensure that. I'm guessing that the way you naturally read this was to position your left hand, then check your right hand, then play. Which is kinda okay, but since you're speed-reading, you could have a tiny little more confidence in your left-hand positioning, especially since you made compromises to ensure your accuracy. Basically, focus on your right hand and take the liberty to play the left-hand blind. Maybe give it a shot when you have time; it's a useful skill (playing parts blind) that we as performers have to develop at some point, so yeah ^^

However, this reason is morely due to the fact that my fingers are so long that if I tried doing 5-x-1-3-2-1 then on the next arpeggio my pinky would overshoot the root note

"Fingers are so long"? Dang.

That being said, curl up your finger for that. Hehe. It's a standard technique - give it a spin ^^

Did you like the delay though? I couldn't quite get the right rhythm so I settled on something that seemed pretty close. I even added some stereo imaging for further sparkle

Errrm

I didn't notice the delay! ^^ I did like the sound though. So you did a good job

Can't judge the stereo effects because I didn't use earphones. Maybe I'll give it another listen soon and come back to you on that ^^

~

Hope all the comments helped!

[DS]

Though it's played by a piano in the real thing, so how the heck does that work?!! Urrgh. Painful decisions.

I swear it's just a MIDI that someone imported into a DAW with a decent piano sample, either that or Koji Kondo sorcery

Hmm. In a typical Singaporean piano lesson this would be slammed as unfamiliarity aaand you'd go home feeling sad that you didn't practice more. But bleh, don't we all hate practicing? :p

Actually, I technically haven't had a formal piano lesson in, what, 7 years now? Your critique has been my first real piano advice from anyone for a while now, which I really appreciate ^_^