Hi Francesco,

This is absolutely great in every way: as to composition, orchestration, building up... and of course the detailed and beautiful footage. I especially like the use of the choir as a fine addition of delicate emotion and timbre.

Very well done and certainly accessible to a large audience without being common or vulgar.

Congratulations!

Jos

Wonderful reviews and quite accurate in analysing the JSG composing style and art!

Many congrats, well deserved.

Jos

Thanks Jerry!

I will certainly have a look at the Hollywood Choir. To be honest, I took the VSL choir because everything else is VSL, but in my opinion, it is not the most successful one of the VSL rig. I tried the Kontakt choir as well, but there, the overal ambience is far too different compared to the orchestra, even when used totally 'dry'.

Thanks for listening,

Jos

The original version has been revised: some more presence was added, some more performance articulations and the final crescendo was lengthened a bit in the brass section.

Cheers,

Jos

I can agree with that!

However, let's enjoy the "things of beauty" as long as we can. That at least is something worth living for, how subjective it may be... and we don't need any so called friends for that.

Jos

Both superb pieces, but if I had to choose, I would prefer the slower one. Absolutely great!

Thanks for sharing,

Jos

Hi Dave,

Glad to hear something of you again.

I do love the sound of the viola: clean, direct and full. The used techniques are well chosen in function  of the character of the piece. The viola is often associated with Irish folk music, and here I notice some influences. The minimalistic piano serves the piece extremely well, nothing exaggerated, just enough to accompany, to color and to give its character and to let shine the viola.

Well done!

Jos

You're quite right, William. I see forums disappearing because of too little interest. I noticed that there are very few to none comments on pieces which seem to be worth being commented on. I experience huge indifference and negativity. Is this the spirit of the time? Is this a new attitude towards creativity and art? I truly hope not!

But it has been mentioned here by a number of members: don't seek recognition or admiration on forums. Find it in yourself and your work, your art, your insights. Quality is the most convincing and it will find listening ears eventually. (Alas, our lifetime is often too short to wait that long...)

With great respect,

Jos

Hi William,

I can't imagine what this discussion is all about, but I guess it's ways beyond the question.

The only thing that really matters here is your Romantic Symphony. It's simple a monument of skill, talent and musical insight and of course years of experience and knowledge of the orchestra.

MANY CONGRATS, IT'S ASTONISHING!

Jos

Brilliant! It's very hard to create a believable mock-up of such virtuosity.

Jos

So beautiful, Jerry. I'm really fond of the harmonies and the somewhat jazzy rhythm (syncopated), but most of all of the scale changes. It has indeed  something of a hot summer blues, lazy and calm, but so rich in atmosphere.

A real pleasure to listen to!

Jos

What a lovely piece! Such an interesting building up towards the end (for such a short piece).

The atmosphere reminds me a bit of "The Phantom of the Opera"...

Well done!

Jos

Wonderful, Leslie. Nice development and fine recording!

Jos

Comment on YT

Gute, interessante Komposition!

Jos

Fantastic score: detailed, expressive, well orchestrated and wonderfully clear recording with exquisite mix.

Thanks for sharing!

Jos

Could you please post your music without Facebook? 

Thanks,

Jos

Hi all,

Here is my new piece Genesis II, for orchestra, choir and narrator . This is the first part, the exodus from space.

Unfortunately, the VSL choir cannot sing words or syllables. The language of the narrator is Dutch.

Men left earth some 200 years ago after they had completely ruined the planet. It had become an arid and waste place, uninhabitable. They thought that they could have a new start in space, somewhere on a 'world-like' planet, but they couldn't find such one. After a 200 years odyssey, they decided to return to earth, hoping that it would have restored itself into a safe and habitable world again. The longer the space journey lasted, the more the old stories about the earth they had left, tortured them and made them longing for such a brilliant planet. Finally they convinced themselves to return...

The piece was made with exclusively VSL instruments and voices (a combination of Synchron and VI instruments)  with the new Sound Variations (of Synchron) and my own designed Sound Variations for VI instruments in Studio One Pro.

Genesis II, part I

Jos

Very interesting piece, with a wonderful mix of the orchestral and electronic instruments. Very good voice as well.

As usual, a brilliant composition. Thanks for sharing, Jerry.

Jos

Congratulations, Phillippe. You've captured the real historic spirit in performance and sound. The instruments and your experience in 17th - 18th century music did it. Absolutely wonderful.

Jos

Hi Markus,

This is a very fine composition, which I love a lot. It's indeed like a patchwork of lovely themes knitted together wonderfully.

However, some small remarks. 

To start with: the playback stopped at 7:55. Next there is clearly an issue with the room acoustics. The woods are very distinct in their presence and sound perfect, but the strings seem to be in another room and sound a bit dull as if they're behind a curtain. Suddenly the pizzicati enter and have a very different sonic impact (a lot clearer and louder). And finally the slurred legatos: there are various gaps between notes (not overlapping enough? Or the wrong patches?). So if you want to give more splendour to your excellent composition, you could consider a remix and a different approach to the acoustics and reverb.

Thanks for sharing this piece. It was a pleasure to listen to it,

Jos

Hi Stefan,

With great interest I have listened to your score. Very well done and with a lot of creativity. The ambience is perfect for the type of music: detailed and transparent so that every single detail is audible.

Thanks for sharing,

Jos

Hi Jerry,

I love the movement. It's so hard to integrate a live instrument into a virtual ensemble, mainly with electronic instruments, because there is no acoustic interaction. You've succeeded well in bringing the two together. The clarinet performance is superb and meets perfectly the ensemble. Bravissimo!

Jos

Hi Leslie,

Wonderful little piece, perfectly constructed. The performance however is a bit straight forward and shows little emotion, despite the clarity and close recording. Some more 'personality' of the players would be welcome.

Thanks for sharing,

Jos

Hi William,

Glad to hear something from you!

This is a huge and valuable collection of fantastic scores. I've just finished listening to "Tomorrow", a great symphonic poem. I don't think I've heard it ever before, but it is a true sonic adventure, masterfully orchestrated. The final theme is simply stunning.

Is this collection something like your musical testament? Anyway, it really is quite an achievement of knowledge, art, experience and musical taste. No matter how one looks at it, it is a laud to the VSL libraries and true artistry!

Thanks for sharing your collection,

Jos

Hi all,

I've just learnt that our friend composer Paul T. McGraw passed away last year (2020). He was a devoted christian and excellent composer, always searching for the ideal acoustic to render his truly rich compositions. He was a consequent user of the VSL libraries, so I felt it my duty to communicate his passing away here and convey my sincerest condoleances to his relatives.

In honour to Paul, his SC page:  https://soundcloud.com/paultmcgraw

Jos