Orchestral Mixing & Mastering

[Walid 3]

Hey guys and girls!

I write alot of orchestral music, epic and heroic, sad, joyful, etc. etc. But I'm a bit behind on production techniques for soundtrack making.

Anyone have any tips how I can improve my music? For example, take this track:

http://soundcloud.com/walidfeghali/epic-orchestral-score-new

Production is very important for making a score sound good, doesn't do the music any good if the sounds don't come out right.

I use Pro Tools 8 LE for writing and producing.

Are there any producers and composers around here or just musiclovers?

Cya around

- Walid Feghali

[Salacius 7]

Hey buddy,

It depends on what you want to do. If you want to record a live orchestra then you have got a long way to go.

It's a ton on information and skills you need to acquire and even then it's down to personal mixing and engineering style.

If you want to do the Mac/PC thing, most libraries sound good to go nowadays, but most of them are dead at best.

The libraries that sound good have a specific signature so you'll end up having the same sound in all your scores.

I think if you have good libraries and a decent reverb + basic mastering tools you are good for demos/gaming music.

If you are really serious about film scoring I would suggest to not bother your self too much

with sound engineering and focus mostly on your writing & orchestration

[karelm 2,355]

Well, I wrote up a long response but lost it when I hit "Add Reply" for some reason.

My feedback was that this is too heavilly compressed. There is no "ebb and flow" because everything sounds the same loud dynamic. The harp is unnaturally loud and from a composition point of view, the piece lacks a tight/cohesive structure. Basically, the ideas aren't memorable so it is more of just loud bombastic instruments than a carefully constructed epic cue. You have too much reverb and a build up in the 400 hz frequency range that you should reduce (at least by 2db).

Oh, you should buy this book: http://www.amazon.com/Guide-MIDI-Orchestration-Paul-Gilreath/dp/0964670534/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1307306808&sr=8-2

Good luck!

[Datameister 1,394]

Dang it, I just closed the tab and lost my response too.

Basically, I'm not an expert in mixing, mastering, OR composition, but I'm inclined to agree with these gentlemen. If composing is what you want to do, focus on the composing right now. It's not that what you've written is bad, but it does lack memorability and originality. It feels more like an exercise in using some fairly standard "epic" tonalities and rhythms. Even with the most amazing sample libraries, perfect MIDI performance, and professional mixing and mastering, that's still going to be what the music is. Frankly, young composers who are more skilled at digital music production than at actual composition seem to be a dime a dozen these days. What really makes a composer stand out is the ability to craft a memorable, emotionally resonant, not-too-derivative piece of music. Waaaaaaaaaaay easier said than done, of course, but that's ultimately where real success as a composer comes from. Being able to create a decent demo of the music also seems to be required in the business these days, but IMO, that shouldn't be the first priority.

BTW, karelm, how did you draw that conclusion about buildup in the 400 Hz range? Just a keen ear, or are you using some sort of software for analysis?

[karelm 2,355]

BTW, karelm, how did you draw that conclusion about buildup in the 400 Hz range? Just a keen ear, or are you using some sort of software for analysis?

You can just hear it. It is the "muddy" sound and its a common problem with sample build up.

[Walid 3]

I see. Thanks for all the awesome answers!

Well, the thing is... This particular piece was not written for a special theme score or anything in that fashion, it was purely in practice of production. I have written alot of other themes and scores, but they arent that very well produced. But yeah, I really see what you're trying to get at and I agree. Right now I have so many ideas for themes and got a couple of projects going, so I'm just trying to do my best with my current program and my keyboard.

Thanks for the book-tip, I actually bought that one right away!

400hz, I'll check and see what happens when I lower that. Thanks for the advice!

Walid

[karelm 2,355]

I see. Thanks for all the awesome answers!

Well, the thing is... This particular piece was not written for a special theme score or anything in that fashion, it was purely in practice of production. I have written alot of other themes and scores, but they arent that very well produced. But yeah, I really see what you're trying to get at and I agree. Right now I have so many ideas for themes and got a couple of projects going, so I'm just trying to do my best with my current program and my keyboard.

Thanks for the book-tip, I actually bought that one right away!

400hz, I'll check and see what happens when I lower that. Thanks for the advice!

Walid

That's good that you have a lot of ideas, but don't use them all! Write all your ideas but then throw most of them away - only use the good ones. Mahler said he throws out 19 ideas for every one he keeps. So keep the ideas coming, but practice restraint in how they are used otherwise the music just won't work. Most masterpieces are based on a few ideas thoroughly explored and that is what you want to strive towards.

[Naïve Old Fart 6,637]

Give me a Studer 4-track, any day. Life was waaaaaaaaaaaay more simple, then!