Peter Crow Composer

I am really curious to your thoughts on this track! apart from the ugly cello samples, some mastering screw ups and way too many slides, I am quite happy with it.

Hi, (this is about cinematic composing) I've been on many composer forums and I keep coming across this problem: - people underestimating the power of good sounding content or not being able to get the sound quality they want. so I'll give some tips on how to get this done: - where do I find good sounding sample libraries? I find the library's from heavyocity, output sounds, cinesamples and native instruments a good place to start. they are expensive though. they all require Kontakt 5. Don't underestimate free sample libraries. they might work just as good as professional libraries! - how do I mix them in a track? every single sample library is different and has a different sound. choose the ones you like most and maybe layer them with others to get the ultimate sound. make sure when you make certain articulations, that you use the samples designed for this. (example: when strings need to do spiccato don't use legato samples.) if not, the track will sound very unprofessional and cheesy. this sounds really stupid that I say this, but I've come across this mistake dozens of times. don't underestimate dynamics. I tend to do this as well. if you have your melody's and chords ready and you have a decent sample library, they will sound pretty normal without dynamics. this is just something to mess around with. keep in mind that dynamics improve your track dramatically. so try something. if you use a keyboard that has a modulation wheel, try some stuff out. make sure that the panning of all instruments is correct to your liking. if all instruments are in one place it will sound unprofessional and unrealistic. make sure there is a good variety of places where the instruments are placed. choose reverb and other effects individually per section. this gives you maximum control over the sound. - synthesizers synthesizers are a great help when it comes to building your sound. they can be used to boost a certain section of the orchestra or to give a feel to your track that organic instruments cannot accomplish. - live playing when you have the chance to play something live, take it. playing something live is in almost all cases easiest. if you are a bit of a musical person the dynamics will go automatically. just import your recording, put some reverb and EQ on it and done. if you are a string player, you might use autotune to make sure your notes are all spot on. I hope this was helpful Cheers! p.s. I've got a track attached that I created under 20 minutes or so, to show you what synthesizers do to the sound of a track. (Don't mind the ending though. it sucks.)

Hartstikke bedankt voor je advies! ik ben het helemaal eens met je punten! Ik zal hier zeker rekening mee houden bij de volledige compositie!

Thank you very much! 😃 The solo-Viola is live and the rest is sample libraries. I used the following libraries: NOVO modern strings, action strikes and Sam orchestral essentials (only for the rough sketch). They're all compatible with kontakt 5.

watch the timing of the notes! the brass and the strings aren't timed on each other. if these were actually timed (and I said something stupid here) then make the attack less and the release a bit longer so the legato is more fluent. make the short notes near 1 minute spiccato so their timing is more differentiable. <- this one is REALLY important! near 3 minutes the strings play a REALLY unrealistic part (the arpeggiated part) with legato samples. this doesn't work at all. make it first of all slower and spiccato or maybe even staccato. I think that will improve it a lot. the legato strings are just playing one line. maybe make some more so they sound more realistic and (chamber) orchestra-like. synthesizers were spot on though. well done on that part. sorry if this was a bit direct or rude. best of regards

Thank you for your advice!

This composition is just really good. I love the feel to it. it really shows the village. I like how there is not a lot of bass. this is a common mistake when people want to make a simple village/ peaceful track. bass makes a track fat, and this track doesn't really need that. well done! 3 points though: 1 - it's really slow. maybe make it a bit faster. 2 - make the bells instead of 1/4 notes to 1/8 notes (maybe even 1/16). it'll make it more interesting to listen to. (and it will boost the Christmas feel! ) 3 - you layered the strings with the lead instrument. maybe split the string section up and make up a second melody or harmony for the strings to make it more appealing. maybe some long legato notes or a completely new melody. the mixing is good. I think this is as good as ready to be integrated into an RPG game! 1 idea: - maybe some pizzicato? best of regards!

I don't have a lot to say about the composition itself. it has been done enough above me. you maybe want to invest some money in some good sound libraries or sample actual players. the overall composition is good but the sounds don't comply. maybe take a course in sound design and/or digital composition. also mixing and mastering is very important. when to use reverb and what amount. and equalizing the strings so they sound more realistic. as was said before dynamics are also really important to get right. also, the panning of the sections is important. the brass section is more to the right with the basses and the violas. the 1st and 2nd violins are more to the left together with the woodwind section. the drums can stay in the middle. tips: - at 2:00 the flute is way too loud considering the brass section is playing in forté. in a real orchestra that wouldn't be possible. there are exceptions where this is necessary but that is not this case. - the bass frequency of the brass section is interfering with the bass frequency of the string section making them harder to differentiate. try to equalize them. search for frequencies that you don't need in the string section and turn them down a bit, or do that for the brass section. completely up to you. - the strings die out too fast. if you make the attack shorter and the release a bit longer the strings will flow into the other notes more naturally. and it will make it sound more realistic. same goes for the brass. examples: - DAW 's that works well with orchestral tracks are Ableton and Cubase but you can use any DAW that works well for you. - Kontakt 5 from Native-Instruments is a sample engine where you can get a various set of professional orchestral sample packs. these can be used to simulate real orchestra's and maybe even tweak them so orchestra's sound more organic or synthetic. this is also used by the composer Daniël James. - cinesamples might be a good starting point for sample packs. if you google it you'll find a few good sample packs. unfortunately, these packs are HUGE and take a lot of memory (RAM and Disk space). - use synthesizers to give it a more modern sound or boost the thickness of the sound. example: use a light/ vocal-like pad to lighten up the sound. layer a sub-bass with the organic basses to make the sound fatter and make the bass come out more. of course using sample packs is not necessary to make your sound better. but the right amount of mixing and mastering can make it sound much more whole and real. good luck! best of regards

Hi! My name is Peter Crow, I'm a film/ game composer from the Netherlands. I made this track and I would like to hear your thoughts on it. it's going to be used in a game for the itch.io game jam 2017. (if its good enough and if it fits the game of course. I haven't gotten a lot of information on the game but that didn't stop me! since the topic is "dreams" I thought it could fit.) it's just a (very) rough sketch of two themes. the topic for the game jam is "dreams". I haven't gotten to any mixing or mastering yet. these are just the melodies. Please take into consideration that this is game music. so it's mostly in the background.