# LotR - The Shire mockup BBCSO #oneorchestra



## muk (Aug 9, 2020)

Hi everyone,

Here is a track from Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings soundtrack that I mocked up: 'The Shire'. Everything is BBCSO, with the following exceptions:

the Zither is Orange Tree Samples Angelic Zither. I didn't have a Bodhran library, so I took the Kroboto patch from the Kontakt Factory library, and eqd it to get at least somewhat close. The solo violin is from VSL Special Edition. I couldn't make the BBCSO Violins leader make work in this context. Everything else is BBCSO only.









The Shire - BBCSO.mp3 | Powered by Box







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Let me know what you think!

Thank you for listening.


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## Sean J (Aug 9, 2020)

Easily one of the best mock-ups I've heard. I listened to it once, then with the real track sync'd up to A/B it. I listened before I read what you said. The violin is still a bit off for me. There's a few muddy parts, so a few roll offs would help, but all still very very close to the original.


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## Markrs (Aug 9, 2020)

muk said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> Here is a track from Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings soundtrack that I mocked up: 'The Shire'. Everything is BBCSO, with the following exceptions:
> 
> ...


Fantastic, really impressive!


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## NoamL (Aug 9, 2020)

There's a few parts where the limited articulations are unavoidably holding you back (the short notes in the first half of the cue) but the 'vibe' of this mockup is right! BBCSO has a beautiful symphony orchestra sound. The spatialization is just beyond question in its coherence & how all the instruments just "flow"... briliant stuff. Standard mix here? The mellow hn/tbn harmony stuff... they just beautifully fit into the background in a way that the real orchestra can do, but I haven't heard from any other sample orchestra, even SSO.

(not a fan of the VSL violin either - try the CSSS?  )

Would love to hear BBCSO tackle something like "The Prophecy" or "The Great River" & see how it does that sweeping symphony orch drenched in reverb vibe!!

p.s. ping Shore superfan @Mike T


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## Kent (Aug 9, 2020)

Magnificent work!


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## muk (Aug 9, 2020)

Thank you @scoredfilms, I appreciate the kind words! I agree that the solo violin is not ideal. Something about its tone is not right. And there are some jumps in the stereo field. I tried to fix them as much as possible, but couldn't do more than that.

Thank you too @Markrs!



NoamL said:


> There's a few parts where the limited articulations are unavoidably holding you back (the short notes in the first half of the cue



Thank you for commenting @NoamL! I agree about the short notes. The BBCSO woodwinds have a tenuto patch that would have been perfect for this. Alas, Spitfire didn't record tenuto for the strings, for whatever reason. The staccato patch is a bit too short, but I had to do with that one.



NoamL said:


> the 'vibe' of this mockup is right! BBCSO has a beautiful symphony orchestra sound. The spatialization is just beyond question in its coherence & how all the instruments just "flow"... briliant stuff. Standard mix here? The mellow hn/tbn harmony stuff... they just beautifully fit into the background in a way that the real orchestra can do, but I haven't heard from any other sample orchestra, even SSO.



The spatious, coherent sound is really a standout feature of this library. I don't have any other sample library that can do that. In this mockup it's just the standard mix (Jake Jackson Mix 1), with a bit of VSS3 on the masterbus. Usually I use custom mic settings because the standard mix is too wet for me, but here I thought it fits beautifully.



NoamL said:


> (not a fan of the VSL violin either - try the CSSS?  )



Yes, the solo violin part is definitely the most difficult one. I actually did try Cinematic Studio Solo Strings, right after the section leader from BBCSO. The playing style was off for this piece. There is way too much vibrato, and the sound is too full and round. The VSL was closest to the fiddle sound of the original. It was also the one who could adapt to the fast gracenotes and expresiveness. The tone is less convincing and not as nice in my opinion. Overall I thought it was the best option, though I agree that it isn't perfect and probably the weakest point of the mockup. It's what I expected from the start, as I think solo strings are notoriously difficult to mockup.

Thank you for your kind words @kmaster!


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## CT (Aug 9, 2020)

Thanks for another reason to love BBCSO. 

Makes me want to do a full mock-up from these scores instead of the little snippets I've tried so far. Hmm....


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## muk (Aug 9, 2020)

Mike T said:


> Thanks for another reason to love BBCSO.



Glad you like it


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## NoamL (Aug 9, 2020)

muk said:


> In this mockup it's just the standard mix (Jake Jackson Mix 1), with a bit of VSS3 on the masterbus.



Gorgeous


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## WhiteNoiz (Aug 9, 2020)

It's pretty good. I don't really hear any muddy parts; the original just seems to have less presence and a bit more bass. The first part maybe needs some more phrasing or shaping in the attacks and releases. Otherwise, it's really close.

It's weird though... I'd swear I recall this piece as using a flute somewhere? Maybe it's another version. Anyway... 

Oh, here:


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## tf-drone (Aug 9, 2020)

At the end of the day, I find it more to the point as the the OST, for THE SHIRE at least


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## Brasart (Aug 9, 2020)

So good, great mockup @muk, congrats!


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## muk (Aug 10, 2020)

WhiteNoiz said:


> It's pretty good. I don't really hear any muddy parts; the original just seems to have less presence and a bit more bass. The first part maybe needs some more phrasing or shaping in the attacks and releases. Otherwise, it's really close.



Thanks for your input @WhiteNoiz. I'll look into it.



WhiteNoiz said:


> It's weird though... I'd swear I recall this piece as using a flute somewhere? Maybe it's another version.



The version you are thinking of is probably the one called 'Concerning Hobbits'. A whistle features prominently there. It's another version of the same theme. In 'The Shire', it's a fiddle throughout.

Amazing @tf-drone, I guess the mockup turned out well in that case 

Thank you for listening and commenting @Brasart! Glad you like it.


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## jaketanner (Aug 30, 2020)

muk said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> Here is a track from Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings soundtrack that I mocked up: 'The Shire'. Everything is BBCSO, with the following exceptions:
> 
> ...


How much work went into editing after you played it? I am considering this during their EDU sale. I am mostly interested in the strings and winds second...don't really care much about the rest, although it's nice to have.


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## jaketanner (Aug 30, 2020)

For those that have Core and or Pro...I was listening to the original Batman theme by Danny Elfman. The strings seem to match up with the Discover strings fairly well...I LOVE the tone of these, and can only imagine that the full versions are that much better...can anyone confirm that what I am hearing is true?

Strings around 1 minute. Thanks


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## muk (Aug 30, 2020)

jaketanner said:


> How much work went into editing after you played it?



Most work went into the solo violin part. The rest was pretty straightforward. It didn't take much work. Just the standard cleaning up after playing it in. I was surprised that the mix was easy too. The Jake Jackson Mix 1 was perfectfor this, I only added a touch of VSS3.


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## jaketanner (Aug 30, 2020)

muk said:


> Most work went into the solo violin part. The rest was pretty straightforward. It didn't take much work. Just the standard cleaning up after playing it in. I was surprised that the mix was easy too. The Jake Jackson Mix 1 was perfectfor this, I only added a touch of VSS3.


Is that the same mix as the Core? I am torn between them and waiting for NCS to come out. I'll probably wait until the end of the month then if NCS isn't released by then, I'll get BBC pro...

are the winds useable? Would you say they
re better than SStW pro? I have them and they're about mid tier winds. Not that expressive.


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## Beans (Aug 31, 2020)

jaketanner said:


> For those that have Core and or Pro...I was listening to the original Batman theme by Danny Elfman.



This theme is such a lovely example of brass that sounds powerful without trying to kill the players.


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## bvaughn0402 (Aug 31, 2020)

I'd love to see your mockup of this ... even in video.


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## muk (Aug 31, 2020)

bvaughn0402 said:


> I'd love to see your mockup of this ... even in video.



Hm, what would you like to see? I have neither the experience nor the time to make an extensive walkthrough. But if you have some specific wishes, maybe I can throw together a quick screencast.


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## Zanshin (Aug 31, 2020)

jaketanner said:


> Is that the same mix as the Core? I am torn between them and waiting for NCS to come out. I'll probably wait until the end of the month then if NCS isn't released by then, I'll get BBC pro...
> 
> are the winds useable? Would you say they
> re better than SStW pro? I have them and they're about mid tier winds. Not that expressive.



Get Core first, and see how you like it before investing further, I'm pretty sure the upgrade price is just the difference. Pro adds mics and some additional instruments, but core will give you a decent view into the library so you can figure out if you can live with it's inconsistencies, too few dynamic layers in spots, etc. 

That's my 2 cents anyway.


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## jaketanner (Aug 31, 2020)

Zanshin said:


> Get Core first, and see how you like it before investing further, I'm pretty sure the upgrade price is just the difference. Pro adds mics and some additional instruments, but core will give you a decent view into the library so you can figure out if you can live with it's inconsistencies, too few dynamic layers in spots, etc.
> 
> That's my 2 cents anyway.


Very much appreciate the feedback. I think I qualify for the EDU discount...so Core is something like under $300...while pro is $600. Do you think I would pay the difference at the time of sale or would that difference be locked in for future? I do plan on making a lot of use out of those extra mics, especially the bleed...But I know what you mean. Get core now, then BF I'm sure it will be on another 40% off and upgrade then.


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## jaketanner (Aug 31, 2020)

muk said:


> The staccato patch is a bit too short, but I had to do with that one.


Is there no stretch feature?


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## Zanshin (Aug 31, 2020)

jaketanner said:


> Very much appreciate the feedback. I think I qualify for the EDU discount...so Core is something like under $300...while pro is $600. Do you think I would pay the difference at the time of sale or would that difference be locked in for future? I do plan on making a lot of use out of those extra mics, especially the bleed...But I know what you mean. Get core now, then BF I'm sure it will be on another 40% off and upgrade then.



Yeah I’m not sure on the EDU discount stuff. $600 is a pretty good price though.


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## IFM (Oct 24, 2020)

Extremely well done!


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