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Princess Leia's Theme (John Williams Mockup)

Scamper said:
Well done, sounds great!
My only thoughts would be to place the woodwinds a bit further in the back so that they merge more with the orchestra - they sound more in front of the strings to me.
And maybe more sparingly and dynamically used vibrato. It sounds very "on" now, but for solo or exposed passages like this, a separate pass for vibrato control should be worth it.
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Thanks! Honestly I was trying to get as close to the recording as I could and the oboe and flute specifically have this very in your face, mono sound (I guess it was whatever spot mics they were using in that time period). You can really hear this when the woodwinds come in about two measures before the big melody moment. It probably sounds bad in context though because I couldn't replicate that sound with all the other instruments. It might be better to just make it sound more modern overall? I'll make a few changes and see how I feel about them.
 
Henrik B. Jensen said:
I know how it is with mockups, there is just a ton of things to think about and sometimes things slip through.

It's interesting to hear it's the programming and not the instrument.
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Yes, Simon Passmore actually found that trick. You insert a tiny note a few intervals below a transition to get a sort of clunky sound, probably not intended by the player. I just had the idea to sort of invert that (so a few intervals above the note) to get a squeak, which I've heard is also not usually intended by player.
 
Juulu said:
I've been working on this on and off since the release of VWinds Flutes and I finally got around to finish it up this today. Let me know what you guys think. Also, if anyone knows a solo violin that's better suited for that end part please let me know. I found Bohemian to be a little awkward to work with on that part (even had me considering getting SWAM violin honestly lol).

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Very nice! The woodwinds despite not having the most beautiful tone itself sound very realistic. I find the strings to be the most lacking part here, there are sadly not any lush, soaring strings that would have a natural flow needed for this kind of music there yet so it always starts to sound bit "choppy" once it gets to the most epic part.
 
handz said:
Very nice! The woodwinds despite not having the most beautiful tone itself sound very realistic. I find the strings to be the most lacking part here, there are sadly not any lush, soaring strings that would have a natural flow needed for this kind of music there yet so it always starts to sound bit "choppy" once it gets to the most epic part.
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I agree. The CSS marcato patch can only get me so far, but I also could've managed the dynamics a bit better and lining up the transitions. I thought about using the normal legato articulation but it lacked the volume that section needs (there's like 10 parts divisi across the strings sometimes plus ww's and brass lol).
 
This is gorgeous, well done ! I found the 2 bars of solo violin at the end jaw-dropping.

I noticed :

- bars 5 to 14 : I would like a more homogeneous sound for the vlns I/II, with a slight emphasis on the higher notes. Here, sometimes I hear randomly more the bass, the middle note, or the higher note.
- 1'58 - bar 27 : it sounds like a C in the double bass, shouldn't it be a E ?
- 3'30 - last beat of bar 53 : I would check the sixteenths notes again, something sounds off. In bars 51 to 54, I find vlns I/II are too much in a hurry. I mean, this part is quite tense and should somehow give a "hurry" feeling, but in terms of dynamics, I find sometimes a note is too jarring, and rhythmically something sounds off / too precipitated.

A question :

1/ For the strings, you used CSS, what does it stand for (cinesamples or cinematic studio ?) ?
2/ What did you use for the woodwinds and brass (except for flute and horn which you already specified) ?

Thank you !
 
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Elois said:
This is gorgeous, well done ! I found the 2 bars of solo violin at the end jaw-dropping.

I noticed :

- bars 5 to 14 : I would like a more homogeneous sound for the vlns I/II, with a slight emphasis on the higher notes. Here, sometimes I hear randomly more the bass, the middle note, or the higher note.
- 1'58 - bar 27 : it sounds like a C in the double bass, shouldn't it be a E ?
- 3'30 - end of bar 53 : I would check the eights notes again, something sounds off. In bars 51 to 54, I find vlns I/II are too much in a hurry (in terms of dynamics, sometimes a note is too jarring, and rhythmically something sounds off).

A question :

1/ For the strings, you used CSS, what does it stand for (cinesamples or cinematic studio ?) ?
2/ What did you use for the woodwinds and brass (except for flute and horn which you already specified) ?

Thank you !
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Thanks for the observations. You're right, it is supposed to be an E. Now I can't unhear it:shocked:. Guess I was reading the score in tiny print and thought it was a C lol. And I do have a habit of leading a bit too much when I'm playing so you're probably hearing a result of my bad timing haha. Guess I have more to fix. The strings are Cinematic Studio Strings, the brass is Infinite Brass, and the WW's are all Vwinds.
 
Juulu said:
I've been working on this on and off since the release of VWinds Flutes and I finally got around to finish it up this today. Let me know what you guys think. Also, if anyone knows a solo violin that's better suited for that end part please let me know. I found Bohemian to be a little awkward to work with on that part (even had me considering getting SWAM violin honestly lol).



Edit# I've updated the track with a few tweaks, including vibrato changes in the flute/oboe, french horn solo dynamics, and brass mic config, and others.
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This sounds great. I just got the VWinds libs along with VHorn Saxes and think they're all pretty great.
Like you I'm having trouble pushing them back in the room though. I use MIR but can't find the right mic to get them to sit further back. Any tricks there?
 
swinkler said:
This sounds great. I just got the VWinds libs along with VHorn Saxes and think they're all pretty great.
Like you I'm having trouble pushing them back in the room though. I use MIR but can't find the right mic to get them to sit further back. Any tricks there?
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Have you tried adding reverb as pre instead of post, or whatever it's called?

Then the track's volume fader will push the instrument back in the room when you lower it.

Edit:
This is how it looks in Cubase:

Princess Leia's Theme (John Williams Mockup)
 
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Great work - this is a challenging peice - I know: I tried and failed many times with this one. For me the challenge lies in the emotion of the peice and I think you have done a great job here! Well done!!
 
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