# A Little bit of Sweetening...



## stevenson-again (Oct 4, 2010)

goes a long way.

i had some mates from the LSO and Philharmonia help with some brass on this battle cue.

i haven't nailed the reverb for the horn, but the mix worked brilliantly with the rest of the soundtrack for this cue - one of my best. by that i mean how the instruments balanced against the battle noises and what-have-you. i realize the mix might sound slightly odd as a pure music mix and when i get some time i will have another go. but as a mix to picture everything cut through and sounded ok.

it's topical since we have just been talking about samples vs real. 

for your info its just a trumpet and a horn overdubbing in my lounge room ate at night. (my family loves me). its LASS and Symphobia, SAM brass, spitfire perc, and a big thanks to epic toms from tonehammer.

i've started you off about 1/4 of the way into it.

http://idisk.mac.com/rohan.stevenson/Public/webdemos/Melee.mp3 (The Melee)


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## noiseboyuk (Oct 4, 2010)

Oh I LOVE this! I think - in the best way - some of the Star Wars score has rubbed off, that build and end in particular is really evocative of Williams in full flow. Awesome writing.

And just one trumpet and one horn, with the rest samples you say? Sounds incredible. What other brass patches did you use under it from Symphobia / Sam Brass? And did you record the live instruments in multiple passes?


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## Hannes_F (Oct 4, 2010)

Symphonic trumpet! I love it!
Symphonic horn! Yea give it to me!


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## stevenson-again (Oct 4, 2010)

cheers guy...yes the star wars CD you inspired me to buy rubbed off a bit - but the general vibe of this show was always going to be williamsesque with a main character who was a kind of hans solo type larrakin hero. also, the battle is very confused so it needed really clear story telling with those tunes popping up to tell you who was who. all lending itself to williams-ey type of writing. 

the other brass was SAM horns and trumpets and symphobia bits and pieces. i had much more exposed stuff that i really needed the players for, so we did this last for a bit of a laugh. these are all just one takes overdubbing 3 passes. don't tell anyone though - not really supposed to do that. (he says on a public forum....).

they are phenomenal players. just chuck a click at them and give them idiomatic dots and they carve it all up.


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## noiseboyuk (Oct 4, 2010)

Phenomenal indeed. Tell you what else is really impressive, that you recorded them in your lounge! You'd never know...


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## David Story (Oct 4, 2010)

Thrilling fun, makes me see the movie.
Bold heroic brass take over the cue, covering the synthy string and winds moments. You're getting a lot from your samples, imo, this is orchestral.
I've done this kind of hybrid, and it's amazing how the real players bring it home, make the whole thing come alive. Nice ostinatos and percussive grooves. The brass love playing on top of those. Thanks!


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## Danny_Owen (Oct 4, 2010)

Very nice work Rohan! I think I saw this one the other day lol. I agree this mix is one of your best I've heard, sounding really good


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## schatzus (Oct 4, 2010)

This is superb! A fantastic mix and it's completely amazing how a few real instruments makes the entire piece so...emotional.
Well done!


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## Guy Bacos (Oct 4, 2010)

Damn you're good! Top notch track.

You shouldn't be posting this stuff here, it's embarrassing for the rest of us! :cry:


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## stevenson-again (Oct 5, 2010)

> You shouldn't be posting this stuff here, it's embarrassing for the rest of us!



gee....it can't be that bad....



thanks for the kind words guys. if i get some time i will post the same bit as a mock-up only. it's interesting. you lose some things but gain others. on balance its worth it for punchiness.


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## noiseboyuk (Oct 5, 2010)

stevenson-again @ Tue Oct 05 said:


> thanks for the kind words guys. if i get some time i will post the same bit as a mock-up only. it's interesting. you lose some things but gain others. on balance its worth it for punchiness.



Would love to hear that, thanks Rohan.


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## germancomponist (Oct 5, 2010)

Daniel James @ Mon Oct 04 said:


> Awesome work... Samples + Live = Win Win IMO :D
> 
> I love hybrid Orchestrations, and this sounds fantastic.
> 
> Dan



+1


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