# Dragon Racing - mockup journey (HTTYD2) - Blakus



## Blakus (Nov 5, 2017)

Hi fellow midi manipulators!

Once a year I *usually* do a Star Wars mockup to compare with previous years. It's fun to look back and see where I may have (or not) progressed. This year however, for various reasons , I decided I needed a break from Star Wars, and decided to go with one of my other favourite influences!

The purpose for doing this is solely for my own learning, but I thought it might be fun to share a little along the way. I'm mainly trying to improve mixing, balance and midi wizardry techniques throughout the process. Rather than trying to emulate the actual soundtrack mix, I'm just aiming for a pleasing mix using the samples I have. I plan to do a video walkthrough when I eventually finish. This is still very much a work in progress, but feel free to share any thoughts/criticism!

Things I've learned already so far:

John Powell's orchestration is lean but mean! I naturally over-orchestrate :(
Mocking up those "in between" articulations is not fun. Not quite a short, not quite a long. The area in the middle there is hugely used with so much variation, our default articulations just don't cut it.
It's so easy to use excessively high mod wheel data, keep it under control, Blakus!
to be continued...
Note: I'm leaving most percussion and other misc elements out for now.

DL Link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jmsy6yh1rez6c8y/HTTYD_Blakus6.mp3?dl=0


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## Saxer (Nov 5, 2017)

Sounds really great! Looking forward to your video walkthrough!


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## Killiard (Nov 5, 2017)

Brilliant!!


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## Kony (Nov 5, 2017)

Great mock-up! Looking forward to the video walkthrough


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## wpc982 (Nov 5, 2017)

Sounds very good.


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## Nils Neumann (Nov 5, 2017)

Great mockup! What libraries did you use? The brass is pretty damn close


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## babylonwaves (Nov 5, 2017)

@Blakus sounds really good! note that the middle part has a lot more shuffle in the original version.


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## jonathanparham (Nov 5, 2017)

@Blakus wonderful. it worked, my daughter asked if School of Dragons was on TV lol


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## novaburst (Nov 5, 2017)

Killiard said:


> Brilliant!!


+1 cant wait for the completion and vid.


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## Symfoniq (Nov 5, 2017)

Fantastic!


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## Blakus (Nov 5, 2017)

Thanks all!


babylonwaves said:


> @Blakus sounds really good! note that the middle part has a lot more shuffle in the original version.



Great point! I tend to fixate on balance and tone and totally missed this  Thanks


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## wbacer (Nov 6, 2017)

Great work @Blakus. If anyone else is interested in transcribing "Dragon Racing", you can download a free PDF copy of the full score at https://www.reddit.com/r/CinemaScores/new/?count=75&after=t3_6pof3c


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## fixxer49 (Nov 6, 2017)

Kony said:


> Great mock-up! Looking forward to the video walkthrough


agreed! +1


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## South Thames (Nov 6, 2017)

This is really awesome -- the brass sound amazing, and the woodwind are also really convincing in the kind of passage where they often aren't in mockups. Great work! Would love to know what libraries you used.


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## handz (Nov 7, 2017)

Sounds really amazing, this is enough for me


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## Kony (Apr 29, 2018)

Blakus said:


> I plan to do a video walkthrough when I eventually finish.


Bump


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## KEM (Apr 29, 2018)

You’re a beast, Blakus!! Been watching you since your Hobbit trailer breakdown years ago, I’m definitely looking forward to the video walkthrough for this!


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## Jetzer (Apr 29, 2018)

Sounds really good!


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## Divico (Apr 29, 2018)

Amazing! Really interested in the walkthrough


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## Mayur Hegde (May 4, 2018)

Nice..I am at the very beginner stages of mockup right now. Still getting a hang of how things work in mockup. This sounds great. Inspiring.


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## desert (May 5, 2018)

<3


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