godzilla theme medley

[heatmiser]

What do y'all think of this?

It should evoke images of a man in a rubber monster suit being attacked by fake jets and helicopters while stomping models of buildings in slow motion.

If not, I have failed.

I don't expect the horns or strings to sound convincingly real, but do they sound reasonably cool given the material? Something different...what do you think?

Original mix:


05.15.16 mix with bigger drums:

 

[Robus]

Is for a project? It goes on a bit long.

I can see this fitting with the scene you describe. Through I'm not hearing the jets and helicopters. I hear Godzilla.

The patches aren't cutting it. They sound cheesy, sorry. Why not just go with keyboard synth sounds? It would be better than trying to find good emulations of orchestral instruments.

Cool part at the end.

 

[heatmiser]

Is for a project? It goes on a bit long.

I can see this fitting with the scene you describe. Through I'm not hearing the jets and helicopters. I hear Godzilla.

The patches aren't cutting it. They sound cheesy, sorry. Why not just go with keyboard synth sounds? It would be better than trying to find good emulations of orchestral instruments.

Cool part at the end.

Nah, just done on a lark one day. My son and I were watching a Godzilla movie and both loved the background music. It was so dramatic and well executed given the visual content.

He challenged me to cover some of the themes by Akira Ikufube,,,brilliant composer imo.

Good to know about the tones then. I have zero experience with orchestral arrangements and was perhaps too easily satisfied with simply being able to recreate this in any form. 4 minutes would normally not be too long, but I agree in this case it's a bit much. Thanks.

 

[Bulls Hit]

Yeah it does have a cinematic quality. I quite like the sound of the horns. I think you could beef up the drums quite radically, there's plenty of room in there amongst all the model buildings. Some hard parallel compression on the drum bus, fast release to extend the tails would flesh them out..

 

[VomitHatSteve]

Yeah, the drums and synths don't really match each other. I think the kick should be big and beefy - with lot's of reverb, etc. - to better evoke the feeling of stomping.

There were also a few stutters in the kick, like you edited right in the middle of a hit.

 

[easlern]

I'm imagining Yojimbo, you have failed heatmisersan. ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ

Everything sounds very convincing actually. The drum is really nice.

 

[PoeticIntensity]

All I can say is... "Nailed it!"

 

[TripleM]

I thought it was pretty good for what you were trying to do.

The only thing I might suggest is to make the drums ring a little less. Make them sound more like a "thud" and less like a "boing".

 

[heatmiser]

Yeah it does have a cinematic quality. I quite like the sound of the horns. I think you could beef up the drums quite radically, there's plenty of room in there amongst all the model buildings. Some hard parallel compression on the drum bus, fast release to extend the tails would flesh them out..

Thanks. I like the sound of the horns too, especially when they hit the very lowest notes. The strings less so maybe.

Ok, I'll look into trying some of that with the drums. I appreciate the advice! There seems to be some agreement on that too.

Yeah, the drums and synths don't really match each other. I think the kick should be big and beefy - with lot's of reverb, etc. - to better evoke the feeling of stomping.

There were also a few stutters in the kick, like you edited right in the middle of a hit.

Cool. Thank you VHS. I will try to beef up the kick some and see where that gets me.

Rats. Good call on the glitchy kick. I actually found it hard to play that simple part at such a slow tempo for any length of time without making small but unacceptable timing errors, so I just picked the best section and looped it, but looping on my set up is very primitive - involving basically eye balling it and lots of trial and error. Busted!

I'm imagining Yojimbo, you have failed heatmisersan. ヽ(`Д´)ﾉ

Everything sounds very convincing actually. The drum is really nice.

Lol - awesome. I love me some Kurosawa. Glad you liked it.

Domo.

All I can say is... "Nailed it!"

Yes! Thanks PI

I thought it was pretty good for what you were trying to do.

The only thing I might suggest is to make the drums ring a little less. Make them sound more like a "thud" and less like a "boing".

lol - less boing and more thud - got it! there does seem to be a general consensus that the drums should be altered in possibly a few different ways which is good to know. I will revisit that part of the track soon.

It makes sense that getting the acoustic drums to blend with all of these keyboard/iPad/virtual tracks would be the biggest challenge. Looks like I have some work to do. I appreciate all of the input!

 

[robgreen]

Yeah, definitely something different Pete which is great. I got the images of a man in a rubber monster suit being attacked by fake jets while stomping models of buildings in slow motion. All that was very evident, but no helicopters I'm afraid. Not sure if that constitutes failure or not...

Enjoyed this piece. I get a sense of drama from the horn and strings patches, but not so much from the drums. They're just too far back to add punch I think. I like the playing itself, but it just needs beefing up a bit imo.

The strings sounded really cool actually, and I like the minimal arrangement contrasted with the big bold parts. Some hand percussion might be nice, like shakers here and there to emphasise certain sections.

Hadn't heard of Akira Ikufube before, but just checked out some of his works. His Japanese Rhapsody - Nocturne is really beautiful.

Thanks for posting this up

 

[ido1957]

Yep - definitely captures the old Godzilla movies' feel. I like the horns as well. I would suggest a little overall compression or limiting to even the levels out a bit more. Th drums are a matter of taste - I recall the toms being most predominant in these types of movies.

 

[heatmiser]

Yeah, definitely something different Pete which is great. I got the images of a man in a rubber monster suit being attacked by fake jets while stomping models of buildings in slow motion. All that was very evident, but no helicopters I'm afraid. Not sure if that constitutes failure or not...

Enjoyed this piece. I get a sense of drama from the horn and strings patches, but not so much from the drums. They're just too far back to add punch I think. I like the playing itself, but it just needs beefing up a bit imo.

The strings sounded really cool actually, and I like the minimal arrangement contrasted with the big bold parts. Some hand percussion might be nice, like shakers here and there to emphasise certain sections.

Hadn't heard of Akira Ikufube before, but just checked out some of his works. His Japanese Rhapsody - Nocturne is really beautiful.

Thanks for posting this up

Thanks rob. Glad you went and checked out some of his work. Most of it is pretty minimalist, but the melodies stand on their own quite nicely I think. Never heard of the piece you found. I'll have to check it out. Thanks for the advice on the drums. I have a new mix now which substantially beefier drums. Worried now that the horns may be too far back, but I think it's better?

Yep - definitely captures the old Godzilla movies' feel. I like the horns as well. I would suggest a little overall compression or limiting to even the levels out a bit more. Th drums are a matter of taste - I recall the toms being most predominant in these types of movies.

Thanks ido! New mix with drums up (including the toms and cymbals). Compression and limiting liberally applied this time. Hopefully an improvement and perhaps more menacing sounding? Thanks for your thoughts as always.

New, 05.15.16 mix with bigger drums:

 

[VomitHatSteve]

Yeah, that holds it together a bit better. Synths and drums seem to be of a closer caliber than before.

 

[heatmiser]

Yeah, that holds it together a bit better. Synths and drums seem to be of a closer caliber than before.

Good, thank you. I appreciated your comment about the kick specifically, as I normally leave that dry, but this is a different sort of situation.

 

[rayc]

The synth patches aren't brilliant emulations BUT I like the sounds - they suit the themes.
Good job with the pumped up drums.

 

[heatmiser]

The synth patches aren't brilliant emulations BUT I like the sounds - they suit the themes.
Good job with the pumped up drums.

Thank you ray.

I played the parts (other than drums) on an iPad run through my guitar amp and mic'd with a 57 in the hopes that they would sound warmer than if DI.

I'm glad you liked the sounds while I agree they're not super authentic.

 

[ibleedburgundy]

You have not failed. This shit is awesome.

I love the cymbal that has kind of a gong thing going on.

 

[heatmiser]

You have not failed. This shit is awesome.

I love the cymbal that has kind of a gong thing going on.

Cool, thanks IBB!

I think they used gongs in some of the original arrangements? I tried just hitting the crash as usual, but it was too bright, so I wrapped a ragg wool sock around the drum stick and bashed away.

Consider that a free tip everyone...drum stick + sock + crash = gong. lol