"The Earth Upon Us" just another epic track!

[PhiJayy]

Hey,

As previously stated and this very thread, the entire "The Dark Knight" soundtrack inspired me to compose an awesome cinematic orchestrated track! (Or at least try to.)

It's called "The Earth Upon Us" I will definitely update.

Feedback is great!

P.S: I've got two of this same thread, please comment in this one. (How that happen!?)

UPDATES!

No. 1: http://phijayy.com/music/The%20Earth%20Upon%20Us%202.mp3

[KaelitioN]

If you're making this into an orchestral arrangement score , then I think you might want to lower your compression/limiter settings a bit since classical arrangements normally go easy on compression to conserve the natural dynamic response of acoustic instruments. Looking at the audio almost the entire track appears to be brick-walled a little below 0db.

The short staccato strings sound mechanical at some points so although I don't know which library you used I think you should vary your velocity levels see if that helps. I have an idea where you're trying to go with this and so far things are going well. I hear too many string parts however . There's more to an orchestra than string sections. The percussion adds interest but sometimes gets drowned by the various strings ( this ties in with the over-compression I mentioned earlier). That's all I can say for now at least for my personal opinion. Would be great to hear a revised version with more headroom and some more varied instrumentation. Sounds interesting so far.

[PhiJayy]

Ahh...cool. Thanks for the comment.

I tend to compress a alot, I don't why, I just do.

Yea your definitely right this track could definitely ease up on compression.

There is alot more arrangements & electronic elements that I've already compose that I plan on adding, I'm just trying to put them all together one-by-one. At just the right places.

It's like 8 minutes of material.

I'm using Stormdrum Kompakt for most of the percussion, really cool VSTi.

I'm definitely hearing you though, I'll update this soon.

[jezon2000]

Hm.... you seem to have the idea of a buildup down, but it feels like you're just walking up and down the scales. Try building a melody, and supporting it with variations so that you can bring some more dynamics into the music.

You have a lot of style points down, but the composition needs work. If you look at a track like optimus prime versus megatron off of transformers, the track begins with a build up and a scale climb, but it's still in the style and variation of the main theme, which gives it a reinvented flair:

In the end it's all scales, but at the same time that's like saying all writers are using the same words. Some sound tracks I'd recommend, if you liked the Dark Knight: Transformers, Gurren Lagann, old E.S. Posthumus (Unearthed, they're new stuff has no epic quality)... You might also want to check out the main title to Sunshine, called "the Surface of the Sun":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QahzbgUVwk

This tracks the simple idea of a scale and buildup and takes it to a level of dramatic orgasm surpassed only by the likes of Verdi and Beethoven. But it still has something like a melody--a repeated phrases/patterns in its buildup. Really effective.

Hope I'm being helpful. Epic music is the blood of manliness.

Good luck. Row row fight the power.

[PhiJayy]

Hope I'm being helpful.

You are being very helpful, good sir!

Thanks I'll definitely bookmark those links for future reference.

[jezon2000]

Awesome. Cheers : )

[PhiJayy]

The track has been updated. YAY!

Starts off with a piano/string intro buildup, then violin hits come in, tabla, some percussion, continues to buildup, and etc.

This is just a teaser, I'll continue to work on this until it's just hands-down, straight-up inspirational!

Update No. 1: http://phijayy.com/music/The%20Earth%20Upon%20Us%202.mp3

Thanks!

EDIT: By the way I'm only 17 so I'm still learning some things, so bear with me.

[KaelitioN]

Well you seem to have eased up on the compression a bit , although there are places that still sound somewhat squashed. If you want to place a compressor on the master bus/out , please keep your ratios moderate. So far I like where this is going , although you still have some work to do in getting coherent chord progressions to work with your melodies and having it all make sense musically. If you can get acquainted with some theory, it would help, although it probably isn't a necessity. I don't know what your musical background is. It always helps to listen to music of a similar genre that you enjoy and learn the techniques involved in making it for a good reference. This doesn't mean copying anything , but may give you some ideas as to how to incorporate some styles into your work. Once you know which chords work well together with your melodic lines (or vice-versa), you will have a better understanding of how to build solid movement in a track that makes sense to the ear and sounds less like semi-random passages. Something as simple as listening to those "epic"-sounding film trailers can provide alot of insight into making a piece that flows, builds-up , climaxes , and gives feeling. I personally feel that very good music should do at least one of two things (or both). It can tell a story without words , just by using our emotional responses to sound, and it can make you feel something real , without any actual real-life events (the music itself can create emotional and physiological effects. Feeling sad, angry , violent, afraid, etc.) Good film soundtracks do exactly this. They accentuate our emotions in certain parts of the movie by using the same responses we have to music in sync with the parts of the movie that require those feelings. That's the essence of music really. Conveying feelings, emotions, ideas, and moods through the medium of sound. Understanding which sequences of notes/chords/progressions/melodies/etc create the responses you desire for your audience, is the key to writing great music that your listeners will really feel. There's alot to learn and it takes time. Music has been a part of my life since I was 12 , and I am now 26 , and I'm still always learning. I think we all are regardless of our level of experience.

[Jayy Austin]

i believe that I've made some improvement on this one. Check it out.