Independence

Holy Moly . . . . 38 minutes!?
And the last comment I made on your last song was that it was too short.
OK, you made up for that.

I'm ten minutes into the song and it's beautiful.
Not only will I listen to the whole thing but probably several times (I'm downloading it now)
It's great background music for writing.
Thanks for sharing and Wow!

KR2

Very impressive, and yes I did listen to the whole thing :)

Can you tell a bit about how you composed it? Did you play any of the instruments? Were these all separate tracks and then mixed and layered? I'm very interested in exploring the hows, do's and dont's of creating something like this.

I also loved the other songs you posted recently. You're doing great things!

KR: Thanks! 8)

Rune: I didnt play a single one of them, I merely notated what I heared in my head and worked it out in cubase. How I work: First I divide the orchestra in five groups of which the core three (behind brackets the instruments I used here) are the woodwinds (oboe, clarinet, english horn, flute, bassoon, contrabassoon), brass (French Horn, Trumpets, Trombone) and strings (violin, viola, cello, bass). Then you have the percussion group (timpani, gong) and the 'extra' section, here the piano. That means 16 tracks if I'm counting right. Suppose you write a progression C-Em-F-G7. You'd start with a bassline, for example C-B-A-G. Just whole notes. Then you add a second melody, also with whole notes, above the bassline, and make it move independantly of the bassline. Now add a third line on top of the second and have it complete as many triads as possible without becoming corny and finally a fourth that covers the remaining holes. This bassline with the three melodies will be the backing for the melody. You can start with just the basses playing the bassline, then add the cellos and bassoon with the first melody. Just keep building, with the violas and french horns playing the second melody, the trombones dubbing the basses etc etc. Then pick a high-pitched instrument for the melody and add percussion at the end. You can vary enormously with this little chord progression by having different sections play the lines, for example just the brass section or just the woodwinds with a solo violin. Create a second part that shares something with the first part but is notably different then return to the main theme. There you go, you're 'A' part is done. Now write a B and C part and put them in order, feel free to add subtle variations with each A.

When you've got all the notes you automate the tempo track so you gradual or sudden tempo changes precisely where you want them. After that you apply dynamics by setting the velocity levels for each note. You're basic track is then done and all you need is some basic production stuff. Use some proper IRs for ambience, place each instrument-section at the right place and perform some minor dynamic/EQ corrections. And there you go, you're own symphony. :D If you're going to try btu dont have decent samples feel welcome to send your MIDI file and I'll render it for you.

That is a beautiful piece of music, Ignar. My dog even liked part of it (starting around 9:00), she stopped chewing her Nyla-bone for a minute and looked at the speakers, just listening. I feel like the part around 25:00 or so didn't have enough movement forward. It seemed to go a little too long without changing. But overall, it was incredible. Bravo!

woooohhh pretty long but you made a very extravagant mind for the song.. great job

. . . . and a very extravagant song for the mind.

I like it! The piano in the first part reminds to me to some Steve Reich works, very minimalist. I like very much the way in which you add tension. The strings help to do it but also the progressions that you use.

Thanks for sharing and also for your post on the 'making of'. Very instructive!