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Star Wars Main Title mockup

S

Syntherklaas

New Member
Hi all,

I'm an amateur musician, (self-)studying orchestral programming since a while. I decided to have a go at the main theme from Star Wars, to see if and how I would be able to handle such a complex score. I'd be very grateful for your comments and suggestions!

V1.2 (clean up low end, strings runs):
View attachment starwars2.mp3

V1:
View attachment starwars.mp3

VSTs used:
Woodwinds: Berlin Woodwinds (flutes, clarinets), Cinematic Studio Woodwinds (oboes, bass clarinet, bassoons)
Strings: Benjamin Wallfisch Strings
Brass: Berlin Brass, Tom Holkenborg's Brass (trombone 1), Cinematic Studio Brass (muted trumpet)
Percussion: Berlin Percussion
Harp: Berlin Symphonic Harps
Berlin Studio for woodwinds and muted trumpet
Click to read more...
 
Last edited:
The first 8 sec I thought that was a real recording o_O. I'm rarely fool by VST instruments. Well done! I love your trumpets.
As a mockup, the job is done.:emoji_thumbsup:You can always polish here and there, but you can also use your time to make your own compositions. Maybe you already have some? Not everyone wants to do that, but when we are making this kind mockup, it's often to learn and get closer to a music style inspiring to us.

I look forward to hear that.
 
Fantastic - I too felt that the first sections were incredibly real sounding, particularly the brass.

Some of the woodwind runs are a bit shonky later on (it's always the woodwind runs that give away samples I find).

Amazing job!!! I wonder if @Blakus will be along to point out the real score playing underneath or something :)
 
The programming seems all ok. The sounds and dynamic seems all correct. However, I feel the mixing and effects could be improved. I would suggest:

1- Lower the reverbs: Currently, the reverb is a bit too much especially on fast passages and chord changes. The current amount or tail size is making notes blurry into each other.
2- Check out the balance of the woodwinds, specially on the runs. In most of recordings, most of those woodwinds would be a bit masked by the more powerful brass and string sections. On runs, the lower registers of runs shouldnt be so evident.
3- I would clean up my low registers a bit. Make sure their dynamics are not overpowered.
4- Add some sort of air. I would recommend the Fresh Air by Slate.
5- Have a compressor/limiter/maximizer on your master cchannel. I would recommend OTT/Pro L/Ozone.
Good luck.
 
Thank you for the comments everyone! I personally think the runs between 1:16 and 1:26 are the weakest part of the mockup, mainly because of the strings. BWS has a beautiful tone, but it doesn't handle fast legato passages very well. I'll see if I can rework these using CSS.

The double basses in BWS are very powerful, perhaps overpowering. I'll try to tame them a bit :)

I used the standard tree mics, with -5 dB of close mic added for more definition. Perhaps I can raise the close mics a bit.
 
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