After listening to both versions/mixes consecutively several times... 1-2, 1-2, 1-2.
The Luna mix is not "better" or "worse" but it paints a more hopeful picture.
As the ships get closer to home the scanners are showing more detail and a different picture.
More and more people are coming out of hiding and shelter as they realize the battle is over.
It looks like there are far more survivors on the planet than shown by the initial long distance
scans despite the horrific damage shown by those scans.
The tones in the Luna mix convey a more upbeat "attitude".
It's very subtle but it's there. (To me anyway.)
Thanks, Tony! Maybe the Luna mix rounds off some of the harsher tones of the Logic mix? I used the tape emulations and different plugins. I think it sounds a little fuller, too. But yeah, the differences are subtle.
Les, you once again remind me of why, if I wanted to really MAKE music, I should have kept playing piano so I could have done all those cool synth orchestrations. Very cool!
Thanks DTR! But you
can do this without big piano chops!
A nice thing about orchestral writing is that you don't have to be a good keyboard player - orchestral instruments each only play one note at a time, for the most part. So you can start with, say, Violins I, and then do a harmony with Violins II (or double the part), then do a line for violas, then celli, and then basses. Same with brass and woodwinds, etc.
After spending months working on this stuff (I've been stuck at home), I've begun to realize that it's much easier to weave an interesting tapestry with the orchestra than to be a very good pianist, which is why composers often joke about playing 'composer's piano'.
You can start with a melodic theme, or even a texture, and just get on with the business of writing music. It's not really that complicated. Like anything else, you have to just do it for a while, and suddenly the little light bulb in your head comes on!
The other day I was listening to some Tchaikovsky, whose work has incredibly detailed orchestrations, and his genius has always seemed impenetrable to me. But suddenly I realized that I understood what he was doing, and why he did it. It was a 'moment' for me.
You know how you can listen to a rock record and listen to the guitars, bass, etc., and figure out how to play it by listening? It's harder with orchestral music, but at some point it becomes pretty clear.
