Lessingham's Theme - Instrumental (NEW MIX)

Greg Spawton is on record as saying it’s been illegal for progressive rock bands to write about Hobbits since 1979. This means my never ending, and often less than successful project to try write music inspired by E R Eddison’s 1922 fantasy novel “The Worm Ouroborous” is barely legal, but my attorney assures me that the various creatures that inhabit Eddison’s world are not Hobbits and fall outside the scope of such a law.
 
Lessingham’s Theme is an attempt a gentler, orchestrated sound rather than the synth/organ driven stuff I usually turn out. 
 
For those interested the guitar is OTS “Steel Strings” the arpeggios are custom patterns in the strum engine. The cellos and violins are Kirk Hunter Spotlight Strings and the woodwinds are from Kirk Hunter Diamond. Drums are Superior Drummer Roots (mallets), the bass is Scarbee Pre Bass and the Piano is NI’s Grandeur.
 
NEW VERSION https://soundcloud.com/goldrybluszco/lessinghams-theme
 

Hi Glyn! 
 
Just enjoying this piece (quite a bit actually!). At first it reminded me of some dude here in Canada who various instrumental (and often Celtic) pieces like this - named Dan Gibson. But then you come up with some nice surprises with the percussion and bass. Love the near-mellotron strings!  Cello line is beautiful ... love the dissonance snuck in there at the 2:01 mark.
 
 
Sounds like your music is telling a story. Very Mike Oldfield at times that way. Love to know the story running through your brain ... must be the book themes you reference.
 
Well done. Very near-perfect mix. If I could critique anything, I'm at a loss as to what it is. Very cool. 
 
I've never known the story with Hobbit trademarking/copyright protection?!  Bizarreses and not precious! 
 
Martin

Flagrant Regard
I've never known the story with Hobbit trademarking/copyright protection?!  Bizarreses and not precious! 
 

 
 
Greg Spawton’s comment on Hobbits was of course tongue in cheek when he was discussing the subject matter in Big Big Trains’s songs. The implication being that by the end of the 70’s prog bands references to fantasy novels had become a cliché.
 
Thanks for the kind comments.

dcumpian
Nice piece Glyn! My only critical suggestion would be to vary the dynamics on the strings a bit more, and maybe change the mic positions to be a little further away. One of the biggest weaknesses with Kirk's libraries OOTB is that they can sound very "synthy".
 
Regards,
Dan

Thanks, I may give that a try. Martins comment "Love the near-mellotron strings!" also points to a certain lack of realism.

yes, the strings, particularly the high pitched ones, sound synthetic, so more reverb perhaps if you are going to keep them, then they will just pleasantly wash away into the ether. I thought the piece itself was a very cool listen, and I love the quirky time signature effect!
 
There are just lots of great musical ideas all over the place in your composition - well done!!!
 
cheers,
-Tom

Just goes to show, I know nothing, because I thought this was a damn fine piece...

I enjoyed this composition and if you make the tweaks as suggested by the other comments you have a winner on your hands. Good stuff.

The song, arrangement and mix all sound great to me. I'm not sure that I would have noticed that the strings sound 'synthy' if I hadn't read the comments but, now that I have read them, I suppose they have a point. However, it doesn't take anything away from my enjoyment of the music. 

Wookiee
I am enjoying this as I write, yes the strings do sound a little unreal, but like you I am a synth person so.

All round nice piece Glyn, thanks for sharing

Thanks - I am still working on a new mix, Changing the Kirk Hunter Spolight violins for a larger East West violin ensemble seems to improve things a little but I am prefering the woody growl I get with the Kirk Hunter Cellos. 
Also thanks to every one else for their comments.

This stuff is right up my alley. Very nicely done, but like the other commenters, I also noticed the synthetic strings.

I think it is definitely better.
 
Dan

This is a definite improvement on the string sound.

Thanks guys, for your kind comments and the constructive input.
 
Philz - Those OTS guitar libraries are the business!

As a longtime prog rock fan, I chuckled at your written intro.   I guess Stonehenge is completely out of the question.  
Seriously, though, I like it as the part of the Ant Phillips genre.  Thanks for sharing!

Thoroughly enjoyed this - very professional sounding.