Orchestral demo

[P de Caumette]

Just finished a rough mix of an orchestral thingy:
Sketches of Pain (\"http://www.theleapingfrog.com/music/Sketches%20of%20Pain.mp3\")

It\'s a \"Mission Impossible goes to Irak with a romantic let down in the middle\" kind of a cue images/icons/grin.gif

Since I am waiting on EWQLSO to come out to decide whether to go for that or for VSL, I don\'t currently own a full orchestral library.
I had to do with what I currently own:
Culture for percs
Sam Horns & Bones
VOTA
KHSS

...and of course Tob\'s wonderful contribution to the sample world images/icons/wink.gif

[Ned Bouhalassa]

Beautiful piece, Patrick! I really like the changes, the density of the arrangement, the castanets, what sounds like a bass clarinet but must be a trombone in the middle, the use of the choir (could come out more in the mix), the mysterious intro, the rainstick...

My only criticism is that there is a chord that sustains too long when the first breakdown happens (about half-way).

Good stuff! images/icons/wink.gif

[P de Caumette]

My buddy from Montreal, sushi indulger:

Thanks Ned!
Since this is my first try at orchestral writing your approval means a lot to me! What chord are you talking about, is it the one going out of the mellow section?

My jazz buddy, beer enthousiast from Hollywood:

Hi Craig, I hear you about the percs but this is supposed to be a demo for the orchestral side of Culture so I had to boost it up a little. I really appreciate your feedback anyway images/icons/wink.gif

[Francis Belardino]

Now why can\'t I compose like that?

Very Nice images/icons/smile.gif

[P de Caumette]

Francis & Rob,

Thanks to the both of you.
Everytime I am done with a piece I have this fear that it might actually be crap, so I feel rewarded by your comments.

Rob, yes I have this big concern with reverb right now. I recently decided to start writing for the orchestra and I realize that panning and reverb are areas where I have to focus my attention. They seem to be key to a successful orchestral mix.
For this piece, I applied reverb to my master after exporting everything to a stereo track ( using a PCM90 preset with SIR) instead of applying reverb to each section individualy.
I am not sure this is the way to go but I thought that the best way to emulate the orchestra in a room was to follow that route.

It sounds like Sharmy suggested applying some reverb to the percs separately before putting everything through a reverb.

Care to comment? images/icons/wink.gif images/icons/grin.gif

[P de Caumette]

Thanks Sharmy!

This is what I call informative, precise and to the point.

Let\'s have virtual Sushi & Sake one of these days images/icons/wink.gif

[Ned Bouhalassa]

What chord are you talking about, is it the one going out of the mellow section?<font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">Yes, my man, the one with the wassabi spilling over the edge...
images/icons/grin.gif

[Ned Bouhalassa]

The Miles reference... I just got it! images/icons/wink.gif

But then, you should have trumpet solos, n\'est-ce-pas? Guess that\'s for when you (we) get SAM Trumpets... images/icons/shocked.gif images/icons/cool.gif

[P de Caumette]

That\'s right Ned!

Waiting for these trumpets with great impatience.
In the meantime there\'s always the castanets....

[Rob Elliott]

Hi Patrick,

Very nice writing. I agree with Craig, the percussion needs to be tucked back. I also would use a tad more verb on some of the \'sample seams\'. Of course be careful -that\'s a potential short trip to \'mudsville\', but a judicious amount of good verb will \'melt\' those sample seams together. In the grand scheme of things, this is the easy stuff - you got the writing nailed. Thanks for sharing.


Rob