@timkiel said:
Hi Rob,
Excellent stuff. Congratulations.
Any chance of sharing some of your secrets round i) the composition approach you took, ii) the time it took do complete and also iii) the mixing/mastering approach inc. the reverbs you used etc.
Cheers
Tim
Sure Time - I don't think they are 'secrets' - I am sure many here have their way to approach projects. This is one person's way
i) For me, I watch the entire project a few times. Then I'll very simply follow along improvising various themes - you know when you hit the 'right one' - for that scene (usually on the piano - but sometimes using one of the terrific VSL legato WW patches). I usually start with the 'most important scene - whatever that is. If I can capture the emotional content of that scene everything else seems to work out better.
On this project the Fight Scene (Fight of your Life) actually took me a couple of days to get right. The visuals were up and down - fighting and not fighting (ebb and flow) - it was at first difficult for me to get this 'interplay' right. The Director had some 'sacred' SOUND DESIGN stuff he wanted to be - at times - in the forefront [:'(] It's all good though - we both ended happy with the cue when it was done.
ii) On this project, I was given 2.5 weeks to write and mix (about 20 minutes of music). It was a little stressful at times (2 days the HOST PC decided to get cranky), plus I just don't write exceptionally fast. Having said that it was a good 'exercise' to test myself. Has given me some confidence to perhaps tackle othe projects that other board members here do day in and day out.
iii) Wish I had more time here - oh well. Really didn't mess around alot with EQ (some shelving of 2-4K on some of the strings - dug some mud out of the low brass (300 K). Used a couple of instances of Giga pulse (narrowed the stereo field to 35%). Had a limiter on the master buss to pick up some of the heavier percussive hits and that's about all.
Hope this helps.
Rob
