Celloforte - 5 cellos, 2 pianos, and a drumkit

Hi,

I've been listening to The Piano Guys a lot recently (http://youtube.com/thepianoguys) and I love the sound they get by combining a gazillion cello overdubs with some piano and percussion. So I thought to myself "perhaps I should give it a go" and this is the result... Celloforte!

http://snd.sc/LMDKBw

I think I might have pushed the compression too far so comments on that would be welcome. I've also tweaked the 'cello lines a lot using CC11 in East West to make them sound realistic... how far away am I from that?

To replicate this live you'd need 5 cellos, 2 pianos, a drumkit (and a quiet synth bassline that is barely audible).

Cheers,
Terry.

Hi Terry - I love this piece. The contrast between the lyrical passages and the beat passages is exquisite and the pure verve of the music is mesmerising. Orchestral Rock is vastly underrated and pieces like this prove definitively that there is a wealth of outstanding music potential in this genre. Great work.

Hi,

Thanks everyone for listening and commenting - I say it every time... but I really do appreciate it!

Radio - thanks for the ears on this one. The track is a keeper, i.e. it'll be polished up for my next album (whenever that is) so I'll work on the cello compression and the balance in the mix based on your advice.

Malcolm - thanks for the kind words. Whenever I hear the term "Orchestral Rock" I usually cringe even though it embodies what I love - classical instruments working together with electric/electronic instruments. For this track I tried to avoid the Orchestra Rock cliché by deliberately avoiding the use of virtual cello "sections" and making sure that each patch was a solo cello so that the addition of them all together made it sound more like a group of cellists in a room rather than a lush orchestra (a contrast to the next most recent track on my Soundcloud page - Final Battle - in which I'm deliberately using big string patches which sound quite clichéd at times)

Lynn - Take a bow? Do you mean a cellist's horsehair bow? (I know, it's a lame pun... I'm sorry). I like the idea of being a 'chef' musing over which musical ingredients to emphasise and which seasonings to use to bring out the full flavour! Great metaphor! I'm not sure about my 'unique style' - in my music I hear so many echoes of other people so much better than I, but I'll take it as the compliment it was intended (or at least I think it was a compliment... 'unique' could be used as a veiled insult ;-) ;-)

Thanks again!

Cheers,
Terry.

Very nice composition Terry.
On the 'big' moments everything does sound squashed but that will be an easy fix.
How about getting an opera singer on this? That would be pretty cool :)

The first one we hear, which is the rhythmic one now that you mention it.

Hi,

@foxwolfen - thanks for the clarification

@Neb - thanks for your taking the time to listen and comment. I generally dislike compression in music with "classical" influences so I'll be more than happy to try taking your advice on this one! My production skills may need to step beyond their current level but I'll give it a go!

Cheers,
Terry.

Yeah, this is great! I really enjoyed it.

I think perhaps some percussion could do wonders here and there.

But overall, it's great!

Compress what you feel is neccesary. To me, nothing sounded to squashed.

Well done!

You've been listening to and watching Jon Schmidt and his amazing videos too, haven't you? You really remind me of him.  Yes, you're that good.  Or better.  I LOVE this one!  I saw it the other day when I was away and couldn't wait to get home to listen to it.  It's even better than I had imagined.  The piano playing is so fantastic I can't find words to express it. Wonderful!!!  :)  Fantastic composition and arrangement too.  Wow!

I think I would make sure the piano doesn't get lost in a few places.  Nothing wrong with letting it shine the whole time, no matter what some others around here think.  :)  (Some of Jon's mixes have had the piano way too prominent, but that's not an issue here.) 

I would try to make the drum sounds more realistic.  Don't ask me how, but surely someone can help with that.  

The cellos sound fantastic too...don't ask me about compression, etc...I just know I love all you did with them. What a great idea to use 5 different ones.  Brilliant!

So yeah, I'm blown away...I absolutely LOVE this!  It also sounds incredibly fun to play.  Have you considered trying to sell sheet music too?  I'm quite serious.  It may start small, but this could really catch on.

Did I say I love it?  :)  One of the best pieces I've ever heard!  

Purple Rhapsody


Hi,

I've been listening to The Piano Guys a lot recently (http://youtube.com/thepianoguys) and I love the sound they get by combining a gazillion cello overdubs with some piano and percussion. So I thought to myself "perhaps I should give it a go" and this is the result... Celloforte!

http://snd.sc/LMDKBw

I think I might have pushed the compression too far so comments on that would be welcome. I've also tweaked the 'cello lines a lot using CC11 in East West to make them sound realistic... how far away am I from that?

To replicate this live you'd need 5 cellos, 2 pianos, a drumkit (and a quiet synth bassline that is barely audible).

Cheers,
Terry.

Nice ideas,love the middle section at 1.40,the piano is beautiful.Makes for a good contrast with busier sections at the beginning and end.Only crit is the drums, not the part they are playing but the way they are mixed.Im sure they could be fixed easily tho :)
K
 

Hi,

Janet - yup, Jon Schmidt and his 'cello friend have impressed me no end. Thanks for the expressive compliments, my ego is now bursting and I may not make it out of the front door later due to a massive case of big-headedness (is that a word?). I'll definitely do some work on the drums as that seems to be a common comment, and I'll play about with bringing the piano forward in the mix a little... but then again Lynn said that the cellos needed to be louder! 

As regards sheet music... I'd need to transcribe the music and I'm not sure I've got the time - I do record the MIDI notes that I play but sticking to a rigid 4/4 would be nigh on impossible. I tried it once when someone specifically asked me for one of my pieces but it wasn't a great experience (although I was just trying to use Sonar's built-in score tools).

Kev with all the 1s - thanks Kev. I'm definitely going to take another look at the percussion. Glad you liked the ideas and the contrast.

notnat - thanks Frank. I'm not sure about 'inventive'... having viewed a few of the Piano Guys videos it seemed a little bit derivative to me, but it's all about your point of reference I suppose!

Cheers,
Terry.

Janet


 Btw...to me, what you played on the drums sounds good...but the sounds could be better.  What drum software are you using?  

I used one of the drum kits in EWQL Ministry of Rock and then played about with the sound a bit to make the cymbal less 'clangy' - I also compressed the drums more than anything else to keep them consistent throughout. Makes it sound like I know what I'm doing, huh? I wish I did... I'll go through some more trial and error until I get it right!

Terry this is great as it is.  

If I could perhaps make a suggestion, not that I know anything.

The piano and Cello seem to take the same sound stage perhaps shifting one to one side and the cello to the other, would create some space.  

I am not talking panning more Channel tools to shift the perspective to create the space and let the voices breath.

I did mention it was good didn't I.