Making Music like Hiroyuki Sawano

sd3 better but ssd5.5 now on sale for 59$
and guitar amplesound or orange3 better. i think shreddage worst guitar lib.

well....nothing beats live recording of coz. Even though i like CSS, i dont think you can achieve that strings sound. Soaring strings might be a better choice for such but you'll need to layer with other strings.

HM_Music said:

sd3 better but ssd5.5 now on sale for 59$
and guitar amplesound or orange3 better. i think shreddage worst guitar lib.

Click to expand...

Thanks for your response! I didn't know SSD5.5 was on sale at the moment - will definitely try out the demo to start. Between SD3 and SSD5.5, which do you think is more mix ready?

constaneum said:

well....nothing beats live recording of coz. Even though i like CSS, i dont think you can achieve that strings sound. Soaring strings might be a better choice for such but you'll need to layer with other strings.

Click to expand...

Thanks constaneum, listening to soaring strings' demos and yea I'm liking the sound I don't think I'm currently getting that kind of 'soaring' vibe from Jaeger/Nucleus, but I'll relisten to the latter two's demo tracks to further evaluate.

jason3.14 said:

Спасибо за ваш ответ! Я не знал, что SSD5.5 сейчас в продаже - обязательно попробую демо для начала. Что из SD3 и SSD5.5, по вашему мнению, больше подходит для микширования?

Click to expand...

for sawano style - sd3) but price 300+$ vs 60$)

Ah yes - I should check out more of Alex Moukala's videos. Been trying to find time to watch Daniel James' old streams, and follow Dirk Ehlert as well.

For reference, I updated my above post with an example of my current ability (or lack thereof), if it's of any benefit.

Thanks, all!

I'm a huge fan of his work too! I spend a lot of time analyzing these pieces and trying to draw inspiration from these compositional techniques in my music ,I found the game and the OST of Xenoblade X absolutely dazzling !

Between Xenoblade X and The Attack of the Titans we can find many common points in his music, but it's really difficult for me to reproduce it in VST,

The most difficult thing for me is to succeed in reproducing the strings in these pieces, I never manage to have fast strings that allow me to play so fast and with so much emotion, there is always a kind of latency in my VST that I can't remove, the legatos are simply too long, if you have any advice from bookshops with fast legatos I will be delighted... I have Komplete12, Cinestring, Tina Guo, Taylor Davis, EW Gold Cloud, Toundra...
Spitfire's Solo violin Total performance seems to have the speed capability I'm looking for?

But in any case it's a big job to reproduce songs in his style, between a big research work on the arpeggios of Synth, the rhythmics resolutely rock and metal of the drums and the guitars which are difficult to reproduce in VST (I'm a guitarist so for the guitar it takes away a weight from me to be able to play it myself, but I always had a hard time finding a convincing guitar VST but even with a real guitar it's not always easy to get a good recording sound )
And above all the incredible voice of Kobayashi Mika. ..

It's always a perilous exercise to want to reproduce songs recorded with real instruments on VSTs, but I find that it makes you progress enormously, good luck in your research, if you have progressed in this style and you want to share your VST finds and techniques to match this spirit, I'll be happy to discuss it with you !

jason3.14 said:

Thanks for your response! I didn't know SSD5.5 was on sale at the moment - will definitely try out the demo to start. Between SD3 and SSD5.5, which do you think is more mix ready?

Click to expand...

Both have "mix ready" presets, but the SSD5 drums are all more processed out of the box. SD3 allows for way deeper diving, you can do all drum processing within the plugin if you wanted.

I prefer pretty much everything about SD3 over SSD5, but SSD5 is incredible value for the money, and can sound great.

Angora said:

The most difficult thing for me is to succeed in reproducing the strings in these pieces, I never manage to have fast strings that allow me to play so fast and with so much emotion, there is always a kind of latency in my VST that I can't remove, the legatos are simply too long, if you have any advice from bookshops with fast legatos I will be delighted...

Click to expand...

Great to hear from someone else who has similar interests! Jaeger/Nucleus' legato seems pretty fast actually, but yea I do seem to struggle with getting that level of emotion/expression as well.

Angora said:

It's always a perilous exercise to want to reproduce songs recorded with real instruments on VSTs, but I find that it makes you progress enormously, good luck in your research, if you have progressed in this style and you want to share your VST finds and techniques to match this spirit, I'll be happy to discuss it with you !

Click to expand...

Fortunately for us, Sawano probably (?) accomplishes most of his work with VSTs as well! Or at least, I've come across a few sites which would suggest as much.... Yes, hoping this can be a suitable thread to share our experiences!

It seems another user made a solid Attack on Titan cover using primarily Metropolis Ark 1 several years ago. I tried to get in contact with him/her for more information, but unfortunately was unable to get a response.

This cover of Inferno / Promare Theme is pretty solid too - wonder if he'd be able to provide tips.

@Jkist - thanks for your input! That does seem in line with a lot of users' experiences. I think the mix-ready aspect of SSD5 would really appeal to me, if it saves a lot of time up front on making a passable mock-up - and like you said, the cost, with it being on sale for $59???

jason3.14 said:

Hello all,

Hiroyuki Sawano has been my favorite composer for years, and recently I've been trying to cover his tracks with modest but limited success. When I've looked for tips/tutorials online, I've not been sure if what I've found has been applicable to Sawano's style - I don't think I'd consider it flat out trailer or classical orchestral music, and maybe hybrid would be adequate... but really it sounds like cinematic anime music (haha) which I feel is quite distinct from artists like Bergersen or Audiomachine.

Here are some example tracks:

Xenoblade Chronicles X - Theme X
Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress
Promare

I was wondering if anyone had thoughts on the following sample libraries particularly in achieving/approaching Sawano's style beyond what I currently own (basically Komplete 12 Ultimate, Jaeger, and Nucleus). For instance, I already know that Cinebrass is vastly popular, but really I wonder if this is the most applicable brass library to this style.

All-in-One
Jaeger (own)
Nucleus (own)
Metropolis Ark 1?

Strings
Cinematic Studio Strings?

Brass
Cinebrass?
Cinematic Studio Brass?

Percussion
Damage (own)
CinePerc?
Stylus RMX?
Other? I especially feel like I need a good drum set. I guess I could assume that any of the reputable drums (SSD5, SD3, EZDrummer 2, AD2) could work, but Sawano often uses a snare which has a particularly nice 'ringy' quality to it.

Rhythm
Shreddage 3 guitars/bass?
Piano?

Choir/Vocals
Vocalisa (not Vocalise)
Vocals/Choirs within Jaeger/Nucleus
Other?

Synth
Serum (own)
Massive / Massive X (own)
Omnisphere?

Mixing/Mastering/FX
FabFilter Total Bundle (own)
Soundtoys 5
Other?

General advice is also greatly appreciated, although I do already assume that the most significant factor is personal experience / skill. Attached is an original track of mine, for reference.

Thanks!
Jason

Click to expand...

I hear a lot of 8Dio Hybrid Rhythms in Attack on Titan's score as well if you are interested, You'll also notice a lot of the Heavyocity's Ensemble Woods Collection in that soundtrack

A lot of his work that I've heard has really contemporary, up-front sound and mixing / micing, etc.

So I would argue against using the Ark series here. I own them all are love them, but they are definitely a wetter sound overall. Jaeger or something more like that is the way to go, if you're also trying to achieve the overall sonic vibe he usually does

i think for the strings, he may not be using symphony size setup. It might be a smaller studio or chamber size setup.

Johnny said:

I hear a lot of 8Dio Hybrid Rhythms in Attack on Titan's score as well if you are interested, You'll also notice a lot of the Heavyocity's Ensemble Woods Collection in that soundtrack

Click to expand...

Thanks Johnny, I'll look into that! Can you give an example of any particular patches that you felt you could identify within certain tracks? Just would be nice to know, given how potentially similar a lot of libraries could sound depending on how they are used.

Larbguy said:

A lot of his work that I've heard has really contemporary, up-front sound and mixing / micing, etc.

So I would argue against using the Ark series here. I own them all are love them, but they are definitely a wetter sound overall. Jaeger or something more like that is the way to go, if you're also trying to achieve the overall sonic vibe he usually does

Click to expand...

Hmm yea you may be right. I thought this AoT cover posted on another thread using Mark1 turned out pretty well though? Jaeger has been quite user friendly, although I guess it's often sounded kind of thin for me. Maybe need another library to layer with - perhaps Mark1 would be a good complement? Or it might just be the way I'm using it, including my choice of panning (considering it comes not pre-panned).

constaneum said:

i think for the strings, he may not be using symphony size setup. It might be a smaller studio or chamber size setup.

Click to expand...

Hmm, perhaps CSS... I do wish they would update their variable legato timing to make it more efficient to use though.

jason3.14 said:

Hmm, perhaps CSS... I do wish they would update their variable legato timing to make it more efficient to use though.

Click to expand...

CSS may be too romantic sounding for this kind of genre?

jason3.14 said:

Thanks Johnny, I'll look into that! Can you give an example of any particular patches that you felt you could identify within certain tracks? Just would be nice to know, given how potentially similar a lot of libraries could sound depending on how they are used.

Click to expand...

I sure can. I am a big fan of his work too. We should all recognize EWSO choir tenor shouts here, Also the Heavyocity Woods: Here you'll hear fragments of the Area51, Hybrid Rhythms 1, Main80bpm patch; You should hear fragments of the Atlantic Patch, They are tricky to hear, but are often used as a background percussion bed layering, and then Damage over top or Epic Taiko Ensemble and libraries that are much more crisp and punchy.