Overworld - Orchestra/Choir/Piano

Hi,

my name is Dean just joined today.

This is a fantasy based cue titled OVERWORLD about a flight to safety through the frozen overworld,inspired by a friends short story.

There is no brass and very little low percussion,I wanted a delicate,fantasy atmosphere with dark undertones creeping in here and there.

Libs used: EW Platinum Pro XP / EW S.Choirs

Gear: MacG5 / Protools

title: OVERWORLD

http://www.deanvalentine.com/mp3/OVERWORLD.mp3

Dean.

Welcome to YC. It is obvious you have a good bit of talent. If you are looking for comments, it is usually helpful to post a score.

Dean Valentine here at YC? Very cool; warmest welcome to you!

I really enjoyed this, it's clearly the work of someone with a good feel for incidental music. I enjoyed the piano parts but I thought that they would benefit from some more realistic sequencing near the beginning, or perhaps if you played it in yourself via MIDI keyboard. It would help give it a more warm (not literally, I know it's supposed to be a frozen overworld, I meant more in the sense of not mechanical) feel.

The choirs are a nice touch, but I would have perhaps used some more syllables here and there just to give some variety to their sound.

Overall, this was a great listen and showed expert use of your equipment. Very very reminiscent of Jeremy Soule's work for various projects like Oblivion and even Dungeon Siege.

Wonderful work, thanks for sharing :wacko:

Dean, you know how much I love this work!

It is amazing, and even much so that you are self taught and that there is no score... While it could help reviews, the fact that there isn't a score only accents your talent I believe :)

(Mairus, he had just bought the choirs, so he didn't have much time to learn them :o)

Welcome mate!

Welcome to YC. It is obvious you have a good bit of talent. If you are looking for comments, it is usually helpful to post a score.

Hi rolifer,thanks for the welcome.And thanks for the compliment.

re score,I'm completely self-taught and only purchased these sample libraries a year ago...I have started to teach myself to read and write scores but this will take some time.

I've learned by ear and write from instinct so If you would like to make any comments good or bad based on what you hear or fell that would be great too.

thanks again,

Dean.

Wow, Dean, very impressive work. It's already found a place on my iPod (I hope you don't mind :wub:). I think it's amazing that you're just (so I've gathered) starting out composing and that all you've learned thus far was on your own. There's a ton of compositions I've heard from people who have been taking lessons for years that don't even come close to the quality of this - I really have to give you kudos there.

Anyway, I could definitely see this in a fantasy-game, so you've definitely reached your goal with that. I think that your instrumentation fit the piece very well - leaving out the brass did give it a nice touch.

Welcome to the forums, and please continue to post amazing music like this!!

edit: just realized (from your site) that you're not starting out at composing. Still, either way, very impressive work. I'm still amazed! :mellow:

Dean Valentine here at YC? Very cool; warmest welcome to you!

I really enjoyed this, it's clearly the work of someone with a good feel for incidental music. I enjoyed the piano parts but I thought that they would benefit from some more realistic sequencing near the beginning, or perhaps if you played it in yourself via MIDI keyboard. It would help give it a more warm (not literally, I know it's supposed to be a frozen overworld, I meant more in the sense of not mechanical) feel.

The choirs are a nice touch, but I would have perhaps used some more syllables here and there just to give some variety to their sound.

Overall, this was a great listen and showed expert use of your equipment. Very very reminiscent of Jeremy Soule's work for various projects like Oblivion and even Dungeon Siege.

Wonderful work, thanks for sharing :happy:

Hi Marius,

thanks very much for the warm welcome!

everything is played in live and unquantized but I know what you mean re mechanical performance as the piano is looping near begining,well spotted!

I also agree re more syllables adding variety but I did'nt want to kill the vibe of this composition by labouring endlessly over wordbuilder and keyswitches.. for me,sometimes the heart of the music can get lost in the endless editing process.

Must check out jeremy Soules work.

Thanks again,

Dean

You're very welcome :happy:

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean with the editing, I just figured I'd point it out because it was something I noticed after listening to the piece a few times. It's a nit-picky detail though, really, nothing that most of your audience would notice so it's okay.

If you need some examples of Soule's work, my game music soundtrack collection is rather large, so I can help you out :o

This is actually one of my favorite pieces from Dean. Has a Thomas Newman feel to it, but with a lot of other elements.

Hey Pianobeast,

Wow, Dean, very impressive work. It's already found a place on my iPod (I hope you don't mind :D).

Your welcome..enjoy!

edit: just realized (from your site) that you're not starting out at composing. Still, either way, very impressive work. I'm still amazed! :)

sorry,..I meant to say EW Platinum Pro XP was my first orchestral Library purchased a year ago...before that it was custum PC's and dodgy modules and very little orchestral work.

Dean.

Dean, you know how much I love this work!

the fact that there isn't a score only accents your talent I believe :)

Welcome mate!

Hey Nikolas,

Thanks and thanks again for making me aware of this forum,it was Nikolas's crusade against the exploitation of young composers that led me here.

reading and writing scores is next on my list and Notion will be a big help again thanks to you my Greek friend.(thats enough thanks!)

Dean.

You're very welcome :)

Yeah, I know exactly what you mean with the editing, I just figured I'd point it out because it was something I noticed after listening to the piece a few times. It's a nit-picky detail though, really, nothing that most of your audience would notice so it's okay.

If you need some examples of Soule's work, my game music soundtrack collection is rather large, so I can help you out ;)

Hi Marius,re piano I'm glad you mentioned it,

re J.Soule,if you have any samples etc I'd be delighted to listen to them and if theres anything I can do in return let me know.

Dean

WOW! i really like this. I has such a beutiful melody lines for the strings and its very eerie in places with the choir. I does give the impression of flying very well. You are very talented. cant wait to hear more from you ;)

Awesome work, I really liked this, especially when the piano came in the last half, definitely worthy enough for a film. Great work.

Hey Songjun,

cheers for that!

talk to you soon,Dean.

This is actually one of my favorite pieces from Dean. Has a Thomas Newman feel to it, but with a lot of other elements.

Hi Nathan,

thanks alot!

Dean.

I really think you captured the sense of Freezing. The choir aah and oohs were great, the sparkling orchestration and shimmering moments(hmm...wow that feels gay to write but i dont know how else to describe it.). I can't wait to buy that EW sound library you use. It sounds great.

WOW! i really like this. I has such a beutiful melody lines for the strings and its very eerie in places with the choir. I does give the impression of flying very well. You are very talented. cant wait to hear more from you :P

Hi Untold,

thanks!..that was the mood I wanted to convey,I'm deligted it came across!

Dean.

Wow, that was really great. It really gave me this "misty" feeling as if i were flying through clouds. Very cool. So did you just play all of the parts into protools with a midi keyboard or what did you do? Seeing as you don't have a score.

I am in love with this piece. It's masterful. The orchestration is impeccable. Definately not a concert piece, but it employs film scoring techniques and executes them with real grace. At first I didn't think that I was going to like the absense of brass, but I understand it now. It was a well-planned, and thought out piece. 10/10. That's rare for me!

I really think you captured the sense of Freezing. The choir aah and oohs were great, the sparkling orchestration and shimmering moments(hmm...wow that feels gay to write but i dont know how else to describe it.). I can't wait to buy that EW sound library you use. It sounds great.

Thanks alot Vinz R!

theres a sale on at soundsonline.

if you want to buy Platinum Pro XP,nows the time,..its only $995!!

it's normally $3190.00...thats 70% off!!...this offer ends 9th July,

(if someone else you know wanted it too you could but it together and get it for only $500.00 each...you can authorize the orchestra to run on two seperate machines.)

Dean

(if someone else you know wanted it too you could but it together and get it for only $500.00 each...you can authorize the orchestra to run on two seperate machines.)

Dean, that's not legal really... :-/

You get 2 installs, but for 1 user.

Dean, that's not legal really... :-/

You get 2 installs, but for 1 user.

Your right Nik!,...Thanks..forgot about that!

(its still a great deal.)

Dean.

wow,I

Wow, that was really great. It really gave me this "misty" feeling as if i were flying through clouds. Very cool. So did you just play all of the parts into protools with a midi keyboard or what did you do? Seeing as you don't have a score.

Hi Pheonix,

thanks alot!

I played all the parts in via midi,I use Protools,Kontakt 2,Platinum pro xp etc,

I wanted to base a composition loosely around the piano I know the sound and atmosphere I wanted to create and I decided on no brass pretty quickly.

I started with the opening piano melody which is the baisis for the entire cue and looped that over and over constantly finding and quickly sketching (in midi form)new harmonies and ideas re dynamics and orchestration that would suit different instrumentation.

I later flesh out and fully orchestrate the sketches,usually I end up with 4 or 5 sections that I begin to weave together,then I concentrate on the performance/dynamics and flow of the cue as a whole and work on the velocity of each note.

Dean.

I am in love with this piece. It's masterful. The orchestration is impeccable. Definately not a concert piece, but it employs film scoring techniques and executes them with real grace. At first I didn't think that I was going to like the absense of brass, but I understand it now. It was a well-planned, and thought out piece. 10/10. That's rare for me!

Thank you so much!

I normally use loads of brass so this was a first for me not to use any.

Dean.