First off, it's a pet hate when people do that to their own posts, but I feel like I owe you some feedback since I encouraged you to come here.
I can hear the genesis of something potentially good here: the fact that you used a bass trombone sound for emphasis in the intro and first bit is a sign you're beginning to think orchestrally.
2:00 is good, and generally, it's a case of "I can hear what you're trying to do". The timing of the notes themselves is very messy. When I was doing the orchestral stuff for Back in Time 3 it helped that I was telling a story in every bit of the tune, which helped to drive the scoring.
The basic problem is (a) no percussion (except for the timpani later on - I'm impressed BTW that you managed to get some "real" (though wobbly, probably through pitchbending) choirs in there: that's definitely how it's supposed to be). There should be some snare at least, and possibly a lot more stuff driving it along. Also, needs a harp. Everything needs a harp
You also need a better soundset: which means lots more different orchestral samples: for instance, samples of different numbers of strings playing at once in unison (e.g. 1 violins). You should also try and think of how your score would be played across an orchestra: for instance, what are the x violinists doing, what are the violas doing, etc. Then you're utilising the full orchestra.
The sounds you've used at the moment sound dry and small, like most non-orchestral sound sources. I'm not surprised you didn't get much feedback because no one round here probably feels qualified to comment...
Orchestral scoring is a bit like a journey, if you're serious. You'd use Barbarian as a soundscape to develop your skills, listen to your other orchestral heroes, think, imagine, dream... and plan each section properly. What is happening, how do the sections relate to each other? Where is the piece going? What is it building to?
Also, how loud is each section? It complicates because orchestral instruments sound different at quiet levels, so the better the soundset, the more you can model a quiet orchestra as well as a loud one. Dynamics are all-important to an orchestral piece. There's an element of that here (starting off quiet with just the rasp of the bass trombones giving it some edge), but in a proper version of this, you'd be building to something truly immense... so that every time the main bit started up again, it would be louder and brasher (not just louder).
It's complicated, but the learning process is the most fun if your brain can handle that many variables at once. Took me a couple of years to get my head round it, and still I felt like I'd only scratched the surface.
Chris
. the general idea in Barbie is to make a tune that's not TOO epic, but that starts as a sneaky tune from Conan and ends up more like an Roman imperial score. I don't want to cram it up with too many instruments (i like it minimal) but I'm convinced that it's still a bit empty. Also I should work more on the transitions. These files are of course WIP so please, tell me what U think and pls be objective, every advice is more than welcome. i must note that I suck at mixing and (even more) at mastering. Tell me if these mixes are any good. i put the files on Mediafire, hope it's O.K.
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