# My latest epic/historical/ethnic piece: The Gladiator's Wife (now remixed)



## Tatiana Gordeeva (Jul 21, 2013)

UPDATE (13.07.30): Please listen to the updated remixed version here:
https://soundcloud.com/tatiana-gordeeva/the-gladiators-wife-remixed

This piece was inspired by the emotional Bulgarian voice of the Ethno World 5 library. Also used were Albion I & II, VSL percussions and some other Kontakt libraries.

Many gladiators fighting in Rome (e.g. Spartacus) were originally from Thracia (now part of Bulgaria). This created this link in my mind between this woman's voice mourning the death of her husband and the Roman Colosseum.

Please feel free to comment and advise about everything, especially the mixing as it was my first experience using Cubase 7 for sequencing and mixing.

https://soundcloud.com/tatiana-gordeeva/the-gladiators-wife

Many thanks in advance for your kind help! Tatiana


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## reneS (Jul 23, 2013)

*Re: My latest epic/historical/ethnic piece: The Gladiator's Wife*

Nice piece with not too much epic overload.

Regarding the mix:
The strings starting at 0:33 are too loud for my taste (and, while im at it, could stand some rework: they sound a bit too much like block-chords played on a piano instead of string lines...) And, make shure you leave space for the voices.


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## Tatiana Gordeeva (Jul 23, 2013)

*Re: My latest epic/historical/ethnic piece: The Gladiator's Wife*

Thank you Rene for your feedback. Much appreciated!

At 0:33 I think you are right on; strings are a bit loud. I'll correct it in the next remix.

About leaving space for voices: do you mean panning or frequency-wise?

Thanks again for your time! Best, Tatiana


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## reneS (Jul 24, 2013)

*Re: My latest epic/historical/ethnic piece: The Gladiator's Wife*

In this case I would solve the Problem by adjusting the string lines and not the mix.
Listen to this and you will understand:

[flash width=450 height=110 loop=false]http://player.soundcloud.com/player.swf?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F102412914&secret_url=false[/flash] 

rene


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## Tatiana Gordeeva (Jul 25, 2013)

*Re: My latest epic/historical/ethnic piece: The Gladiator's Wife*

Thank you again Rene. I think I got it; I will rework the strings to make them sound more natural like in your example.

Best, Tatiana


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## Mike Marino (Jul 25, 2013)

I thin, overall, nicely done. This seems a little more like underscore to me than anything else. That's not a bad thing; just depends on if that was your intent for the piece or not. I saw that because there's no true melodic line that really shines through. Here are some things I heard:

* At the top the percussion doesn't sound like it has enough bottom end to it as it's being soaked up by the low strings. That's a mixing decision that has to be made. Do you EQ some low end out of the strings (maybe the cellos in this case), take away some of the reverb in the low drums and EQ it accordingly or leave it as you have it? That all goes with your intent of the piece.
* The strings volume at 0:33 doesn't bother me as much as it does at ~0:45-1:10. You have this lovely voice come in (almost like an animation of the women who is mourning her husband's death)....but it's getting covered up by the rest of the instrumentation. I would also do some slight cuts to the mids on her voice via EQ. Sonically get that voice to a safe area to allow it to shine (unless that's not supposed to be the main focus).
* Same problem with the voice vs. instrumentation at ~1:15-1:47. And don't be afraid to bring that slight percussive bump play forward a bit here. It'll sound less obtrusive (and blend really well) when the rest of the orchestra is filling behind the vocals instead of in front of.
* Percussion sounds too far back in the mix once we get to ~2:00. This will help replace a bit of that bottom end I was referring to at the beginning of the piece.

Again, overall, I think you've got some really strong things happening here. Keep chipping away! Hope this was helpful; thanks for sharing!

- Mike


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## Tatiana Gordeeva (Jul 29, 2013)

*Re: My latest epic/historical/ethnic piece: The Gladiator's Wife ***REMIXED****

Hello Mike!

Sorry for the late reply to your post but I was busy remixing my piece:

https://soundcloud.com/tatiana-gordeeva/the-gladiators-wife-remixed

I read your constructive and insightful comments with great interest and tried to incorporate as many ideas as possible. I'm still a newbie at mixing...

I hope you will enjoy the new version 

Best regards, Tatiana

P.S. I'm still open to comments...


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## Mike Marino (Jul 29, 2013)

No worries! Hey, I think you made some very good adjustments from the first mix! There were a few new things I noticed in this version:

* You've got some depth in the those big drums now at the beginning....but make sure that we don't lose the sound of the attack on those. You can adjust these via EQ and/or increasing some of the dry signal on your reverb. Much better though!
* We can hear the lovely voice throughout against the strings.
* The choir might be a touch loud on those long sustains; maybe a little more expressive programming (like you've done in spots with the strings).
* Make sure your violin/strings FX are in the "same room" (reverb-wise) as the rest of your strings arranging. Sounds a little different; EQ and/or reverb settings.

Again, some great tweaks already; I hope you would agree. Keep at it! Hope this helps.

- Mike


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## Tatiana Gordeeva (Jul 30, 2013)

Thank you again Mike for your very helpful comments on the remixed version of my piece.

I think there's a discrepancy between reverbs in the strings because I mix Albion strings (wet) with VSL Appassionata Strings (dry) to give them more presence.

I will rework the big drums attack and the choir passages. Stay tuned... 

Thanks again!! Tatiana


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## zacnelson (Aug 3, 2013)

Very enjoyable; even though it is a familiar style and reminds me of many similar film compositions, I think you have brought out the best in that style and have not over-played it. You made good use of the vocals, and the percussion sounds really rich and thunderous


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## Tatiana Gordeeva (Aug 5, 2013)

Thank you Zac for listening and for your kind comments!


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