Anyone doing any really intense hybrid.scores such as this mix

http://soundcloud.com/versusofficial/versus-epic-mix-vol2


There are so many places you can go with this genre, it feels boundless and with a world of sounds and options at my finger tips I find myself struggling not only to write music like this , but be content with the piece as well afterwords with what it feel like every door is open to explore musically, I find myself always just opening another project and starting over.

 

I attempt 'hybrid scoring', but I'm very much still in the early learning phase scoring so I wouldn't call my work intense.

I watched a documentary last night about music production and the evolution of sound. A number of producers and engineers agreed that the most difficult part of making music is knowing when it's done. You just have to learn to take an idea, pick & choose from 'a world of sound and options' (set limits), finish tracks, be content, and move on. Although I struggle with the same, I do less now that I set myself goals and deadlines. If you have trouble keeping to set goals, work with someone serious about getting things done.

Two resources that really helped me:

12 Tracks in 12 Months Challenge. Set yourself a challenge. Enter competitions (or maybe we could have an Audioz Challenge)

Daniel James Youtube Channel (HybridTwo). He reviews sample libraries and plugins by writing a short score which always sound great. He explains his process writing the short score so I usually follow along by making my own score using his structure.

 

- You could try mimicking a similar piece to what you're after and see what changes you want to make along the way that come from within you. It could be good for finding your pacing

- Remix or remake other tracks you like to try to figure out the process/patterns behind them and their structure

- Let the piece itself guide you. If it goes nowhere you can delete it

- Try to decide before-hand what you want to use (style, mood, instrumentation) and not deviate too much from it, at least not until you have a basic theme/structure you can expand upon. Maybe it would be more beneficial to make a sketch with a piano or ensemble and then expand it

- You can make different versions if you think it could go many ways (many composers recycle themes/patterns) I face this, too. I'll think it can be more electronic/beat-like, more traditional, have or don't have percussion, blend with synths or guitars... I'll usually go with the flow of the moment but that doesn't mean I can't make changes or make another version with a different structure

- Allow yourself some time to mess around. It's not necessarily bad.

 

Agreed 100% with Gramofon on "let the piece guide you"
Here are good places to start:
- Full ensemble chord progression is a great way to get started
- Make a simple percussion loop and start from there
- Start from a hybrid sounding synth loop

Then just slowly add stuff to it but don't have a too specific idea of what you want (especially since you're new to the genre). Just let the piece guide you. At first you might really want to put fast violin stachatos but then you realize something else sounds way better in the context of the piece. Don't let preconceptions dicate what you do.
I can't tell you how many times I thought I was going to make a soft emotional track then ended up making some over-the top epic stuff straight out of the Lord of the Rings .

Now that I've done quite a few pieces in this genre I can have a better idea of where I'm going when I'm starting a new project. As a beginner I would recommend to just go with the flow, otherwise you get stuck trying to get somewhere and you can't quite get there and it gets frustrating. Let the inspiration guide you and after gaining some experience you'll be better able to set objectives when you start a new project.

 

Thanks for everyone responses, great ideas and suggestions, (glad that Daniel James was mentioned he deserves it) I've worked on some hybrid work before but I always feel like the energy is lacking, and the emotion isn't pumping out enough. Maybe its the mix as well. I'll take everyone's advice and try to apply it.


If any of you have some recent work you'd like to show off please do!

 

The closest I ever done to Hybrid would be:

[media]https://soundcloud.com/brandon-spendlove/paradise-comes-again-2nd-edit[/media]

(Skip to 1:10ish)

[media]https://soundcloud.com/brandon-spendlove/short-tense-brandon-spendlove[/media] (More like a soft Hybrid? Not very epic..)

or

[media]https://soundcloud.com/brandon-spendlove/new-start-rough-wip[/media]


I got into some Cinematic/"Hybrid" type composition a year or so ago and I went through a phase. I got out of it thank god.

I never knew to call my compositions above, Hybrid? Cinematic? Soundtrack? Oh well, just name it whatever you want... xD