OT: modern-orchestral cue

[Scott Cairns]

Hi everyone, this is one of my cues for a showreel I am putting together.

www.macawinteractive.com.au/showreel/modern-orchestral.mp3 (\"http://www.macawinteractive.com.au/showreel/modern-orchestral.mp3\")

I would welcome any feedback.

Cheers, Scott.

[D.Montesinos]

It souds good for me, nice composed and specialy mixed.
keep on.

[Jamesmcwilliams]

I hated the opening percussion and synth, but once the theme came in... it turned out quite catchy. images/icons/wink.gif Production wise, it doesn\'t sound real, but it sounds quite \'nice\'... if you get my drift.

[Joanne Babunovic]

Hi Scott,

Very inspiring and a nice professional polish. The intro is great, and I find the traveling and panning of the bass not allowing the listener to enjoy. Same thing with the timpani panning/traveling at the end!

I need to listen again to figure out why I wanted a different tempo of the main strings/brass intro at :25...after all, the contrast of the intro to this part is what you wanted.

Also, are you still working on the other demo you posted? There were so many interesting suggestions and critiques and wondered how you are fairing with those. Some of the suggestions I was struggling to understand, much less apply!

Thanks for posting, and it\'s obvious you are on the fast-track with the learning curve on orchestrals. Wow, think of where you\'ll be in a few months....

Joanne

[Duncan Brinsmead]

The theme seemed a bit sluggish to me for some reason. Perhaps it is the uniformity of the tempo. Otherwise it sounds fine to me.

Is it just me, or is the anvil thing becoming a bit of a cliche? I\'m constantly reminded of the Terminator II soundtrack.

Duncan

[Scott Cairns]

Hi everyone, thanks for your replies. Joanne, you are right about the bass - I will have to anchor it down as it is a bit weird to have such a low instrument moving around. There shouldnt be any timp\'s moving though, I\'ll check that out. At the very end there is a Taiko panned centre and a G-Town bass drum panned a bit to the right.

I am still working on the other orchestral track, I wont be able to do too much more to it as the showreel is due on Monday.


Is it just me, or is the anvil thing becoming a bit of a cliche? I\'m constantly reminded of the Terminator II soundtrack.<font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">Duncan, I agree that anvils get a lot of use these days but they have been on orchestral music for over 100 years so nothing new there.

Also, the track is a pitch for a game and I think it helps the producers to be able to know in what style of game your music belongs, even it is does mean being a little stereotypical at times. Thanks for your feedback.

Regards, Scott.

[Joanne Babunovic]

Scott,

That intro, and really, all the piece is perfect for a game concept. I really liked the harmony of the strings against that percussion \"crack/pop\" thingy. (I know when you have time, you give the correct name of the instrument). Hope they like it.

[Up Late]

Sounds good but middle section is too Hans Zimmer-ish. (He covered that ground over 10 years ago.) Good use of samples, though. Good orchestration. Opening string line would fly with real strings, but sounds thin with those particular samples. Possibly double that section with woodwinds. Also the cue lacks identity due to the 3 totally unrelated sections; you could develop 3 separate cues instead.

[Scott Cairns]

Originally posted by Joanne Babunovic:
Scott,

That intro, and really, all the piece is perfect for a game concept. I really liked the harmony of the strings against that percussion \"crack/pop\" thingy. (I know when you have time, you give the correct name of the instrument). Hope they like it. <font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">Hehehe, thanks Joanne. I\'m not exactly sure which \"crack/pop\" thingy you are referring to but here is what is in the piece overall;

Intro:
Metamorphosis loop
A1 synth bassline
Atmosphere Strings

Orchestral Section:
Garritan Strings
Sam Horns/Trombones and Timpani
Kontakt Snare
G-Town, Anvil, Bass Drum, Toms
AO Cymbals

Final Section:
Symphony Of Voices - ooh sample
QLRI Taiko
AO Bell
G-Town Bass Drum

The thing you are hearing might be the toms. All the percussion was run through an impulse and gave it a great ambient effect. The strings also went through one of Ernests impulses that came with the GOS updates.

Cheers, Scott.

[Scott Cairns]

Also the cue lacks identity due to the 3 totally unrelated sections; you could develop 3 separate cues instead. <font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">Hi, I admit that the change from the opening loop to the orchestral section in the middle is a leap, but the transition from the mid orchestral section to the solo voice doesnt seem to be too distant IMHO.

In fact the mid orchestral section is supposed to depict a battle and the end solo voice/taiko is the battle aftermath, field strewn with bodies, etc.

Thanks for your feedback and the comment on having good orchestration is a first for me, novice and unschooled as I am images/icons/smile.gif

[Rob Elliott]

Hey Scott,

I think you have some nice ideas. There have also been so good suggestions made here. My $.02 is work a tad more with the dynamics and expression. Make each section \'come alive\' more (have almost a mind of there own). Then when all these \'sections\' come together, the tension (and ultimately release) really propels the music.

The opening string and choral lines can sound synthy if just let played out of the box - ride CC11 some more.

Go \'overboard\' on dynamics and expression and you will be surprised how good it will sound - IMHO.

Good luck with your gig.

Rob