The Callahan Curse (WIP) HB, HS, live choir

[isaaclundgren]

Hey guys here is the main theme piece for a video game project. Feedback welcome.

Used Logic Pro 9, Hollywood Brass diamond, Hollywood Strings diamond, and some live vocal performances. Let me know what you think if you have a free minute. It's a work in progress.

Thanks,
Isaac

http://soundcloud.com/isaac-lundgren...rse-main-theme

[Dean]

Originally Posted by isaaclundgren

Hey guys here is the main theme piece for a video game project. Feedback welcome.

Used Logic Pro 9, Hollywood Brass diamond, Hollywood Strings diamond, and some live vocal performances. Let me know what you think if you have a free minute. It's a work in progress.

Thanks,
Isaac

http://soundcloud.com/isaac-lundgren...rse-main-theme

Hi,

Absolutely love the opening till :22 ,then the track doesnt go anywhere after that.
I dont really hear a main theme,.sounds more like general underscore for a battle.
Re Mix :
IMO this mix doesnt work at all,theres way too much stereo seperation and little depth,everything sounds very thin and over EQ'd,the timpanis sound very close and far left strings and brass the same.
What is that percussive sound/fx at :22? doesnt sound right at all to me.
Theres absolutely nothing going on the middle of the sound field, everything is panned very far left or right?
Brass stabs :54 dont sound great,bit synthy and dry as a bone,..timings bit off throughout.

Sorry if this seems very harsh,I think its beter to be honest. D

[isaaclundgren]

Originally Posted by Dean

Hi,

Absolutely love the opening till :22 ,then the track doesnt go anywhere after that.
I dont really hear a main theme,.sounds more like general underscore for a battle.
Re Mix :
IMO this mix doesnt work at all,theres way too much stereo seperation and little depth,everything sounds very thin and over EQ'd,the timpanis sound very close and far left strings and brass the same.
What is that percussive sound/fx at :22? doesnt sound right at all to me.
Theres absolutely nothing going on the middle of the sound field, everything is panned very far left or right?
Brass stabs :54 dont sound great,bit synthy and dry as a bone,..timings bit off throughout.

Sorry if this seems very harsh,I think its beter to be honest. D

Thanks, this is the kind of feedback I need.

The first 22 seconds is pretty much done. The rest of the track is the work in progress. The piece has actually turned from "main theme" to "big catalyst" (first 22 seconds), and "backing track" for a dramatic opening scene with dialogue (more of a filler track). The main theme can be heard by the violin section at :52, it will eventually be sung by the choir (w/ lyrics), but this section is more of a nod to it rather than to be the grand main theme as originally intended. I'm deciding if I should extend this track to include the big grand main theme, or if I should reserve that for another track entirely.

And thanks for the detailed notes on mixing. I'm triple checking it on multiple outputs, but none of them are the greatest, and I'm still a novice at mixing so other perspectives are appreciated. It's funny you mention the parts are too spread out on the stereo, usually, I have everything in the center. Guess I'll have to find a happy medium.

As far as the timing, the percussion/ brass hits, are meant to be on "off beats" in several instances, if you are of course referring to other parts of the song, I'll have to look into those - thanks.

Glad you enjoyed the first :22, I'm pretty proud of those.

[TGV]

The opening is kind of cool, but the bass, and even the slightly higher pitched instruments, seem to be somewhere else. I can hear a faint rumbling of a timpani roll, but the single hits (e.g. 0:03) are way louder.

I like the idea of the percussion in juxtaposition with the pizzicato in the part that follows. The sound, however, is bad, as Dean noted. The choir at 0:38 sounds as if it's flanged, chorused, phased at the same time. I think you're trying to develop it so that at 0:52 it sounds like in the opening, but it doesn't work. At this moment, it just sounds like a few long chords.

If you say that you have everything in the center, something weird is going on. This sounds as if the polarity on one of the channels is reversed: that would explain the garbled choir and the missing bass and the weird spreda. I know that's almost impossible, but there are things like surround plugins and M/S processors that can also do weird things. Are you using anything like it?

[Dean]

Hey, good points TGV. I also meant to say the choir sounds pretty bad too,l,too many fx,wrong settings?
Considering theres live choir aswell this should sound amazing,but something is very wrong with the mix. D