Fan's Dimmer - action track

Steinberg Lounge
1

Hey folks, I wrote a small action cue. I would love it if you gave it a listen and shared your opinion about it.
Made in Cubase (of course) with your typical run-of-the-mill array of synths and samples… :slight_smile: Most FX processing done with Cubase’s built-it VSTs.

Here goes: Fan’s Dimmer

2

I am really loving this track. VERY polished, the background synths sound amazing and fill out the sound, while the strings and brass keep up the suspense. Are the strings and brass really all with HALion?

3

Thanks, glad you enjoy the track! :slight_smile:

Sorry if I was misleading, the orchestral sounds are from other sound libraries (that I’d rather not name since they are not Steiny products—you can PM me if you want to know but they are really some of the most commonly used at the moment). The synths are indeed Steinberg stuff (I think Retrologue in this particular track). The production is done in Cubase and all the FX are Cubase stuff: EQs, compression, limiting and of course my favourite reverb, REVerence (I love the impulses and the plugin itself)! The “slap bass” sound is actually made using a MIDI-echo fx (repeats the note with decaying velocity) from Cubase’s MIDI inserts.

4

Yes, it’s all there, the action, the suspense, the chase and the quieting down. Pity is it so short, this can develop into a major movie epic piece! Michael

5

yeh nice ,also checked out your pink floyd stuff ,wow.

6

Thanks for the encouraging words, Michael! Really glad you enjoyed the track.

This was part of some tracks I made as showcase for my portfolio, so it’s deliberately kept short. Usually (unfortunately) people scouting for composers (directors, producers, game developers, and so on) won’t bother to even start listening at a track if the time-stamp is too big… :slight_smile:

Chris

7

Thanks but I can’t take credit for that :slight_smile:

You’re probably referring to the Pink Floyd covers by a jazz band. That’s not my work, I just “liked” the tracks through SoundCloud so it pops up in the related in my SC profile. My brother is playing keyboards on that record (he’s a jazz pianist) and the idea for the album is by the trumpet player, Andreas Polyzogopoulos. They have made a pretty awesome record actually—it’s called “Heart of the Sun”. Unfortunately it’s impossible to find unless you’re in Greece—at least for the moment… :slight_smile:

8

Nicely done my friend…a good piece and would be better if it led us to somewhere…maybe a musical theme/tune, this is a nice intro to something…Kevin

9

Thanks, Kevin :wink: Of course you’re right. This is not a stand-alone piece, just a little showcase—more like, “look, I can do that too”! I will post complete pieces from time to time, since I agree that technical skill does not necessarily equal musical skill :slight_smile:

10

Yes, you nailed Hans’ style here. :sunglasses:

Don’t feel intimidated to name your tools here. Everybody else does, and it’s not like Steinberg will “tagging” you if you do (assuming they’re even paying any attention at all). We all like to know what each other’s using in our work

11

Hehe, hence the name of the track, of course!

It was not really intimidation, I just feel many people are paying too much attention to the tools and not the music. But ok, this track is hardly a musical masterpiece, it’s just a study on a particular style (Zimmer™). For what is worth, the synth is Retologue, a very simple patch that I put together to achieve the LFO pulsating sound, there’s an Omnisphere pad and orchestral stuff are East/West. The hits are a combination of Taikos, and other nice large percussion from Stromrdrum 2. As mentioned before, most effects are Steiny, most notably REVerence which I feel has nothing to be jealous of from any other convo out there (quite the contrary actually).

12

really fine! congratulations,I really like the dynamic of the song and the sound, very clean and precise. Bravo!

giuseppe

13

Thanks for the encouraging words, Giuseppe. Really happy you enjoyed it!

Chris

14

I agree that it sounds very cool and it was an enjoyable listen, albeit short. The production is nice and the orchestration works well. However, I have to strongly disagree that it’s anything like Zimmer’s work. It just doesn’t have the characteristics that make him distinguishable.

For example, the rhythm at 0:12 is similar to the Metal Gear Solid videogame music. I could link you one or two MGS pieces that use the exact same choir effect used at 0:29. So if you were aiming for a MGS style piece, then I’d say excellent job because it sounds similar but with your own style. It just isn’t very Zimmer-like at all and although he’s far from one of my favourite composers I do know his music quite well. And remember, even for games like Call of Duty, Zimmer only wrote the main title music, two other composers wrote all the other music featured in the game.

Well done and a nice addition to a show reel, but I’d call it a MGS videogame style thing and not a Zimmer film score thing. Anyone that knows their videogame and/or film music will instantly see this too and say the same thing.

Also, I think it’s safe to name your sample libraries. DAW’s and sample libraries are completely different things and everyone uses both, not one or the other. If anything, Steinberg would encourage interaction between the two.

15

good track , I like the use of the midi-echo fx it give the track a nice feel and don’t even bother thinking about what category or weather it sounds like bla bla or bla ,that’s not important , it’s your style you do as you please and let your talent flow .
I like your deep style ,keep it up :wink: