# The Jedi Steps - John Williams Mockup



## Neifion (May 1, 2016)

Every once in a while I like to mock up a John Williams cue for study and practice, and this time I decided to do my favorite theme from The Force Awakens.

http://kekomusic.net/track/1017096/the-jedi-steps-star-wars-the-force-awakens-sample-mockup?feature_id=154326

Comments and critique are welcome!


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## RiffWraith (May 1, 2016)

Wow - that sounds great! Too bad you didn't write it. 

Two things that bother me:

1) I am hearing some violins "bleed" into the right side of the stereo spectrum in the beginning. Bleed really isn't the right word; that would imply that you should hear the violins only from the left, which, of course, is not the case. Not sure what the orchestration is, but it sounds a little funky.

2) The cymbal @ 1:58 - WTF is going on there?  

The celli in the beginning sound really good. What are they from?

I have said it before, and I will say it again. Even tho this still does not sound like a real orchestra, this mockup just goes to show you how good samples can sound when you have a properly orchestrated piece of music. It all starts with the orchestration.

Good job - something to be proud of! 

Cheers.


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## Neifion (May 1, 2016)

Hey Jeff,

Thanks for the critique! I wish I could write this good. 

1. The beginning is 1st Violins, 2nd Violins, and Violas in unison. So what you're hearing on the right is the violas. That's how it's written in the score - sounds fine to me, but yeah, the violas should probably be softer in deference to the violins.

2. Ask JW.  It's in the score, as well as in the original track at exactly 1:58. Soft cymbal swell. To my ears, it sounds pretty close to how it sits in the real version. Maybe my ears are just shot though. 

The celli melody is Soaring Strings layered with a touch of Spitfire Solo Strings for detail.


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## marclawsonmusic (May 2, 2016)

Wow! Sounds great, Mathew!


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## patrick76 (May 2, 2016)

Great mockup. Agree with Riff about how good you can get samples to sound with good orchestration - and a skilled mockup artist such as yourself


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## Jdiggity1 (May 2, 2016)

Good stuff!


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## prodigalson (May 2, 2016)

well done! what did you use for the violin texture in the beginning? The G minor shimmering pattern

Symphonic Sphere or the like?


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## Simon Ravn (May 2, 2016)

Great mockup and by far my favourite theme from the new score. A pity it was only used once in the movie, but hopefully it will be developed further for the next film. Such a powerful impact it had on the scene it was written for.


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## Neifion (May 2, 2016)

Thank you for the kind words everyone!

@prodigalson , I used Sable and Mural as the score required trills from Maj 2nd all the way to Perfect 5th (!). Sable and Mural cover Maj 3rd and Perfect 4th trills, but not Perfect 5ths, so for that I used the Sable Fast Legato and it turned out pretty seamless in the end I think.


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## prodigalson (May 2, 2016)

Neifion said:


> I used Sable and Mural as the score required trills from Maj 2nd all the way to Perfect 5th (!). Sable and Mural cover Maj 3rd and Perfect 4th trills, but not Perfect 5ths, so for that I used the Sable Fast Legato and it turned out pretty seamless in the end I think.



Ah! excellent. I'll be reaching for sables intervallic trills more often now!


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## Steve Martin (May 2, 2016)

A really great mockup here. Sounds amazing! Would you mind sharing the libraries you've used?
I see that you've mentioned some of the strings already - thanks for sharing that. What about the brass and woodwind, harp, percussion sounds in there. Would you be able to tell us more about those?

many thanks,

Steve


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## Neifion (May 2, 2016)

Hi Steve, sure thing!

Woodwinds: BML and CineWinds, BWW for some of the trills and runs
Brass: CineBrass
Percussion: Spitfire Perc
Harp: Spitfire Skaila Kanga
Piano: HZ Piano
Strings: Soaring Strings, Sable, Mural, Spitfire Solo Strings


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## dcoscina (May 2, 2016)

prodigalson said:


> Ah! excellent. I'll be reaching for sables intervallic trills more often now!


Orchestral Tools Sphere has trills with a perfect 5th interval- both strings as well as winds


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## Steve Martin (May 2, 2016)

Neifion said:


> Hi Steve, sure thing!
> 
> Woodwinds: BML and CineWinds, BWW for some of the trills and runs
> Brass: CineBrass
> ...



Hi there Neifion,

thanks for that info. Great!

Much appreciated.

best,

Steve


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## tack (May 2, 2016)

A wonderful example of how blending libraries can be so effective, and exposes the myth of "the room."


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## Ashermusic (May 3, 2016)

There are some things that are not to my taste but overall it is so good that I have no desire to nitpick it. Good work!


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## Neifion (May 3, 2016)

Ashermusic said:


> There are some things that are not to my taste but overall it is so good that I have no desire to nitpick it. Good work!



Yeah, a lot of things still bother me about it, but I had to tell myself to move on and get back to the grind.


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## ROCKYIII (May 24, 2016)

Can you be more specific on the strings? They're amazing with the strong attack at 1:54. Did you layer in soft spiccato or staccato from the soaring strings? Or did you layer in spiccato or staccato from the solo strings? What's your technique? Great great work!


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## passsacaglia (May 24, 2016)

DAYMN!!!!!!! The force is strong with this one!


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## Gabriel Oliveira (May 24, 2016)

ROCKYIII said:


> Did you layer in soft spiccato or staccato from the soaring strings?



Musical Sampling Soaring Strings only have legato and sustains.


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## ROCKYIII (May 24, 2016)

Gabriel Oliveira said:


> Musical Sampling Soaring Strings only have legato and sustains.


Gotcha. I haven't used it. I was thinking maybe a technique would be to layer in maybe a spiccato/staccato solo string instead of an full section patch to avoid build up of sections. Just wanted to get his process if he was willing to share it.


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## Malo (May 25, 2016)

Outstanding work, Mathew!

That Soaring Strings/Spitfire solo strings cello part in the beginning sounds great.
Also, the solo horn section starting at 1:38 is very well executed. Is that the Cinebrass Core or pro horn?

Unrelated: what is that player you are using for this track on your website? Custom?


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## CACKLAND (Jul 20, 2016)

Great work Neifion. *Thumbs Up!


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## Neifion (Jul 20, 2016)

Sorry for taking so long to get back to your questions, guys!

@ROCKYIII There are no shorts layered in to the attacks except for the celli/basses except at 1:01 and 1:05, where I layered in marcato attacks so that they "dug in". In general I just shaped the attacks using CC. I used Sable whenever there were divisi parts; unison were handled by Soaring Strings and Mural. Same concept for woods and brass: section patches for unison and solo patches to handle the individual players.

@Malo I used Cinebrass Pro for that horn. The player on my site is built in to the service by Bandzoogle (www.bandzoogle.com).

Thanks for the kind words guys, and I hope to find time to do another John Williams cue and improve my skills. Maybe Memoirs of a Geisha or Indiana Jones next.


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