Hi everyone
This is my first post here so please be gentle with me (not really).
I've originally recorded this piece over 30 years ago on a 4tracks cassette portastudio (as they were called) but wife pushed me to re-do it, taking advantage of the new and newly acquired technology.
It is a semi-orchestral piece with lots of acoustic guitars (my main instrument).
All done by me, including mixing and mastering and all done using headphones.
Perhaps some of you might like it or find issues with it that will help me improve on the sound.
Thank in advance for your time.

 

Hi!

Definetly sounds like music. Very happy music.

I tried rebalancing it on the custom mono "auratone" with this curve and it got more clear and acoustic if i may say, so you could try it, even on separate channels, you might be getting some clarity on certain parts.

Also, it may be me compensating for being tired..

Cheers

 

Well thank you.

That is excellent, the VSTi violins don't do the other textures justice but I can imagine this with more expressive stings in a large room and maybe with the guitar a little less upfront and more delicate.

Very nice composition.

 

Very nice composition but like JMOUTON already mentioned the weak point lies in the strings from 00:30 to 01:20. These sound very synthetic (midi cc7/11 127 all the way!) so without any emotion. If you can arrange this with more lush strings and with emotion. And more of and a build-up to where the grand organ starts? That would make this composition really shine!

 

Yesterday I replied to you all but it seems that post is now gone. Strange.
Anyway.. I thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions.
I revised the mix trying to follow the advice given above.
The soundcloud link of the top post of mine is now the new version, should anyone wish to hear the differences.
Sorry if you cannot compare old with new but I swapped the old mix with the new in Soundcloud (I know.. my mistake).

 

Very nice classical inspiration! I especially like the intervention of the organ at 1:14, which brings a special dimension to your work..

But to my ears, it severely lacks dynamics... I mean it's like all the instruments are at the same (very high) level, I could suggest to try a more subtle approach, and to work on the spatialization of your mix, by setting subtle reverbs and by carefully adjusting your pans / balance.

Already suggested above, but your strings (and organ) sound really harsh / gritty / almost saturated, perhaps could you try some Kontakt libraries / acoustic / authentic orchestral samples, which could really improve your overall sound and render it more natural, more vibrant and impressive.

The essential could be here to separate each instrument and variant (one track by instrument / by arrangement part) so that you could work on each little part independently, place it in the stereo space and EQ specifically to improve the warmness / "woodness" of your classical sounds and humanize them as you can.

In this kind of piece, the expression / expressiveness of the instruments is very, very important. The velocity variations of each part should be carefully inspected to give a maximum of authenticity and nuances to your melodies and chords, like a real, human instrument player.

As always, it is just suggestions, so let your inspiration "talk" to you and be your guide, I'm sure the final result will be exactly as impressive as you want it to be!

 

Thank you for your lenghty reply (and for taking time to listen to my work, of course).
I will try what you suggested.