The finished track on SoundCloud - also available on dropbox
The processing on the glass tale tap sound I created
The finished track arrangement
First feedback from client.
Overall, I feel the track was a success and I met the criteria my client was asking for, although my communication with my client was not too great as I started off by giving samples of what I had done to him as I went, which slowly decreased over time until near the end of the project. I am interested to see how he uses the track in the video, but I will be waiting a while before I find out.
Composing an Orchestral Track
On Tuesday 1st November 2016 I contact my friend asking if there was any music he needed writing. He makes YouTube videos so I thought it would be handy for him to have some royalty free material.
He replied saying he could do with an orchestral, Star Wars style track.
I set to work on it the same day.
The song was going to be used in a Grand Theft Auto V game play video based around Star Wars, which is why it needed to be in a Star Wars style..
He sent me a couple of reference tracks which he used in older videos, which were royalty free, one of which I tried to base my track around (click here for reference track).
Tuesday 1st November 2016
Started composing an orchestral track in Reason as I have used reason to create music in the past and like the orchestral packs that come with it.
I started by adding some deep drum sounds similar to those in the reference track and some cello sounds to make a big soundscape. I then added a double bass part and some violins.
Wednesday 2nd November 2016
I had another look at what I had created previously and added some reverb to the violins. I decided to export this as it was and send it to my client to see what he thought.
Saturday 5th November 2016
I started to layer up some violin sounds to include a range of different octaves, similar to a large orchestra.
I expanded the drum line to make it fit better with the violin melodies I created and evolve with the track
I noticed that when I put my glass down on my desk it made a strange sound, so I recorded it into Reason to see what I could do with it. I added a lot of reverb to it and noticed that it sounded somewhat like a shouting sound, which worked very well with the style I was trying to create. I kept this sound and used it at the start of each bar.
Sunday 6th November 2016
I started experimenting with guitar sounds and noticed that if I played some slide guitar into a large reverb it had a very nice effect. I played the guitar to the chords I had down and recorded it in to see if I could use it later on.
I added a sub bass in to increase the low end depth of the track. I used it as a drone for the first half of the track, and left it out towards the end. I layered up some more Cello sounds and expanded the track as best as I could.
Monday 14th November 2016
After a little break I came back to the track to see what I could add. I added an ending to the track how I thought it should end, using large drums to make it seem really large and if something would be coming in the video at this point. I used this as an emphasis point so the track would end as something comes in during the video. I built up the violin parts and added some double bass to create a dark and deep sound to emphasise something 'bad' or 'evil'.
Saturday 19th November 2016
I added some improvements to the track ready to send to my client. I mixed the parts in that needed levelling out and exported the track.
Sunday 20th November 2016
I sent the track I had been working on to my client to see what he thought about it.
He gave me some nice feedback about the ending of the track and suggested that something more should be going on at the beginning.
He also pointed out that a breakdown would be a good idea.
Wednesday 30th November 2016
Finalising the track to be sent off on 2nd December. Mixing the last few bits and adding reverb where needed.
Friday 2nd December 2016
Sent the track off to my client who was very happy with he finished result.
