Bernstein's Symphonic West Side Story

[JBacal]

Here is a excerpt of the Prologue from Leonard Bernstein's Symphonic Dances. This is an orchestral arrangement that Bernstein did for the Concert Hall using the themes from his musical West Side Story.

All instruments are VSL VI. Reverb is Altiverb Vienna Konzerthaus IR.

Comments are welcome and appreciated.

Best,
Jay


http://www.vsl.co.at/Player2.aspx?Lang=13&DemoId=4977 (http://www.vsl.co.at/Player2.aspx?Lang=13&DemoId=4977)

[Jibrish]

Wow Jay... you often surprise and entertain. Great choice of material and especially for the purpose of showing the various articulations.

The kind of light (almost tentative) sound of the percussion and the overall feel of it (along with the reverb sound) made me think of a pre-concert run through in the practice hall... which is meant as praise... it is very convincing and natural to my ear.

Best.

[K Lundquist]

wow, makes me wish I had the money for Vienna Instruments - the only way that could ever happen is if I sold my home and moved back in with my parents:P

btw, how long did it take you to make it? Is VI a lot a to use than "normal" VSL?

[joaz]

Superb Work Jay. !!!

I loved the muted brass, Bone slides, and the cheeky Alto Sax. :)

Superb panning and sense of Orchestral space.

This is one of the few demo's I have heard using Altiverb, that doesnt swamp the Orchestra in Reverb.

I was beginning to wonder if the only way to avail yourself of Altiverb's fancy positioning tricks was to bury the band in verb.

I guess you have answered that question. ;)

regards Joe ( rooting for the Sharks )

[JBacal]

Thanks Joe, K and Jibrish. I really appreciate it when people take the time to post their reaction. Keeps me motivated.;)

K-- This piece took me longer than I should probably admit. I work slowly and obsessively. Unfortunately, I put a ton of time into programming the 14 woodwinds in the piece, and in the end, you can barely hear most of them. So in retrospect, I could have saved myself a chunk of time by doing only the most basic programming of these instruments.

Best,
Jay

[mahlon]

Jay, that's great stuff there. And you shouldn't worry about taking a 'chunk of time' in the programming of the woodwinds. It 'is' there. That extra is what makes the difference; it's that difference that makes your work stand out. The desire to make it right permeates more than through sound alone, and I'm sure that your programming of the woodwinds had repercussions throughout the whole process. Again, great work. I enjoyed it very much, and it gives me hope in my upcoming project.

Mahlon Bouldin

[RJBMusic]

Very impressive Jay!
One of the most convincing mock-ups I've ever heard.
Now you are striving for perfection I would like to suggest that you work on the orchestral ambiance a little bit. Maybe a little scoring noise here and there? Also listener perspective could be a tiny bit closer? to create a more intimate feel.

Cheers,

Ruud jan

[JonFairhurst]

Who's this Bernstein guy?

BTW, nice mock up of that Alice Cooper song from the School's Out album. ;) ;) ;)

[JBacal]

Thanks Jon, Ruud and Mahlon.:)

Best,
Jay

[Justus]

Who's this Bernstein guy?

You bever heard of Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story"?
In this case I would immediately get a recording of this wonderful musical.

Regards,
Justus

[Ashermusic]

Thanks Joe, K and Jibrish. I really appreciate it when people take the time to post their reaction. Keeps me motivated.;)

K-- This piece took me longer than I should probably admit. I work slowly and obsessively. Unfortunately, I put a ton of time into programming the 14 woodwinds in the piece, and in the end, you can barely hear most of them. So in retrospect, I could have saved myself a chunk of time by doing only the most basic programming of these instruments.

Best,
Jay

Aw, c'mon Jay tell us how long it took you so we can feel a little better about the fact that your mockup sounds better than ours do:)

[JonFairhurst]

You bever heard of Leonard Bernstein's "West Side Story"?
In this case I would immediately get a recording of this wonderful musical.It was just a joke. WSS is a classic.

Alice Cooper lifted large parts of West Side Story in his School's Out album - mainly in the song "Sharks Vs Jets". When I was a kid, there's no doubt that I heard the Alice Cooper version many more times than I heard the Broadway version.

http://www.superseventies.com/spcooperalice2.html

BTW, that tour marked the first rock concert I ever attended. ;)

[mech289]

Jay, this is simply fantatstic work. You have done a wonderful job with the sounds. Excellent...Joseph..

[DPDAN]

how cool!

excellent JAY!!!!!

Dan