Horus - Orchestral tribute

Sebastien Angel

Hello to you all :)

I've posted this recently and wanted to share it with you for some feedback. I built it on a crescendo but I feel dynamics are missing a little in the first part.

Here it is :

https://youtu.be/NQ4GkM-bIaw

Please, feel free to give me your impressions and share your thoughts.

Thanks a lot in advance, have a great day and stay safe ;)

Sebastien

Retroblueman

Thanks for sharing - impressively epic sounding and some lovely melodies - what are you using for the choir/voices if you don't mind my asking - there's a big hole in my toolkit on that front)?

I didn't think you needed the "clicky" percussion thing that plays on beats 1 and 3 from about 1.18/2.54 onwards - the rest of the music I thought was doing a good job of propelling itself and I thought the click was a bit intrusive. I'd maybe lose it as a regular thing but emphasise the peaks of the melody every couple of bars with a hit here and there. All a matter of taste though and don't change anything on my account: )

Londoneye330

Amazing piece! I really liked how the (solo?) cello carried the melody at the beginning there.

Personally I think the mix sounded a little too dry, but it's really subjective. You're hearing from a guy that is prone to putting too much reverb 😭

But overall I loved the voices, they were nice!

One last thing I noticed that is super cool is that this pieces feels like it has many layers to it, but without losing the sense of direction. When I compose something that tries to sound epic, I often put too many voicings and countermelodies to it to the point where we don't know where it is going, so this is going to be a piece I will probably revisit some time! - for inspiration

Well done :D

Sebastien Angel

https://community.spitfireaudio.com/discussion/comment/8666#Comment_8666

Hello and thank you very much for your amazing feedback :D

I'm glad you like this track! I struggled a lot with the layering which is, just as you analyzed, very heavy :)

I always feel like, except for some very specific libraries, it's always nice to add some overlays. If possible real instruments but at least 1 or 2 additional voices.

Then it becomes a kind of a nightmare when it comes to mixing and mastering and it's hard on the CPU during the writing / production. Maybe this is why I don't use much reverb (although I put a bunch of it on several buses and on the master with a convolution verb from EW :).

Thanks a lot again for the nice words ; I enjoyed working on this one and am glad you appreciated it 🙏

Have a great day and stay safe ;)

Sebastien

Sebastien Angel

https://community.spitfireaudio.com/discussion/comment/8663#Comment_8663

Hello and thanks a ton for your message!

I actually asked myself if the click you mention (which is a flam on the side of a wooden percussion) was needed or not. Now that I think of it, I think I should've used a snare or high-end percussion with a long tail verb, a little like in The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel. Maybe on the Spotify version if I ever take time to upload my tracks up there, but thanks for spotting it ;)

As I mentioned, I have a tendency for layering and maybe that's one of the limits I reach when it comes to orchestrating and mixing :)

For the vocals, I used a bunch of libraries (still overlaying a lot) : the first one you hear are Orchestral Tools Eternal Vocals. For the rhythmic voices part, I used Syria vocals from EW Voices of Passion, Babel from Orchestral Tools, and Rhodope II by Strezov Sampling (by far one of my favorite vocal library in the whole universe).

I also usually use EW Hollywood Choir for the big parts but Rhodope II cuts through the mix with a weirder sense of phrases (their syllabuilder is less permissive than EW wordbuilder but I had better results with Rhodope II.

Thanks again for your feedback, have a great day and stay safe ;)

Sebastien

Retroblueman

Hey Sebastien - thanks very much indeed for the pointer on the choirs. Am going to have to start saving: )

Best wishes

R

JJ_Hunter_50

Excellent production and balance. Lots of drama and excitement. The control and mix is very well done. Lot of work on this piece. A bit harsh on the vocals but I believe that can be fixed with a compressor. Otherwise, hats off to a great production.

Sebastien Angel

https://community.spitfireaudio.com/discussion/comment/8695#Comment_8695

Hello and thank you very much for your very nice feedback!!

I was really excited about this one when I worked on the track. For once, I composed it in one session and worked on the production at the same time to be as close as possible to what I wanted to hear. But it's so great to have such feedback from composers and producers I'm really grateful.

Thank you again, have a great day and stay safe ;)

Sebastien