I am very glad that we can have a good discussion about this!
I think that even if you left everything else the same, and only changed the drum beat, you would hear an interesting difference. My advice would be to listen to some techno, listen to some drum 'n bass, and (especially) listen to the tracks already done for this mod - basstronix and sole signal both do a great job with percussive balance.
I don't blame you about the riff - especially if you've got your equipment out already. Whenever I record, I do the same thing.
You are also right about the composers alluding to the theme and putting in thematic motifs. One of the great things about the bond theme is that it is so well known that you really only need to just imply it and people will understand what you're doing.
You can do that through transposition, augmentation, dimunition, inversion, retrograde, etc etc etc.
Arrangements are usually unique. People know the original track - it's old. With the voicings, it depends on how tactful you are. Obviously if you make them dense in the low register it's just going to sound like crap, but the nice thing about brass instruments is that you don't really have to worry about octave displacement.
My suggestion for something to try for those opening chords: double the tuba at the octave for those low pedal notes, bring the trombones down to the mid-bass clef, and bring the horns down as well - horns can go surprisingly low, and have a very unique sound in that register. If you're not dealing with actual instruments but just a brass patch in a piano roll, then my suggestion would be like:
Low voices = C0-C1 range
Mid voices = C1-C2
High voices = C2-C3
Alternatively, what might give you a different sort of ominous / ethereal sound would be to have the strings in the low register like that doubled with low clarinets or something and horns for a really warm and smooth texture.
You could also thicken the chords with suspensions to create some more dissonance, like a Em7add9 chord. Low to high a nice voicing would be: E, E, B, G, D, F# for example. Don't be afraid to play with inversions - experiment is how you decide what you want!
It will be overblown if you:
1.) Too many instruments
2.) Too loud
3.) Chord too thick
It will be weak if you:
1.) double improperly
2.) too quiet
3.) uncommon instrument groupings
Changing chord inversions will really only determine the the stability of your chord.
Yes, you're right about having some dynamics already - and I like how you have that swell with that held chord before all that brass comes in; all the more reason to put more dynamics in!
Don't get me wrong, EQ can always help, but I think if you also did some simple panning techniques, you'd see a marked difference in your mix as well.
My suggestion would be to look at your instrumentation for your mix, then imagine all those instruments / sounds as a live group on stage. Position them where you would imagine them to be. If you need help with that, let me know and we can go into much further detail.
Mixing into mono is a good habit to check for distortion, muddiness, or phasing, but when you're dealing also with professional samples, that isn't much of an issue. Also following the rule of 3 when recording will help with that as well.
