@Carter said:
this is what i call epic strings imo :
http://annecywebtv.free.fr/mus/fditds.mp3
http://annecywebtv.free.fr/anm.mp3
And you can say everything, there is nothing else but violins, cellos/basses, and of course some brass, may be some woodwinds, but i doubt they take a large part in that strings sound
if somebody can achieve a violin sound like that with VSL so, tell us [:)]
An interesting subject by all means. I think that "epic strings" is really a subjective term. If I had to pick between Carter´s two clips, I definite would choose the Star Wars clip from Return of The Jedi. It has good instrumentation and balance, and the mix is really neutral and "honest". I simply dont like the sound of the scores in episode I and II. They are mixed/written far too polished, and it sounds more like a giant synth. But I do respect and admire John Williams work and musicianship. He is in fact one of my favourite filmmusic composer.
One of my favourite "epic string" pieces are Richard Strauss "Von den Hinterweltlern" ( from "Also sprach Zarathustra", Op.30) after the introducing tremolos and pizzicatos, where those delicious strings starts their "espressivo" effort (especially the cellos do realy shine)
But to if one need to get a string section to sound "epic", I think one have to not only look on the mixdown, reverb, eq etc.:
A famous but still effective cliché [:D] is for example make the cellos play in a high pitch while playing unison with the violins. hmm... maybe i´ve heard on a hollywood film somewhere....? [[;)]]