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Trying to get a "real" orchestra sound

Discussion in 'Critique & Feedback' started by Michel Schallenberg, Jul 22, 2019.

  1. #1 Michel Schallenberg, Jul 22, 2019
    Hey guys,

    so I've written a little something, played a bit around with modulations (first time I ever consciously modulated from one key to another and back) and tried to make it sound as good as possible, which is very difficult.

    It's kind of inspired by the first piece of this soundtrack soundwise:


    Any feedback about composition, structure, voice leading, sound, dynamic, or whatever would be great.
    I really want to get better at this, so please don't hold back :)

    Here's the piece: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wc76gs067hin1ym/MS_Anno_2.wav?dl=0
     
    Sylvain Provenzano likes this.
  2. #2 Paul T McGraw, Jul 24, 2019
    Hi @Michel Schallenberg and welcome to RedBanned. I hope you will stick around and also respond to other peoples music. We all need feedback right? Even if you do not have a technical background, you know what you like. You can just respond to other folks with what you like and do not like. Just hearing from a listener can be very useful feedback.

    Now regarding your piece. The sound quality is mostly fine to me and so is the mix. Some might like more or less reverb, but that is more a matter of taste. I did not particularly like your string sound, but once again that is mainly a matter of personal taste.

    The composition itself needs work in my opinion. The entire first half sounds unfocused to me. Sort of like an introduction, but to what? If there is a melody or even a primary motif, I missed it even after three listens. The track you ask us to use as a comparison has very strong and clear melodic content. If you are after a sort of soundscape without focus, just ignore me.

    At 3:20 I am thinking aha, finally the intro is over and we are now going to hear the main idea. But once again we have no clear melodic idea. There is a sort of very slow thing going on in the strings, that you might be thinking is your melody, but it does not come off that way.

    OK, do not get too upset about my negativity. You have some good texture painting going on, your sounds are mostly good, good use of percussion. All you have to do is add some strong melodic content, which is often the hardest part. Good luck, keep composing, keep posting, stay positive. Even John Williams had to work and work for years to get great.
     
  3. #3 Michel Schallenberg, Jul 24, 2019
    Hi Paul,

    thanks a lot for your feedback :) I'll stick around and try to give feedback to others as well, I promise!

    About the sound: In terms of reverb, it's pretty much default Spitfire chambers Strings mic setup, without any additional Reverb. I'm not happy with the string sound as well, maybe I switch back to Spitfire Symphonic Strings, but I thought it may be a bit more of a challenge to make a Chamber Orchestra sound as warm/full/big.
    I started to watch Mike's Kickstarter yesterday and noticed that there may be an issue with having chords in the same register as the melody line. What do you think?

    Melody wise a completely agree with you. The main "melody" was supposed to be the one starting at 0:54, but I lost focus and kept experimenting without keeping the whole thing in mind.

    I probably should stick to the piano longer to work out the whole composition before I start to orchestrate it, right?
    I'll just start to work on the next thing and try to get it more basic and structured. Thanks for being honest :)
     
    Paul T McGraw likes this.
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