Smile Smile Smile- Orchestral Version

[Twiliscael 3,962]

I'm a sucker for classical music and have some nifty software on my computer, so I figured why not?

 

Highly doubt most of you are actually into classical recompositions but I can dream, can't I?

 

Smile Smile Smile (otherwise known as Smile Song) recomposed by me. Questions, comments, suggestions, anything else accepted.

 

https://pony.fm/tracks/191-smile-song-orchestrated

[Champion RD92 8,658]

I was expecting a metal remix, not a classical one   

 

Anyway, it's very nice. Smile Smile Smile is probably one of my favorite MLP songs ^.^

[Agent505 661]

That was actually really good.

I'm not normally one for classical music, but I know good music when I hear it, no matter what the genre it falls into. 

 

You know, you should definitely do more. I would love to hear winter wrap up done, or if you're looking for a challenge, maybe a full version of Love is in bloom? 

[Twiliscael 3,962]

That was actually really good.

I'm not normally one for classical music, but I know good music when I hear it, no matter what the genre it falls into. 

 

You know, you should definitely do more. I would love to hear winter wrap up done, or if you're looking for a challenge, maybe a full version of Love is in bloom? 

 

Oh god, that one would be really, really tough. Maybe I'll try to pull it off. I'm not sure what I'd go for next, though.

I was expecting a metal remix, not a classical one   

 

Anyway, it's very nice. Smile Smile Smile is probably one of my favorite MLP songs ^.^

I'm a big classical music guy too, you know.

Metal's got it's roots in classical, you know. Just ask The Human Abstract

[DusK 1,264]

Is this a MIDI? It sounds like a MIDI. The whole thing's extremely quantized and unnatural, every single instrument is lacking in even the basic tinges of the human element. Orchestral stuff's extremely hard to get right in a digital setting, but this seriously sounds like something that was pulled from an SNES game.

 

As far as composition and production, the soundscape is lacking. For a majority of the song, you have a single string bit on the right playing the melody, and a pair of horns doing the backing chord progression. A bit after, before the chorus, it sounds like another string bit's trying to come through on the left, and another horn center-panned, but both are really really low. Near the end it gets a bit better, with strings filling out left-field, but the quantization still detracts from it. The only percussion in this piece is a badly-executed cymbal here and there that sounds a lot like a short looped sample that abruptly cuts off, and given the static-tempo, rhythmic nature of this piece, a bit more percussion would have helped a lot. This is almost marching band, and I sat there for most of the song hoping for some rolling snare work.

 

Don't let this largely negative review stop you. Learn from it, and keep at it. It's an okay beginner track, but I'd suggest you look into improving your toolset with some better virtual instruments, and even more importantly, taking special consideration in implementing the nuances that make classical music what it is. Look into the placement of a symphony, how different musicians within that symphony play their instruments (especially the strings! The strings in this piece were pretty much all legato), and utilization of effects such as reverb to fill out that soundscape. And definitely consider a MIDI controller. It makes achieving that human element a lot easier if there's an actual human handling note velocities/timings, swells, tempo shifts, all that good stuff.

 

Here's a handy guide a friend of mine passed me when I expressed interest in doing symphonic music on its own rather than as simply a supplement to my metal work. There's a lot of useful info in there. For VSTs, if money is no object, people speak high praises for EWQL. If you're on a budget, Philharmonik is a good underdog choice.

Edited February 9, 2013 by DusK

[Octavia's Cellozoid 1,488]

I love this! If I could download it or something, trust me, I would. This took my bored, sadish mood and made me smile (lol) and be happy. You may have gotten help from my boyfriend texting me 'Good morning, beautiful!' though... :ninja:

 

I'm a sucker for classical music, though

[Twiliscael 3,962]

Is this a MIDI? It sounds like a MIDI. The whole thing's extremely quantized and unnatural, every single instrument is lacking in even the basic tinges of the human element. Orchestral stuff's extremely hard to get right in a digital setting, but this seriously sounds like something that was pulled from an SNES game.

 

As far as composition and production, the soundscape is lacking. For a majority of the song, you have a single string bit on the right playing the melody, and a pair of horns doing the backing chord progression. A bit after, before the chorus, it sounds like another string bit's trying to come through on the left, and another horn center-panned, but both are really really low. Near the end it gets a bit better, with strings filling out left-field, but the quantization still detracts from it. The only percussion in this piece is a badly-executed cymbal here and there that sounds a lot like a short looped sample that abruptly cuts off, and given the static-tempo, rhythmic nature of this piece, a bit more percussion would have helped a lot. This is almost marching band, and I sat there for most of the song hoping for some rolling snare work.

 

Don't let this largely negative review stop you. Learn from it, and keep at it. It's an okay beginner track, but I'd suggest you look into improving your toolset with some better virtual instruments, and even more importantly, taking special consideration in implementing the nuances that make classical music what it is. Look into the placement of a symphony, how different musicians within that symphony play their instruments (especially the strings! The strings in this piece were pretty much all legato), and utilization of effects such as reverb to fill out that soundscape. And definitely consider a MIDI controller. It makes achieving that human element a lot easier if there's an actual human handling note velocities/timings, swells, tempo shifts, all that good stuff.

 

Here's a handy guide a friend of mine passed me when I expressed interest in doing symphonic music on its own rather than as simply a supplement to my metal work. There's a lot of useful info in there. For VSTs, if money is no object, people speak high praises for EWQL. If you're on a budget, Philharmonik is a good underdog choice.

Haha, no worries. I love criticism. In fact, I prefer it. I'm always looking for ways to improve.

 

With that said, this was the first piece I've ever even actually did on a computer, and I did it within 2 or 3 days. Yeah, I rushed and yeah, it could have been alot better.  This was more or less an experiment to see what I could do with the software with little to no knowledge of it.

 

Thanks, I'll try to take all this into consideration if I decided to do another piece, and if I do, I probably might have to invest in some real software, not my school's version of Finale 2011.

 

"There's a lot of useful info in there. For VSTs, if money is no object, people speak high praises for EWQL. If you're on a budget, Philharmonik is a good underdog choice."

What if I have little to no money to spend on this?

[DusK 1,264]

Haha, no worries. I love criticism. In fact, I prefer it. I'm always looking for ways to improve.

 

With that said, this was the first piece I've ever even actually did on a computer, and I did it within 2 or 3 days. Yeah, I rushed and yeah, it could have been alot better.  This was more or less an experiment to see what I could do with the software with little to no knowledge of it.

 

Thanks, I'll try to take all this into consideration if I decided to do another piece, and if I do, I probably might have to invest in some real software, not my school's version of Finale 2011.

 

"There's a lot of useful info in there. For VSTs, if money is no object, people speak high praises for EWQL. If you're on a budget, Philharmonik is a good underdog choice."

What if I have little to no money to spend on this?

You could go with Squidfont, though I don't know if Finale 2011 has a soundfont player. It's free, but really, you won't be able to get full orchestral piece out of it. Well, good ones, anyway.

 

Philharmonik Classik Edition's less than $100 and has the essentials. An excellent starting point imo.

[Twiliscael 3,962]

You could go with Squidfont, though I don't know if Finale 2011 has a soundfont player. It's free, but really, you won't be able to get full orchestral piece out of it. Well, good ones, anyway.

 

Philharmonik Classik Edition's less than $100 and has the essentials. An excellent starting point imo.

Yeaaaah, no.

 

I'm 15 and have maybe $150 to my name at the moment, and I'm saving it up for other things. I appreciate your concern, really I do, but I think I'll just make another song or two with whatever Finale can do and then maybe look for something better. Finale is only for writing music, with the ability to play the music on it as an added feature which explains it's mediocrity.

 

I'll check out some of your stuff and tell you what I think