Doors said:
My orgs sound really plain and empty, and I'm not quite sure how to fix that.
Here's my latest. It's not quite finished.
Here's the original song.
Here are some thoughts.
Instrument
The Wave 00 sound (sine wave) is very plain. Here are some ideas about how to choose a different sound:
Are you using OrgMaker 2.1.0? The wave pictures Rxo Inverse put in might help select a sound. Open the original audio in an audio editor and zoom in and select just the first note. (Or any other note that is alone without other notes or sounds at the same time.) Zoom in until you can recognize the repeating part of the wave form, and notice the pattern in just one repetition. Now look at the wave shapes in the OrgMaker 2.1.0 Instruments box and see if there's a shape that looks similar to one repetition from the audio wave. Or maybe one with a similar number of directional changes? (I'm guessing here.)
Here's another idea, use an audio editor that lets you play a selection in a loop (like Audacity). Like above, find a single note that is by itself, zoom in and select a small number of repetitions of the wave exactly (matching the start and end on the same spot in the wave), then play it as a loop. This will let you sample the sound without volume changes. Listen to it for a moment, then stop. In the OrgMaker Instruments dialog, use the pitch slider to select the same pitch the original audio note is playing. Now click on the wave pictures until you find a similar sound.
Volume Shapes
Remember when you use the volume markers, the track volume stays at that level until the next volume marker. So when you use a shape like this:
Code:
O = =
x - -
- - -
- - x
- - -
It sounds the same as this:
Code:
O = =
x x -
- - -
- - x
- - -
In the slow arpeggio pattern, you only use two volume levels, at the beginning and end of each note. So you mainly just hear the same one volume level for most of the notes' lengths.
I think a piano has a loud part quickly followed by a less-loud part. Also, in the original audio, the slow arpeggio pattern emphasizes the lowest and highest notes of the pattern, so make those louder and the others quieter.
Current:
Code:
O = = O = =
x - - - x - - -
- - - - - - - -
- - x - - - x -
- - - - - - - -
Sample Changes:
Code:
O = = O = =
x - - - - - - -
- x - - x - - -
- - - - - x - -
- - - - - - - -
Sustain
I agree with Random-storykeeper that lengthening the bass notes will better capture the feeling of the piano's sustain pedal. Of course to overlap the other notes, you'll have to move the bass notes into a separate track.
Sample Changes
I changed the melody tracks to Wave 30.
I moved the bass notes of the slow arpeggio pattern to their own track and lengthened them.
I modified the volume shapes of the slow arpeggio pattern and the first four measures of the main melody.
