Orchestral piece - hideaway in space

[leekenn]

Hey guys, I've been a taxi member for coming on two years, but I never used the forums before, so I decided I should make a start!

I was wondering if anybody would give my most recent composition a listen, and tell me what they thought?

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_so ... ID=8767613

It's called Hideaway, and it's a really slow, gentle piece. I have been trying to improve what I can do with orchestral arrangements, seeing as I am coming from a rock background.

Please tell me what you think, I'd really appreciate the feedback

Peace!

Martyn

[dschreiberjr]

I like it! It reminds me a lot of John Barry's Dances With Wolves score.

I can easily picture a beautiful western landscape accompanying this track.

The samples sound very good for the most part. What are you using for the orchestral elements?

[lowden2000]

Hey Martyn,

Really enjoyed listening to your piece! Great dynamics and development throughout the piece! Definitely nails the epic/sweeping vibe.
I think orchestration and samples you are using are pretty believable. The horns in the beginning are great, so is the low flute your are using around 1.30 - really nice texture ... the strings could maybe use some different articulations with slower attacks in spots, but this kind of thing is so hard to get right with samples.
Here is one bit that irked me, but this is highly subjective (as everything):
Overall it sounds very dry, especially in the percussion section. I would mix the whole thing more wet, but especially put verb on the snare and a bit on the timopani to have them move back in the mix ...
Also, in general, the rind kind of ambience can make your samples really come to life, especially the brass sections.
Just my .02 ...
Thanks for sharing this!


Best,
Dirk

[orest]

What software are you using?

I think the piece is really great, but there are some problems with the articulations.
The strings have this strange cut off. Play around with the decay and see what happens.
It really takes some time to get it right. I worked on it for over 1 year, and I still have problems sometimes.

Yes, you do need a good reverb as well, it's very dry now. Try to get a reverb that sounds good and rich without getting too wet.
I use Space designer i Logic and CSR.

[davewalton]

I agree with the reverb... too dry. As far as the articulations I think you need to be using more. The strange cutoff that Orest refers too... that to me is just a function of using the same articulation for every note regardless. Mix it up a bit by using a legato and/or "quick" articulation for the shorter, quicker notes and a nice sustain or expressive for the longer and ending notes.

Hope that helps,

Dave

PS - Also, in the beginning there's this thing like a snare drum that's muffled... not really working for me. I can't really tell what it is but I thought it was some problem with the recording until it showed up in time with the rest of the music.

[svallee]

To me it sounds like the percussion is too much in the foreground. In an orchestra the percussion is typically located in the rear on one side and then the brass in the rear of the other. Also the mystery drum that Dave thought was a muffled snare drum, I think that was timpani, if so there are lots of better samples out there for that instrument.

Nice theme!

Sylvain
www.valleemusic.com

[leekenn]

Thanks a lot for the feedback guys, for those who want to know, all the samples are Kontakt factory. The percussion instrument is a bass drum, although I agree not the best sample. And I will get to work on that reverb!

[denmarion]

Beautiful arrangement! I love the way it builds.