Modern dramatic Classical/Orchestral

[georginasaint]

Hi everyone, I've written a piece for this listing: UNIQUE, MODERN CLASSICAL/ORCHESTRAL INSTRUMENTALS in the wide range of Philip Glass, Michael Nyman, James Horner, John Cage, Hans Zimmer, Steve Reich, Thomas Newman, etc. are needed by an established Music Licensing company who provides content for major clients including Toyota, AOL, Google, Visa, Xbox, Adidas and more. You can see that the stylistic range is quite broad - you'll want to focus on arrangements that have dynamic build and movement, rather than ONLY static movement. Think in terms of unique and unexpected instrumentation, along with melodic elements that are compelling. A blend of contemporary and classical will be key for this one. Primarily, a unique and current/modern tone will be the most important factor - along with fantastic performances.Would be grateful for any and all feedback, especially WRT use of EWQL. http://www.taximusic.com/song.php?song_ ... tream=true Georgie

[silvercord]

Hi Georgie!this is definitely in the sleuth suspense vein~i hope it will get the forward and then some!

[ideascapes]

Hey Georgie. It think the "dripping" sound definitely qualifies as "unique instrumentation." I heard plenty of movement, but not so much dynamic build--wait, I'm at 1:30 now and it's there some.This sounds well done to me, except for one element: the sound of the piano. Now, I'm a pianist, so my standards are high, but to me the sound here is notably deficient compared to the high quality sounds elsewhere (violin, cymbals, etc.). If you don't have a better sample, you could just add some verb and that could do the trick. HTH!Vince

[georginasaint]

Hi Vince, thanks for your thoughts. I was wondering if somebody would mention the piano ha ha. I have a lovely Steinway on my EW but I can't load it as I don't have enough memory so I'm stuck with the Halion one that comes with Cubase. I will try your suggestion and see if some reverb can tart it up a bit. Perhaps I need to bring some dynamic build into the piece earlier...?Thanks, Georgie

[ideascapes]

Georgie,If the listing calls for dynamic build/movement, I'd say you better bring it early, or the screener will have a "good" reason for a RETURN.Tips for tweaking a "not so good" piano sample: - EQ, EQ, EQ! I'd actually experiment with a boost on the bass end, especially while the piano is "exposed"; you could use automation to do that, or use a separate track for while the piano is highlighted so you can treat it differently; boost some highs (try a high shelf above 10K, and a med-Q (~2.5) at around 3K - An "aural exciter"; BBE sonic maximizer does this and some mastering plug-ins, such as Ozone, have this feature - Reverb; set the decay to about 1 second, cut the lo frequency content (of the reflections), and experiment with the wet/dry mixOr, load the Steinway as a totally separate project (with everything else on the computer shut down), render to audio, and import into your orchestral mixHTH!Vince(writing from hotel lobby in Orlando)P.S. Use care when "tarting" the piano not to let any of that get on yourself! (enter winking emoticon here)

[georginasaint]

cripes Vince, all this from a hotel lobby in Orlando... (are you seeing in the new year at Disney by chance? I did that once, unbelievable fireworks...)Anyway, thanks so much. I'll try what I can. I'm terribly limited working on a laptop with not nearly enough memory and the Steinway is hopeless I'm afraid. It gets to 98% and then crashes. I think EQ is the best bet, so I'll give it a go. And yes, it's easy enough to build the momentum earlier.Many thanks - have a great time in Orlando and think of me tarting up my piano in minus 3 degrees here in England. Georgie

[ideascapes]

HA! I used to live in England and tarted up several pianos during my stay there, although none purposely...Very quick stay in Orlando, so no Disney fireworks.Might be worth adding memory to your laptop if that's your main music computer?V>

[georginasaint]

Oh, maybe I've got one of your old pianos... are you a piano technician? Where did you live in England? Did the weather drive you away? (It did me, I spent 25 years in NY but been back for 7 as of Jan 1) I have a lovely old slightly beaten-up German piano I got at an auction. (I'm a piano teacher). I already added memory to my laptop - it's maxed. These pianos just take SO much memory. I am thinking about getting a Glyph external hard drive. Do you think that would do it?GeorgieGeorgie

[mazz]

Hi Georgie,This piece has a lot of nice textures in it. I don't get a lot of dynamic build from it, though, it feels more static to me overall. A couple of things I think may help it:1. Cut your sections in half. Move through them more quickly. You state the same piano figure at around 1:30 and you do modulate but the modulation doesn't add enough build.2. Add more textures and rhythmic figures as you go along. I wanted to hear the lower strings playing 8th notes and getting louder and louder as they went along. 3. Punctuate things with percussive hits more often, particularly at points of transition.I think the piano works in the orchestral setting because it sounds like it's in the room with the orchestra the way you've mixed it (and that's how it should sound in this context!). In fact, you could mix it even further back so it becomes more textural and less featured. Stylistically, I think it would work fine a bit back.Of course, all these comments are my opinion and taste so as always a healthy grain of sea salt should be taken!! I did a piece something like this for a similar listing a while back. I've since signed it to a library so I can't submit for this but I'll post a link to it so you can hear it. http://www.johnmazzei.com/album/6 The piece is called Parabola. Good stuff, keep up the good work!!Mazz

[georginasaint]

Hi Mazz! Many thanks for your thoughts and suggestions, as always, hugely interesting to me. I will take up your suggestions. I am making big strides in learning to TRY OUT different changes, knowing that the old version will still be there. Computers have allowed us to experiment more but my brain still panics if I cut bars out and stuff... I had a listen to your piece - it's really good and i also listened to "Ghost Ballet" which is great too. Is that also signed to a library? Thanks again, Happy New Year!Georgie