Battle in the Eye of the Storm

So again a very loud, bombastic piece.I was very keen to make a good use of the full orchestra and to get a realistic mix. Have fun!

Battle in the Eye of the Storm

Hey Oliver,

Nice piece! Some comments: the trumpet in the beginning didnt sound too good to me, you should try and make sound it more real. The staccato's later on really sound better! I especially like that tuba + timpani hits around 1:30 :), the climax in 1:58 was a nice one, however, I think that repeating of the strings at the very end of the climax should have been different. I think it should all go upward if you know what I mean. It was a pretty long piece btw, haha, but I listened to it all.

More comments might come up later on, but for now you'll have to do it with this!

greetz

Battle in the eye of the storm. Hehe, WoW inspired? :) Nice piece, altho' I expected something more aggressive with those blazing horns and galloping rhythms. Let me give you some comments in general composition wise: I think the writing is pretty solid, but the sequencing could of been done a bit better, there are some spots where the orchestration sounds a bit thin, like around 0:50. I think some more low end, double basses, tuba and celli might come in to fill out the space. From 1:48 is a very nice build up, but I don't like it's toned down from there, but thats mostly personal taste. I wanted some explosive rhythmical stuff to make me want to decapitate somebody :P

The second part is nice, but I would like it more if you found a way to transition to it without just kind of stopping and then starting a fresh piece. The ending is pretty good, very bethovenesque cadence :) This review might sound very harsh to you, but I'm just trying to provide a useful insight, I actually like the piece and would love to hear it polished up.

Hi Oliver!!

I agree with Jigaat on the matter of the trumpet. It's generally excellent, lots of tension building and exciting rhythms. After the trumpet, I really like the slow buildup. The orchestration is especially effective here, and TBH, I disagree with Phantom on the more thin orchestration :)

I think at the end of the buildup at 1:50, the sequencing fell a little. It would have been nice for a heavier fanfare to follow it with more brass, I guess this still works OK. The melody here is really nice - really heroic and beautiful harmonies.

The second section after this - like Phantom said, you could have made a transition - even a sustained high string note would be better. I think if I was feeling nitpicky, I'm not a big fan of the sustained flute at the top (is it a flute). This part is extremely expressive, however, once again, the transition lets you down. I think the orchestration was too thin (only violins at the top). Perhaps you should have had full strings here instead. I think that the trumpet was a little too loud and sharp at this stage too. Maybe start with a french horn carrying the melody before gradually moving the trumpet in. THe strings at 3:58 sound a little on the synthy (at least, that's IMHO). Maybe at the end of this phrase you could add a little fuller staccato sound to prepare for the strings. I loved the intensity of the builtup next section, reasonably light but extremely cool :D

I think that overall, you really showed yoru skills with the faster sections. Perhaps the maiidle could be a little better in terms of samples, but apart from that awesome stuff, and the piece really pays tribute to the hard work you've put in!! :D

Thanks for sharing!!

Excellent work, Oli!

First step for that realism is panning the instruments around. It sounded like everything was close to the center. Spread it around.

I like your brass at 1:00. The countermelodies with the trumpets are a nice touch as well.

Surprising chord change at 2:15!

Nice resolution at 2:53.

It can still be louder.

Nice clarinet rhythm at 4:15.

Nice string ostinato. The strings here feel like the dreaded machine gun! Change up the velocities.

Your flute countermelodies right after the trumpets at 5:20 doesn't sound as good as the rest of your orchestra. Either the sample's not as good or it's not mixed properly.

Ending should be more bombastic. Percussion should be going crazy, and the full orchestra should be getting in there.

Really nice piece, Oli! Lotsa contrast, impressive length (even though most of it was repeated :P )

Work on the panning, some of the sequencing, and turn it up please.

-John

hey there, nice piece, i loved the strings at 13 . i think you should have lowered the bass in the mixing proses as it sounds a bit too bassy !and panned the instruments better , it all sounds coming from the same place. as for the composition , nice orchestration , i like the builds up , the second part was better for me , as the first one was a bit boring for me . i loved the use of the woodwinds (on higher notes) in the second part . the peace is really good , loved it !btw the strings staccato are awesome! and its pretty much epic!

Wow, so many comments :)

Thanks all of you especially for all the tips on the sequencing. I didn't really think there was so much to improve, but no you wrote it down, I hear it, too (most of it ;))

@Phanto: Nope, definitely not WoW inspired. Is there something with a similar title?

@CheeseLord: Yes, it's a flute in the slow part, I like the sound very much though...

@John: Hmmm I did pan all the instruments, maybe it wasn't enough... I also used a "stereo spreader" from Cubase in the mix, makes a fuller sound, I think, but maybe there is some influence on the panning...

What exactly do you mean by "turn it up please", do you mean turning up the overal volume? If I do that I'm having problems with clipping...

So thanks again, also for the critical reviews; very much appreciated!

@Phanto: Nope, definitely not WoW inspired. Is there something with a similar title?

No, no, there isn't a piece of music that I'm aware of with the similar title, but there is a battleground called The Eye of the Storm in the WoW universe. Then again, it's an often used phrase in english so I might be just thinking too far ahead :)

Ah got it ;) Anyway I don't have time for WoW..