Hi folks,
lately I've been getting more and more into cinematic music and naturally a bit of cinematic sound design. I can't seem to figure out how to make that particular sound
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxabLA7UQ9k
The sound of the wobbly sidechain sounding bass that you hear in the background of the piano in the intro, anybody has any idea how to achieve such a sound ?
Cheers

 

It may come off as wobbly to you, but it sounds like severely low-passed staccato strings. Cello maybe.

 

I can't hear any wobbly sidechain going on. I was thinking Pizzicato bass or cello, filter all the top end out and bung on some reverb.

 

It could be a synth. The attack sounds a bit weird to me. There could also be some delay going on. Then again, it could indeed be lo-passed CBasses (it's a bit noisy/muddy) with a pizzicato (also filtered) layer. It's so processed I don't think it really matters.

Example: http://www.putlocker.com/file/1B4F8A2F59889F16 (Both CBasses and synth running through the same filter)

(Try to get an mp3 at least, 240p YouTube is messed up. Probably mp3, re-compressed to other lossy format and then to 64 kbps AAC)

 

Doesn't sound like strings, even washed in reverb or with an extreme high cut they'd have a bit more bite (there could be some sound design going on with string samples placed in a synth, but then they're in completely different territory).

Knowing Zimmer, it is more than likely something that is -deceptively- (and cleverly) simple using Zebra.

On another note, Zimmer's scores are fantastic to learn from, so I definitely won't discourage you from doing that, but be careful about emulating him too heavily in your own work unless asked to do so by a client. EVERYONE in the industry (and many that aren't, obviously) knows the Time soundtrack, especially the brass 'Braaaams' that have become all the rage in commercials. It's a very quick way to blend in with the crowd (in a bad way), and simultaneously pit yourself against some of the most insanely dedicated guys around (I'm not talking about me, for the record ).

 

Yeap it sounds like a synth to me too. You would probably find something similar on the presets of Dark Zebra, and learn how to do it. Good luck!

 

Your sound sounds pretty close, It's twice the speed I think but it is definitely very close. Can you give me more details on what filters you used ? (btw did you make the guitar yourself ? or is it a sample library ? if it is, which one :D)
To get back to what some of the others are saying, I will give Zebra a try but it seems soooo complicated. Hours of youtube tutorials, here I come :D

 

Fruity Free Filter, nothing fancy. Bandpass @ 60Hz. Q=4.

Oh man, I knew that guitar sounded inviting. It's MusicLab RealLPC (Slide Legato).

Just had a quick go at it. I'm pretty sure that with some fine-tuning you can get something almost identical. I can send you the whole project if you want.

As for Zebra (It includes free Zebralette, I have just that), it's the first one that popped into my mind as he's known to use it but then I thought, what the hell, it's just a freakin' synth. Can be done with pretty much anything.