# Cartoon! Piece from Frederick



## Frederick Russ (Nov 16, 2005)

Hi All,

Hadn't posted a piece of my own here for awhile so here goes:

*Antics of Joster*

Standard Libraries (VSL, QLSO, SISS, SAM)

As always, comments welcome.


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## Evan Gamble (Nov 17, 2005)

sweeeeet low brass :twisted:


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## Ned Bouhalassa (Nov 17, 2005)

Very cool, Fred. I really like the sound of your brass and low strings. I also enjoyed that beautiful break with the impressionistic trills. I did find that the mix sounded a bit over-limited or something, a bit too in-your-face for my taste. And the marimba-led runs reminded me of old road-runner cartoons! But hey, I'm just giving away my age there! :lol:


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## Evan Gamble (Nov 17, 2005)

what the road runner cartoons have nothing to do with age! 
DAMN THAT COYOTE!!!!! 8)


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## Frederick Russ (Nov 17, 2005)

Thanks! Yeah the mix is a work in progress so I'll definitely look at it again.


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## groove (Nov 17, 2005)

great piece of music Fred !

i really love it, very creazy... :D


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## Dr.Quest (Nov 17, 2005)

Cool mix of things. A fun piece of music. Nice job!
J


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## Patrick de Caumette (Nov 17, 2005)

Very nice cue Fred. 8) 

I feel you could use a tad more ambience,ie: the release of the fast strings runs sounds too dry and reveals the fact that these are samples.
Also the tuba (low bones?) sounds a little loud at times.

Some cool themes in there. Wish I could here some of them developed over a longer period of time...


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## ComposerDude (Nov 17, 2005)

Nice work Frederick!

Especially liked the 1:17 theme. Overall a nice blend of styles.

-Peter


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## Thonex (Nov 17, 2005)

Very nice job Frederick!!

I agree with Ned... maybe a little too compressed?

Now I want to go watch some cartoons.....


T


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## choc0thrax (Nov 17, 2005)

Thomas have you been eating sunlight again?


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## lux (Nov 17, 2005)

cool piece Fred! I liked most the soft crescendos. Nice harmonies among all the cue.

I would just use a bit more exp control on the voice at half the piece.

Good job

The Limodriver


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## Sid_Barnhoorn (Nov 17, 2005)

Ey Fred,

Great work. I really love this piece of yours. I like the string trillers as well. At a nice atmosphere in the first half. The more suspensefull last passage is very cool as well!  Nice brasswork and I love the tremelo strings at the end...

Cheers,


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## Frederick Russ (Nov 17, 2005)

Thanks guys for the listens and tips! Your insights are very valuable and really help!

Patrick, man I would love to develop these themes more. I'm working on a way to do that so I can replace my day gig so I can. I'll definitely look into it though (btw the big low brass is Maarten's Cimbasso - I'll look at mix levels on that too.) I really wanted to add more ambience but wanted to see how I could get a dryer mix to sound its best without masking it with verb. I may end up remixing the entire thing using Andy B's approach of bussing different instances of Altiverb to widen things out - we'll see.

Jackall, on the fast runs I used a blend of VSL legato & stacs with SISS in the runs & qlso xylo - it took awhile to get the best combination that sounded okay. Thanks Troels - always love hearing your insights. The detuning and quantizing idea sounds intriguing so I'll have to try it. 

Thanks for the insights Andrew (Thonex) - I've been playing around with mix limiters so I'll still have to find a magic combination that works for orchestral without squishing it to death. (I think here I used Ozone 3.)

Luca, thanks man. Agreed on the expression control on the voice - lol I completely forgot to look at that! (BTW I still have the limo keys  )

Thanks Sid, Thomas J(!), Jamie, Ned, Evan & Peter.


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## Aaron Sapp (Nov 17, 2005)

Nice work Frederick! Love that solo tbone~~


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## IvanP (Nov 18, 2005)

Hey! Excellent production and comp 

I specially love the half-part but the rest is very graphic and well done, it has a great balance.

Iv


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## Frederick Russ (Nov 18, 2005)

Thanks Aaron! That's a lot coming from a native brass player. In that section the Tbone was played in along with the other instuments. 

Thanks for the kind words Ivan


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## madbulk (Nov 18, 2005)

Nice! Enjoyed it a lot Frederick. Lots of interesting transitions.

jackULL asked how you managed the string runs, so this may just be me, but I'm not digging them at all... they're taking me out of the piece and into midi-mockup thoughts. I don't know SISS at all, so I'm guessing it's them. 

on the other hand, the trill washes around :30 are just great (I rarely comment on pieces. This was the impetus, not the string runs.) ... and the low stuff throughout the second half sounds super rich... great stereo spread I think.. plenty of ambience there for me. 

I'll be interested to see where the mix goes from here.


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## Hans Adamson (Nov 19, 2005)

Very Cool Frederick!

Kind of starts out as Looney Tunes and transforms into Walt Disney at some point.

Nicely orchestrated.


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## Frederick Russ (Nov 21, 2005)

I was going for a cross between Walt and Warner Brothers so thanks Hans!


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## Bruce (Nov 26, 2005)

I agree with the above statements, it's starts off light and morphs to something not dark, but I guess a little more dramatic and then ends light. All in all an outstanding piece - the Looney to Disney works :D Thanks for sharing.

Bruce


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## SteveDunster (Nov 27, 2005)

oh this is wonderful. So much detail. Where do I begin?

The opening is so busy - as if sync'ing to everything on screen (steps, looks, blinks) and to every cut - new textures every few bars. Witty, lively - the style they used for early animation comedies I think - nice.

Love the harp transition to the longer line, more akin to feature treatment. String trills awesome - and the subtle introduction of choir before long line excitement.

Yes I think the growling bass trom is a little over-cooked.

Re-iterations of the opening running around interject with the exciting long line very effectively.

Love the combinations of instruments - really effective.

Sorry, what is SISS?


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## Frederick Russ (Nov 27, 2005)

Thanks Bruce! Yeah looney is what I was going for with a touch of Disney.

Steve (btw welcome to VI! - and thanks), SISS is the acronym for sonic implants symphonic strings. It adds a nice timbre to VSL in my opinion. Actually the offending sample in question is Project Sam's Cimbasso (found in Solo Sessions)


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## TheoKrueger (Nov 28, 2005)

I just heard this on the "other computer", excellent work Frederick! Very lively composition and it holds the interest.

Keep it up man 8)


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## Frederick Russ (Nov 28, 2005)

Thanks Theo! Nice seeing you back btw.  Lol Theo - so many computers, so little time.


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## TheoKrueger (Nov 28, 2005)

Thanks Fred, nice to see you too, man  

I've been doing some glimpse lurking, but now i finished school so i can be a dedicated VI Control'ist again 

Peace


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