antler Posted December 11, 2019 Share Posted December 11, 2019 (edited) Hi everyone Update: I've tweaked the mix, being a little more generous with a different reverb. Hopefully the instruments sound more to be in the same space For ages I've been wanting to get better at writing for orchestra. I've been working on this one for a while now (around 2.5 months on and off), using some of the various libraries I've snapped up in this year's various sales. I actually tried quite hard with this one: hope you enjoy, and I would love to hear your feedback and thoughts. (and if you enjoyed it, please like/subscribe) … or if you prefer, SoundCloud: Edited January 23, 2020 by antler Update mixes 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garybrun Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 I liked this a lot. Beautiful and well arranged. If you have any lyrics I would love to have ago singing on this one. Well done... you should be proud of this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeringAmps Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 Nicely done. Not sure if you are using the ambiance included with the samples, or something on the mix overall? That's the only thing maybe "lacking" to my ears; a verb/delay that ties the whole orchestra together in one space. And trust me, I'm still searching for that one "major production" verb myself (or the settings that "nail" it with the many I have). Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garybrun Posted December 12, 2019 Share Posted December 12, 2019 3 hours ago, DeeringAmps said: Nicely done. Not sure if you are using the ambiance included with the samples, or something on the mix overall? That's the only thing maybe "lacking" to my ears; a verb/delay that ties the whole orchestra together in one space. And trust me, I'm still searching for that one "major production" verb myself (or the settings that "nail" it with the many I have). Tom I have altiverb and ultraverb... if you would like to send the stems.. I could have a go Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antler Posted December 12, 2019 Author Share Posted December 12, 2019 13 hours ago, garybrun said: I liked this a lot. Beautiful and well arranged. If you have any lyrics I would love to have ago singing on this one. Well done... you should be proud of this one. Thanks for the kind words Gary, and also for the offer of borrowing your voice. This one was originally intended purely as an instrumental, partly to justify me snapping up some of the libraries that I did, partly because I wanted to attempt an epic and emotional score worthy of a matching hypothetical movie scene (I had none in mind, and I don't actually know what exactly I mean by that). The words were something I felt I needed to write for my own release at some point towards the end of the project, and I felt they were somewhat complementary. Glad you enjoyed listening. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antler Posted December 12, 2019 Author Share Posted December 12, 2019 6 hours ago, DeeringAmps said: Nicely done. Not sure if you are using the ambiance included with the samples, or something on the mix overall? Thanks for listening Tom; glad you liked it. A little bit of both for ambience: for most of the instruments, I turned off the library reverb; some I left on because they sounded quite nice, some I had no option. For the tracks where I turned off the reverb, I used a send to a reverb bus with ReMatrix on it. I did end up bussing/gently compressing some groups of instruments, e.g. lead strings, but the reverb sends were from the unbussed tracks. I don't know: maybe I need a more gluey reverb; maybe my mixing skills need more work for larger projects like this; maybe a little of both ? I did use a compressor (Overloud's Comp G) on the master bus for a little more glue, but no reverb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjornpdx Posted December 14, 2019 Share Posted December 14, 2019 Nice. Has that epic feel to it that makes for a good movie soundtrack. It needs a unifying theme that stands out more, something that the song always returns to after a few verses. Other than that I thought it sounds terrific. It brought into mind all kinds of sweeping landscapes and adventures and such. Unless that brownie I had a while ago had something to do with that. Nah, just kidding. I really did like the music and it did carry me away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Sprouse Posted December 15, 2019 Share Posted December 15, 2019 Liked the flashes of portamento, a really under utilised articulation. Great creativity, and you keep things interesting throughout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amiller Posted December 17, 2019 Share Posted December 17, 2019 Home run!???? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
congalocke Posted December 19, 2019 Share Posted December 19, 2019 Nice. Makes me think of the music behind the story breaks in Zelda... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZincT Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 As I mentioned over on the Deals forum the word Epic springs to mind. I love the variety of dynamics and how it changes over time from full orchestras belting out to solo instruments. You mentioned that you "wanted to attempt an epic and emotional score worthy of a matching hypothetical movie scene" and I think you have 100% achieved it. I can just hypothetically imagine you writing this while painstakingly watching scenes from a scoreless film, bit by bit piecing together the music to match the scene. Clearly a lot of work has gone into this and I think you should be proud of it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Douglas Kirby Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 I think this is a really impressive composition - nicely done. The mood was uplifting as well - a positive listen and experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhonoBrainer Posted December 20, 2019 Share Posted December 20, 2019 The chorus and percussion coming in around 1:50 really worked well, pretty darn pro. I agree about a "one unifying reverb" idea, like a Spaces or equivalent, maybe the Liquidsonics Seventh Heaven (non-professional) version, I saw that $69 at jrr. That Seventh Heaven rvb is kinda my go to these days. I hope you check in at VI Control website, lots of composer types there. I liked your tune very much. cheers, -Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antler Posted December 21, 2019 Author Share Posted December 21, 2019 Thanks Bjorn. Glad you liked it. On 12/14/2019 at 4:56 AM, bjornpdx said: It needs a unifying theme that stands out more, something that the song always returns to after a few verses There is a theme that I ended up using four times (i.e. how the song starts), and I was a little worried that it might stick out as a little bit too repetitive; seems like I was maybe a little over-cautious though as it hasn't been mentioned. But now that you mention a recurring theme, I have heard examples before of a theme that gets reused, but not repeated per se. Can't think of one off the top of my head though. On 12/14/2019 at 4:56 AM, bjornpdx said: Unless that brownie I had a while ago had something to do with that 'Magic' brownies? ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antler Posted December 21, 2019 Author Share Posted December 21, 2019 Thanks @David Sprouse, @amiller, @congalocke, @Douglas Kirby for both listening and the kind words. I was going for something positive, hopeful, and epic: in the way that in some movies, something as 'small' as a wish in someone's mind might lead to something powerfully positive in some way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antler Posted December 21, 2019 Author Share Posted December 21, 2019 Thanks Zinc. Glad you enjoyed listening On 12/20/2019 at 6:39 PM, ZincT said: I love the variety of dynamics and how it changes over time from full orchestras belting out to solo instruments I was trying to show the contrast of something as 'small' as a wish/dream and the 'hugeness' of something happening because of it... that and also because things always seem 'bigger' if you build up a crescendo to it. The idea to occasionally go to solo instruments came partly because I've had some solo instruments for a while that I wanted to let shine, but didn't know in what context to do so; partly because it's difficult to go even 'bigger' while at pretty much full orchestra, so the exact opposite of going solo has IMO almost the same awe-inspiring effect. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antler Posted December 21, 2019 Author Share Posted December 21, 2019 Thanks for listening Tom, and the kind words. 23 hours ago, emeraldsoul said: The chorus and percussion coming in around 1:50 really worked well, pretty darn pro Having bought Insolidus in a sale earlier this year, I thought it sounded amazing and was looking for a way to make it a standout part in a project. I subtly played about with the tempo in this project quite a lot, and decided to use a 'fairly big' rallentando just before the choir. At first I didn't have any percussion, but felt that something was missing; it was pretty much a happy accident of trying multiple things. I also had an idea from a SoundIron scoring video that I just so happened to watch, where the composer was describing how he used a sub-rumbling thump to give particular emphasis on certain parts of his track. Having a cinematic thump/whack library, I decided to also give this a go while rolling of the high end, and found that it went really quite well with the drums when used sparingly. I was considering whether I need a new reverb. I already have Overloud's Breverb and Rematrix, though confess that I haven't fully learnt to tweak all parameters. Some of the big-name reverbs do sound really good, but I've so far been trying to stay off iLok plugins (personal choice). Maybe I should try learning to tweak the reverbs I already have before jumping on to something else; this year's Black Friday/Christmas sales have already made me poor. Also, given what I've heard about Arturia's free reverb (haven't downloaded yet), maybe they'll release 3 reverbs that I'll actually use that are really good and reasonably priced. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wookiee Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 I like this, nicely done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antler Posted January 23, 2020 Author Share Posted January 23, 2020 Thanks @Wookiee; I appreciate it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antler Posted January 23, 2020 Author Share Posted January 23, 2020 Given the comments on reverb/atmosphere, I thought I'd revisit the mix and be a little more generous with a different reverb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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