\m/Gaz

Finished this song a couple days ago and it's probably my most professional sounding song to date, very dark, unsettling and atmospheric with "epic" climaxes at times, a la Hans Zimmer, Two Steps from Hell etc.



Of course C4C with your pieces as always

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aaron aardvark

\m/Gaz,
Audio quality is mostly good, except sometimes it sounds likes it is clipping when it gets loud. This does make good & dark sound track music. Well written. Please review my music at this link (keep in mind I'm going for an 80's sound):

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/foru...d.php?t=1581578

vIsIbleNoIsE

i didn't like the first two minutes a whole lot because of the second half of the motif (the sudden major-ness, which doesn't show up later). sort of ruined the vibe for me. the rest was better, and the last minute or two was really awesome with the horns. good job with the violins throughout as well.

what software did you use?

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\m/Gaz

Ye, I put the major parts in because I was so bored of using just the minor scales all the time, wanted to mix it up and throw something a little unexpected into it, also I think I'll use that motif elsewhere in the soundtrack to make it stand out a bit more. I used EWQL SO, Sonatina symphonic orchestra and cinematic synthetic drums, hope that answers your question

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Scott Jones

Nice work! Keep at it man!!!

My orchestral stuff is the first link in my signature.

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vIsIbleNoIsE

ah thanks. EWQL SO sounds so great to me!

i sorta felt what you wanted by bringing in the major part, the unexpectedness, but it seemed like one note too much from the major scale so it ended up sounding out of place to me.

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Bostonrocks

hey dude, I quite liked this as a film score, could totally see it in halo or something. Might even be cool for a band intro!

the audio quality is good other than some clipping in places, and the strings sound awesome, very real! I love the Cello (?) playing those long drawn out notes and the violin playing the quick strokes its definitely creepy. It reminds me a lot of the walking dead intro/credits song.

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/foru...d.php?t=1582558 check my stuff out!

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Who are your main influences?

Have you checked out this book? It's the bible for orchestration. You'd love it.

http://www.amazon.com/Study-Orchest...l/dp/039397572X

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\m/Gaz

Cheers Scott, I guess I listen to a whole bunch of artists, from Morricone, Zimmer, John Williams, Two Steps From Hell, Howard Shore, Elfman etc. I guess for this piece in particular Zimmer was the main influence, trying not to make it sound mimic-ey though if you get me. I listened to your pieces, funnily enough before you'd even commented on this thread I'd already had a listen haha, sounds amazing man, do you do it for a living?

Cheers for the book recommendation, I'll have to get my hands on it when I can afford it, my main problem is that I can't actually read sheet music, I'm embarrassed to admit. I learned guitar and taught myself most of the theory that I know and to read tabs, and with regards to writing on the computer I just sort of worked on it in my spare time over the past 2 years or so, collecting samples from here and there and experimenting. I feel the first hurdle I need to get over is to learn to read sheet music, as at present I feel like I'm only able to read braille while others are seasoned wordsmiths haha.

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Scott Jones

Cool man! Thanks for listening to my stuff too! It is, in fact, all I do for a living (composing, arranging, orchestrating; playing live and session; teaching, etc)! I'm very fortunate and grateful.

Man, I cannot stress enough working out the deepest possible study and understanding of sight reading, scoring things out in notation properly for every instrument, understanding the ranges, abilities and limitations of each instrument. I know it sounds overwhelming, but if you start diligently pursuing that knowledge NOW, you will be forever glad you did.

Study scores of works with which you are familiar that are commonly available, such as something like Holst's Planets. It's available through Dover publishing:

http://www.amazon.com/Planets-Score...ets+score+dover

Try and follow the score as you listen to get the general idea, and then go by even a cheap orchestration book to get you going. Something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Dic...f+orchestration

Start writing exercises based on comprehending what you are learning.

There's also a terrific book by Doug Adams, who followed Howard Shore around while he scored the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. It comes with a CD of examples, temp tracks from the score PRIOR to them being recorded with the orchestra. Filled with score examples, descriptions of Howard Shore's process for developing themes. It's absolutely brilliant. Here it is:

http://www.amazon.com/Music-Lord-Ri...ms+Howard+Shore

Start writing THEMES. Just melodic sketches of themes. Maybe some accompanied with chord progressions. Write sketches of chord progressions, too.

Anyway, hope this stuff gives you some cool ways to further develop your talent for this!

Peace,

Scott

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Scott Jones

Also, watch every part of this rare documentary on John Williams' scoring of the Empire Strikes Back. It's amazing:



(THE OTHER PARTS CAN BE ACCESSED BY WATCHING IT DIRECTLY FROM YOUTUBE)

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Scott Jones

Subscribe to THIS guy's channel and watch EVERYTHING HE POSTS.

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\m/Gaz

Haha wow I'm overwhelmed, I don't know what to say! Thanks so much for all these sources, I'll be sure to check them out, I'd love to do it for a living like you do but I don't see it happening, I'm studying pharmacy at university because apparently that's a "real job" haha, so I only work on scores in my spare time. I'm sure all these resources you've pointed me to will be a great help when it comes to writing my own scores

I guess writing themes and exploring different techniques/tempos/instruments/combinations is what I'm doing right now, I'll keep at it and check out a few of those books you mentioned to try teach myself to read, it's something I've been meaning to do for a while but I never seem to get around to it (or maybe I just avoid it because I hate admitting that I can't do something).

But anyway, thanks so much for taking the time like this to help out a complete stranger, means a lot

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jesus=dinosaur

I really dig the second half, the strings just have a more epic feeling, and the choir sounds were a nice little touch. Definitely has that dark and sinister feeling, do you have other work in a more ambient and less orchestral sound? id love to hear some of that if you do or ever do in the future. The production and mixing is really good too, everything is more or less where it should be in the mix, a few parts i feel like something in the background could use to be louder, but that would drown out the main and more important parts which would mess it up.

If you want to check out my soundcloud its in my link, check out the song i put up a few days ago, its my best

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awesomo41894

Ive always had mad respect for people who compose like that, im hoping to learn one day. I really enjoyed your piece, it sounded great. I love overall how you did more than just stay in minor forever. It was really neat, good job man!

aaron aardvark

Gaz,
If you're into Zimmer, this link will probably interest you if you've never heard of u-he synths:

http://www.u-he.com/cms/118-tdz-news

It costs $199US for the u-he Zebra (a great synth by itself), plus $99US for the Dark Zebra presets. These were used in the recent Batman movies.

Scott Jones

You bet! I'm all about shedding light.

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crushingmetal

Thanks for the review

As a disclaimer, I'm not really the most qualified person to review something like this, the only similar artist I'm familiar with is Hans Zimmer. I must say that you have a similar atmosphere going on to Hans.

Something I admire about this piece is that no one instrument dominates the sound, there's always a range of different sounds that contribute to the overall effect. I love that break at 2:40, gives you time to breathe and really builds up the suspense. The drums that come in every now and then are great too, and once again, they don't dominate the sound, just add to it.

Something I just thought of is that the whole piece is brooding and suspenseful and unsettling. Maybe it would have more effect if you had some sections that were the opposite, like just calming and relaxing, creating a false sense of security, and then bam, not on my watch, straight back to the crazy tension building stuff. I dunno if that would work, or whether that's the sound you're trying to go for, just something I thought of. Also, those last three notes remind me of this

Overall this is an awesome piece, it really grabbed me and held my attention.

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Slayer127

Not my style of music, but it is well written. And I can definitely appreciate that. It builds up well, and the part around 2:30 gives it a nice dark setting. Well done.