James Horner - The Mask of Zorro - Cubase Project Available - VSL Movie Masterpieces

[JBacal]

All of these tracks are excellent work. Did you get the original scores or did you write them only by ear?

Yes, most of the pieces are done from the scores. You can find many of them at the sites listed in the first post of this thread.

 

[ravez]

what an insane training resource this is, thanks so much for making these!
can i ask what do you use the "fpf" exp map for?

 

[JBacal]

what an insane training resource this is, thanks so much for making these!
can i ask what do you use the "fpf" exp map for?

In some projects I like to create a combination articulation in the Synchron player of a sfz and and a crescendo patch. This playing style is most common with brass instruments. It saves me from having to create another track for layering.

 

[JBacal]

We're back, baby!

Here is my performance of Bruce Broughton’s “The Riddle Solved” cue from the 1985 movie “Young Sherlock Holmes” produced by Steven Spielberg.

View attachment JB_Broughton_Young_Sherlock_Holmes-TheRiddlesSolved.mp3

In an alternate universe where John Williams grew up to become a carpenter instead of a composer, I'm sure Bruce Broughton would have scored a lot more films and become a lot more famous. Nevertheless, this score was nominated for a Grammy Award.

The music is youthful, celebratory and exuberant with very colorful orchestration. I love the fact that Broughton featured so many different woodwinds, giving each prominent little solos. I used both the Synchron (piccolo & English horn) & SYNCHRON-ized woodwinds (flute, oboe & clarinet) for these solo moments.

Originally, I used just the Synchron Strings Pro and Elite Strings for the strings, but after the release of the Duality Strings, I went back and layered in the Duality Strings during a number of the melodic sections.

For the mix I went for a bit of that drier, more up front, sound stage quality. What do you think of this type of sound that was popular in the 1980's?

VSL Libraries used:

Synchron Woodwinds
Synchron Brass
Synchron Percussion
Synchron Harp
Synchron Strings Pro
Synchron Strings Elite
Synchron Duality Strings

SYNCHRON-ized Woodwinds
SYNCHRON-ized Dimension Brass (mutes)
SYNCHRON-ized Solo Strings

 

[Barrel Maker]

We're back, baby!

Here is my performance of Bruce Broughton’s “The Riddle Solved” cue from the 1985 movie “Young Sherlock Holmes” produced by Steven Spielberg.

View attachment JB_Broughton_Young_Sherlock_Holmes-TheRiddlesSolved.mp3

In an alternate universe where John Williams grew up to become a carpenter instead of a composer, I'm sure Bruce Broughton would have scored a lot more films and become a lot more famous. Nevertheless, this score was nominated for a Grammy Award.

The music is youthful, celebratory and exuberant with very colorful orchestration. I love the fact that Broughton featured so many different woodwinds, giving each prominent little solos. I used both the Synchron (piccolo & English horn) & SYNCHRON-ized woodwinds (flute, oboe & clarinet) for these solo moments.

Originally, I used just the Synchron Strings Pro and Elite Strings for the strings, but after the release of the Duality Strings, I went back and layered in the Duality Strings during a number of the melodic sections.

For the mix I went for a bit of that drier, more up front, sound stage quality. What do you think of this type of sound that was popular in the 1980's?

VSL Libraries used:

Synchron Woodwinds
Synchron Brass
Synchron Percussion
Synchron Harp
Synchron Strings Pro
Synchron Strings Elite
Synchron Duality Strings

SYNCHRON-ized Woodwinds
SYNCHRON-ized Dimension Brass (mutes)
SYNCHRON-ized Solo Strings

Great score by a great composer. It's one of my all-time favorites. Broughton's melodic, harmonic, and orchestration talent can not be overstated. I've always considered him a composer's composer.

Nice mockup!

 

[DAWgSTRAW]

We're back, baby!

Here is my performance of Bruce Broughton’s “The Riddle Solved” cue from the 1985 movie “Young Sherlock Holmes” produced by Steven Spielberg.

View attachment JB_Broughton_Young_Sherlock_Holmes-TheRiddlesSolved.mp3

In an alternate universe where John Williams grew up to become a carpenter instead of a composer, I'm sure Bruce Broughton would have scored a lot more films and become a lot more famous. Nevertheless, this score was nominated for a Grammy Award.

The music is youthful, celebratory and exuberant with very colorful orchestration. I love the fact that Broughton featured so many different woodwinds, giving each prominent little solos. I used both the Synchron (piccolo & English horn) & SYNCHRON-ized woodwinds (flute, oboe & clarinet) for these solo moments.

Originally, I used just the Synchron Strings Pro and Elite Strings for the strings, but after the release of the Duality Strings, I went back and layered in the Duality Strings during a number of the melodic sections.

For the mix I went for a bit of that drier, more up front, sound stage quality. What do you think of this type of sound that was popular in the 1980's?

VSL Libraries used:

Synchron Woodwinds
Synchron Brass
Synchron Percussion
Synchron Harp
Synchron Strings Pro
Synchron Strings Elite
Synchron Duality Strings

SYNCHRON-ized Woodwinds
SYNCHRON-ized Dimension Brass (mutes)
SYNCHRON-ized Solo Strings

 

[DAWgSTRAW]

DAM BUSTERS (Coates, Lucas) Vaughn Williams, Maestro John. VSL always hits the spots

 

[JBacal]

It's time for a little Ennio Morricone. (it's always time for a little Morricone ). While he is probably best known for his wonderfully quirky Spaghetti Western themes, Morricone is also a master at creating achingly beautiful melodies.

Here is my performance of Ennio Morricone’s passionate “Love Theme for Nata” from the movie “Cinema Paradiso.” Morricone won a British Academy Award for this score.

View attachment JB_Morricone_Cinema_Paradiso_Love_Theme_for_Nata-8_31_2023-v2_BM_MST01.mp3

The panning of the various sections in the original soundtrack recording is a bit unusual (with the violins on the right), but I decided to follow it anyway. What do you think of his unexpected panning choice?

VSL Libraries used:
Synchron Woodwinds
Synchron Brass
Synchron Percussion
Synchron Piano - Steinway D-274
Synchron Duality Strings
Synchron Elite Strings

SYNCHRON-ized Woodwinds
SYNCHRON-ized Saxophones
VI Series Woodwinds
VI Series Solo Strings

 

[JBacal]

Here is my performance of James Horner’s End Credits cue from the movie “The Mask of Zorro” (1998). I just can’t seem to resist the Spanish favor and Horner’s sensual melody.

View attachment JB_Horner_The_Mask_of_Zorro_End_Credits.mp3

I tried a little something different for the Duality Strings. The main violins 1, violins 2 and violas each have 2 instances. The first instance uses the full room-mix Ambience preset. The second instance uses a custom combination of the A-Ribbon mic and B-Dark mic. The 2 instances have slightly different timings and occasionally different controllers and vibrato amounts. The Cellos and Basses use the full room-mix classic preset. This demo uses the Synchron Duality Strings exclusively.

I may have overdone the reverb a bit (Cinematic Rooms + Lexicon) but I was going for that "long ago legend" type romantic sound. Thoughts?

 

[Henrik B. Jensen]

Here is my performance of James Horner’s End Credits cue from the movie “The Mask of Zorro” (1998). I just can’t seem to resist the Spanish favor and Horner’s sensual melody.

View attachment JB_Horner_The_Mask_of_Zorro_End_Credits.mp3

I tried a little something different for the Duality Strings. The main violins 1, violins 2 and violas each have 2 instances. The first instance uses the full room-mix Ambience preset. The second instance uses a custom combination of the A-Ribbon mic and B-Dark mic. The 2 instances have slightly different timings and occasionally different controllers and vibrato amounts. The Cellos and Basses use the full room-mix classic preset. This demo uses the Synchron Duality Strings exclusively.

I may have overdone the reverb a bit (Cinematic Rooms + Lexicon) but I was going for that "long ago legend" type romantic sound. Thoughts?

This, to my ears, butchers Horner's beautiful music to a degree I didn't think was possible.

Here's the original music:



Where is the warmth, the vibrato of the strings, the emotion, from the original music - where is that in the mockup above?

Instead it sounds sterile and MIDI-like.

Please note: I'm not writing this to hurt anyone's feelings, in fact I'm only writing this because you're specifically asking for people's thoughts and because you're not new to MIDI programming, on the contrary, you have years and years of experience.

 

[Vonk]

Here's the original music:

I'm puzzled - it sounds like a rather thin recording with hardly any dynamic range. And it's in mono I think? It certainly sounded better than this off the soundbar on my TV the other day...

 

[JBacal]

butchers Horner's beautiful music to a degree I didn't think was possible

So I'm guessing you didn't like my version.

 

[mducharme]

Instead it sounds sterile and MIDI-like.

Not sure what you're on about here. The mockup sounds pretty great to me. The mix is a little different and the original recording certainly has a bit more vibrato, but otherwise I think it's really good.

 

[Bernard Asselin]

It's a very good mockup. To me, the programming appears very well done and expressive enough. It misses maybe some EQ adjustments on the strings? Not sure! VSL's strings have never been my favourite, but the job is done here. I love James Horner style.

 

[Laurin Lenschow]

This, to my ears, butchers Horner's beautiful music to a degree I didn't think was possible. Where's the dynamic range, the stereo field, the sound quality?

KIDDING! (90%)


In all seriousness though, I think the mockup sounds good. (The following is very subjecitve and obviously doesn't have to apply to you) It didn't blow me away, but I'm not sure I could have done a better job, especially while limiting myself to libraries of just one developer, so I'm not going to voice any criticism. Also some parts didn't just sound good but very good to me.

 

[cif95hbl]

When comparing with the video (trying to not get bothered by the lousy audio quality...), I think this mostly boils down to the string legato preferences (again, in classic vi control style...). The original is played with very exaggerated molto vibrato, whereas Jay's version is more constrained, more classical. If one is more into the former style, then Jay's interpretation may not satisfy that person. (Nor will a live performance by a professional orchestra if played in the same more constrained style). Then, yes, there are always things to improve here and there, but overall I think it is a very good mockup.

A more general observation: In real music performances, people strive to develop a personal touch. That's why Böhm, Karajan, Solti etc had very different ideas of how to perform the very same piece. And they would never ever try to copy each other.... When doing movie theme performances (and even more so mockups of them), there seems to be an opposite trend: It should sound like in that movie! To the extent that youtubes copyright scripts falsely detects the soundtrack CD.... While I think it is useful and even fun to see how close some comes to the original soundtrack, I think the musical component on the work gets devalued. Why not just say: This is my interpretation of the theme from the movie... If you dont like my interpretation, there are others....

 

[Ben]

A=450, and you get more emotion for free.