Movie score ( a la hans zimmer) - any tricks? compressor??

[Earwax69]

Hi, I got to do a movie score track (2min) in the Zimmer style. Big french horns, deep tuba, presto cello strings...

So far it sound ok. I've just put a slight reverb on the master track. Is there anything I should be aware as a total first timer? Do you compress anything?

The track need to be strong, highly powerful. Think Dark Knight/Inception...

I feel a bit thin on my percussion... any plugins or samples I should check for that? I got a small budget. Right now I used some taiko drums with reberb.

thanks!

[necho]

I'd take off all the reverb and experiment with stereo positioning to create space instead. see how it sounds.

not saying you shouldn't use reverb, but it can really mess up a mix and there are other ways to create space.

[3phase]

Ableton's is good, but it's meant to model a synthetic reverb, so it doesn't sound "real" (by design). Unfortunately I can't really recommended any reverb plugins though, as the synthetic reverb is ok with the music I make.

?? wow..you are really the first one that is doing that statement..

usualy the hans zimmer soundtracks are drowned in reverb.. you maybe just dont get that becase of the expensiv rooms he uses but in general there are something like around 10 second reverbtimes in action at high level.. the sound actually swims in the room ..what of cause builds a nice wall of sound in the background..

however.you cant do that with cheapo reverbs because the tails get never part of the sound so its sounds rather sick to use such big rooms..or better said, deep rooms.

[jonathan harker]

have a look:http://www.stuckincustoms.com/2010/01/2 ... the-world/
nothing more to say!!!
if hans zimmer can work in such a room, you can imagine that he has some fine gear available. i think he is using some very good rackgear for his reverbs! on the pictures you can see a lot of hardware.
man, i want that studio!

[3phase]

First one to say what? That it's synthetic reverb? Not really, I think that's pretty common knowledge...a quick search brings up several places that say the same thing-

i just was surprised that you find the ableton reverb good because usually people state otherwise.....

[Heiko]

ai, Hans Zimmer, that room...............silences me..................

[posssu]

Hi, I got to do a movie score track (2min) in the Zimmer style. Big french horns, deep tuba, presto cello strings...

So far it sound ok. I've just put a slight reverb on the master track. Is there anything I should be aware as a total first timer? Do you compress anything?

The track need to be strong, highly powerful. Think Dark Knight/Inception...

I feel a bit thin on my percussion... any plugins or samples I should check for that? I got a small budget. Right now I used some taiko drums with reberb.

thanks!

The most important thing is good samples. Awesome affordable strings you can get by getting LASS Lite and for all the other instruments (like powerful brass) you can build from GPO4, that is also quite cheap. It also has nice timpani and winds.

And to make those samples sound good, you need Altiverb (or something similar).

I wouldn't put the reverb on the master track, in Zimmer-music you have lots of percussions and rhythms that shouldn't be as wet as the orchestra. The orchestra instead is really wet and behind the whole electric part. So use sends. Of course you can have the electronics a bit in the sends as well, but not that much, you probably want the rhythm much drier.

Try what sounds best. You can compress the whole mix, do all kinds of spreading tricks on the master channel (like parallel compression, M/S emulation etc) to make the mix wider and bigger. It's much about bigness and width.

[Earwax69]

Thanks for all the replies, I didnt expected so much!

Ok, I did put out the reverb (aether) on the master track because I need my cello dry to preserve the attack. About the cello, I need a new cello sample because the one I have is not thight enough. Im looking at LA scoring strings but its out of my budget for now.

No compressor yet, Im lowering all volumes, automated for each section. Its far from easy to balance and I need volume automation for each new music parts.

Any recommandation for the orchestra percussions? I found some nice samples in Omnisphere, very boomy deep hits. Good for trailer stuff.

[Earwax69]

think closer or further away as opposed to big or small.

good advice!

This may be out of your price range, but - http://www.musicradar.com/gear/all/comp ... 931/review

holy cow, 20gb of percussions!!
Kontakt pack is good, thanks.

[posssu]

Thanks for all the replies, I didnt expected so much!

Ok, I did put out the reverb (aether) on the master track because I need my cello dry to preserve the attack. About the cello, I need a new cello sample because the one I have is not thight enough. Im looking at LA scoring strings but its out of my budget for now.

No compressor yet, Im lowering all volumes, automated for each section. Its far from easy to balance and I need volume automation for each new music parts.

Any recommandation for the orchestra percussions? I found some nice samples in Omnisphere, very boomy deep hits. Good for trailer stuff.

If you own Kontakt or have Sampler for Live, then you should download the freebie orchestral percussion from projectsam.com. I've done many projects with these and they're completely free. But you can't do much repeat with them (except with snare).

The kind of percussion depends on what you like. I would check out Small epic percussion from Tonehammer, I think they were kinda cool. But I'm sure there are plenty of good choices. For tom-kinda beats, Sonivox came out with a funny product for easily making epic beats. Check it out on their size: www.sonivoxmi.com, should be on the front page. You can't go wrong on that one! (except for if you don't like how it sounds).

The thing is - you don't want to write the exactly same music every one else has done a thousand times. Otherwise no one will ever find you. If you think of how many Zimmer-copies there are out there, you'll quickly realize that it's impossible to compete in that area. Instead, try to find out a way to do Zimmer music with your own flavour, so that people here that it's you. That way you'll get recognized much more likely.

[posssu]

the most obvious advice I can think to give is to not try & sound like Hans Zimmer.

Yes. +1

It's fun to learn the technique by copying but as soon as you've done it a few times, you'll notice that it's boring. You listen to your copy and notice that there's nothing there that inspires you. That's because you didn't write it the way YOU wanted but the way Zimmer sounds. It sounds good, it sounds familiar, but it's not you and in addition your music doesn't have the memory-connection with the film that Zimmer's music has. What I mean by this is that you maybe saw Zimmer's music with the film it was written for and had an epic cinematic experience. But your music has been written without any film and you don't have this memory of experiencing your music with the film in cinema. That's one of the things that makes us remember film music, we remember the whole film experience and not just the music. For instance, when I think of the music in Tron, I think of the epic scenes the music was heard in. Or Bon Jovi's "Always", it brings back the memories of first love, the discos at school etc. If a music piece has a memory-connection or you see the story as you listen to the music (=film), the music has much bigger power.

So. Even when you write copy, try to do it your own way. Add some flavours you like, some things you think would make it better. You need to make even the copies so that they inspire you when you listen to them. Otherwise it's very probable that the music you write won't inspire others either.