# Hans Zimmer - Dream is Collapsing mockup (now with real French Horns)



## Mr Greg G (Sep 14, 2010)

EDIT from the future (11 years later): screencast recording and minor improvements.



Hi,

I just did a mock up of Hans Zimmer's Dream is Collapsing for training purpose.

My goal is to get the closest sound to his production with the tools I have at my disposal:

- VSL SE
- VSL Epic Horns
- PS Symphobia
- Audiobro LASS
- Spectrasonics Omnisphere
- Spectrasonics Trilian
- EW Stormdrum 2
- EW free orchestra

and also a Squier Stratocaster with cheap single coils and a PODxt.

I worked with the original track loaded in my Cubase project to be able to compare my mockup with the original easily. I tweaked EQs like crazy as Symphobia has quite more highs than the strings in the recording. I also ran some tests with some light distortions on the horns, but I still couldn't get the same powerful in-your-face sound. That being said, this is not even the horns I'm not satisfied with but the strings that sound fake, especially the high strings.

http://www.box.net/shared/y3flm48hbh

What can I do to improve the sound of this mock up?

Here are other examples of people who tried to recreate the same song:




PS: I can share the MIDI file if you're interested in improving this mockup.


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## dp_audio (Sep 14, 2010)

*Re: Hans Zimmer - Dream is Collapsing mockup*

I love this cue, and you did a fantastic job with it!

When comparing it to the original, the guitar stands out. Maybe it's because I'm a guitar player and I've listened to this cue 20-30 times, but your tone is quite different, although the effects are spot-on. Maybe try bringing the mids up a bit, but I'm not sure how much you can do without using a different guitar. (You can only do so much to a Strat to make it not sound like a Strat.) I think the strings sound as good as they can with those libraries, and the rest sounds fabulous, especially the synths.

The only other thing I noticed was that yours seemed to lose momentum during the transition into the "B" section. There's something else going on in Hans's version -- a "winding down" sort of sound in the background. I can't tell if it's an instrument or a sound effect. I think I was expecting to hear that, and when I didn't, something felt off.

Overall, great work! Thank you for posting; I really enjoyed listening to it.


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## Mr Greg G (Sep 14, 2010)

*Re: Hans Zimmer - Dream is Collapsing mockup*

Hi Danny, thanks for your reply and for listening 

Yep, the guitar doesn't sound the same as on the original track, but I'm more focusing on the orchestral parts. I don't know if I'm reaching a limit with those orchestral libraries or if it's possible to program the strings part better to make them sound at least realistic (if not close to the original track), because each time I'm listening to my mock up, those strings sounds make my skin crawl.

Thanks for the compliment, the synths were very easy to program, I found all the sounds in omnisphere and trilian. I EQ'ed them like crazy with EQ automations moving through the 1st part of the track.

Regarding what you say about the transition into the B section, I really don't know what you're talking about but I'd be really interested to know! So if you can nail what's missing in mine, I'd be very happy to make the changes!

Again, I can send the Midi or Cubase project file if you want to work on this!


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## tslesicki (Sep 15, 2010)

I think that the high strings sound very good (at least on my HD 600 headphones). It's a detail, but in the original version the strings are more subtle before they start playing that fast n' high stuff.

The brass should be hard to mimic, I remember Zimmer saying that he wanted to treat the orchestra as synths and create some non-standard sounds out of it. You could try to use a volume maximizer or saturator on these. Maybe even a little distortion.

The guitar effect is spot on.

I've listened to the other versions you've linked to on youtube and I honestly think that yours is the best.

I can render the strings with Cinematic Strings and send you a .wav file so you can hear how it sounds with other samples.

Best,

Tom


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## Mr Greg G (Sep 15, 2010)

*Re: Hans Zimmer - Dream is Collapsing mockup*

Hi Tom, thanks for listening 

On thing I won't be able to reproduce from the original is the heavy pressure all string players are doing on the bow at 0'34, like on an Apocalyptica recording (You know those Finnish cello players doing Metallica covers with cellos only). But still I don't think that's what could make my strings sound more realistic.

As for the brass, I put a little distortion and turned up the highs. I would need horns samples with a fast attack because that's what makes them aggressive in the original. They almost sound like a wall of electric guitars. I can't get such a result with all the project sam brass (in symphobia or orchestral classic) because they have kind of a slow attack. I didn't try with the horns in VSL though so I don't know if they would be any better.

It would be cool to listen to how Cinematic Strings si doing on this. Do you just want the midi file / Cubase project file? or do you want me to export everything except the strings?


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## tslesicki (Sep 15, 2010)

Send me the strings and the brass (I have EWQLSO Platinum Plus) in midi. I won't have the time to draw the dynamic curves but I'll try to add the best samples I can find for this particular theme.

I know Apocalyptica and I like to listen to their music from time to time but it's to hard for me to listen to it on regular basis. Too much noise I guess 

T.


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## dp_audio (Sep 15, 2010)

*Re: Hans Zimmer - Dream is Collapsing mockup*



Mr Pringles @ Tue Sep 14 said:


> Regarding what you say about the transition into the B section, I really don't know what you're talking about but I'd be really interested to know! So if you can nail what's missing in mine, I'd be very happy to make the changes!



I'm not sure I can post a clip from the original, so I'll just say it happens around 1:31-1:34 in the recording -- it sounds like a descending chromatic line. It's a minor detail, but I just thought I'd mention it. Anyone who hasn't listened to the original that much probably wouldn't miss it.


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## Mr Greg G (Sep 15, 2010)

*Re: Hans Zimmer - Dream is Collapsing mockup*



DannyPoit @ Wed Sep 15 said:


> I'm not sure I can post a clip from the original, so I'll just say it happens around 1:31-1:34 in the recording -- it sounds like a descending chromatic line. It's a minor detail, but I just thought I'd mention it. Anyone who hasn't listened to the original that much probably wouldn't miss it.



Oh ok, I didn't know you were talking about that! I thought you were talking about a B chord or something. :lol: Well yeah, I'm aware of this descending chromatic line when the tempo is dropping but I didn't take the time to make the adjustments. I was more bothered by my ears bleeding each time the high strings come in.


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## hbuus (Sep 15, 2010)

This is super impressive stuff.
Thanks for posting - enjoyed hearing it.

Best,
Henrik


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## Mr Greg G (Sep 15, 2010)

*Re: Hans Zimmer - Dream is Collapsing mockup*

Thanks Henrik for listening! Would you be interested in joining my cause to try to get the closest strings/brass sound as possible to the original? 

Like I said, I can share the midi and Cubase project files and also export audio tracks like synths or guitars.


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## Mr Greg G (Sep 16, 2010)

I'd really be interested to hear how Hollywood Strings is doing on this one. If anyone who's got the library would like to try to make this mockup sound bigger, send me a message so I can share the midi file!


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## David Story (Sep 21, 2010)

*Re: Hans Zimmer - Dream is Collapsing mockup*

Mr Pringels' exercise converges with my Daily Tune project.




here 'ya go:

http://soundcloud.com/cinematic1/daily-tune-02-21-10


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Oct 10, 2010)

Good job, man, esp. given what you're mockup is compared to: incredible musicians, lots of the best in engineering tricks, Mr Zimmer's boundless talent, etc, etc.


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## stevenson-again (Oct 10, 2010)

astonishing work. really fantastic. a brilliant exercise too. you learn so much for chasing down an existing sound.


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Oct 10, 2010)

*Re: Hans Zimmer - Dream is Collapsing mockup*

If I can be so bold, you might consider EQing some of the low-mids (or lowering certain individual instruments' volume), as they are making the piece muddier than it could be. Also, the synth sounds in the original are amazing (as usual, there's plenty of Zebra 2 custom patches, along with the vintage CS80), and while yours work, you possibly could find even closer versions if you dig deeper into Omnisphere. Finally, the individual instruments in the early 'foreplay' section could have a bit more dynamic movement. In the original, for example, repeated gestures are lightly decrescendo after each pulse.


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## adg21 (Nov 23, 2010)

This is awesome man. I believe you sent me the midi file for this a while back, and I tried but couldn't improve on what you already had  (thanks anyhoo) great stuff. who did you find to play horns?

edit: sorry i didn't read properly. I saw Marc's tribute to John Williams a while back, it's genius, so you just contacted him through youtube? great find!


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## Mr Greg G (Nov 24, 2010)

Hey adg21, thanks for your reply! It was a bit of a nightmare to mix the 70 tracks together since I first had to mix instruments of the same category but from different libraries and then mix the whole thing. Subtle variations impacted on the whole thing: adding/removing 1 or 2 db from here and there made a difference.

Yep, I contacted Marc through youtube and he was keen to record those Horn tracks. What do you think of the Horns/Brass sound?

David could provide me a LASS version of the strings (which sounded great) so now I'd really like to hear how Hollywood Strings is standing out on this cue.


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## Leo Badinella (Nov 24, 2010)

What happened to the link?


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## Mr Greg G (Nov 24, 2010)

What do you mean? I think the link is still working.


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## Leo Badinella (Nov 24, 2010)

It is now. It wasn't before :wink: 
Impressive mockup to say the least.


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## Hannes_F (Nov 25, 2010)

Cool result!


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## jlb (Nov 25, 2010)

Sounds fantastic to me, brilliant

jlb


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## Mr Greg G (Jul 21, 2021)

Update from the future, made some minor adjustments and recorded a screencast of this mockup. The guitar is louder than on the original and it was hard to make the low brass octaves stand out for the finale but I'm quite satisfied overall. I may also finish a Mockup for Dream Within A Dream I started around the same time but never got to finish it.

Some of the Bass synths have been soloed at the end so you can hear how they sound naked.


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## Trash Panda (Jul 21, 2021)




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## Mr Greg G (Jul 21, 2021)

Haha do you have any suggestions on how to improve it? Suggestions can be useful for the Dream Within a Dream mockup. This one will be a bit harder to pull off I think.


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## Trash Panda (Jul 21, 2021)

Mr Pringles said:


> Haha do you have any suggestions on how to improve it? Suggestions can be useful for the Dream Within a Dream mockup. This one will be a bit harder to pull off I think.


I’ll give it a more critical listen tomorrow when I can crank up my monitors. First thing that struck me was the drone under the guitar in the opening is a fair bit brighter than the source material. I was also going to mention the guitar tone, but saw your post that you’re more focused on the orchestral/synth stuff.


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## Mr Greg G (Jul 22, 2021)

True, the synths are a bit hotter (and brighter). As for the guitar tone, feel free to comment on it even though I remember not spending more than 15 minutes to try to shape a matching sound. I didn’t even bother using the PRS that was not at arm reach. The guitars were the first thing that were recorded but I was eager to start working on the orchestral parts.


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## quickbrownf0x (Jul 22, 2021)

I'm a simple man. If I see Mr. Pringles do an Inception mockup, I click.


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## Mr Greg G (Jul 22, 2021)

Just listened to your Radical Notion Mockup, sounds great!!


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## quickbrownf0x (Jul 22, 2021)

Mr Pringles said:


> Just listened to your Radical Notion Mockup, sounds great!!


Cheers. Another one's in the works, but you know - life/work before play...


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## Mr Greg G (Aug 7, 2021)

quickbrownf0x said:


> Cheers. Another one's in the works, but you know - life/work before play...


A new version of your Radical Notion Mockup or is it another track?


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## quickbrownf0x (Aug 7, 2021)

Mr Pringles said:


> A new version of your Radical Notion Mockup or is it another track?


No, it's an arrangement/mishmash of three cues. It'll have live guitar on it, too.


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## Mr Greg G (Nov 26, 2021)

@Noc Hey there, couldn't receive your message on YT for some reason. Anyway, thanks for listening!


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