And all the hugs came back

Contests for Composers Majestic Music Contest
1

Hello people.

Track Description : Hymn to celebrate life and brotherhood.

hug pic

My Creative Vision : For this entry, I started with the idea of an orchestral hymn, and looking for an inspiring emotion I thought about the event that would generate that feeling of “something huge and transcendental is happening”. And, of course, the end of the pandemia is in the first place of this events. From that point of departure I focused on the emotion of the first day without the fear, without the restrictions. The return of the freedom to choose what you want to do without taking into account the “covid factor”.

Then I gathered some guide lines:

  • Grandious orchestral brasses and strings.
  • Hope, joy, deep emotion, activity, community.
  • Sense of tradition, history, universality, maybe folk sounds.

Composition Overview : Beforehand, it seemed to be a hard job trying to mix all these ingredients, but surprisingly, my light bulb flashed. In a couple of days, the whole song was composed, arranged, mixed and mastered (as well done as I can :P). And the result was in itself very inspiring to me, so I felt the need to add a video following the emotional journey of the song. Again, in a couple of days I chose some video scenes and mounted them with the music. Then, this new work kept on asking me to go beyond and lyrics started to spill over me. Finally, I added lyrics as subtitles in the video.
This time I prefer not to speak much about the structure, instruments and evolution of the song, because I think there are some unspected roads that make the music more interesting, so NO SPOILER :stuck_out_tongue:
I can say that, as usual, I have tried to put into practice new creative tools for me, and this month I can add some video skills such as where to find free to use scenes for my music, how to add subtitles, and some others.

I don’t know if you will like my idea for the contest but I must say that I feel deeply happy. It has been one of these times when everything goes so fluidly that scares, and you see the final product goes further than your espectations. I supose it is what classic artist called “the muses visit you”. In my case, it is something that happens from time to time, and I just didn’t remember my last visit (some of you, friends, seem to share your flat with a docen of muses all the time, jejejeje). This obsessive, endorfine-rich state made me replay the song over and over inside my brain for several days. That’s the way I want to feel with every project.

I hope you enjoy it.

The links are:
ONLY MUSIC:

VIDEO:

6 Likes
2

Is that bagpipes you use towards the end? I think it fits perfectly in there. I like the mix of instruments and solo flute. Well done! Just my personal taste but I think a countermelody beneath the bagpipes would be a neat addition like what you did with the flute and trumpet at 0:48.

2 Likes
3

I thank your words. Sure, bagpipes. I thougth about that second melody but in that part percussion is reinforced and i didn’t want it to sound overcrowded

4

Really nice composition Vicente. I think you had the right feel for the inspiration you chose and definitely had a big majestic sound. The drums on the outro was an interesting choice. My only critique here, would be to roll back some of the high end on the mix. I’m no mixing genius like Geoffers, but it seem a little too bright and loud to me, particularly when the bagpipes enter (nice touch!).

Always like hearing what you bring to these contests!

1 Like
5

Thank you Matt. Definitely I need a pair of good Monitors ASAP. My personal struggle tend to be mixing and mastering, and I need a reliable reference for a good foundation. Maybe Santa will treat me well this year :gift: :christmas_tree: :santa:

1 Like
6

Mastering the Mix has some nice mastering/mixing plug-ins that I use, particularly, Expose and Reference. Both give you much of the same info, but Reference you use on your master bus and drag a reference track into the plug-in and it will show your levels/loudness units and EQ in relation to the reference track and you use that to make adjustments. There might be better tools but these are good for cheaper prices.

1 Like
7

Recently, I created my own reference tool, using only daw-included and free pluggins. And it works quite well. Now I need to master how to use it. :sweat_smile:

reference
reference805×925 248 KB

1 Like
8

Indeed! Whatever works best! :smile: I have tonnes of mastering/mixing tools and I still can’t use them well :sweat_smile:

1 Like
9

I love your concept, and I think it came together very well. I like the sections and how they transition. I like the maracas/shakers adding the higher rhythm element. The ending with just drums is a great idea too. Great job!

1 Like
10

Glad you like it Mike. You are very kind. I hope today i have the time to review the entries.

11

I’m a simple man, when I hear bagpipes I hit the like button. :smiley:

All in all it’s a really nice composition an you manage to include the bagpipes smoothly so that it doesn’t become penetrating (which is hard sometimes). :sweat_smile:
One thing I would do -besides the mastering adjustments the others already mentioned- would be to include some grace notes for the bagpipe melody and maybe some sliding between the notes.
All in all: Good job! :+1:

1 Like
12

Thank you very much, Chris. I also love bagpipes. For the melody in that part I chose to be easy and direct, but I agree that a few grace notes could fit, for not to be so “dry”.

13

Vicente - wow! I believe this is you’re finest work I’ve seen in these contests so far. You present a inspiration theme and concept in a solid product. Love the title and video as well. The structure develops nicely and musically it all gels with the driving pulsing strings and a nice bed of instruments and percussion, capped off with the always moving bagpipes.

My only critique is the mix could be slightly improved. It is not bad by any means, but I think with a bit (more?) mild compression on the background drum loops to and some other instruments and 2-3 dB compression overall on the overall mix, it would have a bit more " oomph". That said, be careful not to squash too much. Overall add a touch of deep low end to extend the audio range. The violin(?) and recorder/flutes at 2:40 are interesting, but sound a bit weak. You might jazz them up a bit with some interesting verb/delays and brighten them up a bit.

Fantastic!
Brandon

1 Like
14

They are not cheap, but I highly recommend Focal range for monitors. I use CMS 65s. Great pair of headphones also help as a secondary check. Recommend Sennheiser HD600s.

1 Like
15

Hey Bandon. I really appreciate your words. I am always amazed by your creations, very in my taste, so i’m specially happy that you find my work well sewn.
I was so happy when i finished, that i rushed to publish it without testing properly in different systems. But I see crearly that the mix could be better. Due to my equipment i tend to overload low frequencies, and overcompres everything.
Now, i’m really keen on stepping up in my mixing and mastering skills. I hope day by day i will achieve a better sound and upgrade my gadgets in the following months.
Thank you for the listening and tips.

1 Like
16

I have my eye on a pair of JBL 305P MKII. I think htey could be a good starting point.

1 Like
17

Great! With a better monitoring / headphone setup I think you’ll find there is less need to try out on so many speakers, etc If you have a bad acoustic room setup, you might also check out Sonarworks software (for speakers as well as headphones). I don’t use it all the time but when doing final stages seems to help.

1 Like