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  • Invade and Conquer

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    Hi all,

    This piece is a (non-classical/non-concert) orchestral piece entitled Invade and Conquer. Sometimes, I have fun doing things like this directly in the daw, bypassing the notation/scoring process. The unique element here is the staggered/non-symmetrical phrasing built around a recurring theme. Also, there's a fairly busy piano part in the background with embellished runs/ornamentation.

    Hope you enjoy 😊

    Invade and Conquer by David Carovillano

    All the best,

    Dave


  • That sounds good - you are getting violent!  


  • Thanks, Bill. Just channeling my composer rage in to being productive :) Dave

  • Composer rage - my normal state.  You know, you can get pulled over for that.  Watch out. 


  • A different and fun having Dave!

    It's obvious that you were enjoying yourself playing around with a strong (cinematic) theme in your DAW. I wish I could do that as well. My piano skills are far too limited to compose that way. Moreover, I must see notes on paper (screen). Improvisation is mostly my starting point, but often themes are created in my mind, mostly during the night...

    Anyway, I liked your piece. It's a distraction from the so called serious work.

    Thanks,

    Jos


  • Hi Dave,

    Indeed, a certain degree of recreational outrage is audible in this piece, if I may say so :) The main theme is fairly straightforward (intentionally, I guess), but you've developed it in all sorts of other directions that were fun to listen to. I liked how during some busy moments the basses become very active and raise tension while still remaining in the background. Again, orchestral parts come and go quite skillfully and on purpose.

    I'd like to separately mention that sound of a bottle being opened at 2:20 (and on). It's just fun :) I understand its purpose, actually. I guess it's a part of the original intention.

    Cheers,

    Crusoe.


  • William:  The joke's on a cop if they pull over a composer-I'll just tell them to collect the fine from my next commission :)

    Jos and Crusoe:  Many thanks for always taking the time to listen and comment.  I'm glad you both enjoyed it.  I personally enjoy not feeling constrained to write only in a particular style, and find that when composing via notation or strictly within the DAW, the end results are definitely influenced by the approach.  What's nice about DAW composing is having access to the entire palette of orchestral sounds/colours and drawing from them as you go and as the need arises (as you noticed with that particular percussive sound, Crusoe).  When I compose with notation, the instrumentation is always pre-determined, which of course is necessary when you're writing music for an intended ensemble performance.  

    From a production standpoint, doing a DAW-only piece is much quicker than proper scoring and then producing a DAW performance, which is probably why so few work this way.  That said, without a score, as William has pointed out in the past, the work feels incomplete.

    Cheers!

    Dave


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    last edited

    @Acclarion said:

    Hi all,

    This piece is a (non-classical/non-concert) orchestral piece entitled Invade and Conquer.  Sometimes, I have fun doing things like this directly in the daw, bypassing the notation/scoring process.  The unique element here is the staggered/non-symmetrical phrasing built around a recurring theme.  Also, there's a fairly busy piano part in the background with embellished runs/ornamentation.

    Hope you enjoy 😊

    Invade and Conquer by David Carovillano

    All the best,

    Dave

    Hi Dave,

    You grabbed my attention with this one and kept it till the end. I don't think this is technically better than your other pieces, but for some reason, it just works for me. It does lose a bit of steam around the 2:15 area. The balance between instruments may be a bit off. In particular, the trumpets seem to have the forte tone quality, yet blending with woodwinds? Perhaps if you have muted brass you would get the balance you seem to want while being more realistic. Bill Kersten would perhaps be a good arbiter of whether my ears are playing tricks on me. Anyway, not everything needs to be scored to work in a concert, so perhaps it doesn't matter.


  • Thanks, Paul. Glad you enjoyed it! The trumpet balance comment is well-founded, and would definitely not behave the same way in a "real" orchestral performance. I do value realism when scoring for concert music, but, as this was part of a film music album, I was less concerned with matters of balance, and more interested in essentially bringing out whatever parts I felt warranted it. Also, as I'm limited in my collection of libraries, I am often forced to use what I have. Of course I'd like all of VSL's libraries, but the little one's got to eat before I can acquire muted trumpets. :) Cheers! Dave

  • PaulP Paul moved this topic from Orchestration & Composition on