[Arcana]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4UPJv08c1k#t=0m37s

In that clip, behind the drums, there's a crescendo of some kind, arranged from what sounds to be strings and brass.

I've heard it in various pieces, including in mixes on this site.

What is this sound called, and are there samples (or good advice about the techniques to recreate this sound) of it?

[zircon]

I haven't heard that sound before... or at least, if I have, I don't remember hearing it. It actually sounds like some kind of prepared instrument or metal rather than a string or brass section.

[Hemophiliac]

the metal release on the end is from reverb on the metal percussion methinks...

i think this is like one of those air raid sirens.

[Emperor Charlemagne]

Sounds like a glissando to me; just not with the classical string get-up.

[Arcana]

Best example from this site is probably on this song:

http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01344/

"Chasing the Phoenix" by GrayLightning.

You hear the sound first at 1:56. It's a slightly slower version of the one in the Battlestar Galactica opening. Also, at the very end of that song, you'll hear the same crescendo from 5:11-5:19, drastically slowed down (and also with no adjustment for pitch).

Any more suggestions for re-creating it?

[GarretGraves]

I always thought it was the string section.

to me it definately sounds like a string instrument.

[Meteo Xavier]

It sounds like a processed opera-style vox to me.

[zircon]

Originally Posted by Arcana

Best example from this site is probably on this song:

http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01344/

"Chasing the Phoenix" by GrayLightning.

You hear the sound first at 1:56. It's a slightly slower version of the one in the Battlestar Galactica opening. Also, at the very end of that song, you'll hear the same crescendo from 5:11-5:19, drastically slowed down (and also with no adjustment for pitch).

Any more suggestions for re-creating it?

Both 1:56 and 2:03 in Gray's song are a brass swell. 5:11 is not the same crescendo, it's a choir ascending in pitch and intensity. The BSG opening sounds like some kind of prepared percussion or metal, as I said.

[Arcana]

Originally Posted by zircon

Both 1:56 and 2:03 in Gray's song are a brass swell. 5:11 is not the same crescendo, it's a choir ascending in pitch and intensity. The BSG opening sounds like some kind of prepared percussion or metal, as I said.

This is why you get paid the bucks for sound design and sample packs and I don't. Thanks guys, I'll get to working on it.

[Cyril the Wolf]

it sounds like glissing brass to me.