# Orchestral piece recorded at London AIR Studios



## holing (Aug 30, 2017)

Hi all, I just graduated from a Master's program in film scoring and would love to share with you all my final project recorded at London AIR Studios with a 60-piece orchestra. All comments are welcomed


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## NoamL (Aug 30, 2017)

That was incredible. Your orchestration is so good.


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## ghandizilla (Aug 30, 2017)

Amazing sense of texture and balance! And most of all: every device is motivated by the dynamical structure of the piece. It would be very instructive to study the score or at least the scores that inspired this one.


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## BenG (Aug 30, 2017)

Really well done and love the smaller, more intricate textures!


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## patrick76 (Aug 30, 2017)

Very nice work and congratulations on having it recorded at AIR!


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## Emmanuel Rousseau (Aug 30, 2017)

That was perfect. I'm quitting.


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## mc_deli (Aug 30, 2017)

Wow! Tell more!


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## holing (Aug 30, 2017)

NoamL said:


> That was incredible. Your orchestration is so good.



Thank you so much for you kind words!


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## holing (Aug 30, 2017)

ghandizilla said:


> Amazing sense of texture and balance! And most of all: every device is motivated by the dynamical structure of the piece. It would be very instructive to study the score or at least the scores that inspired this one.



Thank you!  I took inspiration from Smetana's Ma Vlast, Takashi Yoshimoto, and some of the Alexandre Desplat and John Williams scores
The music is inspired by the Eternity scene from the film "Tree of Life"


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## holing (Aug 30, 2017)

BenG said:


> Really well done and love the smaller, more intricate textures!



Thank you so much Benjamin!


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## holing (Aug 30, 2017)

patrick76 said:


> Very nice work and congratulations on having it recorded at AIR!



Thank you Patrick! I really love how it sounds in AIR! The musicians are amazing, and the room has a really great sound for orchestral works.


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## holing (Aug 30, 2017)

whitewasteland said:


> That was perfect. I'm quitting.



Haha thank you! I take it as an compliment


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## holing (Aug 30, 2017)

mc_deli said:


> Wow! Tell more!



This was part of our graduation project for the master's degree, I had to compose a 3-min piece for a 60 piece orchestra and I orchestrated, prepared the scores and did the final mix and mastering. It was surely an incredible experience. I had the opportunity to conduct the orchestra, it was a bit terrifying but also an experience that is so surreal and memorable! AIR Studios sounds really amazing. You can check out my video if you're interested to see how the recording session was like:


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## higgs (Aug 30, 2017)

Really wonderful!


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## Rob (Aug 30, 2017)

Very nice! And you might not be an experienced conductor but your gesture is clear and elegant... well done


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## pfmusic (Aug 30, 2017)

holing said:


> Hi all, I just graduated from a Master's program in film scoring and would love to share with you all my final project recorded at London AIR Studios with a 60-piece orchestra. All comments are welcomed




Beautiful piece of music - congratulations!


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## ClefferNotes (Aug 30, 2017)

Absolutely stunning!! Congratulations!


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## Steve Martin (Aug 30, 2017)

sounds absolutely beautiful - singable melodies and so expressive. Thanks for posting and sharing this.


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## Maestro1972 (Aug 30, 2017)

Really enjoyed this...absolutely wonderful! Congratulations. Hope this isn't inappropriate or too forward, but I would love to see the score for this.


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## Brendon Williams (Aug 30, 2017)

Beautiful! Nice work.


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## The Darris (Aug 30, 2017)

holing said:


> Thank you!  I took inspiration from Smetana's Ma Vlast, Takashi Yoshimoto, and some of the Alexandre Desplat and John Williams scores
> The music is inspired by the Eternity scene from the film "Tree of Life"


Did you mean Takashi Yoshimatsu? He is one of my favorite composers right now. I've been diving deep into his work this year and love everything he's done so far. I'm curious, which pieces of his are you most fond of? Excellent piece by the way, very evocative writing all around. 

Best,

Chris


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## Marcin M (Aug 31, 2017)

holing said:


> Thank you!  I took inspiration from Smetana's Ma Vlast, Takashi Yoshimoto, and some of the Alexandre Desplat and John Williams scores
> The music is inspired by the Eternity scene from the film "Tree of Life"



This is incredible piece of music, good job 

And good sources of inspiration  Currently Vltava is my favorite piece of classical music and I definitely hear it in woodwinds in Your piece


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## Sebastianmu (Aug 31, 2017)

Gosh, whenever the young Berklee-people post something, I get super-depressed! (Remember @Anze Rozman's piece called Polyverse? I think it was created under similar circumstances.)

Anyway - congratulations to you, Ho Ling. It's certainly one of the nicest things I've heard in the last couple of months!


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## Garlu (Aug 31, 2017)

Congratulations, Ho Ling! Very well done!


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## JohnG (Aug 31, 2017)

lovely piece, with a lot of thought behind it.


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## holing (Aug 31, 2017)

higgs said:


> Really wonderful!





pfmusic said:


> Beautiful piece of music - congratulations!





ClefferNotes said:


> Absolutely stunning!! Congratulations!





Steve Martin said:


> sounds absolutely beautiful - singable melodies and so expressive. Thanks for posting and sharing this.





Brendon Williams said:


> Beautiful! Nice work.



Thank you so much for all your kind words!


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## holing (Aug 31, 2017)

Rob said:


> Very nice! And you might not be an experienced conductor but your gesture is clear and elegant... well done



Hi Rob, It's actually my first time to conduct the orchestra and there's still a lot of improvements I can make for my conducting. Thank you for your feedback


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## holing (Aug 31, 2017)

Garlu said:


> Congratulations, Ho Ling! Very well done!



Thank you Vanessa! nice to see you here


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## holing (Aug 31, 2017)

JohnG said:


> lovely piece, with a lot of thought behind it.



Thank you so much John!


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## wbacer (Aug 31, 2017)

Excellent work, sounds amazing, you have a wonderful career ahead of you.
Where did you get your masters?


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## holing (Aug 31, 2017)

Sebastianmu said:


> Gosh, whenever the young Berklee-people post something, I get super-depressed! (Remember @Anze Rozman's piece called Polyverse? I think it was created under similar circumstances.)
> 
> Anyway - congratulations to you, Ho Ling. It's certainly one of the nicest things I've heard in the last couple of months!



Thank you so much for your compliment Sebastian!


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## holing (Aug 31, 2017)

wbacer said:


> Excellent work, sounds amazing, you have a wonderful career ahead of you.
> Where did you get your masters?



Thank you! I graduated at Berklee.


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## dariusofwest (Sep 1, 2017)

Awesome piece! :D


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## Guy Bacos (Sep 1, 2017)

Very nice! Beautifully orchestrated. Love the various influence you have and great imagination. Looking forward to hearing more.


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## markleake (Sep 1, 2017)

Congratulations to you on producing such a beautiful piece Ho Ling! I loved it! 

And may I say it is wonderful to see a woman both orchestrating and conducting, to produce such a competent result. I hope there is more in store for you and that you get some good exposure from this.


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## synergy543 (Sep 1, 2017)

Very nice composition and orchestration. The subtle orchestration and the way you hold back make it most effective. Nice players too! 
I hope to hear more from you soon.


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## Arbee (Sep 1, 2017)

Congrats, a rich blend of influences and great maturity in your orchestration, loved it!


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## Kony (Sep 1, 2017)

Excellent piece, I enjoyed this very much. Thank you for sharing!


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## holing (Sep 2, 2017)

dariusofwest said:


> Awesome piece! :D





Guy Bacos said:


> Very nice! Beautifully orchestrated. Love the various influence you have and great imagination. Looking forward to hearing more.





markleake said:


> Congratulations to you on producing such a beautiful piece Ho Ling! I loved it!
> 
> And may I say it is wonderful to see a woman both orchestrating and conducting, to produce such a competent result. I hope there is more in store for you and that you get some good exposure from this.





synergy543 said:


> Very nice composition and orchestration. The subtle orchestration and the way you hold back make it most effective. Nice players too!
> I hope to hear more from you soon.





Arbee said:


> Congrats, a rich blend of influences and great maturity in your orchestration, loved it!





Kony said:


> Excellent piece, I enjoyed this very much. Thank you for sharing!



Thank you all for your kind words!


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## Jono (Sep 2, 2017)

Bravo


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## NoamL (Sep 2, 2017)

NoamL said:


> That was incredible. Your orchestration is so good.



@holing , I've listened to this at least eight times since  trying to think of anything more critical/constructive to say! Let none of this detract from the fact I think this piece is incredible!

There is a slight pop in the track at 0:23.5. It sounds like it's from the cello mics. And it's also in the youtube video so it's not a soundcloud artifact. Easy to fix!

I feel the tutti orchestration with the trumpets that you use twice, definitely works but it doesn't have the same amazingly good clarity like the orchestration throughout the rest of the piece. I'm very unsure of any suggestions to offer, however. But a very good HW mixer once told me the color qualities of the instruments are most distinct and clear between _mp_ and _mf_. And ever since hearing that I noticed in John Williams scores that he marks_ f_ quite rarely, even when the music feels loud it's really not.


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## Hywel (Sep 3, 2017)

Delightful to listen to, I am not worthy enough to comment further.

Hywel


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## holing (Sep 3, 2017)

Jono said:


> Bravo


Thank you!


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## holing (Sep 3, 2017)

NoamL said:


> @holing , I've listened to this at least eight times since  trying to think of anything more critical/constructive to say! Let none of this detract from the fact I think this piece is incredible!
> 
> There is a slight pop in the track at 0:23.5. It sounds like it's from the cello mics. And it's also in the youtube video so it's not a soundcloud artifact. Easy to fix!
> 
> I feel the tutti orchestration with the trumpets that you use twice, definitely works but it doesn't have the same amazingly good clarity like the orchestration throughout the rest of the piece. I'm very unsure of any suggestions to offer, however. But a very good HW mixer once told me the color qualities of the instruments are most distinct and clear between _mp_ and _mf_. And ever since hearing that I noticed in John Williams scores that he marks_ f_ quite rarely, even when the music feels loud it's really not.



Hey Noam, thanks so much for your kind words!
I noticed the pop and tried fixing it with RX but couldn't get rid of all of them. I think I should look into any other ways to fix that again.
I agree with you that brass isn't something that I am most familiar with. But I should definitely pay more attention to that in the future! 
Thank you for your constructive comments. I really appreciate it


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## holing (Sep 3, 2017)

Hywel said:


> Delightful to listen to, I am not worthy enough to comment further.
> 
> Hywel



Thank you Hywei!


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## ctsai89 (Sep 3, 2017)

Very very nice piece @holing !

THe orchestration was calculated really well. I hear some Joe Hisaishi, and John Williams influence. Wished it was me who wrote your piece instead


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## Paul Thomson (Sep 5, 2017)

What a beautiful piece of music - congratulations!


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## SillyMidOn (Sep 5, 2017)

Very well done!


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## dannymc (Sep 5, 2017)

this is beautiful. imo you've a future career for sure if you want it. 

Danny


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## J-M (Sep 5, 2017)

Absolutely beautiful...I love the sound of AIR studios. Thumbs up!


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## GuillermoC (Sep 6, 2017)

holing said:


> This was part of our graduation project for the master's degree, I had to compose a 3-min piece for a 60 piece orchestra and I orchestrated, prepared the scores and did the final mix and mastering. It was surely an incredible experience. I had the opportunity to conduct the orchestra, it was a bit terrifying but also an experience that is so surreal and memorable! AIR Studios sounds really amazing. You can check out my video if you're interested to see how the recording session was like:




Wow! It's amazing, the experience has had to be incredible. Congratulations for the piece, it's beautiful!


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## holing (Sep 6, 2017)

ctsai89 said:


> Very very nice piece @holing !
> 
> THe orchestration was calculated really well. I hear some Joe Hisaishi, and John Williams influence. Wished it was me who wrote your piece instead



Thank you! And you're right I'm a big fan of Joe Hisaishi and John Williams! They have always been my inspiration


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## holing (Sep 6, 2017)

paulthomson said:


> What a beautiful piece of music - congratulations!





SillyMidOn said:


> Very well done!





dannymc said:


> this is beautiful. imo you've a future career for sure if you want it.
> 
> Danny





MrLinssi said:


> Absolutely beautiful...I love the sound of AIR studios. Thumbs up!



Thank you!!! 



MrLinssi said:


> Absolutely beautiful...I love the sound of AIR studios. Thumbs up!



AIR sounds absolutely amazing! I especially love how the strings sound in the room


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## Anze Rozman (Sep 7, 2017)

This was magnificent! Congratulations! I love your woodwind work! I can definitely hear the Desplat influences! Hello from a fellow Berklee Valencia alumni!  
@Sebastianmu you remember correctly! Thank you


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## Dave Connor (Sep 9, 2017)

Terrific! Expertly done.


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## Kubler (Sep 9, 2017)

I'm an absolute fan of your orchestration during the whole first minute. Lush and light strings, agile flute, pretty piano, not mentioning the sweetness of the melody. Congrats to you and the musicians. My playlist just got longer of three minutes


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## holing (Sep 10, 2017)

Anze Rozman said:


> This was magnificent! Congratulations! I love your woodwind work! I can definitely hear the Desplat influences! Hello from a fellow Berklee Valencia alumni!
> @Sebastianmu you remember correctly! Thank you




Anze, thank you so much! Your piece is terrific!!! 



Dave Connor said:


> Terrific! Expertly done.



Thank you Dave!



Kubler said:


> I'm an absolute fan of your orchestration during the whole first minute. Lush and light strings, agile flute, pretty piano, not mentioning the sweetness of the melody. Congrats to you and the musicians. My playlist just got longer of three minutes



Kubler thank you! I'm really glad that you like it


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## Hannes_F (Sep 10, 2017)

Maestro1972 said:


> but I would love to see the score for this.



And I would love to see a film with this


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## LamaRose (Sep 27, 2017)

Maybe it's the woodwinds, but I hear the spirit of Michael Kaman in this wonderfully mystical piece. A breath of fresh air and light in our rather somber world.


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## holing (Sep 27, 2017)

Maestro1972 said:


> Really enjoyed this...absolutely wonderful! Congratulations. Hope this isn't inappropriate or too forward, but I would love to see the score for this.



Message me and I can send you a score.



Hannes_F said:


> And I would love to see a film with this



Thank you! 



LamaRose said:


> Maybe it's the woodwinds, but I hear the spirit of Michael Kaman in this wonderfully mystical piece. A breath of fresh air and light in our rather somber world.



Lama, thanks for your kind words!


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## Kubler (Oct 3, 2017)

holing said:


> Message me and I can send you a score.



If it's not to risque, I'd love to take a look at the score too. Do you mind if I message you as well ?


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## ranaprathap (Oct 3, 2017)

Nicely done. I enjoyed listening to it.


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## holing (Oct 3, 2017)

Kubler said:


> If it's not to risque, I'd love to take a look at the score too. Do you mind if I message you as well ?



Yes sure! Please PM me!
And for anyone else who's interested in seeing the score, send me a message!



ranaprathap said:


> Nicely done. I enjoyed listening to it.



Thank you!


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## Nmargiotta (Oct 3, 2017)

Fantastic orchestration, beautiful piece. Because you wore just about every hat on this, including mixing/ master as you mentioned (bravo) how long did this take you from concept to final master/delivery? 

Really nice work!


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## holing (Oct 3, 2017)

Nmargiotta said:


> Fantastic orchestration, beautiful piece. Because you wore just about every hat on this, including mixing/ master as you mentioned (bravo) how long did this take you from concept to final master/delivery?
> 
> Really nice work!



Hi Nick, thank you for your kind words! It took me approximately a month for the whole process (but I was also working on some other projects in the meantime, so it wasn't full time working on that). I spent around a week to come up with musical ideas and drafted it on paper, then I spent around another week to orchestrate the music and to prepare the score. Then we were in London for around a week to record. After I got my recording back, I spent another 3-4 days to mix and master the music. I took my time in the whole process because this project means a lot to me. I revised it for multiple times until I felt my ideas were thoroughly developed, absorbed, digested and revised. It was also a lot of fun to do everything on my own. It truly is a great learning experience!


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## Nesciochamp (Oct 11, 2017)

Bravo! 
So much detail and really nice dynamics! Nothing beats the real thing I guess . 

Wonderful job


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## calebfaith (Oct 11, 2017)

Beautiful!


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