Death of Halbarad *Finished Version*

Ok its finished, I know that the mixing is just a little skippy.tell me what you think!

Death of Halbarad *Finished Version*

Very straight-forward piece with an appropriately cinematic feel to it. For something that wants to be "epic," the orchestration is a little light--until the end. But overall, really good work!

--Jim

yo derrik,

is that ewql silver? that big sounds comes in at about 1:00 and until 0:21 it was abit hesitated, then it was very nice entrance.

nice orchestration with the drums and grooves, i would really invest some time on mixes, you had some distortion near the end

and the reverb is insane after 1:10.

keep bring us stuff!

Opening sounds a little insecure. The two string lines don't line up rhythmically. Are they supposed to not line up? If they aren't supposed to, you should distinguish them by making one louder, or panned differently than the other.

Turn the strings up at the beginning; they should be closer in the mix. A crescendo into 0:38 would be nice. I'm very glad that 0:38 changed things up.

1:04. Nice use of the brass. Make sure that things don't get muddy around here.

Woah Nelly! The ending gets a little distorted. Take it down a notch. We don't need all that crackle in our ears.

I think the biggest things to work on in this piece are the dynamics and mixing. For the mix, we need to have a little more clarity in the heavier sections. We need to hear the main instruments in the sparser sections more clearly as well. Marius often talks about a virtual soundstage that you mix your instruments into place. I think that kind of philosophy would do wonders here. Just set every instrument's pan and volume to how it would sound like if it were on a stage.

The dynamics are the biggest deal for me. You could have a bad mix but still be making great music if you had dynamics. Right now, it's a very static unemotional performance. Bring it to life! Add in some phrasing, some crescendos and decrescendos. Tug at our heartstrings, Derrick! I mean, come one, Halbarad just died, did he not? Make us feel it!

Nice work,

-John