The Sorcerer's Apprentice

[DavidK]

... Just in time for Halloween.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

My orchestration of the classic from "Fantasia". Music by Paul Dukas, classicals best one hit wonder. Enjoy!

 

[mshilarious]

Man, when are you gonna do some Poison, or something

I like this. My only quibble is with the space. When some patches come in and out, I can hear changes in the ambience. Maybe these need some lead time with a small amount of noise to trigger their verbs? Or maybe an overall verb to cover your tracks. Especially on the rests around 1:45. Have a listen on cans, you'll hear what I mean.

I like the lows around 6:00-ish. That's how to exploit your advantage!

The cymbal crashes sound a little too close, like they are at the conductor's stand. Go for a bit more stereo and some more verb on those.

 

[joeym]

Wow....classy!
This goes far beyound home recording for me....amazing, those strings
too speechless to say anything else

Cheers
Joe

 

[ido1957]

Excellent - what kept running through my mind was "Wow - those synths sound great"...smooth and somehow "natural". Not sure if it's layering or just good patches but I like them. It sounds like a couple dozen different sounds going on. This must have been a bugger on memory.... Mike kept dropping out after 24 tracks in Sonar 7. The arrangment is great too, with your selection of sounds at different parts. In the middle of it all is some fabulous violin playing as always. This has got to be one of your biggest and best pieces ever....how long did this take to put together?

 

[DavidK]

Thanks for checkin it out MS, Joey and Gerry.

Go for a bit more stereo and some more verb on those.

Will do. The whole thing is a bit dry right now. I wanted to get it cleaned up some before I put more verb on.

how long did this take to put together?

A LONG time. The first round was last year when I did the synths. Over the summer I got new software and redid them. This past week I picked it up. I put the string parts in this week. It probably took 8 weeks total. I'm not done, this was a rough first mix. Lots of editing left to clean it up.

This must have been a bugger on memory....

Strings are submixed by section. There are 51 string parts mixed into 5 tracks. The synths have 50 tracks. Its a computer killer for sure.

 

[Greg_L]

Very cool David. You finally do some classical shit that I know!

I can't relate to this at all, so I don't even know what to listen for to critique, so I'll just say that it sounds awesome and pro because it does. Good job.

 

[antichef]

Listening to it now with my toddler, who's totally pumped about Halloween - this is helping!

Fantastic job, as usual. No nits from me

 

[Marcadiablo]

Jesus! This sounds simply awesome. I wish I would know how to do something like this. Great work!

 

[CIRO]

As everybody said...awesome!

Ciro

 

[rnelson]

....




(no words)


ps: 51 tracks of strings!!

 

[dementedchord]

once again ... props david...

 

[DavidK]

How DARE you. Not ONE of you noticed that 32nd note triplet in measure 306 that was slightly off.

Thanks for the listens Demented, nelson, Ciro, Marca, Antichef, Greg and Walt Disney.

I gotta say: there were times that I was very tense doing this. Its very unnverving to do this over and over. The viola part was the toughest: reading alto clef while transposing to treble is a bitch with this kind of stuff, it was giving me a headache.

 

[Greg_L]

reading alto clef while transposing to treble is a bitch with this kind of stuff, it was giving me a headache.

Dude, tell me about it! Those fucking alto clefs are a bitch!

 

[Marcadiablo]

How DARE you. Not ONE of you noticed that 32nd note triplet in measure 306 that was slightly off.:

I did notice, but I didn't want to ruin it for you. RIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!

I have no idea what you are talking about. LOL.

 

[Riffmaster]

Un- fucking- real is about all I can say.

 

[Chili]

Simply amazing.... It took you 8 weeks to track it, but how long did it take you to rehearse it?? Is there anyone else playing besides you?? I heard a little mis-edit at the very end. Sounds like the score falling to the ground when you turned the last page.

So very cool. Thanks again for posting your work for us to enjoy.

 

[DavidK]

Thanks Riff and Chili.

I heard a little mis-edit at the very end.

Good ears. There were lots, I did it in haste to post it for Halloween. All gone now.

It took you 8 weeks to track it, but how long did it take you to rehearse it??

Zero.

The string parts are in real time, I just press record and press it 50 times more. The synth stuff is a mix of playing, sequencing, and massive editing. 90% of what I do is editing.

The synth stuff takes 99% percent of my time. The violin stuff is super-duper easy. I do this stuff every day at work, it's actually boring. I rarely do a second take on strings, unless I really flub something. In one way its more authentic as 32 violinists arent going to nail every note. If there is something glaring in there, I just cut it out. I love editing.

 

[rayc]

Sorry it's take me a while to comment Davd.
I downloaded this track & have taken the time to luxuriate in it.
Like so many baby boomers I was profooundly influenced by Fantasia: a Night On Bear Mountain and S's Apprentice being two of the more dramatic pieces.
I'm not a Disney fan, the Disneyfication of folk and fairy tales has had a long term effect on those stories and the themes behind them BUT, I have to hand it to that mob for Fantasia - it was everything wrong and saccarine in illustration and arrangement choices but it was/is soooo gorgeous.
Ooops, sorry for the rant.
Your recording oozes with the richness that time, effort and talent can generate when they meet and greet happily.
I have to apologize because as I listened I could feel the animation running across my frontal lobe.
No nits to be picked by me. I just wish I was clever enough to.
Thanks for putting the track up in time for all hallow's eve chief.

 

[Chili]

Zero.

The string parts are in real time, I just press record and press it 50 times more. The synth stuff is a mix of playing, sequencing, and massive editing. 90% of what I do is editing.

Incredible, David. But how do you pull out the emotion?? You can't just walk into a piece like this cold and bring it to life?? Can you?? I guess if you play everyday for 30-some odd years, you can.

As for me, I practice every little flub until I nail them perfectly. It seems almost like I can flub up without even thinking about it.

Thanks again!!

 

[RAMI]

Man, there's nothing I can say but....Amazing. Seriously. Besides the music itself, the panning and production in general is riveting.