Orchestral action themes

Hi everyone,

This is the first time I've posted any of my work here, and I have two pieces to show, both orchestral mp3 files. The first one, "The Vanguard," is a piece I wrote over the past few days while procrastinating more serious work on compositions for my senior recital. It's frantic, loud and violent, but it has some lyrical parts to counter the brash brassiness of the rest of the piece. Think Wagner meets Ravel meets John Williams. This started as a one-mood piece that could have functioned as a boss theme in a game calling for a cinematic sound, but I felt like taking it in a different direction in the end.

The second piece, "Allegro Molto in B-flat minor" (boring title, I know), is an orchestration of a piano sketch I wrote back in 2004, which is still listed on my page as "Untitled Piano Piece #1". I finally revisited and orchestrated it several months ago during a particularly hopeless dry spell of new material.

Neither one of these is actually for a specific game or film, they're just exercises I'm doing to practice writing in these styles.

Both pieces can be found here at the top of the page.

High quality versions can downloaded here: "The Vanguard", "Allegro Molto in B-flat minor"

Questions, comments and criticism welcome!

These are very cool, Alex!

The orchestration is nice and rich and you do some lovely things with your harmonies. I'm also impressed by the production values — you make great use of the Vienna instruments (I think, though the brass sounds like ProjectSAM maybe?). In fact, the strings are the only real exception...your sustained parts sounds synthy every now and again, which distracts from the writing since they're the only thing that really sticks out production-wise. Maybe some more tweaking of the sound and the sequencing will help that out.

Either way, very nice work. Thanks for sharing! :thumbsup:

Thanks! I'm glad the harmonies are appreciated, since I feel like I spend maybe a little too much of my compositional focus trying to make them interesting.

I agree about the strings - those have always been the hardest part for me, and I still haven't nailed down a way of using Altiverb with the Vienna strings that I think really works well. I've been experimenting with layering different combinations of solo strings with various ensembles, but with the high violin lines (especially when doubled at the octave) I'm still not satisfied with the results.

Did you find the strings to be noticeably worse in either track? "The Vanguard" is a newer track, and uses some different programming and mixing techniques which I'd like to think are an improvement.

When I get a chance I'll take another crack at improving the string programming.

Hey Alex I was impressed by these pieces. Well mostly by your sound library. You brass and your strings sounded awesome. But when ever your woodwinds sustain notes they sound a little cheesy compared to the other instruments. It's probably not your orchestration but just your sound patch for them. And as a side note your Allegro piece in the beginning reminded me a lot of some star wars pieces from the 5th movie. Anyway nice job keep up the good work.

As others have mentioned, I am also impressed by your sounds. Mine sound nothing like this, mostly since I use my computers built-in sounds, and its from '03. (I desperately need a new one!). I really enjoyed Vanguard, it sounded like it could have come straight from a movie!

Hi Alex,

I work for a Production Music Library called Music Candy. We are very inpressed with these pieces and would like to talk to you about the poossibility of writing a CD's worth of music for our library.

If you were interested we would set you a project of writing a certain number of pieces for an album, typically each track would be maximum 2 minutes in length. The CD would then be

WOW! Now THOSE are superb pieces of music. They are of the film genre, no doubt about it. Lovely use of percussion, brass interjections, quiet moments, loud moments, and overall nice shape. A lot of work has gone into those, I am sure.

I prefer Vanguard, if I had to make a choice!

Very accomplished pieces, well orchestrated. These certainly would not sound out of place on an authentic big budget action movie.

Excellent sounding music.

I can certainly see these in a movie.

Thanks everyone. I made some substantial improvements to "The Vanguard" since I originally posted it (anyone who listened after February 7th heard the newer one), so it's rewarding to see the piece get more of a response now. And actually, to go back to some earlier comments, in addition to the additional material/fuller development of themes, I made some alterations to the string and wind programming that improve the realism and musicality.

The Vanguard is a really cool song. I've listened to it a bunch of times, and it's not just very well produced, but it's also really well written. Do you sketch out chord changes in advanced? This is extremely entertaining music.

These are quite nice. What's with the strings though? Why not use the VSL performance legato?

Both pieces are very well written and enjoyable. It's 'film-esque' and if I am being honest I prefer this over most of the music I've heard in any film made during the last 5 or so years.

Nice harmonies, modulations a plenty, good orchestration etc! The introduction before entrance of the main theme in B minor in the piece Vanguard was particularly interesting.

If I had to pick something to whine about (and being me I must) I would say that the main thematic idea in The Vanguard is a little too 'heard it before' and doesn't particularly stand out as a classic theme, although I recognise that this is merely a smaller 'motivic-theme' and not 'main movie theme'

Leeran: I did sketch out some of the piece beforehand, though actually many of the harmonies were changed afterwards. I've been using my guitar more and more as an aid to the harmonic aspects of the composing process.

Maxx: I agree that the strings are not "there" yet, but I'm afraid that performance legato patches aren't the answer - both pieces use them extensively already. I know there are some string passages in particular in the Allegro in B-flat minor that stand out as sounding too sampled. I'm generally less satisfied with the final sound I got from the strings in that piece than I am with the newer one. I've heard some people say that combining libraries does great things for improving string sounds, so if EWQLSO goes on another big sale again I may have to give that a shot.

almacg: Thanks, and good observations. You're right about the main theme in The Vanguard being more of an incidental motif than a full theme - when I was originally sketching the piece I was thinking along the lines of a boss theme for a game, so I wanted something that could be listened to again and again without driving someone insane. That said, the next time I write a piece like this I think I'll aim for a theme with a little more melodic authority.

Great work mate. As it has been said, brass sections sound awesome! Are they libraries for Kontakt or..?

Exemplary work here Alex. You obviously put a lot of effort into making sure these pieces sounded "spot on." I especially liked the way you used counterpoint in "The Vangaurd." It literally drips with character and excitement.

Thanks for brightening my day with these excellent compositions!

Jared

What program did you use to make it an MP3?

By the way, the song was amazing. The movie it could be in must be a very high-paced action packed film!

Vanguard is absolutely beautiful.. It sounds extremely authentic in most places and very dense/rich orchestration.

What sample libraries did you use?

Earthbound: I use Sonar for sequencing and then convert the exported .wav file to mp3 in itunes.

coax: I used Project SAM for horns, trombones and tuba and VSL for everything else (and VSL is often doubling the SAM parts). Neither of which would sound nearly as good (together) without Altiverb.

PhantomOfTheOpera: I'm fairly sure SAM's repackaged brass library is available in Kontakt format, though it may just use its own sample player. I'm using their old GigaStudio libraries run through GVI. VSL has its own sample player.

Hey nice job here man.

I literary can't say anything that hasn't already been said before lol

I love the thunderous brass and heavy percussion with nice strings and woodwind work thrown into the mix.

The first time I heard this piece I couldn't help but think of the cue "Jango's Escape" from Stars Episode II for some reason. It was more the begining than anything, Horns FTW!

Hi Alex,

I work for a Production Music Library called Music Candy. We are very inpressed with these pieces and would like to talk to you about the poossibility of writing a CD's worth of music for our library.

If you were interested we would set you a project of writing a certain number of pieces for an album, typically each track would be maximum 2 minutes in length. The CD would then be

Hi Alex,

I work for a Production Music Library called Music Candy. We are very inpressed with these pieces and would like to talk to you about the poossibility of writing a CD's worth of music for our library.

If you were interested we would set you a project of writing a certain number of pieces for an album, typically each track would be maximum 2 minutes in length. The CD would then be

I can sense the next great film composer here. I am highly impressed at these works. However, there is plenty of room for you to hone your composition skills. Still, both compositions are written and develop well . and on top of that, the quality of the tracks are phenomenal. A 5/5 stars for this composer!!!