The Making of… ‘Reverie — Modern Elevated Epics’

Gothic Storm is delighted to present ‘Reverie — Modern Elevated Epics’. Modern, towering trailer cues that offer both the grandeur for epic adventures and the grace for heartfelt stories. Featuring amazing live strings recorded in Vienna. We spoke to João Gabriel Rodrigues, Wan Ying Chan & Andrii Yefymov about how they constructed these original, masterful and deeply profound cues, read on!

One of the aims of this album was to find a fresh approach to achieve an “epic” feel by including elements not usually found in cues designed to serve profound moments, how did you achieve this?

JGR: There was a lot of trial and error with synths and other synthetic or hybrid sounds.

WYC: Woodwinds and organs are less used in trailer music compared to strings, for example. Using those instruments as well as synths that sound like them gives it a fresh approach.

AY: There are quite a few musical instruments that usually don’t get much attention in modern trailer music (for example woodwinds and organ). But if we take one of these instruments and put it into a proper context of a vast epic soundscape it will work brilliantly, retaining that slightly “unconventional” vibe to it. So to me, the “epicness” of this album is in the overall sound and ambience, rather than in using a traditional “12 horns” blast.

Is there an instrument sound or custom sound design part in your cue that you’re particularly proud of?

JGR: I really like the heavily distorted synth sounds that start at 1:20 in the track Keepers of Balance. Actually the entire sound palette during that section sounds very interesting to my ears, with the aforementioned distorted sound in combination with the soft synth arpeggios and the pulsating percussion.

AY: I’ve really enjoyed creating custom sounds for this project. Blending lots of live recorded textures with granular synths and modular processing. I particularly love how the processed solo violin lead works in the “visions” cue.

What did the live string recordings add to your cue that couldn’t be replicated by virtual string instruments? Is it challenging to cater your scores to a human playing it?

JGR: I think adding live recordings to one’s cues is of utmost importance to add an organic touch to it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a strings ensemble or a single percussion instrument or some foley recordings. So in that sense having the strings recorded live adds a great deal of realism and an incomparable organic touch to the tracks.

WYC: The live strings added human expressions that are hard to replicate by virtual string instruments. The challenge is knowing what sounds good when played live. The range of an instrument, fingering positions, best keys to play in, and tempo a player can humanly play without sounding messy can make a difference.

AY: To me personally, it’s all about the subtle nuances and imperfections of live performance. It just adds something special. I always tend to have at least something recorded live in every cue. Of course it’s amazing to have the opportunity of a recorded strings section.

What or who inspired you when writing your cue? Do you listen to lots of trailer music in this style or did musical inspiration come from elsewhere?

JGR: As usual I listen to as little as I can before starting.

WYC: I find my inspiration from watching a lot of trailers that have music of similar style.

AY: I always tend to keep in mind some nice references of recent trailers, to me it’s crucial to see what is used in the market. But for inspiration I try to immerse myself into the worlds of the targeted movie genres. I imagine my own trailer for the imagined movie and build my track around it.

Thinking about production and especially mixing, how much processing went into your track(s), are things heavily coloured and processed or is it more about letting the signature sounds and instruments shine as they are?

JGR: There’s an interesting cliché that unfortunately holds itself true, which is that less is more. So in that sense the signature sounds as well as a few other hybrid elements were heavily processed, but everything else was given as much space as possible to breathe. The arrangement also needed to be as clean as possible, to let the different elements shine in their own ways.

WYC: The signature sounds are not too heavily coloured, but processed enough so that they shine and sound enhanced.

AY: Personally I decided to go for a more hybridised sound for this album, giving a certain twist to all of the instruments — woodwinds, percussion, voices and even strings a little bit. My intention was to turn the whole “musical canvas” into a sort of signature sound itself, focusing on the tires and ambiences.

Finally, what would be the ideal trailer usage for your track(s)?

WYC: Sci-fi thriller, apocalyptic films.

AY: I imagine my tracks would fit some kind of epic drama with a sci-fi twist. Maybe even the next “Avatar” instalment..?