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Hans Zimmer Strings, a year later...almost

Hi all,

Here is the final piece I wrote in this series. Did something unique with sound design at the beginning. Again, all HZS with a touch of Chamber Strings layered on top.

Thank you all!





I think this is a very pretty piece of music and I enjoyed it. However I wasn't a fan of the "Sound Design" element. I think it distracted from the beauty of the mood you set. Of course I' may be in the minority in this opinion as HZ is very popular and he loves to use that type of element.
 
I think this is a very pretty piece of music and I enjoyed it. However I wasn't a fan of the "Sound Design" element. I think it distracted from the beauty of the mood you set. Of course I' may be in the minority in this opinion as HZ is very popular and he loves to use that type of element.
I largely agree with this assessment. I'm not bugged by the sound design element itself—it's quite striking in its own way and I'm rather taken by its concreteness here—so much as that it doesn't feel to me like it's been fully integrated into the composition. It returns, and so there is a play at integration, but the sound design has no real compositional consequences. It feels to me like it has simply been layered onto another, quite lovely piece. But why this particular layering? But then I might just be coming at it from the wrong angle.
 
I largely agree with this assessment. I'm not bugged by the sound design element itself—it's quite striking in its own way and I'm rather taken by its concreteness here—so much as that it doesn't feel to me like it's been fully integrated into the composition. It returns, and so there is a play at integration, but the sound design has no real compositional consequences. It feels to me like it has simply been layered onto another, quite lovely piece. But why this particular layering? But then I might just be coming at it from the wrong angle.

Totally fair! It would probably make more sense with the visual that went with it. I wrote it for a Good Friday video and the sound was created to sound like the dragging of a cross and hammer and nail hitting harshly. Appreciate the kind words and totally see yours and @Seasharp point! Thank you!
 
Totally fair! It would probably make more sense with the visual that went with it. I wrote it for a Good Friday video and the sound was created to sound like the dragging of a cross and hammer and nail hitting harshly. Appreciate the kind words and totally see yours and @Seasharp point! Thank you!

Actually your description makes perfect sense. I could see how that sound would work accompanying the action you described.
 
I feel i can get solid results using just the longs and layering a legato patch from the chamber strings. I do like to use the legato patches, but takes a little bit more programming than normal. Which... i believe makes the finished product worth it, at least for me. However i understand how for some, that extra effort can hinder creativity.

Hi! Could you please expand on this a bit? I'm considering purchasing Hans Zimmer strings and would like to know why the legato patches need more programming than normal.
 
That's funny - I was listening to this as I was reading through the comments. As I read through, and hearing the first 30 seconds or so, I too, like jbuhler felt the sound design didn't really fit; then I read your comments about the broader context of the piece before I got to the 2nd section where the sound design comes in again, and then it made total sense. Interesting transformation of the imagery in real time as I listened to the piece! Very nice work, sounds great. I really liked how the solo female voice sits in the background, and doesn't overwhelm it.
 
Hi! Could you please expand on this a bit? I'm considering purchasing Hans Zimmer strings and would like to know why the legato patches need more programming than normal.

Hey @AJHnob

It really comes down to the first starting note and transitions with the legato. Some notes sound great (If memory serves, the Viola sounds the best and the 60 Violins), but often when I am writing, I want to start soft in the note and the legato patches, for whatever reason, start much louder, regardless of the dynamic or velocity. So you really almost have to have the dynamics and expression at 0 for the beginning of a phrase, and be active with dynamics and expression throughout a phrase to take that edge off during transitions (if it happens). The legato in general just requires some extra programming to make sure things sound good, on time, etc. Hoping this gets fixed in future updates but I'm being serious, I haven't NEEDED it. All my demos are just the long notes, so as you listen, you can probably judge for yourself if it was something you like or not.

I have said it before, the strings are great! They require more work... but for me, I like the extra work cause I feel like I created something unique to my tastes.

Hope that helps... if you would like some legato examples I would sure be happy to send those to you! I know the stress of buying libraries and wanting to make sure it works for your needs.
 
That's funny - I was listening to this as I was reading through the comments. As I read through, and hearing the first 30 seconds or so, I too, like jbuhler felt the sound design didn't really fit; then I read your comments about the broader context of the piece before I got to the 2nd section where the sound design comes in again, and then it made total sense. Interesting transformation of the imagery in real time as I listened to the piece! Very nice work, sounds great. I really liked how the solo female voice sits in the background, and doesn't overwhelm it.

Thank you @Garry! I should post it without the sound design, although it might not have the same effect once a person knows the purpose behind it.
 
Hey @AJHnob

It really comes down to the first starting note and transitions with the legato. Some notes sound great (If memory serves, the Viola sounds the best and the 60 Violins), but often when I am writing, I want to start soft in the note and the legato patches, for whatever reason, start much louder, regardless of the dynamic or velocity. So you really almost have to have the dynamics and expression at 0 for the beginning of a phrase, and be active with dynamics and expression throughout a phrase to take that edge off during transitions (if it happens). The legato in general just requires some extra programming to make sure things sound good, on time, etc. Hoping this gets fixed in future updates but I'm being serious, I haven't NEEDED it. All my demos are just the long notes, so as you listen, you can probably judge for yourself if it was something you like or not.

I have said it before, the strings are great! They require more work... but for me, I like the extra work cause I feel like I created something unique to my tastes.

Hope that helps... if you would like some legato examples I would sure be happy to send those to you! I know the stress of buying libraries and wanting to make sure it works for your needs.

Some examples would be great! Thanks!
 
Some examples would be great! Thanks!

Here you go!

I did 4 examples of long and legato for RH Cellos and LH Violins. Each with Close,Tree,Amb,Gallery and Spot mics on. There are 4 examples for each: Long, Legato and then Long and Legato again with both Dynamics AND Expression controlled. The first two examples of each is the melody line with JUST dynamics being controlled. I wanted to show that with this library, more than others, the importance of using both dynamics and expression. The first two lines of just dynamics are the exact same CC info for the long and then legato. Then examples 3 (long again) and 4 (legato again), I fine tuned the Dynamics and Expression. They are completely different as you can see from the picture (just a picture of the RH Cellos). The violins are similar CC info, but did made a few other little tweaks with the CC info, but not much.

Let me know if you have more questions. The 4th example of legato took the most time to finesse and make sound nice. Which is what I have been communicating to others all along. I could probably spend more time on it but... I have a 5 and 3 year old dying for my attention and wanted to get this up :)

All in all, I think if you spend the time, you can get great results. Having said that, I JUST noticed a huge update sitting in my Spitfire Manger (185 GB?!? is that right?!?). so perhaps that might make some big changes with the legato? Never mind... its 1 GB.



uc
 
So I just installed the update 1.2.7 and bounced the exact same section. The legato, to me, was a lot more playable and sounds more fluid in the examples... again, spent like 1 min on it cause of the kiddos, but here is the audio example and then I will come back to it when I have time and listen deeper. :)

 
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