JWFan Composers The Composer's Thread

[TolkienSS 405]

1 hour ago, TheAvengerButton said:

 

My submission for the Sonuscore Composer of the Year contest.

 

Sounds great!

Is there a way to make it more seem like the orchestra displayed is playing your piece? Because it's absolutely terrific when there are the closeups of the woodwinds, but then it goes out of sync when it Pans out.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

6 minutes ago, TolkienSS said:

 

Sounds great!

Is there a way to make it more seem like the orchestra displayed is playing your piece? Because it's absolutely terrific when there are the closeups of the woodwinds, but then it goes out of sync when it Pans out.

 

Must be the VPO then.

[TheAvengerButton 175]

10 minutes ago, TolkienSS said:

 

Sounds great!

Is there a way to make it more seem like the orchestra displayed is playing your piece? Because it's absolutely terrific when there are the closeups of the woodwinds, but then it goes out of sync when it Pans out.

 

Yeah, the one part that shows the whole orchestra I had to write around and there wasn't much of an easy solution, so as it stands the piece is more suggestive of the imagery than straight up trying to "animate" it.

[karelm 2,903]

10 hours ago, TolkienSS said:

 

You worked on the Spiderman scores? In what capacity?

 

The actual question I came to this thread for, though, is completely different.

To the professional composers here: can you describe to me what makes Giacomo Puccini sound like Puccini?

I love his music, and it sounds unique in many aspects I can't describe.

I'd love to know.

I actually arranged a suite of Puccini themes...and played in this premier performance! 

6 hours ago, TheAvengerButton said:

 

My submission for the Sonuscore Composer of the Year contest.

I thought it was impressive but not clear on the contest, so the voice over and visuals are provided, and all the underscore is yours?  Good matching of tempo to the visuals but thought some instruments sounded unnaturally forward in the mix (piano).  

[michael_grig 470]

6 minutes ago, karelm said:

I actually arranged a suite of Puccini themes...and played in this performance! 

😍😍😍😍. Did you conduct?

[karelm 2,903]

17 minutes ago, Michael Grigorowitsch said:

😍😍😍😍. Did you conduct?

No, I was bass trombonist in the orchestra.  The concert was a medley of popular opera sequences.  I was the composer in residence and said you really need Puccini because many people heard opera through the "Three Tenors" concerts in the 1990's that includes Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, and Luciano Pavarotti but introduced opera to many audiences.  It was so full of Puccini and included one of the greatest signature arias "Nessun dorma" from Puccini's opera Turandot.  The problem was there were so many fantastic arias from Puccini, how can we pick one?  So I made a medley/arrangement of seven or so of his great operas in a 10 minute sequence to cover those very popular lyric operas.   

[TheAvengerButton 175]

46 minutes ago, karelm said:

I thought it was impressive but not clear on the contest, so the voice over and visuals are provided, and all the underscore is yours?  Good matching of tempo to the visuals but thought some instruments sounded unnaturally forward in the mix (piano).  

I wanted the piano to be more forward but listening back on it, the piano VST I chose does sit right on top of the recording mic.

[michael_grig 470]

for all those who want to hear their music played live and have not yet had the opportunity to do so

 

https://ericturnnessen.com/composer-contest/#application

A good exercise for using what you have effectively, since the instrumentation is kinda limited. Have fun!

 

Just finished my entry:

Pretty proud how this came together! Someone can guess which JNH score I took a bit inspiration from for that final buildup?

would be awesome if y'all could like and comment as it helps boost it, IF you like the music 

[Brundlefly 2,385]

I did another mood album trying to create a world of sound that grasps the vastness and emptiness of space - an attempt which is naturally doomed to fail, because we ain't able to grasp on such things. I've been reading a lot of scientific papers and articles, lately, which you may notice looking at the track titles.

 

In the end, this album might just be the sonic expression of a sense of romance and threat that I have in mind, when I'm reading astronomy. If there is any inspiration from contemporary film music, it got to be Hans Zimmer's Dune and Jerry Goldsmith's Alien. At least, I feel likes elements from these two shine through at times.

 

 

Enjoy, while watching the skies at night!

[karelm 2,903]

6 hours ago, Brundlefly said:

I did another mood album trying to create a world of sound that grasps the vastness and emptiness of space - an attempt which is naturally doomed to fail, because we ain't able to grasp on such things. I've been reading a lot of scientific papers and articles, lately, which you may notice looking at the track titles.

 

In the end, this album might just be the sonic expression of a sense of romance and threat that I have in mind, when I'm reading astronomy. If there is any inspiration from contemporary film music, it got to be Hans Zimmer's Dune and Jerry Goldsmith's Alien. At least, I feel likes elements from these two shine through at times.

 

 

Enjoy, while watching the skies at night!

I really liked it!  Has a nice retro quality which I love.  Did you ever hear the radio program, Music from the Hearts of Space?  I could imagine this being on it...you should contact them.  And of course, I love the subject matter.  Last week, I went to a dark sky for a star watching event.  It was two hours away and above much of the atmosphere.  No lights were allowed so by darkness, could see everything.   The sky was pristine and the darkest I've seen in decades.  As darkness descended, maybe 50 other people were just watching stars slowly appear.  I thought it couldn't get any darker but in time there were just so many stars.  I counted 22 satellites and saw two shooting stars as well.  There was much I liked hearing this music and I'll have to listen next time while I'm stargazing.  

[Loert 2,510]

On 15/03/2023 at 7:39 PM, Michael Grigorowitsch said:

for all those who want to hear their music played live and have not yet had the opportunity to do so

 

https://ericturnnessen.com/composer-contest/#application

A good exercise for using what you have effectively, since the instrumentation is kinda limited. Have fun!

 

They're gonna need more than 34 players to play my pieces

(but damn, would've entered had I spotted this earlier )

[MrJosh 892]

I found a short logo theme I sketched out some years ago and never finished. I can't remember exactly what I imagined, just that I had envisioned a fictional film studio logo and sketched out a heroic theme to accompany it. 

 

I finished it, and then for fun, I found this fake movie logo creator website online, www.ivipid.com, and chose one of them to set the music against. Silly, but fun!

 

Might be a good exercise to choose one of the other templates and try to write music to it. 

 

 

[Faleel 5,341]

Sounds cool, what samples did you use?

 

0:16/0:17-0:18 kinda sounded a bit random/strange on first listen

[MrJosh 892]

9 hours ago, A Farewell to Kings said:

Sounds cool, what samples did you use?

 

0:16/0:17-0:18 kinda sounded a bit random/strange on first listen

Woodwinds: Spitfire Symphonic Woodwinds
Brass: Spitfire Symphonic Brass, Cinesamples Cinebrass
Percussion: Cinesamples Cineperc
Timpani & harp: Orchestral Tools
Strings: Spitfire Symphonic Strings

 

good point about that 0:16-0:18 section!

[GerateWohl 4,343]

14 hours ago, MrJosh said:

I found a short logo theme I sketched out some years ago and never finished. I can't remember exactly what I imagined, just that I had envisioned a fictional film studio logo and sketched out a heroic theme to accompany it. 

 

I finished it, and then for fun, I found this fake movie logo creator website online, www.ivipid.com, and chose one of them to set the music against. Silly, but fun!

 

Might be a good exercise to choose one of the other templates and try to write music to it. 

 

 

Well crafted as usual.

The trombone melody at the beginning reminds me heavily on Summon the Heroes by the way. But why not. I would like to hear that at the beginning of a good adventure movie for the studio logo.

[D_nev 89]

Hey guys,

 

Did a quick mock-up/transcription of the opening of Kenobi's Theme yesterday and wanted to see if any of you fine composers had any thoughts on the mock-up/mix/transcription? Would love to hear what you all have to say. Thanks and hope you all are doing swell!

 

I used Cinematic Studio Strings, Cinematic studio brass (horn solo) and woodwinds (clarinet melody doubling), and BBCSO Double basses doubling the CSS ones as well as some BBCSO Bass Clarinet when the strings first come in for some warmth. 

 

Other than that, just some EQ's on the strings and reverbs!

 

 

[michael_grig 470]

Guess who I tried to imitate here XD. 

[karelm 2,903]

23 hours ago, Michael G. said:

Guess who I tried to imitate here XD. 

Sounds like a nice start to an adventure!

[karelm 2,903]

I composed a cantata for soloists, choir, and orchestra.  

[GerateWohl 4,343]

6 hours ago, karelm said:

I composed a cantata for soloists, choir, and orchestra.  

Sounds interesting. What is the libretto about?

[karelm 2,903]

17 hours ago, GerateWohl said:

Sounds interesting. What is the libretto about?

 

Yikes, I provided no details at all.  It is from poetry by Walt Whitman and John Gillespie Magee.   About reaching towards the untrespassed regions of space and time and being in awe of the drama and spectacle surrounding us...perhaps even to reach the face of god.  

[GerateWohl 4,343]

2 hours ago, karelm said:

 

Yikes, I provided no details at all.  It is from poetry by Walt Whitman and John Gillespie Magee.   About reaching towards the untrespassed regions of space and time and being in awe of the drama and spectacle surrounding us...perhaps to reach the face of god.  

Wow. That sounds like good stuff for some dramatic musical moments.

Thanks.

[karelm 2,903]

We haven't had anything posted here in some time.  For anyone interested, this is the presto movement from my in progress eighth symphony (confusingly numbered 7 because one was unnumbered).  The full work is nearly an hour long in four movements.  

 

 

[WilliamsStarShip2282 308]

Just came across this thread, some interesting works in here for sure. I thought I would add to the mix. I actually did this piece for an 8-bit game and then orchestrated it for strings. Not really sure what to make of it, so would love your opinions!

 

 

[bored 306]

Haven't posted here in a while, because I finally finished my first orchestral album! It's for my friend's novel called The Devil-Bearer. It's a dark fantasy/revenge story sort of combination, so I decided to make a symphonic, heavily thematic album based on it since I enjoyed it so much. Think How To Train Your Dragon, Studio Ghibli, Lord of the Rings, and a little bit of Harry Potter. 

 

https://williamslobodnik.bandcamp.com/album/the-devil-bearer-vol-1-original-book-soundtrack

[karelm 2,903]

9 hours ago, bored said:

Haven't posted here in a while, because I finally finished my first orchestral album! It's for my friend's novel called The Devil-Bearer. It's a dark fantasy/revenge story sort of combination, so I decided to make a symphonic, heavily thematic album based on it since I enjoyed it so much. Think How To Train Your Dragon, Studio Ghibli, Lord of the Rings, and a little bit of Harry Potter. 

 

https://williamslobodnik.bandcamp.com/album/the-devil-bearer-vol-1-original-book-soundtrack

Nice job!  I love the ambition!  Some of it reminded me of Shore's score for Lord of the Rings.  

[bored 306]

Thanks! That means a lot, considering how much I love that score! I definitely did take inspiration from it. 

[InTheCity 140]

 

The first CD i ever remember having was "The Very Best Of the Boston Pops" - tried to do some Golden age stuff mixed with the Williams Pops sound of that era

[karelm 2,903]

8 hours ago, InTheCity said:

 

The first CD i ever remember having was "The Very Best Of the Boston Pops" - tried to do some Golden age stuff mixed with the Williams Pops sound of that era

Really nice!  Captured the golden age vibe too.  

[TheAvengerButton 175]

16 hours ago, InTheCity said:

 

The first CD i ever remember having was "The Very Best Of the Boston Pops" - tried to do some Golden age stuff mixed with the Williams Pops sound of that era

This was absolutely wonderful. Thanks for sharing it, I think you did a perfect job of capturing the feel of one of my favorite eras of movie music.

[TheAvengerButton 175]

 

Here is an original piece by me called Beyond the World, inspired by Jeremy Soule's music for Elder Scrolls. I love the Oblivion soundtrack so much that I tried to replicate the whole feel of that soundtrack with this singular piece.

[bored 306]

Glad I finally got around to listening to this! I will say it's very difficult to properly capture the feeling of Oblivion's music in particular, as the town/explore tracks just so effortlessly develop and interweave melodies and textures while maintaining the overall tone and atmosphere of the piece. I'm happy to see that you captured that very well here! Especially when many others don't quite capture Oblivion's quality.

 

While I'm here I have also finished two new compositions that I'm fairly proud of. One's my first crack at a Chopin Nocturne inspired piano opus, and the other is my latest track in my work-in-progress sci-fi album "Journey Through The Stars" where I try my hand at more atonal/dissonant writing.

 

"Opus 1 No. 1 in E Major": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lrHSsABlt_SdbDAyfdIMJNSeGMP_zGZz/view?usp=drive_link

 

"Planet of Horror": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ShtFQfSLEDVvxMnOMBEun9Bw9uzA06Ct/view?usp=sharing

[bored 306]

Composed the next track in my sci-fi album. Very proud of this one, and I snuck in a direct reference to my personal favorite symphony! Hope you guys enjoy it! 

 

"Lost in Space / New Habitable World": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GHwlB2Rl7LW5uj_cJKXqS3yukrVL3Qhg/view?usp=sharing

[karelm 2,903]

On 21/02/2024 at 11:17 AM, bored said:

Composed the next track in my sci-fi album. Very proud of this one, and I snuck in a direct reference to my personal favorite symphony! Hope you guys enjoy it! 

 

"Lost in Space / New Habitable World": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GHwlB2Rl7LW5uj_cJKXqS3yukrVL3Qhg/view?usp=sharing

 

Very nice!  One thing you might want to try is more tempo irregularities.  It feels too straight, not how humans would play this.  Sometimes dynamic and tempo shifts are exaggerated by real performers for effect but here, it's very controlled breaking the spell of otherwise fine writing.  There are also some instrumental balance issues.  The harp and celesta at 4 minutes are too loud in the mix.  Push those way back.  Take a listen of this very fine contemporary piece for an example of how harp and celesta sit in a real mix.  The harp starts the phrase and the celesta finishes it.  It's far more subtle in the sound mix.  Remember that sample libraries generally make the dynamics equal across instruments and that is not reality so without some tweaking, it sort of breaks the illusion.  Regardless, I enjoy your music.

 

 

 

[Loert 2,510]

Here is something I've been working on. It was originally intended as an exercise to get back into composing after at least a year of not doing anything. But I decided to publish it in the end. The idea was to pretend that I was writing a track for an Elder Scrolls game. I hope you like it!

 

 

(Btw the fact that I used the same inspiration as @TheAvengerButton above is purely coincidental! We obviously just share similar tastes. )