# Epic Orchestral Demo - LSO recording



## Robin (Jul 9, 2011)

Hi everybody,

I thought I'd share a cue consisting of excerpts of a composition that I wrote last year which was recorded by the LSO.

http://soundcloud.com/robin-hoffmann/ep ... stral-demo

Any comments are highly appreciated!

Robin


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## Tanuj Tiku (Jul 9, 2011)

Hey Robin,

Excellent writing! LSO is lovely as always. 


Really enjoyed listening to it. Was this for a movie?


Felt a bit like Korngold - in a good way! Excellent stuff.


Best,

Tanuj.


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## germancomponist (Jul 9, 2011)

vibrato @ Sat Jul 09 said:


> Hey Robin,
> 
> Excellent writing! LSO is lovely as always.
> 
> ...



+1 

And: Cool writing!


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## Hannes_F (Jul 9, 2011)

Puts a big broad smile on my face. :mrgreen: That's what I call orchestra music o-[][]-o o=< o/~

OK that vibrato is special ...


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## dcoscina (Jul 9, 2011)

Nice job Robin. Love that Ravelian Daphnis et Chloe styled intro. It grabs you immediately. The rest is just superb. LSO is killer but the credit should go to your writing and orchestration skills first and foremost. I guess you used Sibelius 6 to compose this? Did you ever mock it up or just composed straight into Sibelius and didn't worry about the realism?

This is a terrific piece. So exciting!

EDIT- this just goes to show that not all of the compositional genius' are in Hollywood film. Lots of talent on par with anyone in LA throughout the world. Would be terrific to hear more of this in mainstream film these days, if at least to provide some kind of contrast to 90% of what we get these days. Variety is the spice of life!


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## David Story (Jul 9, 2011)

Thrilling music, lots of tunes, variety and virtuoso technique. Kudos to you, the LSO and engineers. This is a team effort.
How did you hire the orchestra?


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## Robin (Jul 9, 2011)

Thanks alot everybody, I feel very flattered! It was a real blast working with the LSO and they're just so great and humble people, I was having a wonderful chat with some of the musicians.

@vibrato - This was not for a movie but a concert work that I've written but pretty much in a filmic style as you can hear 

@Hannes_F - Thanks, I tried to cut out all passages with the infamous vibrato 

@dcosina - I composed it straight away into Sibelius, fortunately I didn't have to deliver a mockup, that would've gotten me quite into some trouble with some of the writing 

@David Story - I didn't hire the orchestra, I was just commissioned to write this piece. But you can book the orchestra as you can book any other orchestra.

Thanks again for all these kind comments! Really appreciated!

Robin


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## mducharme (Jul 9, 2011)

Brilliant! I really enjoyed this.

When you say you composed straight into Sibelius, did you sketch it out on paper first? What is your working process for something like this? I am really curious to find out.

Thanks!


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## Robin (Jul 9, 2011)

Thanks mducharme!

Actually, I sketched only a few things but had an overall concept and direction in mind. Basically, I wrote it straight into Sibelius without much "preparation" but did a few revisions afterwards.

Thanks again!


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## dcoscina (Jul 9, 2011)

Robin @ Sat Jul 09 said:


> Thanks mducharme!
> 
> Actually, I sketched only a few things but had an overall concept and direction in mind. Basically, I wrote it straight into Sibelius without much "preparation" but did a few revisions afterwards.
> 
> Thanks again!



Robin, just a couple more questions:

1. Did you use the internal sounds of Sibelius or just use piano sounds for everything so as not to distract from composing? I heard John Adams does that with DP.

2. Could you show us a couple examples of the printed score? Would love to see how you did some of this stuff!

David


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## Robin (Jul 9, 2011)

1. I use the built in Sibelius sounds and try to imagine the rest  

2. Unfortunately, I don't have the publishing rights of this piece, so I can't post any score sheet. Sorry.

Robin


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## madbulk (Jul 9, 2011)

That was great, Robin. Congratulations.


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## mverta (Jul 9, 2011)

Robin -

Wow, love the sound of the LSO, huh?

My critique on your piece would have to be that it's got a lot of "stuff" in it... a lot of Big Sounding Things, but I can't lock onto any clear subjects. I was sadly missing any anchors to guide me as to where I was, where'd I been, and where I was going. The bits at 3:45+ seemed like they were going there, but never quite gelled, I feel. I know you said this was excerpts... perhaps longer segments from the original would've clarified that.

Mix-wise, of course there's no comparison with a virtual template  Though that biting solo violin at times I thought was sort of... curious. (?)

In any case, kudos for conceiving this on paper, and congrats on some time with our dear players across the pond.


_Mike


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## schatzus (Jul 9, 2011)

Beautiful! Excellent work. What a pleasure it must be to have the LSO perform your work. (Real legato!!)


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## Robin (Jul 10, 2011)

@mverta - Thanks for the critique - all these sections are part from a larger composition which I couldn't post in its entirety due to several reasons and of course some transitions are very harsh and out of context.

@schatzus - Thanks alot! Yeah, the LSO is an incredible orchestra!


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## Alex Temple (Jul 10, 2011)

Great stuff! Working with the LSO must have been thrilling. Is there eventually going to be a way for us to hear the whole piece?


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## sherief83 (Jul 10, 2011)

Robin,
I have been listening to works for a while now and remember your posts back in Young Composers. Your very impressive dude! and this is no exception! Glad to see you here too! Hope we hear alot more from you!


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## Robin (Jul 11, 2011)

@Alex Temple: Thanks alot! Unfortunately there's not a decently mixed complete recording avaialble at the moment, sorry.

@sherief83: Thanks! Have been registered here for quite a while but not really an active poster 

Robin


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## DLR (Jul 11, 2011)

Gruß Robin,

Really wonderful work on your Soundcloud page. Always good to be inspired first thing in the day.

Vielen dank for sharing.


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## Pochflyboy (Jul 11, 2011)

very nice work!


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## rpaillot (Jul 11, 2011)

WONDERFUL composition.

But I really didn't like the solo violin layered on top of the strings section almost all the time. it kinda ruined the whole thing and made it cheesy...


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## Robin (Jul 11, 2011)

Thanks!

@rpaillot - there was no solo violin layered on top apart of some very short spots where you hear a solo violin with a dedicated different part. 

Robin


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## Frederick Russ (Jul 11, 2011)

Nice work Robin, interesting writing. Can't beat a room full of talented live players especially the LSO. I like your mix a lot.


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## tumeninote (Jul 12, 2011)

Very nice! I'm following you now on SC. Thank you for sharing it.


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## Robin (Jul 13, 2011)

@Frederick - Thanks! Indeed, they're marvellous players and incredibly nice people.

@tumeninote - Thanks!


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## Mike Marino (Jul 13, 2011)

Wow Robin! Fantastic!


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## naturepiano (Jul 13, 2011)

Congratulations!! Great work!!
How did it take for you to write this piece??


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## Robin (Jul 14, 2011)

@Mike Marino: Thanks!

@naturepiano: I worked for about 4 months on the piece, however with a few breaks.


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## TheUnfinished (Jul 14, 2011)

Great work Robin. 

Nice to hear excerpts that are mostly without that crazy violinist!

Cheers,
Matt


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## Robin (Jul 14, 2011)

@TheUnfinished - Haha, looks like you know the whole story behind this


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