wizard71
Dan, this is a really nice piece of music, written with real consideration. I would only echo what others have said re the piano. I personally would have used a more rounded and intimate tone.
Good job though, look forward to hearing more of your orchestral work!
 
All the best
 
Bibs

Thank you Rob!

Maybe I should run the piano through a parallel bus and darken it there to make it rounder and fuller, then blend that back in. Hmmm...I'll experiment with that. I don't want to lose the sparkle, but I also understand what you guys are suggesting.
 
Regards,
Dan
 
 

wizard71
Just out of interest Dan, what piano sound are you using?
 
Bibs

Ivory II. Unfortunately, I can't remember which variation I picked, but I'm almost certain it was one of the Bosendorfers.
 
Regards,
Dan

Wookiee
Unfortunately I missed the earlier mix due to major DAW OS and instrument drive rebuild.
 
I really enjoyed the tune but there is something about the piano which sounds something to my furry alien ears, perhaps it is just my furry alien ears.
 
Thanks for sharing.

The piano has too much mid/lo filtered out, so I think that makes it too thin sounding. Glad you enjoyed the song and thanks for listening. I think making the piano sound a little fuller and bringing it up in a couple of places so it doesn't get pushed so far back will get this where I want it. Of course, I will need to get the wife's approval, lol.
 
Regards,
Dan

wizard71
I think that's the answer. A bosendorfer has quite a deep rich bass and dark sound to my ears so I'm guessing that you have indeed cut too much of the low/mid frequencies. If that doesn't help then maybe a yamaha c7 is worth a try if you have it (or similar) as it has a sparklier sound.
Good luck with the wife ;)

I created a send and EQ'd the missing frequencies back into the piano and it definitely makes a huge difference. The piano no longer gets lost in the mix. I also added a few lower bass notes from the piano (not too big sounding though!) to complement the cellos. Both things really help.
 
Thanks everyone for the suggestions! I'll put up another mix after my wife gets to hear it and everything is done.
 
Regards,
Dan
 

 
 
Finally got to a final mix. There are two versions on Soundcloud and the Bandcamp version is the new, final release. Soundclick has the previous version only, for now.
 
(Final mix and previous version)
https://soundcloud.com/dcumpian
 
(Final mix)
https://dancumpian.bandcamp.com/
 
(Previous version)
http://www.soundclick.com/player/single_player.cfm?songid=12836505&q=hi&newref=1
 
There were 6 mixes in between...it was an interesting experiment. For those who wanted a bigger piano, there was a mix like that too, but it minimized the orchestral parts too much and felt like a different song than my intention. The final version has a fuller, rounder piano and is better balanced overall between the orchestra and the piano.
 
Thanks again for all the comments and guidance; I learned a lot of very subtle stuff on this project...particularly on how NOT to abuse an EQ...
 
Regards,
Dan
 
 
 
 
 

Bapu=Late to the party.
 
I liked it. Simple as that.

gusrogers
Dan,
 That sounds awesome. A lot of care has gone into getting this right and it notices. This is the best piece that I've heard of yours.
Superb stuff.
 

Thanks Gus! Took a lot of time on this one, and I learned a lot to boot.
 
Regards,
Dan

Larry Jones
Sorry I'm late to this party. Just wanted to say you've made a beautiful piece of music, and thanks for your work. I have no problem with the mix I'm hearing, but I guess I missed the earlier "tinny" version. In my opinion, though, the music transcends any minor technical criticism.
PS: I'm waiting for the drum version...

Not late, it took me a lot longer than planned to finalize the mix, lol. Thanks for the listen and your kind comments!
 
Regards,
Dan