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Icarus Rising, Mix And Remix / Sonic Revelations
These remixing sessions are taking me to an unexpected place. After intense months of orchestrations I feel that remixing some of my tracks as pure piano solos is forcing me to see that often my arranging attempts, fun tho they may be, subtract rather than add to the feeling of the music that comes out of me. Or, perhaps, redirects those feelings to a different place. Make them more like film music than a solo expression, for example. I am still wrestling with how this happens. I mean, the sounds I add can be so fascinating... yet they can change the entire tenor of the track and actually diminish whatever power might be present in the original improvisation. Not always, but, I am seeing, surprisingly often.
This is a good example. I am posting the solo first followed by the arranged version. Would love to hear your thoughts as I ponder this unexpected development. Thanks!
Comments
The stereo balance is a bit off I feel on the piano only version.
Yeah, I noticed
a little of that, too @[Deleted User]. I will see if I can improve it.
Edit: I am not sure why that is, as you can see from the screenshot, the levels are pretty close on the stereo out.. Not sure how I would jockey it.
Yes @[Deleted User], I heard that, too, but in looking at the stereo out it seems kind of okay, tho it varies a bit during the mix. Not sure how I would jockey it or if it is even worth it,
Mike - I much prefer Icarus Rising, the solo one. But, I listened to it first. I often find my first listen always gets some strange preference.
I do like the ideas in the bass improv during sections. Gives it a more Zawinul flavor to me. But to these ears, the strings do as you say, take away from the original intent, at least to how I'm interpreting the intent.
I LOVE the intro to the piece and was hoping that would come back. Great work as usual.
Thanks for listening @kinkujin. I guess it is all part of the process. I will probably listen a bit differently now. Initially, it was like shaking a snow globe... first it’s a blizzard then everything starts to settle. Feeling all the possibilities when one first gets into iOS or desktop causes an overuse of the potential maybe, or, like in the snow globe, obscures the real picture by doing too much.
I find that in the "Down" version, the added instruments add very well to the track until about 0:50. The big difference between recording the solo track and making a fully "orchestrated" version of it is that achieving the latter usually takes so much more time to do it "right" - right in terms of really supporting it without obviously dragging it into a different direction.