Cotton on the wind -orchestral western cue.

Hi,

names Dean,I'm a self-taught musician and I've composed for

TV/Film/media since 2000.I love Westerns so last year I decided to compose something in that genre as an excercise and demo etc.

It's an american western cue titled 'Cotton on the wind'.

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

Thanks,

Dean.

That's a very fine piece with some interesting orchestral effects. Great work!

That's a very fine piece with some interesting orchestral effects. Great work!

Hi Eulur,

many thanks for listening and posting.I wrote this last year its a pity I did'nt have ProjectSam Brass sample library then as the EW Platinum pro XP brass took an enormous amount of time to sound as good as possible.

Aso I use a combination of mic positions and libraries now for greater depth and presence but theres still nothing like the real thing.

Dean.

Very Copland-esque - the ethereal opening followed by the more excitable section that follows reminded me of Appalachian Spring. Not that that's a bad thing at all. :mellow: Good use of samples too.

Impressive work!

just curious, i compose but only on Finale, and my dream is to write movie scores (i will post some of my works soon =] ) But what kind of program do you use to get awesome quality like this? and is it easy to understand?

Stuff like Garritan Personal Orchestra. Soundfont libraries are all over the net.

Great piece Dean.

Awesome piece, really professional sounding. I actually started something really similar to that, I knew the percussion and brass sounded really familiar. But I haven't worked on it for quite some time now. hmm, I haven't composed for a while either....

Thanks songjun,

I'd like to hear it ...so get back in that studio and finish it.

Very Copland-esque - the ethereal opening followed by the more excitable section that follows reminded me of Appalachian Spring. Not that that's a bad thing at all. Good use of samples too.

Impressive work!

Cheers Mike,not a bad thing at all,I wanted to use that familiar iconic american western style of Copland.

those horns were a nightmare which is why that sections so short.

dean

Awesome,

DEAN IS ON THIS FORUM NO WAY!! AWESOME!! hey dean, I listened to some your stuff from Soundsonline before, but to comment on the piece you posted. It sounds really good. Im still amazed with your sense of orchestration. Have you considered giving a helping hand on the lessons forum. I would love to take some tips from you.

By the way, darkmatter and overworld are still awesome.

just curious, i compose but only on Finale, and my dream is to write movie scores (i will post some of my works soon =] ) But what kind of program do you use to get awesome quality like this? and is it easy to understand?

Hi Chim07,

I'd love to hear your compositions.For this composition I just used,

Software:

EastWest/Quantum Leap Platinum Pro XP Symphonic orchestra sample library.

Hardware:

Mac G5 Quadcore

Protools 7.1

Other software:

ProjectSAM Truestrike 2

ProjectSAM Orchestral Brass

EW/QL RA

EW/QL Symphonic Choirs

Atmosphere

EZ Drummer & DFH

Check out:

soundsonline (for EWQL libraries)

KirkHunter

VSL

GPO

There are many others at many different prices but if you have a budget I can help you re choosing the right library and gear,just give me a shout here.

Once everything is set up right its not very complcated to use I can aslo help you there too if you like.

Dean.

Awesome,

DEAN IS ON THIS FORUM NO WAY!! AWESOME!! hey dean, I listened to some your stuff from Soundsonline before, but to comment on the piece you posted. It sounds really good. Im still amazed with your sense of orchestration. Have you considered giving a helping hand on the lessons forum. I would love to take some tips from you.

By the way, darkmatter and overworld are still awesome.

WAY!!

thanks alot Cain777!

I could definitely give you a helping hand and plenty of practical tips re orchestration/mix/realism etc using sample libraries,(if the mods dont mind that the fact that I'm self trained?)

For me the best way to do this is to respond to some general/specific questions and/or give detailed feedback on one of your compositions in a public thread,

Maybe someone who is classically trained could also offer their expertise / advice aswell so you get well rounded feedback,(also I might learn something too),...so get posting and start asking!

Dean.

Stuff like Garritan Personal Orchestra. Soundfont libraries are all over the net.

Great piece Dean.

Hi Vinz R,

sorry I missed your post,thanks!I've never used GPO any good?

Dean.

GPO is great, but only if you have the comp power to make it do so. My comp doesn't have the gig of RAM that one needs to use it at without it sounding funny at times. Ive made some pretty decent files tho:

SoundClick artist: Vinzane - Composer, Classical/Jazz Saxophonist.

They also have a website that will show you the potential of GPO on good computers.

Hi Vinz R,

thanks for that,just curious.

I use EW Platinum Pro XP which is 140 GB's on an External G-RAID FW800 Hard drive and a Mac G5 Quadcore 2.5Ghz with about 6.5 Gb RAM which is a bit of a waste since all applications can only use 2-3 GB's max at present.

Dean.

I'm sorry to budge in like this, and I love Gary and what he does and all that, but really there isn't much comparison between GPO and EWQL Platinum (+ xp pro). Not on the level that Dean is atm...

Dean, GPO can sound good when you tweak it, but is no much for what you have right now. It's more of a library for beginners or composers who don't use sequencers, thus it works lovely with Finale and Sibelius...

Hi Nik,

yeah I was curious because I hear that name alot but I'm very happy with the combination of Libraries I have at present

Platinum Pro XP

SamBrass (I use this for 90% of all brass now.)

Truestrike 2 is a great compliment to the Platinum percussion section

Some VSL (Kontakt 2 version)I think VSL is underrated by EW users because its a dry library but it has a very natural/realistic sound with the right reverbs it works well with EW.

I plan to look into Westgate for WW's and Horns(again thanks NIk)

Dean.

(Nik,My entry for CG comp uses all of the above with RA which will give you a good idea of how they work together.)

Great. You are a finished musician. Superb. I can hear definate influences from Rodeo and Appalachian Spring in here. Great work, as usual.

I agree with nikolas. You have the best library on the market dean. I myself want to buy it.

Great. You are a finished musician. Superb. I can hear definate influences from Rodeo and Appalachian Spring in here. Great work, as usual.

I'm not finished yet but You're very kind,thank you.

yes Copland was big influence on this one,I really love his style.

Dean.

I agree with nikolas. You have the best library on the market dean. I myself want to buy it.

thanks again vinz R.

Platinum Pro XP is a truely brilliant library.

Dean.