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A Tribute to the Two Steps From Hell music.

Grim_Universe

Active Member
Well, I think have to tell you a short story about the process of creation of this track. Originally I just composed music for audiojungle, and sometimes I like what I do, as in this case. So I started to orchestrate this thing and actually remembered one of the Two Steps From Hell pieces, which is called "Heart of Courage". Well, I listened to it and then I understood that the time has come to push my audioengineering skills to the limit :D So, when I orchestrated it, I literally drew CC for EACH note, and each melodic and harmonic line performed by at least 3 different sample libraries.. Ha-ha. And the mixing process ofcourse.. I figured out a lot of useful stuff to make an orchestra to sound huge. So the piece is simple, but the amount of work I invested in it is tremendous.

 
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I can definitely hear the similarities in the production! Impressive. I would say the original has a touch more warmth perhaps, but you have certainly achieved a similar sound.

Audiojungle! Wow, I hope it makes a lot for you there. Surprising to hear something of this quality on a royalty free site (and I mean no offense, it just sounds to me like it could be with the big trailer music guys).

I've listened to your piece about 5 times so far. I have always loved the original and the sound he was able to create. Thanks for sharing.
 
@patrick76 thank you! To me the mixing process is a creative process too, so I love it as much as composing.. Well, sometimes I concentrate on composing more, sometimes on mixing, it depends.
I always felt injustice that my simple tracks sound like shit, but 2SFH or other big trailer guys tracks sound very nice. And I think that I took a step closer to that sound :)
My relations with AJ is very complicated and I definitely don't get any real attention. I think it is the matter of time when I'll feel that the time has come to move on and to start working with serious companies.
The real problem here is that I don't think that I wanted to be a trailer composer. I just feel that right now this is the most realistic way to achieve something.. The film industry is very poorly developed in my country and it is just impossible to earn money doing "indie" films. And with my methods I just can't imagine how I can spend one or two months doing nice soundtrack and earning nothing at all.
 
Thanks, guys.
@Guido Negraszus actually I just invested a lot of time in it and discovered how to mix a reverb properly.

Hey Eugene,
Man that is truely extremly loud and a bold sound. In that regards I have to take my hat of mister. Very well done. Although it is very loud you still got the clarity in the mix. The sound is very spacious at times but it fits in my opinion very well to this kind of composition. I actually can´t critic anything due to the production level here, it is extremely well done. A lot of subbass though where I actually think if that is a bit too much? My speakers in my studio handle that, but I was a bit afraid to turn the knob really up..You got definitely an excellent sound impression of that 2steps sound imo. Any insight how you handled the production of that? Just interested because of the massive lowend.
 
Superb sound, I guess everything production-wise is just right.

You should honestly start producing this way with your own themes now:) The melody is for me too close to "heart of courage", but it was surely helpful to compare very quickly... Again, well done !
 
Christ this sounds so good. Just as good if not better than the music in a lot of trailer libraries today. What exactly were some of your tricks to getting your track sounding so huge if I may ask? Your track is impressively loud while still maintaining clarity and punch.
 
Thank you, guys!
Sorry for the late reply, I was busy.
@AlexanderSchiborr I used the trailer brass library "horde" instrument which sounds like a distorted tuba + cimbasso + subbass to strengthen the low end. I have 3 contrabasses (LASS, CSS, Spitfire) there too. And limiters do a huge amount of work correcting drums and basses. I have EQ too to make it just a little bit easier, you know?
@Saxer yes. The secret is in the exicitng the highs to make them a little bit distorted. Natural clicks and crackles of a percussion smooth out then and drums start to feel just right. Then ofcourse goes compression\MB compression, EQing and so on. It works very well with a real kind of percussion, because I really doubt that hybrid type of stuff requires any exciting..
By the way, you can notice that percussion doesn't sound distorted at the beginning of the track. I used automation to turn on the exciter at the climax part.
 
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Thank you, guys!
Sorry for the late reply, I was busy.
@AlexanderSchiborr I used the trailer brass library "horde" instrument which sounds like a distorted tuba + cimbasso + subbass to strengthen the low end. I have 3 contrabasses (LASS, CSS, Spitfire) there too. And limiters do a huge amount of work correcting drums and basses. I have EQ too to make it just a little bit easier, you know?
@Saxer yes. The secret is in the exicitng the highs to make them a little bit distorted. Natural clicks and crackles of a percussion smooth out then and drums start to feel just right. Then ofcourse goes compression\MB compression, EQing and so on. It works very well with a real kind of percussion, because I really doubt that hybrid type of stuff requires any exciting..
By the way, you can notice that percussion doesn't sound distorted at the beginning of the track. I used automation to turn on the exciter at the climax part.
May I ask how you did your reverb for the track?
 
@Saxer yes. The secret is in the exicitng the highs to make them a little bit distorted. Natural clicks and crackles of a percussion smooth out then and drums start to feel just right. Then ofcourse goes compression\MB compression, EQing and so on. It works very well with a real kind of percussion, because I really doubt that hybrid type of stuff requires any exciting..
By the way, you can notice that percussion doesn't sound distorted at the beginning of the track. I used automation to turn on the exciter at the climax part.
Thanks for sharing that info! I'll give it a try...
 
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