It’s been a busy month in the studio working on mixing The Storm and it feels like it is starting to come together now. Let’s take a closer look.
The track starts off with wind, rain and thunder and then we hear the ominous sound of the storm’s ‘voice’ which is difficult to explain in sonic terms but my aim was to create a sense of foreboding and to give the storm a formidable character and personality. For this, I used my trusty old Kurzweil K2600. You also hear the sound of a bell buoy in the background. Again, I used the Kurzweil K2600 for this. With a loud crack of thunder, the music begins. In this mix, the string samples I’ve used are the Spitfire Audio Mural Symphonic Strings. These were recorded at Air Studios in London and in my opinion, these are the most beautiful string samples on the market right now. For brass, I used Cinesamples Cinebrass which has some fabulous ensembles. I particularly like the trombones and horns and used these extensively on the track. On the drums, we have Rob Brian playing the amazing DW kit with Bosphorus cymbals which we recorded at NAM studios in Wiltshire through the MTA 990 series desk. Rob is a professional session/touring drummer and has been playing for many years with names such as Siouxsie Sioux and Goldfrapp. Check out Rob’s web site here: http://www.robertbrian.co.uk To compliment the drums, I used 8Dio’s Epic Framedrums which come into play during the chorus and also on the return of the storm to add more pace and rhythm. I’ve also used timpani’s from True Strike which has beautiful timpani rolls. During the eye of the storm, everything calms down and we can imagine a few rays of hazy sunshine starting to filter through the storm clouds. I’ve used a flute from VSL here to set the gentle tone along with a solo string from the Mural collection against a backdrop of choirs from Soundiron Olympus Elements. The character of the female choir is particularly enchanting. We’ve got some really nice timpani rolls in this section with crescendos from the Bosphorus cymbals. Then the mood changes as the storm makes its return. This is heralded by the horns and trombones with bass strings, timpani hits and the male choir. The storm’s ‘voice’ makes another appearance at this point and we hear the ominous tones of a tubular bell which is from TrueStrike. The idea behind the bell is linked to the bell buoy that we heard in the introduction but it is more striking in this instance to create a sense of impending danger and to bring a new tonality to the mix. I thought it just added a bit of interest too. In the next section, the storm returns with a vengeance with all the force of nature. The frame drums set the pace with strings driving the music forward. The male choir provides a strong backdrop and underpins the mood. The next section introduces the string arpeggio and the trombones and horns come back to the fore as Rob works his magic on the toms of the DW kit and Bosphorus cymbals. This all sets the scene of the storm’s full fury with huge waves crashing and gale force winds. Underpinning all of this throughout the track is the kick drum, hi-hats and bass. They sit back in the mix for the most part, but they are most certainly there and play an important role. It was quite a challenge getting the kick drum, bass and also bass strings to sit in the mix happily together without muddying the bottom end too much. I used iZotope Alloy for the majority of the processing such as EQ, compression, limiting and so on which I find very intuitive with a great workflow. With 50 plus tracks, I needed a fair bit of processing power to keep up with the load. The next step is mastering and rather than tackle this myself, I’ll get a seasoned mastering engineer to do this. I’ll keep you posted on progress here.
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Tim HardwickI'm a composer, producer and author. I've been creating music for many years now and over the last 8 years, I've been focused on the fusion of electronic, orchestral and acoustic music that tells a story. Archives
April 2018
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