I was messing around with my piano and came up with a simple yet memorable melody and chord progression. From there “melancholy” came to be. I used Spitfire’s Felt Piano for the sound.
Any feedback on structure, mixing, and anything else would be appreciated!
I had a feeling that the lower voices initially did not make such great impression. However, everything after that sounds marvelous.
Structurally, a structure is present and definitely clear to identify throughout the sonic landscape. Recurring elements appear and you could say it is closely to full structure.
I can hear the natural elements(piano mechanics) in the mix, there isn’t too much to note about apart from either a lower velocity on the piano from the supposed accents or louder parts, or the presence. Alternatively, it could have very much been the muddy low ends that could be cut.
Spectrum analysis reveals no room for anything above 3kHz. It looks like a low-pass on this. There is simply a low presence and not enough air for it. Looking up references for piano EQing is definitely fine.
Add some slight velocity randomness to your midi track, it’ll make the repetitive-ness of the track much more bearable.
Also please, don’t cut out so much high end from the track, it actually ruins the upright mood of the melody a bit for me. It’d likely work better on a darker track, but to my ears this doesn’t give off a dark or sinister vibe.
I have a feeling it is a problem with the piano library and not the EQing (but correct me if I am wrong, I don’t usually produce).
On the left, we have a spectrum analysis of a small part in “Melancholy”, and on the left shows the Originals Intimate Grand Piano VST, from Spitfire Audio, playing a random scale with no effects except for the default reverb. You can see they are almost identical.
A piece of audio from the Originals Felt Piano page (The Ball — Louis Rugg).
Below is the same spectrum analysis of the same grand piano VST used in the first example.
I think you are right about that, it’s not really a fault at best but more of a preferential thing. So what I’m hinting at is the idea to fill in the empty space by adding in reverb if necessary. It otherwise would’ve been alright.
This piano piece sounds good! Nice job on it!
Hey @AnimalBot99! Nice piano track.
I think a “low shelf” filter is what you need here. Your recording has a lot of low frequency content in the 200-400 hz range, so just try a low shelf filter at 300hz or so, and try it at between -3 and -6dB and see how it sounds.
And, it’s always good practice to have a high pass filter (brick wall or 24db/octave) set at 30-40hz (or even 50hz) to cut off any really low frequencies that will take up energy.
I decided to change the piano to the Spitfire Grand. Much like dyna said the VST itself is cut off in the high end. I did however lower low end and crank up the piano’s built in reverb. Sounds more distant to the listener I think.
