# Orchestral mockup



## Maxime Luft (Nov 4, 2016)

Hey everybody, just finished a soundtrack composed for a short movie.

One keyword while doing that was "onwards"; it still had to be done without becoming neither too big nor epic.

Any suggestions or comments would be highly appreciated.


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## Maxime Luft (Nov 5, 2016)

Bump !


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## marclawsonmusic (Nov 5, 2016)

Hi there, what kind of feedback are you looking for?

The track reminds me of Game of Thrones a bit. I noticed mostly strings as the orchestral element - at least I didn't hear any other parts of the orchestra in there. Are you interested in feedback on composition? Orchestration? Mix? MIDI programming? Something else?

What kind of film was the music used in?

Cheers,
Marc


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## Maxime Luft (Nov 6, 2016)

marclawsonmusic said:


> Hi there, what kind of feedback are you looking for?
> 
> The track reminds me of Game of Thrones a bit. I noticed mostly strings as the orchestral element - at least I didn't hear any other parts of the orchestra in there. Are you interested in feedback on composition? Orchestration? Mix? MIDI programming? Something else?
> 
> ...



Hey Marc, thanks for asking. I'd like to know some of the community's thoughts on the overall sound of the mix / EQ (especially bass) / realism / panning.

The film isn't telling any kind of story, just presenting a society's projects related to various art forms.

I by the way don't expect anyone to listen to the whole cue, just something like the first 30 seconds would be ok.


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## marclawsonmusic (Nov 6, 2016)

My 2 cents...

I don't have any comments on the mix or the EQ... I think the mix works fine (I got the main point of your idea and wasn't distracted by boominess in the low-end or anything like that), but I am not really a mixing engineer, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. 

'Realism' is a weird term around here because many of us no longer try for that. Everything we are doing with samples is trickery and even the best mockups don't come close to the sound of a live orchestra. But, it is a good idea to strive for good orchestration and good programming so the magician behind the curtain isn't noticed too much. 

To that end, I would say the string programming could use some work... it is a bit jumpy in places. Almost as if the strings are trying to be louder than they normally would be... because there are no other parts of the orchestra to strengthen those lines and make them 'louder' (or more forceful). You are trying to cover a lot of ground with just strings - melody, harmony, rhythm, countermelodies, etc. Sometimes it almost sounds like more than the usual 5 string voices are being used... maybe I'm wrong, but those strings are doing a lot! Normally, you'd have brass and winds to help fill out those harmonies and help with countermelodies and beefing up those main lines.

The more I listened, the more I liked the tune... I think it is a nice mix with the keyboards, pads and synths. You also seem to have a good grasp of harmony and are hearing some nice 'film-music sounding' countermelodies / chord tones. So, I would just work on the string programming and the orchestration.

Hope this helps,
Marc


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## Maxime Luft (Nov 8, 2016)

marclawsonmusic said:


> My 2 cents...
> 
> I don't have any comments on the mix or the EQ... I think the mix works fine (I got the main point of your idea and wasn't distracted by boominess in the low-end or anything like that), but I am not really a mixing engineer, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
> 
> ...




I appreciate your thoughtful response a lot.
You're perfectly right concerning strings, there are actually:
VI, VII (playing mostly countermelodies or following the theme one octave below), spiccs high (VIII?), violas (sustain patch, filling the center and underling the harmonies with some nice chords), celli I, celli II (spiccatos), celli III (doubling the violas, -8vb) and a small basses section, which I prefer to put in the center.

Well, definitely "a lot". I had that idea in mind before making the composition actually sound.
Some horns / trumpets and slightly present during those few fff moments, but I agree, could have been more.
Especially right after listening to John Barry's Out of Africa main theme. What a nice soft brassy tone there !

It clearly differs from my usual nasty, aggressive low end brass section ...
So I'll definitely keep your thoughts in mind next time I start something similar. Thanks again, Marc.


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