Initially I wasn't sure if I should upload this video on the 24th or the 25th, but the Polar Express comes on the 24th, so there was really just one way to go. Creating this mockup took about 105 hours (& another couple of hours for the video production), which makes it my most ambitious mockup to date. What's more to say? Not much, honestly. Merry Christmas perhaps, if you're watching this within the first ~48 hours after uploading or exactly a full year later. Please let me know your thoughts on this mockup and the video production in the comments! Did you find this new style of presentation more engaging or rather distracting? ...in any case, a like and a comment are always appreciated, but I think I've gone on about this for long enough now :) If you want to hear my original music, check out my other channel here: www.youtube.com/@c-m-laurin-lenschow ...and follow me on Instagram for teasers of upcoming projects, studio pictures and more: instagram.com/laurinlenschow.music/
Little bit of Jurassic Park at the very end there. :P Gorgeous music. great job. :D Next time I'd recommend put a little bit of a pause between the music ending and you starting to talk, so we have a beat to appreciate the music that just ended. :)
Thank you - and thanks for the feedback! I considered that and ultimately decided against it because I thought that people might think the video was over and leave if the pause was too long. Might have been the wrong call though.
Thank you! Now I'll have to check out your mockup :) I got the score for the concert suite via Alfred Music, here's a link if you want to check it out: www.alfred.com/the-polar-express-concert-suite-from/p/00-FOM04009C/ I did have to do quite a bit of searching though to make sure this was the version that I wanted, and it doesn't have all the themes from the film of course.
This is the first time I've seen what you look like and I was surprised at how young you are. Congratulations on your achievements and for this mockup which is excellent. Can you do a video breaking the tracks down, libraries used, effects, etc? Cheers.
105 Hours in 3 weeks, Dude that some serious dedication. The mockup sounds so good (100+ hours were worth it I guess). Regarding this new style of presentation its not distracting but I personally feel that it looks 'not so visually appealing' (even my videos too) , for ex: if you consider the mockups done on Logic pro ( like John Powell) , it colors the notes based on the velocity so it looks colorful but its limited to Mac users. I tried coloring each and every note of my mockup 🤣 ( I would say its not worth it). This is what I feel. Merry Christmas to you too.
@@c-c-laurin-lenschow I forgot to add, if you are planning to make a walkthrough or some detailed video , could you tell how you do the dynamics and expression for each instrument ? I struggle with them a lot and because of that I usually just leave the project mid-way because it does not sound satisfactory
@@manvith_poojary Thanks for the suggestion! There's a chance this video will end up being a paid patreon exclusive and I know you're on a tight budget, so here are some general pieces of advice regarding dynamics: - Try to keep the modwheel moving. A long sustaind note shouldn't have the same CC1 value all the way through. - Consider the amount of breath wind players have available. You can't play super long notes that stay at the highest dynamic the entire time. - When you're dealing with runs it can often be a good idea to roughly follow the shape of the notes with the modwheel. When the run goes up, the dynamics should move upwards as well (and vice versa). - For repeated patterns of short notes that are supposed to stay at the same dynamic it can be a good idea to make the velocities a bit uneven. They should stay somewhat close to each other but they shouldn't be identical. Also think about accents - maybe you want the 1 and 3 or the 2 and 4 to stand out a bit. ...and to touch on the last point you mentioned: Don't loose hope when a project doesn't sound good before you're finished. My mockups usually sound unbearable until I'm at least 80% done. Do everything you can and then do some very detailed comparisons (this only makes sense if you're working on a mockup of an already existing piece of course). Comparing your best effort to the real thing and seeing where your version lacks behind will teach you the most about how real orchestras sound and how the pros mix them. I hope this helps! :)
Thank you! I'm going to hold back that information until I do some sort of formal "breakdown" video for this mockup - I don't want to reveal to much of the "how" before that video is done, otherwise nobody would watch it. :) I'm also considering to start a patreon for more tutorial and behind-the-scenes content - stay tuned for an announcement early next year!
What are you afraid of? That someone might "steal" your mockup or library ideas?Ashton is a great example of how openly you can deal with this. Don't worry, nobody can steal anything from you because the copyright for the OST is owned by Alan Silvestri. 😘
@@d_lydian I'm not at all worried about someone "stealing" my ideas/process! Here's my logic: - I expect that quite a few people are interested in what tools I used to make this mockup. - They will have a look at the video description and the comments to see if I posted this somewhere. - I intend to do a breakdown video anyway (unless nobody listens to this mockup). In that video I'll talk about each step I took and explain all of my major choices and decisions, so all of that information will be in that video. - I put more effort into a video like this than you might think, so naturally I want the video to do well. - If I reveal the libraries now, the breakdown video will flop and that work will (more or less) go to waste. ...so what I'm saying is that I'm absolutely willing to share what libraries I used, just not right now but in two or three weeks. There's also a second aspect of this: I put a lot of work into this channel without making a single penny from it. I'm happy to do that because I'm very passionate about composition and music production and I'm always happy to help people in their search for sample libraries, mockup advice etc. However, doing these large/ambitious projects (like this mockup) is a significant time investment and might not be sustainable for me in the forseeable future, so I'm considering ways to make at least a little bit of money from them if possible, so that I can keep working on mockups of great film music. That's why I'm considering to start a Patreon, where people who like my channel can support me, so that I can make more and better videos. If I do that, I would want to offer them something in return for their support. My current idea is to make my future mockup breakdown videos a patreon exclusive as a thank you to supporters of the channel. If all the information I share in the breakdown videos would be freely available, the breakdown video would have no value of its own. That was a rather long answer for a pretty short question, but I hope this makes sense :)
![Alan Silvestri: The Polar Express Theme [Extended by Gilles Nuytens]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/aHCHZPD6puc/mqdefault.jpg)
![Alan Silvestri: The Polar Express Theme [Extended by Gilles Nuytens]](/img/tr.png)
Initially I wasn't sure if I should upload this video on the 24th or the 25th, but the Polar Express comes on the 24th, so there was really just one way to go. Creating this mockup took about 105 hours (& another couple of hours for the video production), which makes it my most ambitious mockup to date. What's more to say? Not much, honestly. Merry Christmas perhaps, if you're watching this within the first ~48 hours after uploading or exactly a full year later.
Please let me know your thoughts on this mockup and the video production in the comments! Did you find this new style of presentation more engaging or rather distracting? ...in any case, a like and a comment are always appreciated, but I think I've gone on about this for long enough now :)
If you want to hear my original music, check out my other channel here: www.youtube.com/@c-m-laurin-lenschow
...and follow me on Instagram for teasers of upcoming projects, studio pictures and more: instagram.com/laurinlenschow.music/
Great animated movie, great music, and a great mockup, too! Home run.
Haha, thank you!
Absolutely stellar stuff! I love the sound you've been able to replicate with your excellent use of sample libraries - absolutely crazy!!
Thank you, I appreciate it!
That’s so Beautiful.
I like how fat, crisp and tight you made it.
Merry Christmas!
Thank you, I appreciate it!
Merry Christmas to you too!
This is awesome stuff!! I would definitely watch your breakdown videos!
Thank you!
Excellent! Nice job and I know a lot of work. Wish I had your talent.
Thank you so much!
Little bit of Jurassic Park at the very end there. :P
Gorgeous music. great job. :D
Next time I'd recommend put a little bit of a pause between the music ending and you starting to talk, so we have a beat to appreciate the music that just ended. :)
Thank you - and thanks for the feedback! I considered that and ultimately decided against it because I thought that people might think the video was over and leave if the pause was too long. Might have been the wrong call though.
Impressive Laurin, you have earned a cup of hot Chocolate!!!!
Thanks Luis! :)
I love it❤ i did an mockup of the main title by ear. It is not easy to get the original score. Great job!
Thank you! Now I'll have to check out your mockup :)
I got the score for the concert suite via Alfred Music, here's a link if you want to check it out: www.alfred.com/the-polar-express-concert-suite-from/p/00-FOM04009C/
I did have to do quite a bit of searching though to make sure this was the version that I wanted, and it doesn't have all the themes from the film of course.
This is the first time I've seen what you look like and I was surprised at how young you are. Congratulations on your achievements and for this mockup which is excellent. Can you do a video breaking the tracks down, libraries used, effects, etc? Cheers.
Thank you! I'll put that on the agenda :)
Eins meiner Lieblingswerke von Alan Silvestri! Stark gemacht Bro 💪🏼🏆
Vielen Dank!
105 Hours in 3 weeks, Dude that some serious dedication. The mockup sounds so good (100+ hours were worth it I guess).
Regarding this new style of presentation its not distracting but I personally feel that it looks 'not so visually appealing' (even my videos too) , for ex: if you consider the mockups done on Logic pro ( like John Powell) , it colors the notes based on the velocity so it looks colorful but its limited to Mac users. I tried coloring each and every note of my mockup 🤣 ( I would say its not worth it).
This is what I feel.
Merry Christmas to you too.
Thank you for your kind words, and thanks for the feedback!
@@c-c-laurin-lenschow I forgot to add, if you are planning to make a walkthrough or some detailed video , could you tell how you do the dynamics and expression for each instrument ? I struggle with them a lot and because of that I usually just leave the project mid-way because it does not sound satisfactory
@@manvith_poojary Thanks for the suggestion! There's a chance this video will end up being a paid patreon exclusive and I know you're on a tight budget, so here are some general pieces of advice regarding dynamics:
- Try to keep the modwheel moving. A long sustaind note shouldn't have the same CC1 value all the way through.
- Consider the amount of breath wind players have available. You can't play super long notes that stay at the highest dynamic the entire time.
- When you're dealing with runs it can often be a good idea to roughly follow the shape of the notes with the modwheel. When the run goes up, the dynamics should move upwards as well (and vice versa).
- For repeated patterns of short notes that are supposed to stay at the same dynamic it can be a good idea to make the velocities a bit uneven. They should stay somewhat close to each other but they shouldn't be identical. Also think about accents - maybe you want the 1 and 3 or the 2 and 4 to stand out a bit.
...and to touch on the last point you mentioned: Don't loose hope when a project doesn't sound good before you're finished. My mockups usually sound unbearable until I'm at least 80% done. Do everything you can and then do some very detailed comparisons (this only makes sense if you're working on a mockup of an already existing piece of course). Comparing your best effort to the real thing and seeing where your version lacks behind will teach you the most about how real orchestras sound and how the pros mix them. I hope this helps! :)
@@c-c-laurin-lenschow Thanks for the detailed explanation that was helpful. Also thanks for being considerate ❤.
Stellar work, Laurin. What were the libraries used?
Thank you!
I'm going to hold back that information until I do some sort of formal "breakdown" video for this mockup - I don't want to reveal to much of the "how" before that video is done, otherwise nobody would watch it. :)
I'm also considering to start a patreon for more tutorial and behind-the-scenes content - stay tuned for an announcement early next year!
What are you afraid of? That someone might "steal" your mockup or library ideas?Ashton is a great example of how openly you can deal with this.
Don't worry, nobody can steal anything from you because the copyright for the OST is owned by Alan Silvestri. 😘
@@d_lydian I'm not at all worried about someone "stealing" my ideas/process! Here's my logic:
- I expect that quite a few people are interested in what tools I used to make this mockup.
- They will have a look at the video description and the comments to see if I posted this somewhere.
- I intend to do a breakdown video anyway (unless nobody listens to this mockup). In that video I'll talk about each step I took and explain all of my major choices and decisions, so all of that information will be in that video.
- I put more effort into a video like this than you might think, so naturally I want the video to do well.
- If I reveal the libraries now, the breakdown video will flop and that work will (more or less) go to waste.
...so what I'm saying is that I'm absolutely willing to share what libraries I used, just not right now but in two or three weeks. There's also a second aspect of this: I put a lot of work into this channel without making a single penny from it. I'm happy to do that because I'm very passionate about composition and music production and I'm always happy to help people in their search for sample libraries, mockup advice etc. However, doing these large/ambitious projects (like this mockup) is a significant time investment and might not be sustainable for me in the forseeable future, so I'm considering ways to make at least a little bit of money from them if possible, so that I can keep working on mockups of great film music. That's why I'm considering to start a Patreon, where people who like my channel can support me, so that I can make more and better videos. If I do that, I would want to offer them something in return for their support. My current idea is to make my future mockup breakdown videos a patreon exclusive as a thank you to supporters of the channel. If all the information I share in the breakdown videos would be freely available, the breakdown video would have no value of its own.
That was a rather long answer for a pretty short question, but I hope this makes sense :)