# Simulator Ride , Template Codename: Lightning Bolt



## AlexanderSchiborr (Jul 20, 2017)

Hej Guys,
Little piece with my new Template. Turn up your speakers :D
Any idea on the sound/Balance?
Thx.
Alex

Hej Guys,
Here is another Screencast, This time featuring the "Simulator Ride" Track.






work in progress..


----------



## TintoL (Jul 20, 2017)

AlexanderSchiborr said:


> Hej Guys,
> Little piece with my new Template. Turn up your speakers :D
> Any idea on the sound/Balance?
> Thx.
> Alex



Wow, it sounds awesome to me. My only thought, is that brass sounds a tiny bit kind of too wet at the back Making them a little "thin" I guess. I am not sure. But is tiny to me.

Other people more trained will probably spot more stuff. To me it sounds great. A lot of movement and colors. I guess is good writing. 

Which libraries do you have in your template?
Are you using mics?
Do you have all articulations ready to go? 


Sorry for the amount of questions. I just want to know how you came up to this awesome sound.
Great stuff...

tinto


----------



## AlexanderSchiborr (Jul 20, 2017)

TintoL said:


> Wow, it sounds awesome to me. My only thought, is that brass sounds a tiny bit kind of too wet at the back Making them a little "thin" I guess. I am not sure. But is tiny to me.
> 
> Other people more trained will probably spot more stuff. To me it sounds great. A lot of movement and colors. I guess is good writing.
> 
> ...



Hej Tintol,
thanks for the tips. Didn´t felt the brass is too thin or too much back actually..here I have to say.
It´s 99 percent spitfire here.
What you mean by "are you using mics"? You mean if I am using different microphone settings? If so..yes, a mix of CTAO, and sometimes alternative micings. Depends often on the instruments, for the lower brass more ambient and Outriggers here.
No, I don´t have all articulations to go loaded, I used here just some basic ones, shorts / longs, some runs..


----------



## Andrajas (Jul 20, 2017)

AlexanderSchiborr said:


> Hej Guys,
> Little piece with my new Template. Turn up your speakers :D
> Any idea on the sound/Balance?
> Thx.
> Alex



sounds great to me and awesome writing!

You say its 99 percent Spitfire, I guess you have the Spitfire Symphonic Orchestra ? If so, what are your thoughts about it if I may ask? Strengths/weakness etc. I'm interested myself to invest in SSO


----------



## AlexanderSchiborr (Jul 20, 2017)

Andrajas said:


> sounds great to me and awesome writing!
> 
> You say its 99 percent Spitfire, I guess you have the Spitfire Symphonic Orchestra ? If so, what are your thoughts about it if I may ask? Strengths/weakness etc. I'm interested myself to invest in SSO



..99 percent..a bit hollywoodwinds - two spots where I do a picc / flute run. 

I have mostly good things to tell: Sound is deep and wide and very real - BUT

1. You should better spent half a year in getting to know the details about that library, it is very comprehensive and it needs attention to detail. 
2. Some patches are good for performing, some other not that much. In general I would say: To have good sounds, you have to put a shitload of programming into the parts. It is worth but it takes time.
Hope that helps.


----------



## Fer (Jul 20, 2017)

Amazing sound.. really! The trumpets sounds impresive sharp and punchy... are you using compression eqs etc. in your template?


----------



## AlexanderSchiborr (Jul 20, 2017)

Fer said:


> Amazing sound.. really! The trumpets sounds impresive sharp and punchy... are you using compression eqs etc. in your template?



I didn´t use any compression on the trumpets, but yes I equed them.. also the strings, ecspecially the cellos and Double Bass, because they tend to have more sub lowend when comparing to live orchestra or stage recordings. I did adjust a lot of things here to real orchestra references.


----------



## BenG (Jul 20, 2017)

A lot of nice ideas here, Alex! I'm listiening on headphones on my phone so take this with a grain of salt...

As for the mix, I find the overall sound to be a bit bright and wet for my taste. 

For this type of writing (frenetic, action) I think it's best to have a shorter reverb tail so as to not have that 'blur' effect which creates muddyness. IMO, short articulations (Stacc, Spicc, Pizz, etc.) require slightly less reverb in order to preserve some of that clarity. 

Additionally, I find the sound to be a bit too bright/punchy. You would be surprised how much darker a real orchestra is. You mentioned you EQ'd a few of the sections/instruments; was this mostly a low-cut? Also, what reference tracks were you using?


----------



## AlexanderSchiborr (Jul 20, 2017)

BenG said:


> A lot of nice ideas here, Alex! I'm listiening on headphones on my phone so take this with a grain of salt...
> 
> As for the mix, I find the overall sound to be a bit bright and wet for my taste.
> 
> ...



Hi Ben,

Thanks for the help. I guess you refer to the overall brightness of the sound? Or do you have a specific instrument group in mind? As to the wetness, the other guy mentioned that too. You know what? I will try out and see what happens when adjusting some micings different.
But do me favor, can you maybe check the sound again on some decent speakers? Nothing against phone sound..though :D

Yes, and no to the eq. I equed not every instrument, but where I felt it needed. For instance the sub lows of the bass, comparing them to real orchestra..they are often imo overpowered. I added also a bit of frquencies on the strings and trumpets and cuttet also some brass to make more space for the lower brass. Ecspecially with trumpets and Horns, their cumulation resonance builds often up at 350-450 Hz.

My reference here were a couple of "situations" from the indiana Jones recordings (there are plenty of them), but if you like I can post or link some stuff.

Edit: Here is a short reference.

[AUDIOPLUS=http://vi-control.net/community/attachments/referenz_brass_ij-mp3.9097/][/AUDIOPLUS]


----------



## AlexanderSchiborr (Jul 21, 2017)

I have added a screenvast video..maybe for those who like to see and listen.


----------



## Saxer (Jul 21, 2017)

That sounds fantastic!

A few questions just driven by curiosity:

How many tracks does your template contain? 
Ensembles or single instruments? 
Keyswitched or a track per articulation?
Slaves involved?
GB total?
Extra reverb?

Sorry if I'm too curious


----------



## dog1978 (Jul 21, 2017)

Great composition


----------



## BenG (Jul 21, 2017)

AlexanderSchiborr said:


> Hi Ben,
> 
> Thanks for the help. I guess you refer to the overall brightness of the sound?...



Thanks for posting the YT link, as the sound quality is much better compared to the SoundCloud version. The reference track you included is also helpful and gives me a clear idea of where you are going.

Listening in my studio, I am noticing that the overall track is not as "wet" as I had thought and sounds like a good, 'natural' hall. However, I am still hearing the very bright trumpets throughout, which can be a bit over-the-top in some places. I've noticed this 'brightness' with some trumpet libraries and had to EQ some of the brilliance out in order to achieve a more realistic tone in the higher registers.

Again, this is of course _only my taste_ and not a question of 'right' or 'wrong'.


----------



## AlexanderSchiborr (Jul 21, 2017)

Saxer said:


> That sounds fantastic!
> 
> A few questions just driven by curiosity:
> 
> ...


No, its all fine :D 
Here we go:

Actually here around 30 tracks.
Ensemble and Single Instruments.
1 Track per articulation
No Slaves here.
16.52 GB
No Extra Reverb.


----------



## Saxer (Jul 21, 2017)

Wow... it sounds like 'more' 

Thanks for the info!


----------



## AlexanderSchiborr (Jul 24, 2017)

And another track, same intro, but different continuation:


----------



## zacnelson (Jul 30, 2017)

AlexanderSchiborr said:


> No, its all fine :D
> Here we go:
> 
> Actually here around 30 tracks.
> ...


I love that you can achieve such an amazing and complex sound, without over-doing it with slaves and VE-Pro and too many libraries, and it's cool that it's all Spitfire. I sometimes think people over-obsess with too much stuff in their templates, and even if it gets them good results, you have proven that world-class sound can be created with a more modest approach, and very little RAM footprint


----------



## Paul T McGraw (Jul 31, 2017)

@AlexanderSchiborr this is wonderful. Great action cue. I didn't hear anything at all wrong with any of it. Congratulations, you just keep getting better and better.


----------



## AlexanderSchiborr (Aug 5, 2017)

zacnelson said:


> I love that you can achieve such an amazing and complex sound, without over-doing it with slaves and VE-Pro and too many libraries, and it's cool that it's all Spitfire. I sometimes think people over-obsess with too much stuff in their templates, and even if it gets them good results, you have proven that world-class sound can be created with a more modest approach, and very little RAM footprint



Hi Zac, cool. Now the template is 27 GB in size with that piece still in progress:



Paul T McGraw said:


> @AlexanderSchiborr this is wonderful. Great action cue. I didn't hear anything at all wrong with any of it. Congratulations, you just keep getting better and better.



A bit all over the place action :D Cool that you like it.


----------



## Paul T McGraw (Aug 5, 2017)

"War of the Worlds" another tremendous bit of work. Is this your new 100% Spitfire template? Surely with as much talent as you have something good is bound to start happening for you. 

When it sort of collapsed at the end I smiled. Sort of like a great sculpture that is completely finished at the top, but at the base it is still just a raw block of stone. Out of nothing, we create music, then it is gone. Anyway, awesome work!

Please share your thoughts on your greatest lessons learned so far?


----------



## AlexanderSchiborr (Aug 5, 2017)

The track is not finished, the end is not the end, but I had to stop there, because this is so far what I have..:D


Well, it is pretty much 99 Percent spitfire here. I have a little things..grabbed from other libraries mostly for special situations or layering.
For instance: Major / minor third trumpet chords. Believe it or not: Stacking up there solo trumpets..doesn´t sound that cool. Stacking up Trumpets A2 doesn´t help either, so the easiest way: Get a recorded Minor / major third ensemble patch, and I took one from Auddict brass. Also I did take some major / minor third legato and stacc patches, also trills and sustains from Hollywood winds..mainly for layering to thicken a line. Then I have second Spicc Doublebass patch from the Performance Samples (fluid shorts). I think their bass spiccato in the very low notes are the best I have ever heard. But thats it with third party libraries.

I don´t know what to say to that track or what did I learn here..hmm. You know, the simple answer is: I listen to a lot of williams work especially the recent years focussed on his works from star wars and indiana jones, also jurrasic park and I try to decrypt his music which is not an easy task. But I start to recognize patterns in his action chaos music which I wasn´t able to recognize a while ago and this is new. It seems my brain is somehow conditioned to this sound so I write those things down and I do that everyday of the week. Not today though..I am having my 40s birthday today and I have later some guests here :D


----------



## Paul T McGraw (Aug 5, 2017)

Happy Birthday @AlexanderSchiborr! I think the 40th birthday is a major event! Blessings to you on your birthday.


----------



## Saxer (Aug 7, 2017)

AlexanderSchiborr said:


> I am having my 40s birthday today and I have later some guests here :D


A bit late but: all the best to your birthday! Hope you recovered well from the weekend 

Great track by the way!


----------



## zacnelson (Aug 7, 2017)

Surely you're not 40? You look heaps younger


----------



## PeterBaumann (Aug 7, 2017)

Happy birthday! Really enjoyed all of these tracks. They remind me of the sort of music that goes under a Family Guy action sequence - in a good way!

Minor point that I thought some of the string lines in Intergalactic Battlestation might benefit from a slightly clearer attack but that may be the headphones I'm listening on aren't the best right now as I'm away from my desk (I think the bit in the thumbnail for the video might be one of those lines). Overall though, super impressive, as others have said! Wish I could afford some of the spitfire libs as they are clearly very powerful tools. Well done!


----------



## AlexanderSchiborr (Aug 8, 2017)

Thank you guys, very much appreciated. Just saw this now...yeah 40 indeed yarg :D. But I hear that often also from local friends here telling me that I do look a way younger than people at my age. Probably a bit my genes, my parents do look also a way younger.. plus I do on regular base a lot of workouts (jogging, weightlifting, taekwondo).


----------

