After The Door Has Closed (Bleeding Fingers entry)

[coincidental]

So I came across this Hans Zimmer-sponsored contest (http://www.hanszimmerwantsyou.com/) and, while I don't imagine for a moment that I'll win, it was a fun exercise. I used synthesised sources for the strings and layered the voice with a synth lead, and experimented with using midi guitar to input the parts. I could have done with more time to make a more intricate arrangement, but isn't that always the case?

If you want to enter too, you have about 3 hours... Sorry
EDIT: actually they seem to have extended the deadline by another couple of days. Go for it - the stems are interesting in themselves.

http://soundcloud.com/coincidental/kismetclosed

[micahtMusic]

Very cool.

I do like what you're doing with this arrangement in general. There are just a few intonation problems in the strings every once in a while. Overall, VERY different from the rest of what I've heard in this competition. What DAW and VSTs are you using? Which stems did you use?

I just saw that they extended the due date. Interesting.

Here is mine! I used the synth, percussion, PBH, trumpet, flutes, choir stems, but added my own strings and harp. Kinda going for a zelda feel here. I emphasized the synth sound that in the original master track wasn't even audible.

https://soundcloud.com/micahtmusic/fates-final-effect

[Allomerus]

So I came across this Hans Zimmer-sponsored contest (http://www.hanszimmerwantsyou.com/) and, while I don't imagine for a moment that I'll win, it was a fun exercise. I used synthesised sources for the strings and layered the voice with a synth lead, and experimented with using midi guitar to input the parts. I could have done with more time to make a more intricate arrangement, but isn't that always the case?

If you want to enter too, you have about 3 hours... Sorry
EDIT: actually they seem to have extended the deadline by another couple of days. Go for it - the stems are interesting in themselves.

http://soundcloud.com/coincidental/kismetclosed

Enjoyed this a lot. Very smooth and I liked the end 'sax'...

[coincidental]

Just noticed these responses - sorry for the lack of reply!

Thanks for the comments - I did it in a tearing rush (a few hours), thanks to general slackness on my part, though as it turned out I could have taken another few days. Certainly I would have remixed it if I'd known - it sounds very messy now that I listen again. Not to worry though - there were 6683 entries in the end.

Since time was brief I just concentrated on reharmonising and I included a few (probably a few too many) nasty dissonances just because I reckoned anyone listening to 6000 entries might need waking up. The strings were actually the Hideaway Studio String Collection. Synth strings are good for quick mockups and they sound pleasantly crusty with detune, in a way that suited the more "silver screen" take on the material. I can't remember off the top of my head where the other sounds came from - nothing very top-of-the-range, though, for sure. It was compiled in Reaper.

All I used was the trumpet stem (which I clipped the start off) and the vocal stem, which pokes out from behind the layered synth lead now and then.

I like yours too, Micaht - the harp in particular. And I never really listened to the synth stem - good spot!

I haven't listened to many of the entries but the diversity was bewildering, though there were rather too many that sounded like original. All those splendid high-end orchestral libraries can be a curse sometimes I think - everything sounds polished and shiny but people spend more time on their articulations and the mixing than they do on notes, which is what actually tells the story.

It was a fun exercise though. Would be nice to do another one (with a bit more time), even without the lure of a prize.