New cinematic hybrid trailer style (how's my structure?)
- Thread starter dannymc
- Start date
jacobthestupendous
not that stupendous
Hey Danny! This is probably my favorite thing I've heard of yours so far. Nice work.
AlexanderSchiborr
Senior Member
Hi there,
Well, soundwise I think the mix is good. Structurally it is ok and still I think your track is one big repetition and so it lacks somehow of a real developement. With that repeating your initial statement all the time in strings, brass it is ok to do it for a while but then you have to bring something new which relates on the old but brings a new excitement. In addition there is no color and real texture change in your orchestration that much and no modulation, or even no chromatic modulation (for instance a cheap 1-2 halfsteps up) to create at least a bit excitement. Also the tempo doesn´t change over the track, it feels very static. I mean..well, that is my opinion and others might think that is cool, but I get bored because I miss those things mentioned before. Besides that I think your idea is in general cool, but you could enhance this track by overworking a few of that points./-Alex
Well, soundwise I think the mix is good. Structurally it is ok and still I think your track is one big repetition and so it lacks somehow of a real developement. With that repeating your initial statement all the time in strings, brass it is ok to do it for a while but then you have to bring something new which relates on the old but brings a new excitement. In addition there is no color and real texture change in your orchestration that much and no modulation, or even no chromatic modulation (for instance a cheap 1-2 halfsteps up) to create at least a bit excitement. Also the tempo doesn´t change over the track, it feels very static. I mean..well, that is my opinion and others might think that is cool, but I get bored because I miss those things mentioned before. Besides that I think your idea is in general cool, but you could enhance this track by overworking a few of that points./-Alex
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Nice development. I think you could benefit from some lighter rhythmic elements doing a 16th-note rhythm to add more to that driving force. Also, this is purely my own opinion but I think a few instrumental combinations were a bit strange - that's often not a bad thing, but for trailer music you intend to get licensed? Maybe listen to the big guys (RSM, TSFH, Audiomachine) and analyze what techniques they use in certain pieces. An example is at 0:50 - I found that the specific synth you used added to the percussion and then all stacked on top of the more cinematic piano feel introduced some odd timbral dissonance.
Dean
Senior Member
Hey ,great job Danny! had a very quick listen,..musically the idea works great,..might be worth exploring the theme/harmonies/counter melodies a little further,..that bras topline could be stronger,more defined? Structure is fine too.
The sound and production need more work,..you need more gravitas.power.struggle,...check that thread I started re epic v trailer sound/tone,...its all there re instrumentation (trumpets) /sound /tone.
D
Dean
Senior Member
quick note: as it is your track is more film score than trailer,..ie: the pizz strings/high perc /trumpets lack of massive perc.bottom end and struggle etc,..
ps: I really like the pizz strings idea but thats a VERY hard sell in trailer land. But hold onto that style for score work to.
ps: I really like the pizz strings idea but thats a VERY hard sell in trailer land. But hold onto that style for score work to.
Whatisvalis
Active Member
Dean, could you link that thread?
XiphiasAudio
Member
Hey I like your piece dannymc but just letting you know there's an annoying click in the sub bass drop at 1:38. Maybe you could fade off the tail so it doesn't give that click?
I love the melody and everything but I think for trailer music, try to add a bit more volume to the orchestral layers, the strings especially. It seems to lack dynamic power at 1:40. Imagine your music as being part of a "trailer". The third section should always be the clincher which gives (in this case) a soaring feeling of wonder and amazement.
Compositionally, the track structure works really well and I love the way you've put together the piece.
Well done
Rowan
I love the melody and everything but I think for trailer music, try to add a bit more volume to the orchestral layers, the strings especially. It seems to lack dynamic power at 1:40. Imagine your music as being part of a "trailer". The third section should always be the clincher which gives (in this case) a soaring feeling of wonder and amazement.
Compositionally, the track structure works really well and I love the way you've put together the piece.
Well done
Rowan
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dannymc
Senior Member
guys thanks so much for all the replies, always good to get feedback as i can never really judge my own work. if i'm honest i was almost going to condemn this one to an eternal life on the hard drive as i just wasn't sure about it
hey Alex thanks for this. i don't have music theory can you explain what you mean here? do you mean you expect to hear woodwinds and other sections of the orchestra? what is chromatic modulation and where in the track do you think it would be useful?
the tempo thing was very intentional. in fact i built the whole track around that pizzicato theme. its suppose to represent some sort of ticking clock through space & time, i don't know that's the concept i had in my head anyway, think interstellar.
hey acicero well some of it is out of the box but yes layering and other processing but to be honest it was just using my ears which i haven't really been able to do effectively up to now as i had no studio monitors for reference.
hi Zhao i know what you mean, i was going to put some 16th percussion in but i was trying to keep it as trailer sounding as possible and alot of the trailer tracks i referenced didn't have 16th notes in fact i was even going to leave out those 1/4 notes but the mix just sounded too empty with just hits and impacts. this seems like a tricky concept to get down in trailer music.
i"m not hearing what you're hearing at 50secs
but yes it would be great to get a license. when you say it had odd timbral dissonance what do you mean, what would you have done here instead?
hey thanks Dean your tips came in very handy. when you say that top line could be stronger do you mean mix wise as in its getting lost or do you mean variation in the melody?
yeah i was thinking that the instrumentation was moving more into film score/cinematic and away from trailer as i was writing it, especially the pizz string theme i can imagine that would possibly interfere with whats going on on screen but that was the section that kept repeating in my head so i wanted to build something around that, glad you liked it
Danny
hey Alex thanks for this. i don't have music theory can you explain what you mean here? do you mean you expect to hear woodwinds and other sections of the orchestra? what is chromatic modulation and where in the track do you think it would be useful?
the tempo thing was very intentional. in fact i built the whole track around that pizzicato theme. its suppose to represent some sort of ticking clock through space & time, i don't know that's the concept i had in my head anyway, think interstellar.
hey acicero well some of it is out of the box but yes layering and other processing but to be honest it was just using my ears which i haven't really been able to do effectively up to now as i had no studio monitors for reference.
hi Zhao i know what you mean, i was going to put some 16th percussion in but i was trying to keep it as trailer sounding as possible and alot of the trailer tracks i referenced didn't have 16th notes in fact i was even going to leave out those 1/4 notes but the mix just sounded too empty with just hits and impacts. this seems like a tricky concept to get down in trailer music.
i"m not hearing what you're hearing at 50secs
but yes it would be great to get a license. when you say it had odd timbral dissonance what do you mean, what would you have done here instead?hey thanks Dean your tips came in very handy. when you say that top line could be stronger do you mean mix wise as in its getting lost or do you mean variation in the melody?
yeah i was thinking that the instrumentation was moving more into film score/cinematic and away from trailer as i was writing it, especially the pizz string theme i can imagine that would possibly interfere with whats going on on screen but that was the section that kept repeating in my head so i wanted to build something around that, glad you liked it
Danny
Dean
Senior Member
the second bit,..variation etc, But for trailer keep it simple,..the performance of the brass just seems a little repetative and robotic,
also try doubling the brass with soaring strings and/or lega female choir patch..try working in some more dynamics with the mod wheel? Trumpets definitely dont fly in trailer land, think Fhens.
you have Albion One right? use those Easter Island hits/sub perc/huge Darwin low perc hits etc. D
Dean
Senior Member
just a typo,meant fhns (French horns),..check my thread (linked above),..its all there. D
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dannymc
Senior Member
ah ok thanks Dean.
sorry Rowan i missed your post. thanks for that, i heard it. removed it and re-uploaded. well spotted.
thanks glad you liked it. i'll working on getting more energy into the strings for my future tracks. actually Alex gave me a little idea above so i decided put a little tempo fade out for the outro in the new version
Danny
