Composer Focus - Music & Audio Tutorials

Pimp my Drums - Kick & Snare

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 19:42:03 +0000

You definitely will need a good and solid drum performance (and also a good and clear recording signal) to get good overall results afterwards. But a good recording does not equal good sound necessarily. The first important thing is that you record your drums on separated audio tracks. Make sure that there are individual tracks for kick drum, snare drum, hihat, overheads and ambience (if you want to catch the sound of the recording room as well).

Listen to sample1. These are the naked drum tracks with no editing at all.

Then, please switch to sample2. This is the result I got after doing the steps I explain below.

The Kick Drum

The kick drum is the basis of every groove and therefore very important. Make sure that it has its own place in the mix without competing with other instruments (e.g. the bass guitar). I would like to show you my chain of insert effects to let you know what I've done.

1) UAD Studer A800 (Tape recorder)

The Studer is a great tool to get an analog vibe. It is designed to be put on every single audio channel in your song. I picked the preset for kick drum and adjusted the input and output levels. In order to run the Studer on your own system you will need a UAD-2 DSP card. Obviously, it's a matter of taste and whether or not you like the sound of a tape recorder but I use it on almost every song.

The Studer usually should be used in the very first slot of your effect chain because its tape saturation adds some color to the sound.

2) UAD 1176LN (Compressor)

To give some stability to the kick drum we need to compress it. I could have used any other compressor but I like the 1176 because it offers very fast attack and release times that give you the possibility to shape the sound of the kick.

Furthermore, the 1176 allows you to really overdo the compression. This will make the sound become dirty and a bit distorted – this can be a useful effect if you were looking for a lo-fi drum sound.

3) Studio-EQ (Equalizer)

Using the equalizer I support the low pitch of the kick to give it a bit more low-end and also more sharpness by increasing the frequencies at around 7.6kHz.

Every kick drum has its own frequency points that are important for the sound characteristics. But in general there are two important spots to look at: a) the low pitch (see band2) and /cool.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt='B)' /> the snap (see band4). Find those spots and you are ready to shape the
sound properly.

4) Gate

The only purpose of the gate is to get rid of noises and sounds other than the kick drum. This is important because I am going to use the signal of the kick drum to trigger another signal afterwards (see No.6). I suggest finding the quietest hits of the kick and adjusting the threshold to make sure those hits get through the gate.

As you can see, I started with a preset. But I highly suggest experimenting with the settings because especially the attack time and the release time have much influence on the sound of the kick.

5) UAD Precision Enhancer Hz (Special processing)

This tool provides different modes for different sound sources. Mode D is designed especially for kick drums. It creates the illusion of more and a deeper bass due to the processing of harmonics. This is often associated with the term “phantom bass”.

Always trust your ears and also keep an eye on the volume meter when using bass enhancers in general. On the one hand, it can be pure magic but on the other hand they certainly have enough potential and power to mess up your mix totally. Therefore, my beloved knob on this tool is “effect” to find the right amount of phantom bass and original bass. That is the best way to find a good balance between both signals. Again, it can be a great effect (and also sound) if you just used the phantom bass signal in your
mix.

6) Sub bass (via side-chain)

This last step probably has the biggest effect on the sound. I recorded a simple sine tone and put it on a separate audio track (listen to sample3). I used a frequency that cut through the song (unfortunately I can't tell anymore what frequency that was). Next, I used a gate in side-chain mode on the sub bass audio track.

The original kick signal feeds into that gate and functions as a trigger. Every time the kick hits the gate will open and the sine tone is audible until the release time closes the gate.

The Snare Drum

In my opinion, the snare drum is equally important to the kick although there are some different schools of thought. Some say the snare drum is the most important thing in a good mix and therefore it has to be the loudest source.

1) UAD Studer A800 (Tape Recorder)

As mentioned before, I usually put the Studer on every audio channel and the snare drum is no exception. Since you will not find a preset for the snare drum, I used the settings for “saturation” to make sure it has enough punch and presence in the mix. Again, this will change the tonal color of the original recording so make sure to use the Studer in the first slot of your effects chain.

To give the best emulation of the hardware device, Universal Audio even included the noises of the machine. This is good for realism but sometimes you would want to get rid of them. Just click on “open” and change the settings according to your needs.

2) Gate

As we did with the kick drum, we will separate the snare drum signal and get rid of crosstalks. Since we use the signal to trigger some other sounds it is important that you make sure, every snare drum hit breaks through the gate. This won't be as easy as with
the kick drum because the snare usually is much more dynamic but this also depends on the musical style and the drummer.

Most gates allow you to define a center frequency that opens the gate.

3) Studio-EQ (Equalizer)

Next, I have shaped the sound using an EQ. The presets are a good starting point. You might want to adjust some setting depending on the sound of your snare.

I would like to point out the most important band is the low cut. You might want to leave most of the low end to the kick drum and the electric bass. This prevents your mix from sounding muddy.

4) White noise (via side-chain)

Now, the snare drum sounds are already satisfactory, but still not expensive. Therefore, I am going to add another audio track to trigger a white noise signal with the snare hits. Listen to sample4, this is the signal that I am going to layer on top of the snare drum. I am using the same signal flow like on the sub bass channel for supporting the kick drum.

5) Some fancy noise (via side-chain)

To let the snare drum appear a bit more aggressive, I am adding another noise to the hits. Listen to sample5. If you own a copy of Spectrasonic's Omnisphere you are going to find many extremely cool sounds that serve that purpose (not only that purpose, it really is one of my go-to plugins for almost everything.

Here you have an overview of all active drum tracks. The first two from above are the kick drum, followed by three tracks for the snare drum. The rest is a separate track for the hihat and two overheads (left and right). The last track was intended to catch the sound of the room and therefore it adds some depth and ambience. There are literally endless possibilities to manipulate and edit the sounds of each track. The only important thing is that you find a sound setting you like best. Most of the time, you will find those settings by experimenting.

Reverb

The last step is adding some reverbs. I set up an effect channel (send-return) and loaded the Altiverb6 from AudioEase on that channel.

I am not giving too much reverb to the kick drum because I want to leave it in the foreground of the song. The snare drum gets more reverb. It is important to keep an eye of the tempo. The slower a track the more reverb you can put on the instruments. This is
a general rule of thumb. You can also experiment with different reverbs for different tracks. This way you can create more depths in the drums that can make them more transparent at times. It is all about experimenting.

The Music Of Dragon Age

Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:38:33 +0000

When you were first approached to do this project, what was your initial reaction to the game’s concept and your role in helping to create its atmosphere?

I was really thrilled to be asked to score this franchise because it was known to be a high profile project from a great developer, BioWare, and it featured the elements I really enjoy writing for. In this genre I can contribute a lot in my style to complement the game. It was a great match for me and I came on board with lots of enthusiasm. Right away I met with the team and we started to discuss and create the dramatic scope for the music.

How much interaction did you have with the developers as far as direction went? Did you have a lot of freedom to create or was it more of a joint collaboration between yourself and the developer’s audio team?

It was a very close collaboration with a lot of creative freedom. We were fine-tuning ideas all the time, with new ideas swirling and daily conversations about what we wanted to do for different sections of the game. In short, I had creative freedom but involvement with the audio team was constant.

What aspects of Dragon Age were you most influenced by and what most impressed you by the game itself?

More than anything it’s the story that influences me when I’m writing. The story in Dragon Age was very effective and worked very well. As a player you are immersed in the gameplay but you can also be immersed in the story. What I wanted to do is help the story be told. I was impressed with the way BioWare weaved the story in and out, brought in new characters, building the story steadily until the climax. There are lots of human elements, none of the characters are perfect, even the hero. The dramatic story was my main influence.

What are some of the aspects of Dragon Age that have given you the biggest challenges to overcome as far as composing its score?

Dragon Age is a dark world, however, there’s a point when you’re painting a black canvas, going darker and darker, where it can lose impact. My challenge was to lift the score at times, for example where I could play more heartfelt music or even introduce comic relief then when you introduce a dark cue, it will have a bigger impact.

How did the music evolve between sequels?

Dragon Age: Origins was about creating the universe and Dragon Age II was like discovering one soul in this world. We are already acquainted with this world, now we’re creating a personal story within it. The evolution is from a huge cinescape to a more intimate, personal story. This influenced the choice of instrumentation and the way I approached writing the music to reflect a more human, personal emotion in the music.

What advice could you pass on to newer composers getting into the business?

Try to learn as much as you can before approaching composition. Listen to as many styles of music possible, try to do free compositions and also try to score films on your own just as a practice opportunity. Then, when you feel you are ready and your compositions sound as good as what you hear in TV and movies try to put yourself out there. Always be ready to work hard; it is a very competitive world, but also very rewarding so have a lot of faith in yourself.

Dragon Age 2 Soundtrack

Available on Amazon

Available on iTunes

You're in very high demand as a composer. What's coming up next for you?

My next release is The Lord of the Rings: War In The North which we recorded with the London Philharmonia Orchestra and Choir at Abbey Road Studios. I’m currently writing more music for the MMORPGs, RIFT: Planes of Telara and TERA Online. I’m also working on several new projects to be announced.

The Dragon Age 2 Soundtrack can be purchased from Amazon and iTunes.

The Music Of Mass Effect

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 20:07:51 +0000

How did you get involved in scoring Mass Effect? At what stage were you brought in to write the music?

I was brought in at the beginning of the process. I had been part of the official demo/bid process for Mass Effect, but the contract went to Jack Wall. He and BioWare really liked my demo material though, so the decision was made to bring me on board to co-write the score with Jack.

Tell us about the process of creating the music to these games.

The working models for Mass Effect 1 and 2 were rather different. They were similar in the sense that it was more of a task force of composers pitching in together to create a large amount of music rather than a per-track collaboration. But beyond that, Mass Effect 2 was a more organized workflow. Jack assigned each of us entire levels to work on, whereas with the first game it was a bit more spread out and scattered. Both worked out well, but I think with the sequel, it was easier to remain more consistent, thematically speaking, within each environment.

Where did your inspiration for the music of Mass Effect come from?

The score was heavily influenced by the works of Vangelis (Blade Runner) and Tangerine Dream (Risky Business, etc.). BioWare liked that vintage analogue synth sound and the multi-layered, multi-textured approach that Tangerine Dream often uses. We borrowed references from that and added our own musical signatures to give Mass Effect its unique sonic identity.

Mass Effect 2 Soundtrack

Available on Amazon

Available on iTunes

How did the music evolve between sequels?

Mass Effect 2 has a darker, more orchestral bias than the first game. I think the sequel has a more serious tone overall, and the progression to a more cinematic, orchestral sound represents the maturation of the series.

What gear and sample libraries went into the sound of Mass Effect?

I’m very much a software-based guy. I like having a very minimalist, self-contained studio that has a small footprint. I wish I could say I had a real Yamaha CS-80 and a Moog, but I did not. For synths, I used some Arturia stuff (CS-80V, Moog Modular V, miniMoog V) and Omnisphere (for Mass Effect 2). For the orchestral part of my palette, I used various Vienna libraries and ProjectSAM for percussion.

The Mass Effect 2 Soundtrack can be purchased from Amazon and iTunes.

How To Handle A Project

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 16:52:53 +0000

Normally, getting a freelance job is a good thing. However, if you are tied up at the moment when a new client offers you a new job, you might lose a long-term project by turning it down. In fact, handling a project includes dealing with time management (deadlines), budget management (money), being a team-member and knowing your capacities and limitations (health).

Therefore, it might be a good idea to think about those topics before you run into any problems. Of course, this tutorial does not offer a complete manual about getting a project done (as every client and every project is different from each other), but it provides some relevant points to ponder.

An accurate/realistic offer

Before you get a freelance job, a client would normally ask for an offer. Since this offer is mandatory it is important to know your capacities. Here are some ideas about the first subject – time:

What deadlines do you need to be aware of?
What amount of time do you need to compose/produce/record the music?
Do you need assistance (co-composer)?
Are the musicians/sessions players/composers available during that time period?
Do you need to book a separate recording studio?
Don’t forget to include some work step buffer time (in case you fall ill or some technical problems with your machine occur)

Next, let us focus on money as the second subject here. It is obvious that both factors, time and money, are related to each other. It is harder to meet a very tight deadline because the whole production (and your creative work as well) needs to be finished at short notice. This includes more risks, such as the availability of your assistants, working on weekends, sleeping less or neglecting your family. Hence, shorter deadlines increase the costs. Here are some other things you may want to take into account:

What is the overall budget for the music?
What is your own fee?
What is the fee of your assistants/session players?
What is the fee of the recording studio?
Do you need a mixing/mastering engineer? If yes, what is his fee?
What rights of usage does the client need (non-exclusive, partial exclusive, exclusive worldwide)?

The last bullet point is very important. It determines whether or not you are allowed to use the song in other projects or as library music. If you need to give away the copyright, be sure to negotiate for the right price.

Note: There is always the option to refuse a project. Nobody forces you to say ‘yes’ and nobody became successful just by saying ‘yes’ to everything. If you are too busy to do the project by yourself maybe an assistant/co-composer will happily take care of that.

However, your life will become a lot easier if you wrote realistic offers in the first place. Since this offer is the foundation of your collaboration, it’s important to spend some time with it and take it seriously.

Get into a dialog with your client

Clients usually are not used to musical terms. They don’t know what a ‘major third’ is or what you need a counterpoint for. That means, you need to determine what kind of music the client asks you for. If it was a first-time client I would ask for some temp tracks. These tracks, along with his or her explanation will give you an idea to form a language the client understands.

A short story: Once I was asked to write some children’s songs. The client wanted me to compose some ‘cheerful/playful’ tunes. So, I incorporated many trills and many short but fast melody phrases. After I played that song to the client, he was totally unhappy with it. It turned out, he put ‘cheerful’ on a level with ‘wrong notes’. Without any doubt, this was a big misunderstanding, but I learned from it. So, it’s not always important what a client says, it’s important what he or she means!

Once you know how to talk to a client, it may be a good idea to get into an on-going dialog with him during the production process. Maybe provide some early sketches, some mock-ups or even musical ideas (like sounds or phrases) to be sure you hit the client’s flavor and ideas.

Important: Always try to support the client and his or her project as best as you can. This is professional and this is exactly what you’ve got hired for. And it does not mean to give up yourself in any way. Consider the client’s input as inspiration to create something fantastic. Although you work for hire, it’s still your very own work, your music, your passion.

Internal management

Sometimes the amount of work is too big to be done by one person only – meaning you. Therefore you want to consider bringing in some co-composers and splitting the work. Although clients talk to one reference person only, it’s often the case that many composers work on the same project behind the curtain. Be sure to keep track of internal deadlines your assistants have to meet. Always work with deadlines. Although it can be a bit stressful, they also set free ‘the magic’ you need to be innovative and creative!

Working as a composer in the industry can be very stressful since there are almost always very tight deadlines for projects. Working all day long (and additionally even at night) can become a high risk factor for your health. This subject is part of our “The Business – Part II” tutorial. Please check this out for deeper information.

Also, it’s important to keep track of different versions of a song as clients often change their ideas during a project.

Note: If the client asks for different versions of a song, it might be better to save (and backup) them in separate folders. Keep all versions until the job is done. Sometimes there are changes and edits in the final stage of a project and out of a sudden an older version supports the context much better than a newer one.

Handling a big project is a learning process (like everything). Make some notes about things which caused trouble during the project and try to get rid of them to improve your work and your service.

Feedback

Each time you finish a project it’s a good situation to ask for feedback. Many freelancers don’t have the courage to ask for feedback because of their ego. They think it’s not appropriate and it reduces their prestige. The truth is that your client will gladly give you feedback, because this makes you a pro who is open-minded and self-critical. Those are the guys others like to collaborate with. If you care about your work and your relationship with your clients, it probably will give you more prestige, not less.
Some further thoughts

Most of the time, every new project gives you the opportunity to collaborate with new people. This keeps the daily routine fresh, gets you connected and gives you a lot of inspiration for new musical material. Besides, you never know who of those guys will become one of the most sought-after guys in the industry in the future. It is very likely that one of them will hire you for his own project one day.

Every project you start from a blank project window in your sequencer gives you a new template you can use for new pieces. You can use this setup to create new songs. In the best case you even don’t need to mix the single tracks because you’ve done that already in the first project. This way you save a big amount of time.

Don’t forget that most often you (as a composer) are brought into a project very late and other people have spent month of work – or even years – so far. They give you the responsibility to make the whole project better. That is an honor and should be answered with respect!

One job leads to another. The work you do now will be the reason for many other projects you will get hired for in the future. Keep this in mind and deliver the best work you are capable of – always.

Top 5 Orchestration Books

Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:02:37 +0000

The Study of Orchestration - Samuel Adler

This work enables students to understand the basics of orchestrations by choosing the most appropriate instruments, instrumental combinations and instrumental techniques to write an effective orchestral score. It deals with orchestral writing for individual instruments, combinations of instruments, and full orchestra.

Available on Amazon

Principles of Orchestration - N.Rimsky-Korsakov

Rimsky-Korsakov, the great classical orchestrator, provides fundamentals of tonal resonance, progression of parts, voice and orchestra, tutti effects, and much more. This major document includes 330 pages of musical excerpts.

Available on Amazon

Instrumentation and Orchestration - Alfred Blatter

An accessible and complete introduction to writing and scoring music for each instrument of the orchestra. Clear explanations, vivid descriptions of various instruments, expert advice, and numerous musical examples to maximize the student's understanding of concepts being presented. A valuable resource and reference for students in their future professional endeavors, this text maximizes its usefulness beyond the classroom.

Available on Amazon

Orchestration - W Piston

Orchestration is notable for the clarity and logic of its organization. From a consideration of the individual instruments and their technical problems the author skillfully develops his analysis of orchestration, covering his analysis of orchestration, covering instrumentation of primary and secondary melodies, part-writing, chords, and contrapuntal techniques. Finally, he discusses typical problems in orchestration together with some examples of their solutions.

Available on Amazon

Essential Dictionary of Orchestration - T Gerou

An orchestration book tailor-made for the classroom musician on a budget. Any teacher, student or professional musician, whether a composer, orchestrator, arranger, performer or enthusiast will find this thoroughly comprehensive dictionary full of the most needed information on over 150 instruments. Designed for quick and easy reference, the Essential Dictionary of Orchestration includes those much-needed instrument ranges, general characteristics, tone quality descriptions, technical pitfalls, useful scoring tips and much more!

Available on Amazon

Insight: Galaxy

Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:40:01 +0000

Hi Anders, please tell our readers a bit about your background.

I was brought up in a small town in the country in the fifties and sixties. My father was in the agricultural business but he was full of enthusiasm on the cultural front and had a large collection of LP-records and books. Anything he mentioned at the dinner table as difficult to understand – James Joyce’s Ulysses or Mahler’s 8th symphony – aroused my curiosity and I immediately sought it out in his book shelves and tried to listen to it or read it when the rest of the house had gone to bed. And I was at an early stage at ease with musical news from abroad through German and Danish radio (at that time Danish radio still had programs about contemporary music).

I started late – at the age of fifteen – to play the piano, after having played guitar for some years. As things went bad in school I finally decided to practice hard on the piano and was finally permitted to the Carl Nielsen Academy in nearby Odense when I turned nineteen. I got Rosalind Bevan as my piano teacher there, which was good because she was very much into modern music and that was what I wanted to play. F.ex. I played George Crumb’s Five Pieces at one tests after two years of studying. By the way I had done a lot of preparation for that piano style as I tortured my own cheap grand piano by playing inside it on the strings and throwing different objects inside it.

How did you come up with the concept for "Galaxy"?

First I must say that at I studied the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen already during my piano studies and I also played some of his piano music in public (Klavierstück no.V, VII and IX) and I was deeply impressed by his way of musical thinking. Mantra for two pianos and especially Inori for orchestra were - and are – key works for me. The concept of Galaxy – the idea of a huge, melodic spiral movement in the orchestra was very much inspired by Inori with its focus on a single note for a very long time. But I also wanted Galaxy to be a comment on the issue of tonal versus atonal music. The spiral movement in the piece – a spiral defined as a circle in motion that never returns to it’s exact beginning – fluctuates between consonant, tonal, harmonic, static music and dissonant, atonal, expressive twelve tone music.

Through the whole piece runs a melody whose tones overlap so that the “bone structure” of the piece simply is a two part invention. The melody behaves in a way like the famous spiral model of a DNA-string.

You can hear many small spiral movements during the piece and the whole 43 minute Galaxy is actually one big spiral movement, rising and accelerating, and the piece stops just as it is going to turn backwards. So everything becomes faster and shorter so that you finally hear the basic twelve tone melody.

Why did you choose to write a piece that was such a length with no breaks?

My goal was to make a structure where you first experience single isolated, long notes and gradually hear them as a melody when the melody gets faster repeating itself. This relativity of perception is of the greatest importance and inspiration for me: a tone is a rhythmic pulsation when you slow it down; a rhythmic figure can become a musical form etc. This keeps fascinating me. An example is my Pianoconcerto (Dacapo 8.226514) from 1995 which is one simple polyrhythmic structure lasting 22 minutes. I know this sounds nerdish but remember that these principles says nothing about how the music will sound in the end. It is a kind of basic structure that allows your imagination to go wild without losing focus and fall into old musical habits, like 4/4 meters and traditional chord changes.

How was this received by the players? It must have been quite tiring on the players.

The piece was first played by Odense Symphony Orchestra - in 1999 – and they also made this recording for Dacapo. It is an orchestra with a lot of young players and they have no problems at all playing contemporary music. I am especially grateful to the piano and percussion players who have the most difficult passages in the atonal sections.

Describe your creative process when writing the work.

I wrote the first 15 minutes of the piece in the beginning of the nineties in a three years period. Then I forgot about it because I had other interesting commissions. I started again when I got the opportunity to have it performed at the Music Harvest Festival in Odense in 1999. I wrote the remaining 30 minutes –which were already planned – in the summer of 1999.

And I had a shock when I heard it for the first time: I must admit that I had forgotten how it should sound. When I later heard the tape recording I thought I heard sounds that were not written in the score!

And that is the interesting thing about being a composer: Write something that you never will be completely sure of how sounds!

What was the most challenging aspect of the work?

To fulfill the ambitious plan I have just described. And there are a LOT of notes in the score. I still have to make a proper score...

What has been your biggest influences as a composer?

If I start from the beginning: the Beatles, Santana, John McLaughlin, Miles Davis, Frank Zappa and of course Bach, Beethoven, Mahler, Schönberg, Messiaen, Andriessen, Stockhausen, Per Nørgård and George Crumb. Later I learned to appreciate Stravinsky, John Cage, Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen, Arvo Pärt, Steve Reich and many others. And my teacher in Aarhus, where I studied composition in the eighties, after my piano years, Karl Aage Rasmussen had a big impact on me with his intellect, musical ideas and, not least, his attitude.

What's next for you?

Galaxy

Available on Amazon

Available on iTunes

I am writing a new piece for the Danish ensemble Figura whom I have worked with many times. They will play the piece on a small tour to Lithuania, Huddersfield New Music Festival, UK and in Copenhagen in the fall of 2011.

Then I am working on a con amore project with some friends in Copenhagen: a “Liederabend” on texts by the Danish experimental poet Klaus Høeck for baritone singer, electric guitar and myself on piano and electronics. Unfortunately this great poet is quite intranslateable but I have been so inspired by him that up to now I composed around 4 to 5 hours of music based on his texts!

And the final question I like to ask all our interviewees. For the all the up and coming composers out there, if you could share one tip, what would it be?

Don’t give up! Don’t let popular/commercial culture destroy your ideas! Remember that you started because you wanted to make a music that never existed before!

Galaxy can be purchased from Amazon and iTunes.

How You Can Achieve A More Expensive Sound

Fri, 08 Jul 2011 17:38:59 +0000

What does ‘expensive’ mean?

Although there are some limited ways to correct the sound of a mix down in the mastering process, this tutorial is not about mastering nor mixing. It’s about getting single tracks to sound great by themselves in the first place to avoid spending a lot of time correcting mixing mistakes later. Actually, this is the first step even before the mixing process starts. Make sure that you have access to all the single tracks in your song since it will be necessary to edit every instrument differently.

In order to show what our goal is, in a practical manner, we first need to define the word ‘expensive’ in a musical context. Listen to example1 (preferably on good headphones since we would like to get a very close look at the frequencies) with the volume reduced to a minimum.

I switch between two different versions of the same song every two bars; at low volume the difference between both versions should not be so big.
You should be able to tell what instruments are being used and what they are playing no matter what version you listen to.
So why should I move on with this tutorial anyway?

Important: If you want people to listen to your music, and especially if you want to have success with your music, the above described case isn’t reality. Usually people listen to music loudly because their brain tends to equate loudness with quality (compare this with cinemas, theaters, concerts or even car audio systems). If something doesn’t sound good on high volume then there is no quality involved.

Listen to example1 again (on the same headphones); however, now turn the volume up but be careful of your ears. Now, some frequencies become very disturbing; they even hurt. So this shows that our task is to make the music sound great at high volume, not at low volume. Although one versions sounds brighter, this is not achieved by simply increasing the high frequencies. It is a bit more complicated than that, as we will see.

It is advisable to listen to some modern pop or rock productions, since they are a superior example of quality in the above described context. Additionally, if something sounds excellent at high volume then it usually will sound excellent on low volume, also.

Manipulating Frequencies

Without a doubt, getting a rich and expensive sound is the result of many decisions that must be correctly made during the entire production process, because every correct decision adds a bit more quality to the track. However, let’s focus on just one option for now.

Note: Since our ears do not work linearly, it is to be expected that some frequencies will suddenly become more pronounced when the volume goes up. However, I don’t want to get too deeply into physics because we would like to keep it practical at this point.

Getting the right sound is always about manipulating frequencies. There are many tools at our disposal to achieve this, such as: equalizers (EQ), enhancers, loudness maximizers and many more … even reverberators. I’m going to use the equalizer because:

it comes with every audio editing program
when using the highest Q-factor you may manipulate just a few frequencies
it only manipulates the frequencies and does nothing else but that

The following illustration shows the usual, unedited frequency spectrum of a single instrument on the left and the spectrum we want to create using our EQ on the right.

Obviously, our goal is to flatten the frequency curve of every instrument in order to keep all the frequencies under control at high volume. This way the mix down of several different instruments is much easier because you don’t need to deal with single frequency peaks anymore.

Theory Turned Into Action

The first thing we need to do is find the frequencies that we need to edit. So, activate a band of your EQ and start sweeping through the audio material slowly. You are going to find fundamental frequencies as well as harmonics. Keep in mind that these frequencies are not static… they change according to the tone pitch; the dynamic involved in the playing performance and the articulation; so it might be necessary to automate the EQ settings along the time-line in order to catch the changing frequencies. Of course, this is not true for non-tonal instruments, like percussion and drums.

Once you have found the resonant frequencies, reduce them carefully using the highest Q-factor. Trust your ear and don’t overdo the reduction otherwise the instrument is going to sound very thin and tinny. I assume that the reduction is going to take place somewhere between -3dB and -10dB. It might be helpful to use a real-time spectrum analyzer, like the “Pinguin audio meter” or the “T-Racks3” spectrum analyzer but these tools can’t replace the best device you have at your disposal, your ears.

It could be possible that you will find many frequencies that you want to reduce and one 4-band EQ just can’t catch them all. In that situation, don’t worry about using as many EQ instances as you need to, to achieve the best sounding result. Most sequencers offer a limited amount of insert-fx-slots (usually eight). In order to free those slots after the frequency editing process, record the edited instrument again to a new audio track with all EQs activated. Usually the sequencer software doesn’t allow routing one audio track to another one, so you will have to find a workaround to fix this routing issue. The following picture is about how to solve this problem in Cubase (since version 5, before that free routing was not possible).

Although the CPU isn’t the performance bottleneck that it used to be, we always recommend deactivating all plug-ins on the original instrument track. We won’t need the original track for the playback anymore since it has been re-recorded. Remember, do not give away any CPU power (or even DSP card power) without a good reason.

Note: If your EQ is not a VST3-plugin I highly recommend to deactivate it rather than bypass it. Because when on bypass the CPU still calculates the effect in the background even though it’s not audible. Only deactivating the effect really frees the CPU power again.
Explanation of the example

The example uses the whole described process in an A/B-comparison. One part uses no EQ at all, so it is obvious that there are many frequencies that make the overall sound muddy and nontransparent. The other part uses many instances of EQs on every track. All the frequencies were located by sweeping through the spectrum. The result is that every instrument now has more clarity and doesn’t compete with the other instruments anymore.

As always, please keep in mind that there is no such thing as a Holy Grail in audio production. Excellent audio production is achieved only by experience and a big amount of experimentation. At least, that is what I believe.

Make Your Drums Sound More Punchy

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 10:53:46 +0000

Normally, you would want to use a compressor on your drum track to catch the very loud peaks. But be careful in doing so because if you go too far with this effect you are only going to lose a lot of your dynamic range. Consequently, the sound might become inappropriate for your production. So I am going to share with you a little trick that retains the dynamic range but adds more punch to the sound. This applies to recordings of real drums and virtual instruments.

2 basic ways to affect/edit your drum sound

Basically there are two ways to edit an audio track in general. The first one uses insert effects while the second one uses send effects. Both ways bring their specific advantages into play. Insert effects affect the whole signal that runs through the audio track. On the other hand, send effects affect a copy of the audio material without touching the original signal. That means, the affected audio data is added or returned to the original audio data.

One big advantage of send effects is that you are able to send different signals from various audio tracks to the bus without increasing the CPU workload. But nowadays the CPU is not the bottleneck anymore, neither is RAM. Clearly, it becomes a matter of personal choice and what fits your workflow best.

Note: You can use a send bus as a substitute by duplicating an audio track and using insert effects on one of these tracks only. With the right portion of volume, you can set up a balance between both tracks.

I prefer using send effects in most situations because you can glue your instruments together by using typical effects on send busses like delay or reverb. In this way, you have to set up the effect only once and theoretically you can use it on every audio track in your project.

Adding brightness and punch

In setting up two separate send busses, I can add some brightness or give more punch to the drums. The architecture of send busses are (usually) identical throughout different DAWs no matter which DAW you are using.

Note: The drums I use in my sample are already processed using EQs, compressors and gates. I usually do the mixing process of the drum set first to create a good and solid basis to add further spicy effects. So I (personally) do not consider the send busses being a part of the ordinary mixing process. But (as always) that is a personal point of view.

Brightness: All effects listed and described in this paragraph are used as an insert effect on the first send bus.

First, since we want to edit the high frequencies only we need to set up a HPF (high pass filter) at around 3.1k Hz.
The next effect in the chain is a short ambience reverb (reverb time: approx. 0.5 ms; using 100 % wet on the output).
Finally, use a chorus at the end of the chain for some frequency modulation. This prevents the signal from phasing when it returns to the original audio track. I recommend that you check out some different settings to address your specific needs. Nevertheless, there are no rules.

Please listen to Sample1. It automatically starts with the original drum track. Then, after a few bars add the brightness send bus and switch it on and off every few seconds. While listening to the sample, focus on the hihat and the snare drum (also the overheads) since this is the frequency area where the effect works.

Punch: This is a very simple and commonly used trick in rock/pop audio productions. But it is as simple as effective. Therefore, make sure you have it at your disposal. Simply create a new send bus and use a compressor (try a short attack time and a very high ratio) on this track as an insert effect. I prefer to use the 1176SE for that purpose. The trick is to really compress almost the whole dynamic range out of the drums! As you can see I’m using the ratio in “all mode” and at a very high input level.

Listen to Sample2. Again, I am switching between the original track and another version with the punch send bus mixed in every few seconds. Obviously, the second version is a bit louder because of the added signal from the send bus. You might tend to like this version better because of the loudness, but the loudness is not the point in this case. I really want you to focus on the punch and aggressiveness.

Summary

Finding the right balance between the original audio signal and the returned signal from the send busses is your discretion. There are no specific guidelines except: What sounds good is good!

Let us see how our drum set sounds like with and without both send busses. Again, I’m switching the sends on and off every few seconds. You can listen to that comparison in Sample3.

Last but not least, I would like to show you the drum track in context. I did two mixdowns of the whole session to show you an A/B comparison of what it sounds like with and without the support of the send busses on the drum track (listen to sample4). See how the send busses help the drum track come out on top?

Note: As you might have guessed I am not using the send busses on the drum track exclusively. Like what I have mentioned before, it is also a stylistic device to put different instruments all together (similar to reverb). That means, I am using them on almost every audio track in my session (with different amounts). This naturally results in a smoother overall mix because of a similar sonic behavior in various instruments.

The Business - Minimize Your Personal Risk

Fri, 20 May 2011 18:16:10 +0000

For example:

what if you become seriously ill and couldn’t work?
what if your machine broke down?
what if you didn’t get paid for a very long period of time?
what if you got too many jobs at once?

In this business, we should spend some time thinking about those kinds of questions before they become reality! You won’t find a complete list of your personal risk factors in this tutorial. Neither will you find all the answers; but hopefully you are going to develop an ability to detect your personal risk factors and how to get control over them.
Building up your business network

In many cases, the best and also the easiest way to minimize your personal risk is by surrounding yourself with people who are in a similar situation to yours. Why? Think of a software problem with your computer. Just do a Google search and in almost every case you will find the answer on the Internet because at least 1,000 users have had the same type of problem before. This example shows a very simple principle:

People who are in a similar (or even the same) situation often have similar (or the same) problems/risk factors!

The probability that you will get solutions to your problems, new ideas, a better workflow, etc. is high when you are part of a community. So, become a member of a forum, share your studio with other composers or musicians, attend music production lectures and seminars, keep an open mind and listen to what others say, in other words, become connected. By building up your personal business network you create a safety net that prevents you from stepping into every single trap and, even more importantly; you give fortune a chance to find you.

Risk factor: An unstable income

Without any doubt, an unstable income is the biggest risk factor for a freelancer. You won’t get a steady paycheck, so your income depends totally on you and what you can do.

First of all, you need to determine or track down the specific things that generate your income. Here are some ideas and options, which may be true in your case:

you compose music for hire
you work as a arranger or orchestrator
you teach music composition or an instrument
you work as a studio musician/session player
you do mixing and mastering
you collaborate with various music publishers
you work as an audio engineer at recording sessions
you work as an audio supervisor
you produce library music for licensing
note: list is far from complete

Important: Whatever things determine your income, do more of those and less of the other things. Of course, these things may change, over time, and you will need to adapt to those changes. However, you should always spend the most time doing things that increase your income in a direct or indirect way.

Obviously, you can stabilize your income by generating many different income streams instead of only one big stream. Remember, what if the big stream suddenly dries up? It might be very difficult to find a substitute quickly! However, if one of the little streams ends, it won’t hit you so hard since your loss of income will be very low because you still have all the other streams coming in.

It is perfectly normal that one or some of these little streams may become bigger over time. That’s good but just make sure that you don’t lose sight of the others.

Note: The concept of “distribution of risks” is not a must, it is only an option, but it might give you more freedom and some sense of inner peace. Just remember that in some cases one big stream may be the best choice, so you will have to decide what is best for you.
Risk factor: Professional know-how

Professional know-how is a very important part because being a professional means having deep knowledge, a solid craft, and excellent skills. It is a general rule that people most often collaborate with professionals because they want to lessen or eliminate their own risk. So you better be sure of exactly what it is that you do because:

that’s the only way to make your music sound great.
that’s the only way to build up confidence in what you do.
that’s the only way to generate repeating success instead of random success.
that’s the only way to make the client put his trust in you.
that’s the only way to make other professionals collaborate with you.

If you have the slightest doubt about something you write or do, get rid of this weak point by investing the time and energy in better understanding the problem and finding a proper solution.

Important: You cannot build a professional business based upon doubts and ignorance!

Risk factor: Time

With regard to music production, you can save a lot of time and energy by using templates, presets and macros. Let’s assume that you want to create a completely new project in your sequencer; this means that you will need to invest a lot of time in finding the right instruments, loading the samples, finding the right effects with the proper settings, balancing the mix down, etc.! Always try to improve your workflow and avoid doing the same steps repeatedly on different projects. This way you will free up more time to focus on the important things such as the composition itself, high quality recording, alternate parts of specific tracks/instruments or even an alternate version of the whole song. (See 10 Tips To Be More Productive Composing)

Note: By saving a huge amount of time every day you can even increase your income and do less work, all at the same time! So it is really important to recognize which parts of your personal workflow can be improved. Remember: there’s no need to do the same work steps several times, once is enough!

Risk factor: Getting attention

Like I said once before in this tutorial: You need to give fortune a chance to find you! This means that in order to become successful you need to attract attention first. It’s very interesting to watch how many people do everything they can to remain hidden, but on the other hand, they still want to be successful – that’s just not going to work.

Note: If you are really a person who prefers not to go public, for whatever reason, there is always a way around that. One really good way is by finding an agent or a partner who will take care of your public relations.

Of course, everyone should consider whether or not something is worth spreading around in the first place (I mean content for websites primarly). Unfortunately there is so much nonsense out there that it is very easy to waste your time totally! However, on the other hand, there is so much information available that is way too valuable to miss. So make yourself the type of great person who enriches the public with precious content and worthwhile information.
Risk factor: Burnout

The risk factors we have dealt with so far have been income, optimizing your workflow, time, and publicity. There is one very important factor that is often seen when it is far too late. If you thought about work all day long you will probably forget about your evening relaxation, spare time, and taking a vacation to relax. However, these things are of the utmost importance in order to keep you going further. So, don’t forget to take some time off after a project is finished.

Take your dog for a walk, spend some time with your family or watch a movie. It is important to develop the ability to stand back and take a look at your work from a distance because this is good for your health, it is an excellent source of inspiration, and it is a great way to improve your work and the best way to enjoy your life after your work. All this might sound totally mundane, but in fact, burnout really is a high risk, and it is a serious disease!

Summary

These risk factors should be considered examples in order to give you an idea of what can affect you. Your personal risk factors may be totally different from the ones listed above, but I can guarantee that there still are ways to minimize them.

In fact, the more you minimize or even eliminate your personal risks, the more freedom you will have in your work and in your life in general. So take a look at the following questions in order to determine your personal risk factors:

Do you have a stable income? What do you do to make money?
Are you really confident in what you do the most? How can you boost or increase your confidence, your craft, your knowledge, your skills?
Do you work with templates and presets? How can you save even more time in order to focus on more important things?
When and where did you spend your last vacation? How many hours per day do you spend at your job or working? What are your hobbies?
What part(s) of your business are you afraid of?
What is your personal worst-case scenario? What are your specific actions to avoid it?

Of course, this list is incomplete, but hopefully it is long enough to make you think about your own personal risks. By facing up to the fact that they are present, you will get control over your risks and avoid being controlled by them!

Guitars in Rock and Metal Soundtracks

Mon, 16 May 2011 18:44:40 +0000

Requirements

The most important thing is to have a guitar player who can deliver a solid performance. A poorly played performance can be corrected in the audio editing process but this is going to take a huge amount of precious time so if you have to meet a certain deadline you cannot afford to spend a lot of your time correcting wrong notes, timing problems, and so on. If you cannot afford to pay for a professional session player, and you are a moderate guitar player yourself, then try this:

If you are using guitar modeling software, such as Guitar Rig or Amplitube, you will want to record the signal dry and clean as a start. Remember, since the final guitar sound is created after using a plug-in you don’t have to record your guitar part in real-time. In fact, you can even use half-time or any slower tempo that you feel comfortable with. Then use the time-stretch function of your DAW (digital audio workstation) to make the tempo of your recording match the tempo of your project. Although this procedure does create solid results, there are some limitations. The time-stretch function either adds samples to your recording (according to a specific algorithm you usually need to select first), or it removes samples from your recording so artifacts will usually be audible if you use this function too much. Therefore, using less time-stretch leads to better results. The best quality you can get is a performance that is played in real-time with no time-stretching at all.

The Recording Process

Nine times out of ten, one single guitar track doesn’t lead to good sounding results, except maybe for a lead guitar solo. So it will be necessary to record each guitar part at least twice in order to double all the parts in the mix. Use different amp simulations for every guitar track and make sure that the sounds of the various amps complement each other. This means that you don’t want the doubled track to sound too much like the first one.

Note: If you just duplicate a recording the result is not doubling because this only adds volume to the original track (when using no frequency modulation effects).

And remember: You may use a slower tempo and/or you may record every part at a different time. If you do so, always start recording some bars before the actual part begins because you want to create a fluent transition from one recording to the other.

How To Place Guitars In A Mix

Most rock songs contain at least of two different guitars playing at the same time. The first thing we need to deal with is panning. Since we want to create a wide spread and powerful guitar wall, here is one way to go:

Guitar 1: approximately halfway to the right, doubled with another part playing exactly the same pattern panned completely to the left.
Guitar 2: approximately halfway to the left, doubled with another part playing exactly the same pattern panned completely to the right.
Guitar 3: in the middle playing higher notes which complement the chord structure.

Of course, all guitars may play the same part in unison or in octaves. If your song is complete with two guitars, then don’t use the third one. Whatever arrangement fits your needs best, go with it. Listen to example1 in order to get an idea of what the above described panning sounds like.

The next part we are going to focus on is equalization (EQ). Here are some basic guidelines for equalizing (EQing) guitars:

Do a low-cut at around 150Hz, because all frequencies below 150Hz belong to either the electric bass or the kick-drum but not to the guitar.
There are often some resonance frequencies between 180Hz and 500Hz, so find these by sweeping through these frequencies while reducing them between 5dB to 8dB. Always use the highest Q-factor possible during this entire process.
Take a look at the frequency spectrum between 2.7kHz and 3.6kHz, you will usually find one or more frequencies that are quite disturbing. If so, then sweep through the frequency spectrum again and reduce this frequency generously.
Often a smooth boost with a high-shelf at around 4kHz will brighten up the sound.

Finding the right frequencies requires experience or the trial and error method (which leads to experience anyway). Just don’t get frustrated too soon, because like everything else it’s a learning process. Listen to example2: the first version is without any equalization, the second version has every track equalized.

Reverb is very important for creating depth in the mix. For music genres like rock or metal the function of reverb is to emulate the environment of the recording studio as well as the instruments being played in that studio. Although there are no rules on how to use reverb, here are some points to think about:

Reverb normally is used as a send effect, not as an insert effect.
There are three things that define a space or room: the direct signal, early reflections (ER) and the tail, and all of them are equally important.
Reverb glues together different guitar tracks or sounds in general.
To find the appropriate length for the tail, just follow this guideline: the faster the song the shorter the tail.
By using reverb you can create a sonic foreground, middle, and background; rock guitars normally play in the middle of a mix, behind the vocals or the solo guitar but in front of the drums; I suggest playing with the arrival time and the amount of early reflections (ER) in order to position the guitars properly.

Here is an illustration of my reverb settings, which are quite usable for rock. The dry/wet-ratio should be at 100% because we are using the plug-in on a send bus. Additionally, you want the early reflections to arrive at the listener first; the tail comes later. In order to control the arrival time of the tail, we set the knob called “delay” to 21msec., and a little boost at around 4kHz will brighten up the overall sound.

In order to highlight a guitar solo use less reverb because this is equal to a higher amount of direct signal. This is going to push the lead guitar in front of the riff guitars that are playing in the middle of the mix. Now listen to example3: the first version is without additional reverb, the second version has Altiverb turned on. What reverb to use always depends upon the musical genre and upon your personal taste such as: plate, room, ambiance, spring, hall, etc. If you don’t have any specific ideas in mind, listen to bands in the desired musical genre and try to get as close to that as possible.

Additional Effects

You can add almost every effect to guitars like flanger, chorus, delay, wha-wha, octave-creators, etc.; however, at this point I would like to focus on how you can get a more aggressive sound.

If your guitars sound like the player was a bit lazy during the recording session, here is a little trick that you can use to sharpen the attacks later: Use a limiting amplifier (for example, the 1176SE from Universal Audio) as an insert effect on a separate send bus. Mix this bus slightly underneath your guitar tracks. This is going to add a bit more punch to the guitars. By the way, this trick is normally used to make drums sound more aggressive, but it also works for guitars.

Example4 shows the effect that the 1176SE adds to the guitars in an A to B comparison. It shouldn’t be very hard to tell which version is using the effect. Furthermore, listen to example5 since it shows the final mix of drums, bass and guitars (including a solo passage).

Note: The best effects are barely audible when active; however, when they are on bypass you can tell the difference in a second. So, because you want to retain a natural sound, don’t overdo it.

The Guitar as a Scoring Instrument

Mon, 09 May 2011 15:28:30 +0000

I’m hoping to get you a little excited and thinking differently about the guitar, and maybe you’ll decide that it’s just he flavor you need to spice up your next score.

The Guitar - a Quick Overview

The guitar will typically come in two basic types:

Acoustic

Western - a pear shaped hollow body with steel strings and a brighter sound, usually played with a pick/plectrum, or with the fingers
Classical - a peanut shaped hollow body with nylon strings, and a mellower sound, usually plucked using the nails of the fingers.

Electric
Electric guitars come in many shapes and styles, and are either solid or hollow-body, with electronic pick-ups which (wait for it) pick up the vibrations of the strings. Electric guitars are patched into amplifiers which (wait for it) amplify the sound. Any number of effects may be employed during the signal chain, which dramatically or subtly change the sound.

The standard tuning on a guitar is (from low to high) E, A, D, G, B, E. It is scored on the treble clef, and sounds an octave below written. There are some specific things you have to keep in mind in order to score effectively for guitar which are beyond the scope of this article; for this, I heartily encourage you to check out this excellent article by Cameron Mizell on Musician Wages for a great primer.

Extended Techniques

Beyond the normal plucking, strumming, finger picking styles and the standard set of clean or distorted sounds you can get from a guitar, there are a myriad of additional possibilities. Many of these apply specifically to the electric guitar (as the application of effects is part and parcel of a player’s arsenal), but many can also be applied to acoustic guitars. These are also subject to the level of the player and their gear, so be sure to check and make sure what you are asking for is possible.

Volume Pedal

Typically, a note struck on a guitar has a percussive attack. You can shave off this attack an create a volume swell by using a volume pedal. When combined with a large reverb and a bit of delay, this can create a tremendous cinematic effect. It’s best used with full chords or slow moving melodic lines. You should provide plenty of time to allow for the swell to grow - it’s possible to do quicker work, but the guitar player has to coordinate left and right hands as well as the foot movement to open up the volume pedal. This effect works great alone to create a feeling of vast space or an empty, lonely, or floating feeling, and can be combined wonderfully with other instruments as a bed, or blended with a string section.

Slide

A slide is a metal or glass tube worn on a finger. When depressed lightly on the strings, it allows the player to play the note at that position and ‘slide’ in a portamento to other notes. If laid over several strings, you can slide multiple-stops. Typically, this can give a very country or blues feel, but if used in slow moving material can give a wistful feeling to a melodic line and is especially haunting when combined with volume swells, as described above.

Harmonics

A number of natural and artificial harmonics can be played on the guitar. Especially useful are the natural harmonics found on the open strings at the 5th, 7th, and 12th frets. These can be played in combination to create a haunting, sparkling effect. Artificial harmonics are possible at all positions, by activating the string with the pointer finger of the strumming hand at 5, 7, or 12 frets above the note, and plucking with the thumb. This is a more advanced technique, and allows the guitarist to play entire chords as harmonics! These must be arpeggiated or otherwise separated and is slightly awkward, so be sure to give the player time to hit each note.

EBow and other pick/fingerpicking alternatives

An Ebow is a small electronic device held in the strumming side hand and placed above the string one wishes to ‘activate’. An electromagnetic oscillation will cause the string to start vibrating steadily and continuously until the e-bow is removed or turned off. A guitar played with an e-bow is a bit like a violin - there is no attack, but a steady sustained note. As the finger moves to the next note on a string it cuts the vibration a bit, so there is a volume swell effect each time. An interesting possibility is to track multiple lines to create a Ebow guitar choir as an unusual substitute for a string orchestra. Note: it’s only possible to activate one string at a time using an Ebow so make sure you are writing for a single string or allow time for string skips and the resulting break in the line. Some players may even be skilled at playing the guitar with an actual violin bow (thank you, Mr. Page), but this is pretty specialized.

Another interesting sound is to have the player finger the chords on the fretboard, but instead of strumming, knock the body of the guitar with their knuckles or flat of the palm. This is a very quiet percussive effect and includes a distinct (wow you guessed it) hollow knocking sound. Try knocking on different locations on the body for tonal variation. Knocking (gently!) with other materials can give a less muted strike; I often us a standard vinyl pick to knock at different places, including the body and the bridge of the guitar.

Alternate Tuning

Interesting possibilities exist for the guitar to be tuned away from it’s standard. However, unless you are a guitar player yourself (or can workshop with a guitar player), knowing how to score in an alternate tuning is tricky because certain intervals become awkward or impossible while other possibilities open up. Here are a couple of simple tuning suggestions which can be really useful in certain situations:

Tuning the low E string down a whole step to D (“Drop D” tuning) allows the first three strings to sound as an open fifth chord (D - A - D) - also known as a “Power Chord” for obvious reasons. This low, slightly slack tuning can be indicated if you want a really heavy, “beefy” sound for massive riffs or epic sounding chords and is especially effective if used with a compressed, overdriven, or crunch distortion. If you are trying to emulate current metal and hard rock styles, the drop D tuning will help you get that authentic sound. The low D string can also be played solo and when combined with palm muting (where the player mutes the strings with the palm at the bridge of the guitar) creates an deep, aggressive, and chunky growling sound.

You can get a very interesting sound out of a western style acoustic by having the player tune the high E string down to match the B, so they ring in unison. Using these strings in unison can give the guitar a mandolin or bouzouki style sound. Depending on the player, you can write more Arabic or middle-eastern sounding stuff and have it come off quite well on guitar. In this case you would be writing Sul B as the player will be playing both the detuned E and B strings in unison (and that fact should also be marked on the score). 12 string guitars have an additional 6 strings that ring either in unison or an octave above the strings present on a standard 6 string guitar. If the player has access to a 12 string and you want to get a lo-fi, funky faux ‘ethnic’ sound, you might ask the player to tune his guitar down a whole step (or more!). Whether or not your player will be willing to do this is another matter, so be sure to consult with them ahead of time!

Playing at the headstock or tailpiece

The strings between the nut and the headstock can be played, giving an eerie, dissonant effect, especially when combined with copious amounts of reverb and delay. Some guitars even have a tailpiece after the bridge, and those strings can also be played - they are typically longer than those at the headstock, and thus will sound a little lower. If the player fingers chords at the same time as strumming the headstock, those stopped strings will resonate in sympathy, enhancing the ghostly shimmering. Great for chilling moments in thrillers and horror films.

A note about guitars and guitar effects

Many guitarists may utilize effects such as flangers, delays, and reverbs. In the signal chain, these will are effectively insert effects, and will “print to tape”. If you want more control over effects you can request that a more dry signal is provided (ie: without delay or reverb), but note that in some cases you want to leave it to the guitarist and have the effect printed as it is part of their sound and they may be playing with or against it. Talk to your guitarist, and use your discretion!

In any writing we do, we are always looking for ways to develop our sound and give our work some signature and character. The guitar is a sleeper of possibilities waiting to be discovered, and these are only the start - you can take these sounds and process them to your heart’s content, turning them into truly singular sound scapes with a signature stamp. I hope I’ve got you thinking about some unique ways to give your next score some 6 string magic!

Shaping A Note

Mon, 09 May 2011 15:27:50 +0000

It is very important to keep in mind that we are trying to simulate humans, nothing else. Before we get down to business it might be helpful if you listen to some live performances of real instruments (e.g. on Youtube) since live performances are the source that we want to emulate.

The second part of this tutorial will show you how to apply this device in order to create real sounding instrument sections. For example, if you are going to build a 3-part trumpet section, there are some nuances that have the ability to reveal the part as being fake within just seconds. Our ears, and also your clients’ ears, are very experienced in recognizing how real instruments sound, so unfortunately only a few tiny changes or mistakes could be enough of a reason to burst the bubble and reveal the truth.

The 3 Parts Of A Note

Independent from its context a single note normally follows a particular curve. All notes produced on natural instruments follow this curve in some way.

To be sure, the three elements of the curve may vary from context to context in length and intensity, but do you realize that there are no parts of the note that are totally flat?

(1) The first segment obviously is a rise in intensity produced by a bow stroke on stringed instruments or the vibration of the air column in brass instruments. This segment may be very short, for example, when you listen to staccato phrases.

(2) The second segment is important because it enables the ability to distinguish between different dynamic layers – from pp to ff. The higher the peak the louder the note. Of course, you can hold a peak for a specific period of time but be aware of the fact that it does require some effort to allow a note to sound very loud for only a few seconds. This effort means that the bow of a string player needs more pressure and speed, and a wind player needs a lot more air.

(3) The last segment is the decay. When you play a single note it will usually become softer and quieter as it ends. So the decay is dynamic. Don’t forget that it can also be a crescendo into a stab – like the brass section in a big band. The best way to decide whether or not a line that consists of many notes can be played by a wind player is to whistle it yourself – but make sure that you pay attention to the dynamic markings. If you need to breathe before the line is over, you better include a break. This is one of the most important points you need to keep in mind in order to make your samples sound real. Additionally, when you write staccato or spiccato notes you don’t need a decay for your notes. Most of the samples come with release recordings so in most cases you don’t need to do anything manually.

Important: You must find a comfortable way to increase or decrease the intensity of your samples smoothly. In most cases the mod-wheel (CC#1) is the trigger to cross-fade between different dynamic layers by default, but it really depends on how the virtual instrument is set up and programmed. Don’t try to affect the intensity with volume because when you play an instrument from pp to ff its frequency spectrum changes. If you want an instrument to play very quietly, don’t use fortissimo samples and simply turn down the volume. That is not going to work! Therefore, the only thing that you affect by changing the volume is the balance and the relation to other instruments in your arrangement.

Note: In order to make a single note more interesting don’t forget to use the right amount of vibrato. In many cases a long decay is the perfect area for that modulation. Again, listen to some real players and understand when and how they use vibrato.

Examples Of Note Shaping On A Single Line

To begin, let’s listen to some examples in order to make clear what note shaping really is all about. The first part of Example1 is a short line taken from the German Christmas carol “Snow falls softly at Night” (original title: “Leise rieselt der Schnee”) played by a virtual alto saxophone without any note shaping. You will realize within seconds that this line is not played by a real alto sax.

Now, let’s add some CCs in order to make those notes sound better. In fact, there are several parameters that are used in order to produce a realistic performance. Here is a picture of the key editor. The line above is the melody line, the curves underneath depict the motions of the different CCs.

First, did you notice that the notes are not quantized to the grid. They vary slightly and therefore, mirror the behavior of a human player. The first line underneath the notes depicts the shape and motion within the notes. This is the subject of the preceding chapter. The blue curve underneath is the amount of vibrato. The peaks of the vibrato always fall into the decay of a note – at least in this case. Right at the bottom you will find the pitch bend, which plays around a perfect pitch. This is a real nuance, but it is natural and therefore, it adds another little bit of realism to the phrase. Briefly, here are some suggestions to keep in mind in order to make a midi performance sound more natural:

Do not quantize your notes to a grid.
Let every single note breathe; this is called tone shaping.
Do not forget about vibrato.
Do not use perfect pitches, use the pitch bend.
Do not copy and paste CC data.
Do not forget that wind players need to breathe.
Listen to live performances for references.

Note: In order to make a midi performance sound really good and very realistic you will need to edit many different parameters. However, on the other hand, if only one parameter is set a bit untypical, your performance will sound fake. So in this case, it is totally true: The devil is in the details!

Building Up A Section

A section consists of single lines that are played simultaneously. So the first step is to check whether or not the performance of every line is OK by itself. Next, there are some very important points you need to keep in mind.

Do not let all the instruments start at the same time. Instead, try to “roll” into the chord or notes.
Do not change the number of players during a song.
Use some small variations at the peak of every instrument.
Use different lengths for the decay.
Give every instrument a unique shape that refers to the decay.
Use different vibrato settings for every instrument.
Keep the section dynamic and moving along with regard to expression.

Please listen to Example2. The setting consists of two alto saxophones, one tenor saxophone and one baritone saxophone. The first alto takes the melody, and the other instruments support the main line by harmonization. The result is a four part section which moves block-wise. Again, the first snippet is a record of the lines without any note shaping; the second one uses expression, vibrato and pitch bend.

Summary

Your whole phrase is only as good as the quality of your single notes, so build up your phrases by shaping every note. This will bring dynamic, character realism and life into your performance. Don’t forget that a section is played by many different people, it is not the same person on all the instruments. So it is very important to vary the articulations, the decay and some other nuances (midi data in general) in order to retain the illusion that it is a live performance played by many musicians.

Note: Some people out there may consider doing all this as far too much effort. The truth is that real musicians spend many years sometimes decades, in fact, practicing to master a specific instrument. Since this also is a matter of training and repetition you will develop solid skills in midi editing in just a short period of time. Take your time to figure out what midi curves fit best into your arrangement and most importantly, have fun!

For those of you who are interested in listening to the finished song:

Insight: 1-Bit Symphony

Wed, 04 May 2011 16:06:16 +0000

How did you come up with the concept for 1-Bit Symphony?

1-Bit Symphony had been a while coming. In 2004, when I began working on my first album, 1-Bit Music, I hadn't quite figured out exactly what I wanted to say with the sound and concept, and since it's release I've felt the need to pursue it further. Having already made the statement of releasing an album as a microchip, I got to dive headfirst into the music itself, and explore the various musical ideas I'd been circling around in my acoustic compositions. It was a great experience to spend a few solid months working in a very specific sonic medium. The idea of creating an electronic symphony gave me a big frame to fill. I think in the end I finally said what I wanted to say.

Where did your interest in bit music come from?

I was a total nerd growing up, in love with math, physics and programming. While I was also composing scores for acoustic ensembles, the computer programming stayed at a distance. I didn't feel like I had anything to say about electronic sound. It all changed when I began programming microprocessors like the one in the center of 1-Bit Symphony. All of a sudden, computation, something that previously was abstract and virtual, was grounded in the hardware. It took on a physical presence, and I almost had a sense of the electrons shuffling around in the microchip as it executed the lines of software. Code became something more tangible, and electronic sound was its way of speaking. The sound was raw, gritty, primitive and fresh. My friends were exploring similar sounds in the chiptunes scene and I played some shows with them. Ultimately, my compositional ideas returned to scored music, and I now consider the violin or other acoustic instruments to be closely related to speakers playing back 1-bit waveforms.

How did you come up with the presentation of the work? Why not just a traditional CD recording?

Working in 1-bit allows me to get rid of many complicated layers of hardware, and to focus on the relationship between code, the data it outputs, and sound. When the microchip spits out 1s and 0s, they are on and off pulses of electricity. When you connect that to headphones, the electricity activates the electromagnet, moving the speaker membrane and creating sound. By releasing the complete circuit as a physical object, it allowed me to emphasize the process of electronic sound. A recording is not the same as a performance, and in this case listening to the physical album is profoundly different experience from listening to an mp3 of the music. That's not to say I care if people consume the music on their mp3 players. It's just different. (You also can't exactly record the infinite final track.)

How did you go about programming and putting the device together?

I write code in Assembly, a computer language that is closely related to the functionality of the hardware itself. I programmed a system to realize musical scores, which I coded as sequences of numbers. That code gets transferred to the chip in a process obtusely similar to synching your music player. The devices themselves were all assembled my a fantastic team of assistants here in my studio in NYC.

Is each performance of 1-Bit Symphony identical or will there be variations?

Nothing is identical in our analogue world. That said, digital systems work with a subset of information from the world around us, and in that domain…. yes, each playback of 1-Bit Symphony is theoretically the same as every other one. The score is the same, the code is the same, and there is no randomness or other interactivity. However, one variation is that each chip runs at a slightly different clock speed, so some devices are higher or lower pitched than others.

Describe your creative process when writing music for this composition. Do you start on pen and paper or a 1-bit medium from the beginning?

Composing for me is a combination of a bunch of systems, from playing keyboard instruments, to working with sequences of numbers, to sketching ideas in audio software and testing them in hardware. I grew up scoring with a pencil and staff paper, and my process has grown from those roots.

1-Bit Symphony

Available on Amazon

Available on iTunes

What has been your biggest influences as a composer?

Like many composers in my generation, the biggest influence hands-down was Philip Glass, whose epic early works are the epitome of the beauty of process. Besides composers like him and Steve Reich, I'm inspired by the work of electronic musicians like Ryoji Ikeda and SND.

What does 2011 hold for you?

This year I'm beginning work on some very large projects, hour-long works for ensembles of 50 violins and 50 speakers, a concerto for solo piano in a sea of forty speakers. I'm building a audio installation with 1,500 speakers tuned microtonally to span four octaves. And I'm always continuing to explore how line can fill space with my machine drawings.

Winner Announced: Win a copy of Sample Oddity's Monster Cookie Tins

Wed, 04 May 2011 16:05:44 +0000

But these dangerous cans are not merely nettlesome clutter. In the hands of a skilled percussionist (or, even in my hands) they become exotic musical instruments with delicate overtones and a unique, tinny sound. Come and explore the myriad mysteries and delights of Monster Cookie Tins!

We've teamed up with Sample Oddity to give away this awesome unique sample library. Want to win? Look below.

The Details

521MB of samples / 211MB .rar download
20 instruments
- 7 Tins, each with several articulations
- A baker’s dozen of mixed goodies:
  - 8 delicious drones
  - 4 chromatic delights
  - 1 assortment of monster hits
10 Round Robin hits on all percussion
Most percussive articulations contain between 3-4 velocity levels
.wav files are open for you to browse/alter/use as sound effects.
Full version of Kontakt 2.2.4 or up required

Demos

Demo tracks by Joel Steudler

The Winner Is:

Congratulations to Stephen Gallagher as the winner of this competition. I hope you enjoy the sample library! To others, don't fret, we'll have another giveaway in no time!

How To Build Up Your Business

Wed, 04 May 2011 15:59:23 +0000

Introduction

Being a successful composer (that means a composer who can make a living from his music) requires not just the ability to write good music. Nowadays, the word “composer” includes many aspects that go much further than writing notes down on paper. In most cases the composer must …

introduce/promote himself on the market (advertising/marketing)
establish contact with potential clients
write/compose the music
perform the music (using real instruments or sample-libraries)
record the music (within the DAW or in a studio)
produce the music (mixing and mastering)
distribute the music to the client
Note: list might be incomplete

Note: It’s important to be aware of the fact that every single bullet point may be a reason why some artists are getting one job after another, while others are sitting by a phone that never rings. It usually isn’t the most talented composer who gets the job; it’s the one who knows the ins and outs of the business. Of course, you have to write high-quality music, but more importantly, you have to understand that it is a business. There are reasons why one person is more successful than another, and it has nothing to do with luck.

Build Your Business Around Your Work

It might not be a great idea to advertise with a slogan like “Get the best music here” (even if it’s true)! Why? Your best advertisement is not a slogan; it’s the product itself. Every client seeks out the highest quality product they can find. So, high quality is not a feature; it’s the standard. The first and most important thing to understand is that you must truly believe that you can create the world’s best product. If you don’t believe in that, how are you going to convince potential clients to buy your product? This is the start of your business; take a look at the following graphic in order to get the idea of how these things are connected to each other.

First, do whatever is necessary to believe in your own work! You have to know exactly what you do, and how well you do it, or you will not be able to develop trust in your work. If you need a deeper knowledge of music theory, go get a teacher. If you can’t afford a lot of money to buy the gear you need for the production process, find a business partner who can handle the production for you. Again, do whatever is necessary to believe in your work! Excuses are not an option.

Important: Clients usually don’t buy your music just because you are good. (I’m not referring to the consumer market; I’m referring to the business market.) Clients buy your music because they believe in you, and they believe in what you do. Why? Because, the more they believe in you, the less risk they are taking on when hiring you. Clients always want to minimize their risk. After all, it is a business.

Let us assume you are able to create the best product in the world. The next step is to get in contact with clients and let them know what you can do. Give them a reason to take notice of you (in a positive way, of course). In this day and age, composers have to promote themselves. Put yourself in the client’s shoes; if you are seeking to hire someone you have never met or worked with, how do you know if they are actually a pro? What information (references, testimonials, current projects, etc.) can you find out about him? In such cases, a personal website might be the key. The more professional your website looks; the more trust clients will place in you.

Note: Setting up a professional website might be an expensive and time-consuming procedure. However, the way you are introducing yourself to the client is very important. It defines the basis of your business profile. If you are serious about being a composer, you need to have a professional website (unless you are well-known already, but, to become well-known you have to prove yourself many times).

When doing a (paid) job, it is important to keep in mind that you, the composer, are required to serve the project. If a project only needs a slow and soft strings passage playing in the background, don’t try to incorporate a rock band just because you like rock music. It’s always about the project, not about the composer himself.

Social Networks

Social networks have gained more and more influence over the last few years. Don’t forget that clients are people, and probably have a Facebook or Twitter account (or any other social networking site). Therefore, it might not be the best idea to post impolite messages or upload embarrassing photos (which show you screaming with alcohol in both hands) while you are trying to establish your own business at the same time. This might not be an issue right now, but Google, Facebook, and many other similar sites save your data for a long time, maybe forever.

Note: Social networks are public. Do not destroy your business profile with your private accounts. You wouldn’t go to the center of town and pull your pants down, but on the internet these things seem funny. If you want to be professional then act like a professional.

Apart from that, social networks are an easy and very effective way to promote your work as well as yourself.

Summary

The business end of our work has many facets. For now, it is important to understand that your music won’t be heard if you don’t take care of the business side of things. If you don’t want to handle this issue by yourself, find someone who wants to be responsible for that part. It is also your job to give your client reason to believe in you …

develop solid skills in composition and orchestration
know exactly what you do in order to be able to believe in your own work
you primarily serve the project; it is always about the project
be a pro, every time you are in public

One last thing I have experienced over the years: Most clients don’t know much about music theory or composition devices. Therefore, clients are not looking for the best composers in the world. They are looking for partners who are fun to work with. Make yourself into someone with a positive personality, who is a pleasure to work with, and you will get the job. Furthermore, if you are one of the world’s best composers at the same time, even better!

The Music of Dead Space 2

Tue, 03 May 2011 09:29:34 +0000

I understand you're classically trained? Did this help when approaching the score for the Dead Space games?

Absolutely. There was an extensive amount of research that I did before I began the score to the original Dead Space. It’s probably not a coincidence that my classical composition background is, in fact, in 20th Century music. So in many ways this was like “going home” to me. However, I knew there was a lot I still had to learn in regards to performance techniques as well as music notation in order to get the sounds I wanted for the score.

So on one hand, it definitely helped to be classically trained. On the other hand, I was really learning performance techniques and notation from scratch. The research itself didn’t actually require much classical training aside from simply being able to read music. Even then, sometimes the scores were so abstract and graphically written that there was actually no music to read!

I can hear a lot of influences from 20th century music. The extended instrumental techniques for example. Where there any particular composers that really inspired you?

I researched and listened to as much modern orchestral music as I could find in the music library and online. Two composers immediately caught my attention. One was Gyorgy Ligeti, whose music was definitely more textural and nature. All of his scores were written with traditional music notation, which must have been an amazing exercise in patience because he wrote every instrument line out, sometimes including 40 or 50 string players! By the way, in traditional orchestral notation the strings are written on a total of five staves. Ligeti would expand these parts into 30 or 40 different lines in order to treat them as individual instruments as opposed to a section of 20 or 30 players.

The second composer was Krzysztof Pendercki. At times, his music is amazingly visceral and horrific. At other times, it’s incredibly beautiful and sensitive. He’s one of the pioneers of modern music notation and actually invented many of the symbols and techniques that are used for extended performances on orchestral instruments. If anyone has watched the movie “The Shining,” they have heard Pendercki’s music. It’s used to great effect as underscore for some of the creepiest scenes in the film.

What's the creative process like for you?

Challenging! Seriously, I always struggle to find a way to explain how I do what I do. I’m sure a lot of people romanticize the thought of “being a composer.” The reality for most of us is that we sit in a room by ourselves all day, beating ourselves up over the quality of our work and simply trying to make it sound better. Obviously, I take a lot of inspiration from whatever project I’m working on, whether it’s a film, a game or something else entirely.

Where you given complete creative control over the score?

I definitely had a lot more freedom for Dead Space 2. I think a large part of that stems from the recognition the audio received on the first game. That being said, I work very hard to listen to game developers and incorporate their thoughts into the music I write for them. Since the world of Dead Space had already been established, it was very easy for me to slip back into that universe and freely move around it.

So technically speaking, I was given complete creative control over the score. However, that control was always judiciously exercised within the existing world that I had already established, musically speaking.

Compared to the first game, Dead Space 2 includes much more melodic material. How did you approach this?

I knew from the beginning I wanted to do something to distinguish the score from the original. There really weren’t any themes in the first Dead Space besides the one for Nicole, which I think ended up working well for the game. The whole idea of a non-musical score that writhed and screeched along with the on-screen monsters definitely struck a nerve.

There were plans from the beginning for Isaac to literally have a voice in Dead Space 2. Not only was he going to speak, he was also going to have a presence on the screen and emotional journey that he undergoes. That seemed like the perfect opportunity to introduce a more intimate, melodic aspect into the score. I chose a string quartet to counterbalance the giant churning orchestra. It’s small, intimate and incredibly vulnerable sounding. Essentially, Isaac is the string quartet and the orchestra are the Necromorphs.

How do you structure your music for the video game medium? Does this add additional difficulties?

The most challenging aspect of scoring videogames is interactivity. There is always a fine line between what is ideal and what is possible, especially concerning technology and the engines that playback the music. My job is to walk that line as discreetly and efficiently as possible, without overburdening the game developer with too many choices and all the while providing a seamless as possible experience with interactive music in the game.

Every title is a unique experience, even the sequel of an existing franchise I had worked on previously. But that’s one of the many things I love about working in video games - every job has its own unique set of challenges and rewards.

What advice could you pass on to newer composers getting into the business?

The more you write, the more you learn. The more you learn, the better a composer you become.

If you want to write music for a living, you have to speak the language. Like any other language, the more you speak, the more proficient you become. You should be writing music all the time. Even if no one is paying you for it. Even if you don’t think anyone wants to hear it! The more you write, the more you learn. The more you learn, the better a composer you become.

And don’t just listen to film scores all day! Listen to classical music as well. If Mozart or Beethoven is too pedestrian for your ears, investigate the romantic composers. Listen to ballet music. It’s the forerunner of film music and is far superior in many ways. If you don’t have anywhere else to start, go listen to Stravinsky’s ballets. You’ll be amazed how many film scores you hear in them!

You're in very high demand as a composer. What's coming up next for you?

Dead Space 2 Soundtrack

Available on Amazon

Available on iTunes

Lots of things I’m not allowed to talk about yet! I’m currently signed on to six different game projects in various stages of development. Most of these games are big franchise titles with long production cycles and many hours of music. However, I found that these kinds of titles give me so much more time to work on the music, simply because they bring me in early on and I have eight or twelve months instead of eight or twelve weeks. Needless to say, that makes a huge difference!

Outside of the world of games, I just finished a dramatic score for an independent film and am wrapping up another score for a documentary, which is a blues-based score. I get to play my guitars and drums and I’m bringing my friends to play on it as well. It’s great having different things to do and break up the world of “action music for games!” a little bit.

The Dead Space 2 Soundtrack can be purchased from Amazon and iTunes.

Compression Masterclass (Part 1)

Sat, 30 Apr 2011 14:15:00 +0000

In many of the articles I’ve read and wrote myself, the settings and the general theory of compression are prioritized rather than focusing on the best way to use compression/limiting in a certain situation, or even if you should be using it at all. As a result producers understand why they should be using compression but don't actually know when and how they should be applying it.

To help clear this up, in this tutorial I will identify three possible situations you may face, explain how or if you would apply compression/limiting and the affect the process will have on your sound.

Practical Compression: altering the sound of your drums

Today, compression is not only used for narrowing the difference between high and low audio levels, but is used as an effect to accentuate different aspects of a waveform. During the record stage, you may have inserted a compressor to aid in controlling your drum kit but to enhance the tones of your drums it is worthwhile using practical compression on individual elements during the mixing stage. Okay let’s focus on the main element of your drum kit, the kick drum. Initially you want to be asking yourself what elements of the kick drum you want to emphasize and then go through each parameter of the compressor, keeping in mind what effect you want.

Sustaining the Kick Drum

The most common way of using practical compression on a kick drum is to alter how the sound decays. A kick drum that remains at full volume throughout the note is going to be considerably louder than one where the transients hits and then fades out. So what we need a compressor to do is clamp on the initial transients so they dip in relation to the rest of the kick drum, therefore increasing the perceived loudness of the decay.

To do this we will need to bring the threshold down to a level where only the initial transients are being affected by the compressor and set an average ratio of 4:1, however adjust this setting if you feel the transients are being squashed or you feel there needs to be added compression. Subsequent to this we need to use the attack and release settings, which I believe are the compressors most influential parameter, to control how quickly the transients are being compressed and how quickly the compressor returns to unity gain. We need to use a fairly quick attack time, so to clamp on the transients immediately however too fast of an attack time will reduce the gain of the transients too quickly. We also need to use a quick release time to allow the compressor to reset after the initial hit and although ‘gain pumping’ like this is often frowned upon it can be a good technique to increase the loudness of your kick drum.

Be cautious with fast release times though as you don’t want the ‘gain pumping’ to be too evident. Finally use the make-up gain to compensate for the gain reduction.

Focusing on the transients

Practical compression can also be used to highlight the transients of a kick drum. This could be down to personal preference, genre, or just wanting the high end of the kick drum to be more apparent in the mix. Similar to the previous compression settings the main parameters that significantly alter the characteristics of the kick drum are the attack and the release settings. If we keep a similar release time but slower the attack time slightly, more of the transients will be allowed through therefore they are emphasized in relation to the rest of the waveform.

Controlling Pianos

How you apply compression on a piano is wholly dependent on the unevenness of volume, the tempo and how busy the track is, so before inserting a compressor you need to categorize the piece so you can highlight the problems you need to put right with compression.

So you’ve now categorized your track; Is it slow? Is it fast? Is it percussive? Is the pianist comping? We now need to strap a compressor on the piano bus and control it depending on the category you’ve given it.

Okay, now that you have inserted a compressor onto the piano bus I will run through several types of piano pieces and give general guidelines on how you should be applying compression.

A fast track played with a percussive touch

Due to the quick, percussive nature of this type of track we need to apply a compressor to clamp down hard on the transients to gain a bit more control, so the piece fits better with the rest of the mix. To ensure that the compressor is only affecting the peaks, set the threshold so that is just above the average signal level or if you only want to catch the largest peaks, set the threshold so that only those peaks alone affect the gain reduction meter. With your threshold set, you now need to decide how firmly you want your compressor to respond to transients passing over the threshold.

If there are only a few real problematic spikes you can use a hard ratio setting or even a limiter to help considerably reduce their gain however if there a lot of small spikes you are far better off setting a ratio of 3-4:1 to control them in a more naturally sounding way. As far as attack and release settings go, again you need to set them depending on the nature of the track. If there only a few large peaks set a very fast attack and release time so that you are only affecting those peaks and restraining them from overshooting the threshold.

Part 2 coming soon...

Andrew Charlton owns Gold Shore Records an independent record label and FL Studio Tutorial Resource

Pimp My Orchestra - High Strings

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 16:02:10 +0000

Introduction

Keep in mind that there no rules and no limitations, just one doctrine: If it sounds great, it is great!

Note: It’s important to know how to write lines for strings in order to make them sound natural and sophisticated in the first place. No audio editing trick will turn a poorly written passage into something beautiful, so it may be a good idea to develop solid skills in both these areas – writing lines and audio editing.

Now here is a good and easy way to set up a spot on bow strokes, bow movements and nuances in order to freshen up the overall sound. The method described was originally used to brighten up vocal recordings, but it does a great job on strings as well.

Adding “air” and sizzle to high strings

Instead of editing the high strings audio track itself using insert effects, I am going to set up a separate send track or send bus. This way I am creating an option to edit the sound by adding new information to the original track without touching the original audio data at all. You will need to load three insert effects on the send bus in this particular order:

Equalizer (EQ)
Short ambience (Reverb)
Chorus

The following illustration shows the flow of the audio signal in your sequencer so that you will have an idea of what is going on. The blue line represents the original audio signal, and the red line represents the added send-return signal. As you can see, the output of the send bus returns and adds to the output of the original audio track.

Now let’s have a closer look at the settings of each of the effects. Obviously, every effect has its own relevance in order to create the sizzle that we are looking for. The first effect in the chain is the EQ.

By using an EQ, we can determine the area of frequencies that we want to manipulate. As you can see, there is a high pass at around 4kHz. It is obvious that we want to get rid of all frequencies below 4kHz, so in the next steps only the high frequencies will be edited.

It’s important to use a short period of time for the tail because otherwise your overall sound will become very nontransparent later. In our case, the main purpose of the reverb is to create a slightly longer signal so the chorus gets “something” to work on. It is also possible to experiment with the settings for early reflections (ER) in order to push the sound a little more backwards, just be sure that your reverb output is set to 100% wet.

A chorus does permanent frequency modulation. So because we are going to return this signal back to our original audio track, the chorus prevents us from phasing. If you added up the same signal twice phasing would be the natural result because of the identical wave forms of the audio signal. Thus, by using a chorus, we generate a completely new wave form, and therefore, it is safe to add this bus signal to our original signal without causing any phasing problems.

An example for reference

After all three effects are set up on the bus, we are ready to turn this process into action. Listen to example1, which shows how a high string passage with the send bus turned off will sound. This means that you are listening to the original audio signal only. Example2 is a rendering of both, the original audio signal as well as the send bus audio signal. It should be obvious to you that the sound is much brighter and more open. For demonstration purposes only, the effect is overdone, so make sure that you use it more subtly on your own productions. Example3 is a little snippet of the final mix that is supported by drums and an upright bass.

Note: In order to find the appropriate level of volume for the send bus, here is some (hopefully) helpful advice on that. Like it is so often mentioned, the most important thing is that you don’t overuse the effect. It should be barely audible in the mix, but it should be very clear when it’s switched off in an A to B comparison.

Of course, it’s a very important creative decision, whether or not this effect should be used at all in a particular project. However, it can certainly be very helpful to know about this method when someone asks you to give your strings more air and brightness.

The Art of MIDI Orchestration (Part 1)

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 17:21:54 +0000

Just as an acoustic score's realization will not be identical when played by two different orchestras, a MIDI-realized score also is interpreted by what hardware and software are used in the studio and what level of musicianship is brought to the production process. Though musicians use various hardware and software platforms to realize their ideas, the core issues are universal: How to achieve the most musically expressive score with the technology you have at your disposal. We'll focus on the many details which help bring expressiveness and intention to our music.

While there have been many musicians who consider MIDI as a mock-up for what is meant to be performed by a live ensemble, this perspective often means that while sequencing a composition many shortcuts are made and many decisions that ought to be made are not. For those composers who are convinced of the expressiveness of MIDI as an artistic medium in its own right, this article will address some of those techniques.

Like any medium, MIDI has its strengths and limitations. In the acoustic world, much of what we accept as part of the musical experience involves many sounds that are not really musical at all; fingernail noises against strings and the sound of breath and mouth clicks for example. These non-musical artifacts are so deeply accepted in our musical culture that we simply ignore them and focus on the music itself. But when a new medium arrives we become very critical and sense shortcomings very quickly. This makes it all the more important to understand how to infuse MIDI instruments with musicality, expression, gesture and intention. It means understanding your sounds and samples and exploiting all of the parameters that can lead to deeper expression. Very satisfying musical results are quite possible with MIDI, and the situation is improving with every new generation of hardware, software and the ongoing evolution of sample libraries.

Orchestration styles change. The orchestrations of Stravinsky are very different from that of Mozart's, as are Copland's from Mahler's. Since the virtual orchestra defines a medium, but not a musical style or genre, this divergence of approach to orchestration remains true in the virtual world as well. We've seen music concrete, sound design, electronica and the virtual orchestra evolve from electronic music and we will continue to see new genres and styles find a home with this new medium. For those composers interested in taking the principles of orchestration and applying them to MIDI, the concepts of orchestral balance, blend, transparency and orchestral weight still make sense, we must still be concerned with primary, secondary and tertiary materials, and knowing how to score a good tutti is useful. We will return to these concepts later in the article.

It is sometimes difficult to separate orchestration from composition. Many of the timbre choices an orchestrator makes has to do with planning how the piece's structure evolves, and orchestral textures are often employed to contribute to the form of the composition. I find Walter Piston's idea of the seven textural types very useful. Please see his book, on orchestration for a complete explanation and examples.

Orchestral Unison
Melody & Accompaniment
Secondary melody
Part Writing
Contrapuntal Texture
Chords
Complex Texture

In the electronic orchestra, even just one synthesizer timbre can be a complex texture in and of itself, with multiple amplitude and filter envelopes, dynamic panning and modulation of harmonics synchronized to tempo. This is new territory and the point where classical orchestration is not going to be of much help. The virtual orchestra gives us new options: We can use samples of acoustic-based instruments to orchestrate our music and/or we can use sounds that cannot be duplicated in the acoustic realm; these sounds are often complex, sometimes with non-whole integer harmonics and often with a built-in rhythmic pulsation produced with sample-and-hold, LFO or other devices. When using complex electronic sounds, listen to the harmonics and rhythmic patterns that are present. This can provide a hint as to how to proceed to integrate this timbre into an orchestral setting.

Designing the Ensemble

One of the great joys of MIDI is that it gives the musician the capability to pick and choose instruments that, in earlier times most likely would not have been heard together in an ensemble. In my Five Songs on the Poetry of Tu Fu (Ottava 02-006) I designed an ensemble using samples of Chinese percussion and other instruments from that region of the world, a flute from South America, an Irish harp, Western strings and sounds of water and wind.

By going through our synthesizer patches and sample libraries we create a specific ensemble for the needs of the piece. Later on, if an instrument needs to be deleted or added it's possible without too much diversion from the creative process. The idea that the sole function of MIDI is to imitate the traditional classical orchestra can be put to rest when we look at the creative options. Mixing unusual combinations of timbres is one of the new benefits of the virtual orchestra and there is a whole lot more to explore in this medium because of it's proven capacity to spawn new styles of orchestration and music. The key is to design an ensemble in which the instruments sound good together. As in so many aspects of artistic creativity, a particular element may be expressive and appropriate by itself, but in context it isn't contributing to the whole. If the ensemble is chosen with care and sensitivity we are off to a good start as each timbre will play an integrated part in the composition.

The Micro Level of Sequencing

It is impossible to discuss orchestration in the digital world without a brief discussion about sequencing. The digital orchestrator isn't just assigning musical parts to instruments, but also defining how those instruments will be triggered (played) on the final recording. Though traditional orchestration often involves precise instruction as to how notes and phrases are to be played, with MIDI the manner in which notes are sequenced and connected to one another is a matter of supreme importance. If care is not taken, phrases will sound mechanical (the death of expressiveness) and choppy, and no amount of brilliant orchestrating can obscure this problem.

The six essential parameters of concern to the virtual orchestrator involve each note:

pitch
duration
timbre
envelope (primarily amplitude attack and release)
velocity
time (location relative to the beat)

To sequence expressive phrases, satisfying legato, fast runs and other gestures, it is often that one or more of these parameters needs attention. Attack and release times, note length and velocity play a crucial role in the sequencing of a fine legato line, and sometimes a very small adjustment of one of the parameters does the trick. Even a loud tutti will not cover up these intimate connections between notes. In a fast passage for example, select every other note (or whatever group of notes represent the weak pulse to you) and lower their velocity by 20% or so. This helps shape the line by adding some variation, and also can be used to articulate where the accented notes are.

In a slow, legato passage, let's look at two half notes, we'll call them 1 and 2. Note 1's release time is one of the parameters that may need adjustment. The gate time, or actual length of note 1 is also tweaked. The goal is to get the attack of note 2 to become as neutral as possible, so that it sounds as though the moment the first note's decay is done the second note begins, but with no increase in amplitude. What is happening is that note 1's length is overlapping into the start of the note 2. Lengthening the 1st note by between 3-12% usually does the trick. It depends on the situation. By adjusting the velocity and attack of the 2nd note it is possible to sequence a smooth legato. Upon viewing a wave file of this connection, the wave file would appear with as little jump in amplitude as possible at the point where the 2nd note begins. As an adjunct to learning how to do this well, I highly recommend that the virtual orchestrator incorporates and works regularly with the human voice as an instrument in the mix, as there is much to be learned from the phrasing, dynamics and expressiveness of a fine and well-trained singer.

When sequencing brass, I prefer to use 3 individual trumpet patches to simulate a trumpet ensemble. The most obvious advantage is that you still have access to 3-part polyphony in the trumpets if so needed (if you use a brass ensemble in three-part writing you now have 9 instruments playing rather than 3!) In order to give those 3 trumpets some autonomy, I detune the left and right instruments (trumpets 2 & 3) by 20 cents or so, one higher and the other lower. I also move both trumpets 2 and 3 off the beat, one a bit advanced in time and one slightly late. Finally, trumpets 2 & 3 are panned hard left and hard right. This ensemble effect is varied by how much of these kinds of modulations you input.

Since a MIDI sequence is a performance of numerous instruments playing together, the virtual orchestrator is not only responsible for creating an effective orchestration but also must ensure that the sequence is rich with expression and detail. I cannot stress how important detailed sequencing is in regard to how the orchestration ultimately sounds. As in nearly all music production issues, when a problem is corrected earlier in the production process rather than later, the overall success of the final recording will be easier to achieve. Exceptions to this occur when flexibility is necessary. For example, not using EQ on the music until it is a wave file and non-destructive processing can be applied. This allows you to always go back to the midi file recorded with no EQ and the unprocessed wave files with the option of non-destructive processing. On the other hand, if you know the timpani is too boomy its best to deal with an isolated problem early as the balancing of the sound becomes more problematic if these individual cases of imbalance are not fixed in the orchestration and/or the mix. Why wait to EQ the entire mix and risk affecting an element you don't want changed? In this case EQ just that one instrument and save yourself trouble later on.

No matter how skillful your orchestration, if dynamics, tempi, or program changes are left static there is only so much that orchestration can accomplish in the MIDI ensemble. Masking an element that doesn't sound very good alone always hurts the music. The best approach is to isolate that element and make it work. If you want the whole to be greater than the sum of its parts I don't know of any shortcut around this problem.

Jerry Gerber
http://www.jerrygerber.com

Part 2 is here: The Art of MIDI Orchestration (Part 2)

The Art of MIDI Orchestration (Part 2)

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 17:20:36 +0000

Part 1 can be found here:"The Art of MIDI Orchestration (Part 1)"

Textures

Mahler said the essence of orchestration is variety, variety, variety. I interpret this to mean that textural variation is of significant importance in orchestrated music. One moment music is homophonic, the next polyphonic. One moment only the winds are playing, in a choral-style texture, followed by a monophonic tutti or some other change in orchestration. Heterophony is commonly used to create melodic variation: One instrument (or several) play the primary melodic element while another outlines that same melodic line by playing only notes which accent the melodic curve. This can be done at the unison, at the octave; there are countless variations using this technique. A closely related technique is that of the join, drop-out, split and merge.

A join occurs when an instrument is playing a line and is joined by another timbre while in the middle of a phrase. A drop-out is the opposite; several instruments are playing a given part and one or more take rests, bringing variation to the texture. A split occurs when two instruments are playing the same part and suddenly one splits off and begins playing another part against the first instrument. A merge is the opposite, two timbres are playing two distinct parts and merge to give more weight to one of the parts.

Transparency is the principle by which all timbres that are used are contributing musically to the texture. If a timbre is not contributing, it should be removed. With a transparent texture, the listener hears the overall effect of the many timbres playing together, but one can also easily hear the individual parts that make up the orchestration.

The orchestrator strives to blend and balance sound, to create contrast and unity through the combinations of timbres. By blend we mean that when numerous timbres are sounding together, the overall effect is pleasing and no one instrument stands out unless the orchestrator wants it to. By balance we mean that the elements all sit well in their frequency and amplitude domains, that there is a conscious effort to allow which elements are primary in the texture, which are secondary, and which are playing a more subliminal role. This means also that balance is a function of structure as material that precedes and follows will likely determine how the composer decides what is primary, secondary or playing some other purpose in the texture. From a mastering standpoint, there must be a robust mid-range. If the middle frequencies are not there something will be missing. Every frequency you boost or cut affects other frequencies. If the bass is cut 2dB, the mid-range is now louder, relative to the low frequencies. Bob Katz discusses this in great detail in his book Mastering Audio, the best book I know of on the subject.. Balance is also about tweaking velocities and Control 7 (volume) so that the dynamics of each voice contribute to the effectiveness of the whole.

Orchestral Weight means that some elements are more heavily orchestrated than others. In homophonic music the melody may be orchestrated with numerous instruments in octaves, unisons or some other interval. Some elements may have a single instrument playing them. In a polyphonic texture the orchestral weight may be distributed more evenly among the individual melodic lines. As in the attempt to balance and blend textures, the orchestrator takes orchestral weight into account and orchestrates accordingly.

In the acoustic world, the role of the composer, conductor, mixing engineer and mastering engineer are often four different people. In the virtual orchestra world, orchestrating and mixing are sometimes indistinguishable, and mixing itself becomes a kind of conducting, albeit in virtual, or programmed time. Sonic balance is a concern throughout the process, and if great care is taken, the mastering engineer won't have a lot to do, although it always helps to consult with a mastering engineer from time to time. One's attempt to bring objectivity to their inner voice can only go so far. We sometimes lose awareness of the biased way we use our senses so having another set of ears can help verify what is working and help disclose any problems that may have been overlooked.

The Virtual Space: Panning and Reverberation

Many musicians like to pan the virtual orchestra by following the seating arrangement of the acoustic orchestra. But listening to music through two speakers is missing some of the sonic information that the concert hall provides so a technical response is required. The double basses in the orchestra are usually off to the right side of the ensemble. But with two speakers, the bass sounds best in the center. If you're producing in surround this won't be of use, for now I am assuming stereo as the default. I prefer the 1st and 2nd violins panned hard left and hard right , violas soft left, cellos soft right and basses in the center. This gives a full stereo panorama of strings. When the 1st and 2nd violins are playing two distinct melodic lines, the stereo separation helps create the illusion of a larger space.

An instrument sometimes employs a dynamic panning scheme, where the pan changes and fluctuates with the interplay of the pitches and rhythms, thereby using pan as dynamic rather than passive element in the mix. This is commonly done with percussion but can be done with any sound or voice.

With the winds, I tend to use reverb to create a softer, rounder sound, but in considering a smaller ensemble this may not work as well. To understand how to write better for the wind family listen to a piece such as Stravinsky's Octet for Wind Instruments. The virtual winds have been know to sound like an organ if the composer isn't paying close enough attention and/or the sample library is not of sufficient quality. A generous amount of reverb, fairly dark with a two second or more reverb time helps to soften the winds and blend them into the texture better.

Unlike in some acoustic situations where something may be recorded dry, I always monitor and record the virtual orchestra with reverb, and try to settle the reverb parameters early in the process. When I find a reverb I like I stick with it until I feel the need to change it. With singers every voice is different and may require a unique coloration of reverb. Though there is not one correct way to use reverb, reverberation is a critical element and even small adjustments in filtering, amplitude, or decay time can help produce a more expressive sound.

Voice-leading: the way to build balanced chords

Voicing the chords in the virtual orchestra should be done with utmost care. The study of harmony and counterpoint will greatly help the process of orchestration. But so will listening to textures in nature. Sitting by a river while a freight train passes by generates a profound counterpoint of rhythms and frequencies. Listen to sound in the real world and the natural world as often as you can. Pay attention and you'll be amazed at the way our brains process this information and project, imagine and hear music in what seems inherently unmusical.

It is in voicing that we choose the size and width of the chord on the vertical plane, but also on the horizontal as melodic motion. Orchestration is an interaction of harmony and melody, enlarged by timbre and texture. A balanced chord is one in which each note in the chord is at the right amplitude relative to the other notes. This is partly a matter of taste, to be sure, but a poorly voiced chord lacks integrated cohesiveness and balance and can upset the flow of the texture.

Prior to the theory of harmony, musicians did not think in terms of chord progressions. It wasn't until the 18th century that the French composer Rameau developed an accepted theory of chord progression and functional aspects of harmony. When we unconsciously assume that simultaneous melodic motion is nothing more than a chord progression, we have further codified the function of melody and have forgotten that harmony evolved from counterpoint, and that the linear aspect of chord motion is as vital as the chords themselves. This is one of the reasons I highly recommend dodecaphonic study: It greatly helps in developing a new understanding of voice-leading, one that urges resolution with the tonal traditions but that in itself offers a whole new set of options in your compositional tool kit and re-focuses attention on the contrapuntal aspects of composition, or at least one in which identifiable chords play a less important role in the form of the composition. Yet remaining on one chord for many measures, as in minimalism, can have the same effect: It can allow you to explore new contrapuntal conditions which changes the role harmonic progress has in your work.

Formal Functions of Orchestration

If we consider melody, harmony and harmonic progression, and rhythmic motifs as a way to assign structure to the musical impulse, certainly timbre and any possible vibratory movement within each timbre also may contribute to the structure. Orchestration, defined by this way of thinking, includes all uses of sound as a means of evoking texture. Whatever sounds we use, be they samples of acoustic instruments, complex synthesized textures, voice, live instruments, sounds occurring in nature and in everyday life, or sounds totally generated and processed via computer, there is an art and a craft to assembling these sounds in a meaningful and expressive way. Since all the sonic arts take place in time, we must always be cognizant of what came before and what came after the moment in the composition we are working on.

Unity and variety are two great concerns: Too much unity, or too much repetition without variation, and we run the risk of introducing predictability and boredom, too much variety or lack of structural cohesiveness and we admit chaos that may lack intelligent variation and design. I strive to create compositions that have autonomy (everything seems to belong together) and inevitability (the music seems rightfully determined to resolve the way it does). This is not an easy undertaking as there appears to be inherently contradictory demands which require much thought, patience and musical insight to solve satisfactorily.

We are very fortunate to be living in a time where it is possible to access a liberal body of musical knowledge, literature and recordings. This makes possible the study music of other times and places, which can only advance our musical awareness.

Final Thoughts

Mastery of the basics is key to orchestration. All progress depends upon a clear understanding of the basics. The two basic ideas of inner listening and objectivity mean simply that as you listen to your work, listening becomes merged with imagination. This greatly quickens the creative response, but there a craft must develop, an objective understanding of your music and aesthetic.

Every project you complete is an outgrowth of what you have accomplished in an earlier work. The way to improve your orchestrations is by repetition, practice and analysis. It is no secret that the symphony orchestra's incredible richness, balance and beauty of tone is a great learning tool for any musician seeking to advance their knowledge of orchestration. No matter what style of music you write, it cannot hurt to study orchestral scores to see how master composers created their orchestrations. There is an ideal of beautiful sound and every generation of composers searches anew for this ideal.

In your own music, pay close attention to the harmonics in your orchestrations, listen to your sound deeply, and strive for clarity. Even if you don't want to sound anything remotely like a symphony orchestra, there is still much to learn by understanding how to infuse gesture, intention and expression in your work.

8 Unique and Unusual Sample Libraries

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 14:49:14 +0000

Violence - Vir2

Created for both musical use and sound design, Violence features an unprecedented deconstruction of a solo violin recorded from numerous angles: bowed, scraped, hit, plucked, played with mallets, chopsticks, guitar picks, and wet fingers. Then the sound design was repitched, layered, and post-processed through an array of unusual tools to produce sounds unlike any found in other virtual instruments. More than eighty unique patches were designed, each with a custom set of scripted knobs and controls all conveniently organized into four categories of sounds: Drum Kits, Melodic, Pads and Sound Effects, and Tempo-Synced.

$99.95
http://www.vir2.com/...uments/violence

Luminabells - Microhammer

Light Bulbs. Designed to perform a million tasks, in a million different shapes and sizes, the incandescent light bulb has illuminated human existence for over 130 years.

The fragile and inherently musical bell-like aspect of the old incandescent bulb has always fascinated us and we knew that time was running out for this poor little device. That is why we must now bring you Luminabells – the mysterious and angelic essence of the simple ordinary light bulb, captured as a tiny, starry galaxy of humble and yet beautiful sounds. We recorded all manner of sizes and shapes of the old filament style incandescent bulb, lovingly sculpted into a rich collection of tuned and un-tuned percussion, sustaining melodic tones and otherworldly effects.

$35
http://www.microhammer.com/?p=719

Anti-Drum - Tonehammer

The Tonehammer Anti-Drum contains 19 unconventional percussive instruments sampled in a variety of exotic locations totalling about 1GB and 2400 samples. It is a celebration of every day objects and sounds transforming into new- and interesting musical instruments. The Anti-Drum instruments ranges from workboot stomps to water bottle thwacks, clicking baby toys, wall balls, ukulele and guitar drums, to shock mount thunks and clapping ensembles. Many of instruments have been sampled in orchestral halls and large studio rooms, so they have a natural acoustic verb, which allows instant integration into scoring templates.

$49
http://www.tonehammer.com/?p=965

Braunschweig Upright Piano - Imperfect Samples

The Braunschweig Upright Piano has a distinctive sound character that's far more intimate than a grand piano, making it desirable for certain situations where you don't want the polished and precise sound of a nine-foot grand in a concert hall.

An original Schimmel Braunschweig upright piano was painstakingly recorded to create this beautiful instrument. As with all Imperfect Samples instruments, the emphasis has been placed on achieving a hyper-real and convincing sampled instrument, with performance sounds.

Sampled in multiple velocity layers, with release samples, and true staccato, the Schimmel Braunschweig Upright Piano was recorded at 24 bits, totalling over 5GB of data (Pro version contains 15GB). This sampled instrument's raw and distinctive sound is unlike any other piano sample library currently available.

~$60-135
http://www.imperfect...prightpiano.php

Glass Works - Sonic Couture

Glass / Works is a Kontakt player instrument which collects together 3 extremely unusual and rare musical instruments which use glass to generate sound : Le Cristal Baschet, The Glass Armonica, and a set of Cloud Chamber Bowls.

The Cloud Chamber Bowls are an instrument built in the 1950s by maverick American composer Harry Partch. It consists of hanging “bowls” which are sections of 12-gallon glass carboys. Since we were unable to locate a set whose owner was willing to let us record them, and since most sets are 'home made' anyway, in the spirit of Partch we decided that we would make our own set.

As with many things in life, it wasn't quite as simple as it looks - sourcing glass carboys that large is hard enough, since these days most people use plastic. Once we had found some, the cutting and drilling turned out to be a delicate and extremely time consuming task, taking a glass-worker several full days to complete.

~$165
http://www.soniccout...14-glass-works/

Sultan Strings - Sonokinetic

These are String ensemble samples like you’ve never heard before. Distinctive, effective and with an ear for authenticity, Sonokinetic is proud to announce and present another genuine first in sampling history.

You’ll never find samples anywhere else that match the uniqueness, originality and authentic middle eastern style that is found in this massive collection of string ensemble performances. Impossible to recreate or compose with ordinary string sample-libraries or dedicated string library platforms, this collection focuses on live performances by one of the world’s best middle eastern string ensembles and royalty free custom composed arabian styled phrases.

3 violins, 1 viola and 1 cello make up this strong and convincing performance sampling string ensemble. With our usual dedicated care we approached this recording with a ‘digital’ composer’s mind and need. Working from the base up we created a diverse collection of phrases that would need to be widely usable in music compositions and large audio productions. So tempo syncing and a wide availability in all keys has been top priority in this production.

~$115
http://www.sonokinet...sultan-strings/

Metallurgy - Cinesamples

The more Kontakt has continued its dominance in the sampling market the less we find ourselves with a desire to reach for other samplers. In fact more often then not we find ourselves trying to get older material into Kontakt. However we know that mapping and polishing patches can be a very time consuming (and demoralizing) process. We decided to do the heavy lifting for you here, setting up all the parameters in a recipe just reacquiring some creativeness!

We teamed up with the talented sound designers at Boom Library to create the source sample material. Their source material, with our interface, makes for a great pairing. This is vol. 1 of many more to come.

Kontakt already offers a wide variety of tools for modifying a source sound into a finished, produced sound however in the shadow of a looming deadline more often then not we are forced to use Kontakt pre-sets or other products to get what we need. Our intention with this product was to provide you with a set of tools, specially made for you to be creative without relying upon presets (even though we included a bunch of ideas just to get you started). Our first volume uses some wonderfully recorded metal/industrial source material.

~149
http://cinesamples.c...e-1-metallurgy/

Tibetan Bowls - Precision Sound

In Buddhist practice, singing bowls are used as a support for meditation, trance induction and prayer.
Today they are used worldwide both within and without these spiritual traditions, for meditation, relaxation, healthcare, personal well-being and religious practice. The best known types are from the Himalayan region and are often called "Tibetan singing bowls”.

Ethno Percussion Collection Volume 2 - Tibetan Bowl SampleSet contains multi velocity Bowl hits, loops, swirls and effects. We also included some treated bowl pads. This library is great for ambient music and film scoring purposes.

$19
http://www.store.pre...tanbowlinfo.php

Interview: Dave Pierce

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:04:52 +0000

Tell us a bit about your background and how you got started writing music.

In the fourth grade in lieu of an assignment to write 3 pages of creative writing I turned in a 40 page score for a musical I had composed. That pretty much sealed the deal! Years later, I was 16 years old on the sidelines of the 1988 Winter Olympics in my hometown of Calgary when I heard David Foster's theme for the Games - it was at that moment I set my sites on composing music for the Olympics the next time Canada was host. 22 years later, my dream became reality. Every writing gig I did from 1988 to 2010 leading up to the Vancouver Olympics had to meet one specific criteria: would it groom me to be ready for the Olympics? Some might say I was obsessed!

What's the most interesting project you've been involved with?

The 2010 Olympic winter games. I was the Music Director and chief composer. The organizing of feature artists, musicians, recording and producing orchestral sessions, coordinating meetings, delivering creative, licensing issues, choirs, medals ceremonies, etc. meant everyday was different!

Orchestrating Musical Theatre is rarely done by the composer themselves, Sondheim and Webber both working with regular collaborators, how much creative licence did you use when arranging Webbers concert music? And did you refer to previous scores of his or not?

Orchestrating work for other composers is a difficult balance. It's much easier to orchestrate my own compositions, however it truly stretches all musical boundaries to work within someone else's concept of "how it should be". In musical theater the orchestrator is generally expected to instinctively know the precise way something should be scored often without any direction besides a piano score and a dynamic marking. It becomes a race to achieve a verbal communication with the composer, quickly developing musical references that mean something to both the composer and orchestrator. Words like "lush", "intimate", and "driving" can easily become lost-in-translation if you don't connect. A simple reference like "make it sound big" can mean so many different things that you had better be sure everyone is on the same page before starting to orchestrate the score, have the music copied and then music rehearsed by an orchestra. It's too late to discover after the fact that "make it big" didn't mean strings and harp, but instead distorted guitars and reverb on the drums! My favorite moment in a recording session came from a concertmaster asking "Do you want this big and Hollywood, or small and wimpy?".

Would you ever consider writing the score to a musical yourself?

Maybe in the future, but right now I'd say not specifically a musical...but the thought of writing a score for the Cirque Du Soleil or a Las Vegas production show gets me really excited. I love working on shows where the musical arc has time to establish a theme and then build until the finale really drives a standing ovation...that's much of what keeps me working on the types of shows I've already scored. The Sinatra show in Vegas has a musical flow that takes 70 minutes to experience, and the Olympics had the same idea only the arc spanned 17 days building to the Closing Ceremony as the grand finale. Maybe someday I'll sit down and focus on a musical, but the story would have to be really intriguing!

For the all the up and coming composers out there, if you could share one tip, what would it be?

If you write by hand learn to be fast, if you work on a computer be even faster to compensate for how great the other guy is by hand. It's competitive regardless of where you are in your career.

Develop work habits that you can transport easily. Writing projects are seldom close to home, so developing a way to write in hotel rooms, on airplanes (my favorite spot to orchestrate is on my laptop) and in recording studios is crucial to being ready for that wonderful day when someone calls you to see if you're "available". If you write by hand learn to be fast, if you work on a computer be even faster to compensate for how great the other guy is by hand. It's competitive regardless of where you are in your career.

What projects are coming up next for you?

Music Directing alongside composing/arranging for TV Specials are a passion of mine, I love the pressure of that live spur-of-the-moment decision making. I have a goal to be the MD for the Oscars in the future, I'd also like to work on a super-bowl or a television show like the Grammy Awards. That type of event would use the skills I honed during the Olympics and also satiate my freakish obsession with the music in variety specials from the late 50's and 60's. Coming next for me is re-scoring the Broadway show I worked on called Come Fly Away for the National Tour, and then a couple arrangements for a new Michael Bublé CD. Oh, and the biggest challenge of all: getting off of Logic Pro 7 and into the new version...but that's more frightening than any writing gig!

The Music of Crysis 2

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:34:53 +0000

How did you get started scoring for games?

Borislav: I have always been a gamer and a huge fan of soundtrack music at the same time. Although I am Master of Computer Science, I used to sing and play guitar and eleven years ago, I decided to follow the passion of my life - soundtrack music. This was the moment when my professional development as a composer started. Luckily at the same time a game studio in my home city announced the development of a real-time strategy PC game, called "Knights of Honor". I took the chance and applied for the music production. Fortunately the CEO of the company liked my compositions and gave me the job. From this point on, my music ventures in the video game industry has never stopped.

Describe your compositional process when working on Crysis 2. What were your aims?

Borislav: The score for Crysis 2 was a huge undertaking (about 5 hours of music material) in which I collaborated with the creative lead of Dynamedion, Tilman Sillescu. After I was invited to join the production as a music director and composer we met with Tilman and through a series of work sessions I introduced the direction and the interactive music approach to him. The main goal we aimed at the very beginning was to achieve not only a high quality action oriented score, but an action, full of drama and twists. The story of the game provided plenty of ground for varied and dynamic music compositions. After we got familiar with all the game details, we decided to divide the work in two virtual parts. Tilman and his guys in Dynamedion focused more on the alien nature of the score, while I started to work with my colleague Victor Stoyanov in Sofia on the more dramatical parts and cut-scenes in the game. Every single day we collaborated through the internet, sharing ideas, opinions and feedback with each other. I believe this was not only important, in order to keep the score consistent, but it was also very inspiring and provoking for everybody in the music team.

Every track we composed was intended to suit a particular faction, mood or cut-scene in the game. It might be curious for you to know that there is approximately one and a half hour of music, composed exclusively and used only for the cinematic scenes in the game - pretty much a full-time movie, spread out all over the game. We have also made 2 hours of interactive fight themes, which interactively followed the different intensity situations in the game.

And last but not least, we got the amazing chance to collaborate with the Hollywood veteran Hans Zimmer who joined the team to deliver the main themes for the game. Five months after we had started to work on the score, the CEO of Crytek and the lead of the project Cevat Yerli and the Senior Audio Director Campbell Askew and myself traveled to LA to meet Hans Zimmer in his legendary studio "Remote Control". No need to say how I grateful I am for this opportunity to them and what an amazing experience it was for me. We spent a couple of unforgettable days together during which we introduced the score to him and discussed the themes he was going to contribute. I am happy to let you know that a double CD compilation of the soundtrack, featuring the themes from the legendary Hans Zimmer will be released pretty soon.

Did you utilize any of the previous games musical themes?

Borislav: With the complete change of the setting (the first part was taking place on lush tropical-like islands, while Crysis 2 is based in the urban jungle of New York) it was decided that we should start with a completely new approach and themes for the music. The catastrophic beauty of the invaded New York required its own music identity. The CEO of Crytek and leader of the project, Cevat Yerli gave the idea of special themes in the game – for the city of New York and another one which we used to represent the alien presence, which we called the Alien Logo.

What were the biggest challenges working on the score?

Borislav: Well, the amount of the music material needed to feed the interactive music system was definitely the biggest challenge. As I told you earlier the score ended up being about 5 hours long. And it was not a problem to produce such an amount of music, but to keep the high quality and inspiration in every single track from the score. One of the most important direction goals from the beginning was to achieve solid score not just in terms of production values, but a soundtrack driven and inspired by the game it self. Another challenge was to make all the cues in such a way that they are equally enjoyable in-the game and as stand-alone compositions, which to my opinion makes the difference between a good and an excellent score in general. Whether we succeeded or not, I leave it to your judgment.

Is there a particular element of the soundtrack you are fond of?

Borislav: The classical solo violin that we used as a representation of the human spirit against the alien invasion, was for me a very strong and emotive element. My favorite pieces, where it appears in are "SOS New York" and "Nanosuit 2 – Crynet Systems", but you can hear the violin passing through the entire score like a gentle , yet strong vibe.

You worked with a live orchestra to record the score. How was this experience and how did it differ from creating a score entirely from samples?

Borislav: After we did the score with samples we decided that we would like to raise the production values and the ‘spirit’ of the score by going for live orchestra recordings in the beautiful city of Budapest.

Some of the tracks we recorded with full orchestra ensemble, the rest - section by section (strings, brass) and then we mixed them with samples, electronics and programmed percussion.

While today there are excellent professional sample libraries, I still believe that nothing can fully compare to the live touch and spirit added by the live musicians. You can make excellent compositions with samples, but if you would like to add ‘magical dust’ to your music – then live orchestra is the way to go. Of course, there are different types of compositions. Some action Hollywood scores for instance are just fine with samples only, due to the fact that they are mainly based on percussions and simple yet clever and effective figures. On the other hand, could you imagine the Star Wars score by John Williams with samples? So... all in all it still depends on what your style and goals are.

What advice could you pass on to newer composers getting into the business?

The Crysis 2 Soundtrack

Available on Amazon

Available on iTunes

Borislav: I would tell them what a teacher of mine used to tell me "There is no such thing like – I can not do it! There is only – I don’t really want to do it". Do not give up, go with small steps if you have to, but never stop. It is only a matter of time and ...a pinch of luck. I wish you good luck! Everything else is up to you.

What projects are coming up next for you?

Borislav: At the moment me and my colleague are working on a score for another action game, after which I need to go on scoring an online RPG, however I am afraid that I am not allowed to reveal any details yet.

The Crysis 2 Soundtrack can be purchased from Amazon and iTunes.

Interview: Jerry Gerber

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Can you tell us a bit about your background and how you got started writing music.

I began studying music at the age of nine years old. I studied accordion and then guitar. I wrote my first piece at the age of 10. By the time I was 13, I was playing in a band, but my interest in popular music was beginning to wane by the time I turned 20, a year or so after taking up keyboard. From then on, about the only music I listened to, and certainly the only music I studied, was music from the renaissance, baroque, romantic, and 20th century classical periods and also music from Bali, India, and South America, occasionally. I also studied jazz theory. I received my Bachelor of Music degree in composition and classical music theory and then began scoring soundtracks. I wrote music for industrial films and documentaries, and then I was asked to score 33 TV episodes of “The Adventures of Gumby”, a popular animated TV series. After that I wrote the music for the Gumby feature film and then began scoring for computer games. I enjoy doing soundtracks, particularly if I think the story is a good one. I also passionately love writing music for its own sake. Over the past 20 years or so I have produced 11 CDs, 7 symphonies, 3 concertos and a lot of short works. I decided sometime in the 1990s that I would pursue electronic production as the means to hear and record my works, and forego the traditional route of trying to get works performed by ensembles. I really love working in the studio, experimenting, trying things out, testing out orchestrations, etc. Several of my composer friends work with live musicians and ensembles and probably think I am a bit odd for creating and producing all of my compositions using music technology.

Could you tell us a bit about your workspace and setup.

My studio (www.jerrygerber.com/studio.htm) consists of the Yamaha DM2000 mixing board, Adam S3A speakers, and I use Sonar as my DAW. My main sound library is Vienna Instruments Symphonic Cube. I run the library on a fast Windows 7 machine with 24 GB of RAM. The DAW is a separate machine. I also have numerous software synthesizers that I both program and use in my pieces. I also use EMU samplers for choirs and Roland hardware synths.

Describe your creative process.

A MIDI sequence is only as effective as it is detailed. The more details in terms of tempo changes, phrase dynamics, sample switching and other parameters that are in the sequence, the better and the more musical will be the results.

A MIDI sequence is only as effective as it is detailed. The more details in terms of tempo changes, phrase dynamics, sample switching and other parameters that are in the sequence, the better and the more musical will be the results.

I often begin writing a piece after spending quite a while improvising at the piano. Free improvisation is the most direct, intuitive, and physical aspect of musicality that I know of, a lot of learning takes place there. When starting to compose a piece, I work in the staff view and the event list in Sonar and begin composing and sequencing. For me, MIDI sequencing and composition/orchestration have merged into one seamless process. I insert notes onto the staff view and build up phrases, sections, movements and entire compositions and albums this way, re-tracing my steps many times along the way making changes and editing and refining what I am hearing. Even though I have an advanced orchestral library, MIDI sequencing is a time-intensive process. Phrasing, gesture and expression is achieved through defining strong and weak beats, note lengths, velocities, attack and release times and articulation—these parameters must be constantly considered, and also be constantly in flux. A MIDI sequence is only as effective as it is detailed. The more details in terms of tempo changes, phrase dynamics, sample switching and other parameters that are in the sequence, the better and the more musical will be the results. After I am done with the composition and orchestration and the sequence is finished, I render it to a stereo wave file (and stems if there are audio tracks) and from there proceed to fine tune dynamics using Sonar’s volume envelopes. This adds another layer of dynamic variation that some pieces require more than others. I do my own mastering and use small amounts of EQ to help bring out the best in the mix. I rarely use any compression, and I use peak limiting only on some pieces. I take my time mastering; I might listen to a piece over several sound systems over a period of months before I finally settle on final mastering decisions. Monitoring a mix too soft or too loud will produce a distorted concept of how the mix sounds due to the way in which the low and high end is thrown out of balance when mixing too loudly or too softly. 83 dB is a good level that avoids these imbalances. I usually strive for transparency and a sound that is clear and open.

What's the most interesting project you've been involved with?

Honestly, I think every project I am working on at the time is the most interesting to me. If it were not such, I doubt I’d be a good composer. When I am scoring soundtrack music, that is most interesting to me. When I’m composing for CDs, that holds my interest equally. My soundtrack music is simpler music (in terms of length, style and complexity) than my compositions for my CDs because the purposes of music as an adjunct to story-telling, dialogue, plot, setting, character, and sound effects are different than music as a purely independent language. That would make an interesting discussion of itself, the way in which scoring to story and picture affects form, style, content and texture, really the whole meaning of music is altered, including its more literary function.

You describe your medium of choice as "virtual orchestration", you could tell us what you mean by this?

Composers belong to one of the few groups of people who are competing with dead people!

The politics and economics of getting large numbers of musicians together is complicated and expensive, and the larger the ensemble the harder it is to get performed. Composers belong to one of the few groups of people who are competing (when it comes to hearing their works) with dead people! Last time I checked, about 15% of music performed in the United States by symphonic orchestras is written by living, American composers. As computer and audio technology advances rapidly, a new musical medium is maturing, and composers and orchestrators can now be responsible for interpreting their own works. Since interpreting music has different challenges than composing music, the computer-based ensemble offers the musician the opportunity to evolve both the creation and the interpretation of their work, which contributes to a well-rounded musician. There are advantages and disadvantages to every medium, no medium is perfect. One cannot compare the sound of a live orchestra to a MIDI recording, it’s a pointless comparison. But comparing a recording of a live orchestra to a MIDI-realized recording, now that is fair game and I think the differences are growing smaller every decade. Using high-quality synthesizers and sample libraries and bringing to that technology knowledge of composition and orchestration, etc., can definitely produce highly musical and expressive results. I once gave a talk to an electronic music class and a student of conducting remarked that he thought what I was doing was “anti-social”. I believe he might have felt a bit threatened that his dream career might not be available to him if too many composers turn away from live performances. But his fear, if that is what prompted the remark, is unfounded, that will not happen, electronic music and the virtual orchestra are not replacements for traditional means of music-making, they are additions, they’re options. This experience reminds me of when Bob Dylan came on stage with an electric guitar in the 60s and the folk musicians at the time were appalled and resentful, as though Dylan had betrayed them. Likewise, I am sure that when photographers were beginning to photograph people and nature in the 19th century, painters were aghast and fearful that photography would encroach upon, or even ruin, painting as an art. Such thinking is all too commonplace perhaps because as a species we’re so paranoid.

You've been around for the early days of sampled/virtual instruments. How have the developments in this area affected your compositional workflow.

My first sampler, the Roland S-50, had the capability of loading one floppy disc’s (1.44 MB) worth of data into its memory. That’s only one or two samples! Consider the Vienna Symphonic Library Vienna Instruments Symphonic Cube—which consists of over 760,000 samples, about 550 GB of data. When a solo violin consists of over 22,000 samples, and with every note sampled in up to 4 velocities in every conceivable playing style, it becomes possible to phrase shape in a way that early samplers simply did not allow. With 24 bit well-recorded samples, the sounds are smoother than in earlier libraries, but that’s also because of better converters and better clocking. In terms of MIDI sequencing, this means that the musician can now realize musical ideas with a level of detail comparable to what fine players can achieve. This does not make sequencing any less labor-intensive, in fact it does the opposite: With so many samples to choose from, it becomes even more important that the best sample for the phrase is used and that note velocities, envelopes and note lengths are set at the best values for that particular sample and phrase. Having access to a large and well-recorded library no more guarantees a good composition anymore than having the best word processor determines the value of the story and the skill by which is it written. When using earlier libraries, I had to simulate crescendos and decrescendos using MIDI controllers, usually control 7 or 11, or with an audio fade after rendering. This worked OK, but the new libraries contain dynamics recorded into the sample itself, so this means less MIDI programming in regard to certain passages, and it’s musically much more flexible to have the dynamics already existing in the sample when needed.

For the all the up and coming composers out there, if you could share one tip, what would it be?

Write your own music and write your best music and keep your passion for your work alive. Have fun, enjoy the opportunities you’re given and when opportunities are sparse, create your own.

Your faith in your music and yourself will be tested over and over, it won’t stop till you die. Write your own music and write your best music and keep your passion for your work alive. Have fun, enjoy the opportunities you’re given and when opportunities are sparse, create your own.

Music is a sublime art, many musicians understand the healing potential of music, and its capacity to help awaken in people a sense of beauty, order, balance, proportion and mystery; of music’s capacity to help us remember our common humanity and to inspire a sense of interconnectedness with all of life. But like all things we humans do, it can be trivialized and reduced to a commodity in the minds of the more materialistic among us or it can fail because it is bad music. Every composer thinks that their music is different from other music, and potentially this is true because each one of us is unique in some small but significant way. Yet attaining a craft that brings an expressive reality and authenticity to this uniqueness only comes from many years of thought, effort and work. Is composition what you really want to do, or would you prefer to score films and express yourself that way? Are both important to you? The more ambitious the work, the more craft it requires. A successful career in music is based on numerous things: talent, imagination, knowledge, luck, hard work, confidence, attitude and patience. But even with all these things, a career is always based just as much on who you know as what you know. A composer has to have strong networking skills, must be able to work well with others, and must be creative in solitude. If you have these qualities, and you have musical talent, become a composer. If there’s really nothing you want to do more than write music, become a composer. Perhaps the real joy and satisfaction comes because composition is difficult and only those who really want it, and do not give up, get to write music and develop their craft.

www.jerrygerber.com

iPad Music App Roundup

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 19:21:46 +0000

Full Studio Apps

Studio Mini XL

StudioMini is a recording studio for the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch. It is powerful yet easy to use and offers users on all iOS devices the ability to multitrack record their music, just like the pros do in expensive studios. Users can create and share final mixes of their songs in CD quality audio, right from their iPad, iPhone or iPod touch.

Price: $10.99
View on iTunes

Studio Track

StudioTrack is a songwriting tool for musicians who want to capture musical ideas and record songs on their iPad. StudioTrack works with the iPad built-in microphone and headphones. WiFi sync allows StudioTrack recordings to be downloaded into any recording software to continue working on songs.

Price: $39.99
View on iTunes

iSequence

iSequence is one of the most powerful music creation studio designed exclusively for iPad. Thanks to intuitive 8-track sequencer, tons of instruments, flexible mixer with DSP effects you can easily program and record profesional loops, beats and melodies. Now you control every aspect of your music project.

Price: $14.99
View on iTunes

Controllers

AC7-Core

The AC7-Core is a wireless/wired control surface utilizing CoreMIDI for simple setup and reliable operation. There are dedicated modes for controlling Logic, Pro Tools, Cubase, Abelton and more.

Price: $7.99
View on iTunes

V-Control

V-Control provides a multi-touch control surface for Pro Tools on a Mac and soon on Windows systems. V-Control uses WiFi to control transport, editing, and mixing functions with Pro Tools 7 and later, HD or LE.

Price: $19.99
View on iTunes

TouchOSC

TouchOSC is an iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad application that lets you send and receive Open Sound Control messages over a Wi-Fi network using the UDP protocol.

The application allows to remote control and receive feedback from software and hardware that implements the OSC protocol such as Apple Logic Pro/Express, Renoise, Pure Data, Max/MSP/Jitter, Max for Live, OSCulator, VDMX, Resolume Avenue 3, Modul8, Plogue Bidule, Reaktor, Quartz Composer, Vixid VJX16-4, Supercollider, FAW Circle, vvvv, Derivative TouchDesigner, Isadora and others.

Price: $4.99
View on iTunes

Instruments

KORG iMS-20

iMS-20 is a complete music production app for iPad. It consists of a complete recreation of the legendary Korg MS-20 analog synth with the patching capability, plus a 16-step analog sequencer based on the Korg SQ-10, a six-part drum machine which can create drum parts by simply tapping the buttons, and a seven-channel mixer with 14 types of effects.

Price: $32.99
View on iTunes

Pianist Pro

Pianist Pro is a virtual piano designed specifically for the iPad, with the same great interface and style that has made Pianist the best known piano on the iPhone, and a whole host of new features too.

Containing the full 88 keys of a professionally sampled piano with configurable soft and sustain pedals, up to 11 keys can be pressed at once and react to the touch just like a real piano. Choose between single or dual keyboards with a configurable key size.

Price: $32.99
View on iTunes

Synth

Synth is easy to use and fun to play! It comes packed with over 40 instruments and a series of effects to play with. Tweak the Mod wheel to adjust LFO or filters, while the delay and distortion knobs create a wide range of great sounding effects.

Re-live the Casio SK-1 days with the sampler! Sample anything with the iPad mic, and play it back on the keyboard.

Price: $0.99
View on iTunes

iBone

It's the Trombone for your iPad. A little big for your pocket, but easier to see and play than the original. It's still a great way to learn, and you're sure to impress your friends.

Price: $2.99
View on iTunes

Utilities

Symphony Pro

Symphony Pro is a multi-track music notation editor that allows you to quickly write and play back music from wherever you are.

Import in any MIDI, ABC, or Symphony file via URL, open up one of your saved compositions, or begin with a blank page, and you're ready to start writing.

Supports a wide range of notational elements, including arpeggiated chords, ritardandos, staccatos, tuplets, time and key signature changes, altername endings, and repeats.

Price: $12.99
View on iTunes

forScore

forScore was designed as a way to take thousands of pages of score with you on the go. By balancing innovative features like the visual metronome with a gorgeous interface and the most robust library organization of any music reader, forScore proves that you really can have an app that’s both powerful and beautiful.

Price: $4.99
View on iTunes

Guitar Lab

Guitar Lab video lessons are sourced from our most popular full-length study programs and then assembled into standalone "lesson plans" suitable for both short and long practice sessions with the app.

Price: Free
View on iTunes

Fun

Aura 2:Flux

Aura Flux is a unique and innovative ambient music creation App for iOS devices. Create unlimited, generative music by simply connecting nodes together drawing pictures. With a wealth of options available for each node the sound, frequency, pitch can be changed to your needs or set to random to create evolving music.

Price: $1.99
View on iTunes

Beatwave

Beatwave offers a comprehensive range of instrument samples, and endless ways to mix n match them, all wrapped in a stunning visual interface that gives even the most tone deaf would-be Dj the ability to visually create perfectly in sync hit tunes.

Price: Free
View on iTunes

Soundrop

Draw lines and watch as Soundrop uses them to create music! Listen with headphones for the full effect.

Price: Free
View on iTunes

Conclusion

The iPad has had time to settled and developers are getting their hands dirty releasing some fantastic apps. I feel we're only just starting to explore what's possible with the iPad and with iPad 2 round the corner, things can only get better.

What apps are you excited about?

Deviant Atmospheres - Dark Cinematic Ambience

Fri, 08 Apr 2011 13:00:33 +0000

Sound sources used to create this library are as varied as they are fresh - processed hand built prayer-bell type percussion, floor toms, stretched, filtered and generally abused field recordings and even a man-handled egg timer!

The library consists of NKM format multi setups, using the individual NKI patches as building blocks. While there's 50 patches included, they are just a starting point for experimentation and further processing! The "Main" patches are ambient, atmospheric type sounds. The "Impacts" folder contains huge booms, bangs, reversed elements and "rumpfs". The "Bonus" folder contains found sounds, special fx type recordings as well as a reprogrammed "best of" selection from the earlier free Kontakt instruments.

The "Loops" folder contains 10 constructions kits (full mix, separate low, mid and high elements) in tempos 100-180 BPM. The loops use Time Machine 2 to enable playback at various tempos. Last, but most definitely not least, is a full set of chopped up, single drum hits enabling you to create your own beats.

Demo

Hell Speak

Featuring Deviant Atmospheres. No external processing (except a little EQ and compression).
Composed by Erik Ekholm.

Underwater Disco

Featuring Deviant Atmospheres. No external processing (except a little EQ and compression).
Composed by Erik Ekholm.

Download Deviant Atmospheres

About

Erick Ekholm, is a composer, and owner of Brickwall Audio, which provides high end production music and sound design for film and media advertising. You can follow Erik on Twitter @BrickwallAudio, on Facebook and YouTube.

Interview: Ryan Leach

Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:29:43 +0000

How did you get started scoring for media?

It started with two separate passions for music and film. Although I had a touch of "film score geek" in me growing up, film sores were not a major part of my life. For me it was more of an all around love for many styles of music and movies. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I started to consider how amazing it could be to bring those two interests together. And once I learned about the Film Scoring program at Berklee, I knew that was what I was going to do.

My very first non-school project was a student film called Super No-friendo by BU student filmmaker Dean James. It was about a kid who accidentally brought the characters out of his video games and into real life. I played way too many video games as a kid so the chance to incorporate elements of classic video game music made it an incredibly fun film to score. My first professional gig was the feature film Interrogation, which of all places actually came from Craigslist!

Describe your creative process

Composing usually starts out with a riff or an ostinato pattern. Depending on what I'm working on, if I already have a specific instrument in mind I'll often start there and just improvise until something catches my ear. Although I'm still developing the discipline to write this way, I invariably write better if I work out a very simple sketch all the way through an entire cue, as opposed to fully fleshing out a short section before moving on. When I get too caught up in short segments there is a lot of self editing, and that kills both time and creativity. There is a much better flow if the most basic framework is worked out first, and then the details can follow.

Describe your workspace/gear

I used to run two Macs at once but I've recently simplified down to a single Mac Pro. I like things to be as simple as possible, running a multiple computer system inevitably leads to technical issues that can slow down the actual work of writing. Now that Logic and Kontakt are 64 bit I can get away with some pretty massive sessions on a single machine without difficulty.

I've honestly never been too much of a "gear head", which is odd for someone who started out as a guitar player. I make certain that I know my tools at an expert level, but you will rarely catch me picking up a Sweetwater catalog for fun. I'm much more interested in the notes.

What's the most interesting project you've been involved with?

I just completed scoring the feature film Two Shadows from writer/director Greg Cahill. The film is about Sovanna, a "Long Beach hipster wannabe" who discovers that her long-lost brother and sister are still alive in Cambodia. She travels alone to Cambodia and embarks on a journey to find them. Besides many touching emotional moments, which are a dream for a film composer, there was a real emphasis on subtlety in the score which is surprisingly challenging to achieve. Many times it was about seeing what changes I could make to a single pad or string line to turn the emotion a certain way. Although I intentionally did not make the score explicitly "Cambodian", I did use some small hints of gamelan music and other traditional elements to add a sense of authenticity to an otherwise non-ethnic score.

How have you gotten yourself out there?

In this industry there really is no direct path or specific set of instructions you can follow. It's just hard work, persistence and good luck.

As frustrating as it is, the longer I do this the more I realize that when people say "no two career paths are the same" they really mean it. In this industry there really is no direct path or specific set of instructions you can follow. It's just hard work, persistence and good luck. I have made an effort to establish an online presence through sites like this one, Audiotuts, Scorecast, and others, but I think that's it's just as likely that my next gig could come from a friend-of-a-friend than from anywhere else. You have to try everything because you never know what might actually work!

For the all the up and coming composers out there, if you could share one tip, what would it be?

The highest priority for anyone in any creative field, including composition, is to be constantly producing. The only true way to develop your craft is to log the hours. The more you write the more fluent a composer you'll become, and the faster you'll be both as a writer and with your sequencer. It's becoming cliche to talk about the "10,000 hours" required to become a master of your craft, but it's absolutely true. If you spent 2 hours a day composing, EVERY single day without a break, it would still take you over 13 years to reach that amount. Have you spent 10,000 hours composing yet? I'm pretty sure I still have a lot more to go.

Official Website: http://ryanleach.com
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1999695/

Music in Film: Ideas on Analyzing Narratives and Creating Themes

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:03:23 +0000

The word “theme” can also refer to ideas, metaphors, and symbols used in narratives. The relationship between literary and musical themes is an important and fascinating intersection in film music, and something worth exploring in depth if you work in this field.

What’s This Thing and What Do I Do With It? The Function of Themes

When looking at music’s function in film, TV, or media, we are really talking about how it works in the context of telling a story. Themes can relate to, and make a musical statement about, a character, idea or concept, or other aspect of the film. A good theme will recall emotions and ideas, lending structure and a feeling of continuity while helping the story advance and leading the audience come to deeper a understanding of the events and characters and how they are connected. But where does a theme come from and what are some methods to generate themes that resonate effectively with the film?

You Are Not What You Say You Are - Film as Literary Form

As a film composer, you are not really a composer at all. You are a filmmaker who specializes in music. It’s important to keep this in mind as you are in fact taking your cues not from your imagination (freely expressing yourself as an artist), but rather responding to what is already there - the story as told by the film. Composer Leonard Roseman had the following to say of music in film:

“...the form is that of that of the film [...] basically a literary form, not a musical form. [...] this shape originates from the film itself, not the music”. ₁

If this is the case, our first job as a filmmaker is to get a firm and deep understanding of the story and all its elements.

Photo by umjanedoan - http://www.flickr.co...tos/umjanedoan/

Analyze This!

If you consider yourself a filmmaker who is an invested and collaborative contributor to the film, you’ll want to take in and analyse as much material as you can with the goal of finding your way in to the film’s heart - its hook. Before you write any music you need to absorb all you can. The script and the working cuts of the film are your primary sources, but even costume and set design can help in deepening your understanding of the story. There may be things which will trigger you to do your own research during which you might uncover an aspect of the production that you can use to draw from, musically. Ultimately, you’ll want to come to the spotting session with a deep understanding of the story: its themes, symbols/metaphors, arcs, the characters and their relationships, and be ready to bring a new layer to the whole. In order to do this and to communicate your ideas effectively, you’ll need to speak the language of the filmmakers - not the language of music, but the language of emotion and storytelling.

You should have a solid grasp of screenwriting theory, the 3 act structure that most films adhere to, and the narrative pattern referred to as the Hero’s Journey or Monomyth. Not only will knowing these help you understand the story and communicate with the director, they will help you find your voice in the film and help guide the writing process, ultimately making it more fun and effective. As with composition and orchestration, becoming versed in analysis is a matter of practice. Once you have a handle on the concepts listed above, try applying them when you watch films and read fiction. You’ll be amazed at how much more quickly you’ll grasp the structure of a story simply be applying them as a template - maybe even shocked at how formulaic many stories are!

What now, Mr. Freud? Considering the Aspects of Story and Applying Them to Themes

Once you have thoroughly analyzed the film and done any additional research, you’ll probably be brimming with ideas which you can use to start formulating initial thematic material. It’s usually a good idea to start big and then work your way down to smaller chunks and sub-themes.

Is there a central, over-arching motif that unifies the film?
Will it be conceptual, personal/emotional, or a combination?
Does it relate to a theme, a concept, a character, or a combination of these?

The first main overarching theme might be related to the main theme/metaphor/symbol of the film, which may also relate directly with the main character and his/her central conflict - the driving motivation. Really getting this theme to work is important because it will be your bread and butter - if it’s strong and flexible enough you can write an almost endless number of variations, casting the idea in different light each time. From here, you can “zoom in” and consider other parts of the story from which themes might be derived, including plot, character, setting, and style.

The When and Where - Time and Place

Photo by ToniVC - http://www.flickr.com/photos/tonivc/

A mode, scale, or style of composition/instrumentation might be appropriate to lend a sense of time and place to the theme, but not necessarily. Be sure that whatever decision you make is appropriate and in line with the story. Just because your story is set in China does not automatically mean you should write your theme in the style of traditional Chinese music, especially if the story is about an expat who longs to return his native England. The emotional core of the story would lie with him in this case and his theme should speak to that. It may also be that while a story is set in medieval times, you wish to convey that the ideas presented by the film are modern or timeless and therefore use a contemporary scoring style.

The Who - Characterization and POV

The idea of motifs for characters is often referred to as Leitmotif; a term made famous by the operatic works of Wagner. Will the characters have themes, perhaps more than one? Is the musical perspective omniscient, all-knowing, or from the POV (point of view) of the audience - naive, perceiving everything for the first time? Or is the music from the character’s point of view? This is an interesting point - consider the role of music in the following scenarios:

a character knows something the audience does not
the audience knows something the character does not
the character believes something untrue, but the audience must initially believe this to be true as well.

In each case music’s role may be either to slowly clue the audience in, or to purposely keep them in the dark or even trick them into believing something which is later revealed to be false - for instance, we may believe a character to be a villain until it is revealed that they are in fact a heroic double agent. The music might help this untruth by playing it from the protagonist’s point of view, supporting the initial belief that this person is evil.

A Note regarding Complexity and Number of Themes

Whether to court or avoid complexity is an important consideration for a number of reasons, but it really boils down to what is right for the film in terms of style, genre, aesthetic, and the taste of the filmmaker. There is always a balance to be struck between interest and change versus familiarity and repetition. If you restrict yourself to on over-arching theme and repeat it verbatim ad nauseam, you will run the risk of boring your audience (to avoid this use variation, which we’ll look at later). On the other hand, if you have a giant number of themes in your work it can sometimes loose a feeling of unity. Even though Howard Shore wrote a staggering 80 themes for his The Lord of the Rings scores, he made sure they were thematically unified:

"Shore uses, for instance, a rising three-note phrase to connect three of the most influential themes in The Fellowship of the Ring, subtly reminding audiences that there are connections at every level between the hobbits, the world of men, and the evil ring, among others."₂

Photo by micheal.heiss - http://www.flickr.co...s/michaelheiss/

Additionally, it’s easy to go overboard with leitmotifs, if you choose so use them. Simply quoting them whenever the character appears on screen will quickly make the film seem a farce, so you want to be sure you have an emotional justification for quoting a theme and are making use of variation:

"Beyond simply the structural considerations for each theme, Shore also changes the personality of each idea masterfully, depending on the guise needed for a particular scene in the film. Tempo alterations and the swapping or addition of notes to denote times of play or lament consistently keep each theme fresh to the ears."₂

Part 2 is here: Music in Film: Ideas on Analyzing Narratives and Creating Themes

Further Reading

A wonderful resource is available for free download online, and for further reading I recommend it. These are annotated scores which detail the various cues and use of themes in Howard Shore’s music for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (in PDF format):

Annotated Score for The Fellowship of the Ring

References:
1. Burt, George. (1994). The Art of Film Music. Boston: Northeastern University Press
2. Clemmenson, C. (2005). The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Howard Shore) http://www.filmtrack...html?page=print
3. Williams, J. (1999). John Williams Talks The Phantom Menace part II [pre][/pre]
4. Clemmenson, C. (2005). Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith (John Williams)
http://www.filmtrack...venge_sith.html
5. http://en.wikipedia....rs:_TIE_Fighter

Music in Film: Ideas on Analyzing Narratives and Creating Themes (Part 2)

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:01:00 +0000

Part One can be found here.

Aspects of a Musical Theme

A theme or motif can be thought of as a (simple or complex) musical statement, hook, or sentence(s) with its focus on one or any combination of the following elements:

Singing in the Shower - Melody

Melody is on the one hand the most obvious place from which to approach a theme, but also probably the most mysterious in terms of its emotional impact. It encapsulates your emotional response and is a summation of all thoughts/feelings/ideas about a theme or character. Is it light and brisk, or dark and plodding? Is it a succession of quick notes or long sustained ones? What is its shape? You can tell the story within a musical sentence: imagine how the melody might struggle initially, floundering, until it reaches up and soars in the high register, clear and defined? Or perhaps the melody is moving along happily before it is struck down, having to find its way back to where it began.

Listen to Your Heart - Rhythm

The literary material may suggest rhythmic ideas. Rhythms are often visceral and related to action. The well-known Shubert song Der Erlkonig (based on a poem by Goethe) is an eerie tale of a father and his dying son riding through the woods pursued by the invisible and menacing Erlkonig, and the urgent triplet figure employed by the composer mimics the furious galloping of the horse. Marches, waltzes, and other rhythmic forms each have their own symbolic meaning which can be used to great effect, as can a lack of rhythm (a feeling of stasis) or a labored, sluggish figure. On a more subtle side of things there’s meter. What does 4/4 suggest vs. 5/4 or 7/4? Establishing a rhythmic feel and later upsetting it by changing the meter or emphasizing unexpected beats can create a feeling of uneasiness or disorientation.

Not ‘Yer Ususal I-VI-V-I - Harmony/Chordal Sequence

Don Davis’ use of off-set, flowering crescendo horn and trumpet clusters is undeniably memorable and central to defining the Matrix trilogy. Dario Marianelli’s climbing chord progression (featuring very interesting suspensions) during Evey’s ‘rebirth’ scene in V for Vendetta underscores the tragedy and momentousness of the moment. Major and minors chords, suspensions, and dissonances can wonderfully expand concepts and create tensions and releases as necessary. In terms of variations, a melody can go through much change by use of interesting harmonic content which itself can tell a story - you may choose to have an unresolved tension underlying a theme for a character that resolves at a pivotal moment in the film.

Bleeps, Bloops, and BOOMS - Musical Motif or Sound Design.

More and more, we are seeing the use of shorter, simpler motifs and sound design. This is largely due to the aesthetic tastes of the day, but can still be quite successful at creating emotional resonance and structure. The title sequence of Lost brings to mind twisted and eerie radio-like ‘signals’. An interstitial double “gavel strike” sound let’s you know you are watching an episode of Law and Order, while the use of a Waterphone is tied to shifts in ‘reality’ in the Matrix. A combination of a sound effect motif and a musical theme can also work in tandem: for the opening titles of Bottle Shock, Mark Adler made an interesting decision by creating a percussion track of empty wine bottles being played in different ways. These examples show how one can draw on very specific ideas within the story and turns them into salient musical ideas.

This Lovely Melody Needs an Escort - Accompaniment

It’s worth considering how the accompaniment affects the feeling of the theme. This can apply to the notes and rhythms as well as the orchestration. William’s use of choir and an ancient Celtic text translated into Sanskrit for Duel of the Fates (Star Wars Ep.1) gives the battle scene a mysterious, ancient, and ritualistic tone3. A counterpoint line(s) can battle or support the melody, and a fugue like structure can suggest complexity and sophistication of thought, as with James Horner’s score for A Beautiful Mind which helped bring to life John Nash’s mental processes while performing extraordinary mathematical computations. Chaotic accompaniment or dissonant harmonic structures have their own unique emotional signature, and can help create a confusing and anarchic feeling.

Get to Work, You Lazy Thematic Statement

A common error occurs when we begin writing music which parrots the action or emotion on the screen (this especially found in poor comedy writing). Unless you are going for a cartoon style and “Mickey-Mousing” the action, this is redundant and actual counter to the purpose of music in film. You don’t want to simply underline what is already there. If screenwriting is focused on telling the story via subtext, action, and symbolism (and we know the structure of film music is literary) then we should be aiming for the same. When at its best, music in film should be adding a distinct layer while supporting the on-screen action, and saying something that isn’t already apparent but needs to be said in order to move the story forward.

Consider the emotional demands of the story and how they might be dealt with musically. If a character is putting on a brave face but is breaking on the inside the music may be required to help tell this part of the story. How do you present your theme as “broken”? You may re-harmonize it, create dissonances, use fragments, or introduce notes. A quick theme can have its note values lengthened in order to turn it into a dirge. A great example of this is Williams’ slow, methodical destruction of the romantic but sorrowful “Across the Stars” theme, as Anakin moves closer and closer to becoming Darth Vader in Revenge of the Sith.

Staying with Williams’ for a moment, we have an example of how a musical theme can be used to connect ideas, in this case, across different films within the series:

One of the film's major curiosities exists in the actual use of the "Battle of the Heroes" theme in "Anakin vs. Obi-Wan." The duel [...] is broken up in rhythmic progression by several note-for-note regurgitations of the Cloud City duel cue in The Empire Strikes Back during which Vader hurls equipment at Luke before smashing the shaft window. The intention of Williams and Lucas was obviously to draw parallels between the two duels (and represent how history tends to repeat itself in this saga)₄

This brings to bear the significant power of musical themes and how they can be used on a very subtle (almost subliminal) level to cue the audience. They may not even be consciously aware of the music, but again - it’s that subtle layering of meaning which creates structure and sophistication.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes - Variations of Themes

It’s really worth putting in the time and mental effort to come up with a great main theme because this can be used as a basis for so much additional musical material. Each variation can be employed for a specific emotional or storytelling purpose and feel very different from the original while maintaining that psychological and formal link to the main theme. You can also depart entirely from expectations and counter the original intention of the theme. For instance, the music from the video game Star Wars: TIE Fighter turns William’s themes for the Empire on their head. In the game, you are playing an Imperial fighter pilot, and so the originally ominous and foreboding themes for the Empire are re-cast as heroic and triumphant.₅

You can create variations using the aforementioned elements of melody, rhythm, harmony, and accompaniment, and with the addition of an almost endless list of others include changing the tempo, note durations, pitches, color/orchestration, dynamics, compass, using inversion/retrogrades, and on and on.

Photo by – Changhua Coast Conservation - http://www.flickr.com/photos/waders/

Where the Hell Am I?

Creating a visual map or chart, where you plot out all the characters, dramatic events, and arcs over the course of the film, can be very useful. Using this, you can pinpoint the exact moments where you might employ a theme or variation, and also get a birds-eye view of the whole work. You will note how things interrelate between acts and scenes, and can make sophisticated decisions on how to help tell the story. Let’s say you have a theme for a character that undergoes a dramatic internal change during the course of the film. If the music is going to tell that story (using a slowly evolving variation on the character’s theme), the map will help tell you exactly where you should be at, and prevent you from letting the cat out of the bag too soon.

Photo by Eleaf - http://www.flickr.com/photos/eleaf/

But What Notes Do I Write?

I’ve purposely left out any indication of what you might actually write in terms of a theme. How you come to write the music is a very subjective thing, and ultimately your method of solving that problem and how successful the result is a matter of your own specific personal genius and all the things that make up your creative constitution. However, it is important to remember that in our roles as filmmakers the story is the ruling force by which we abide - it sets the parameters for our creative work. Knowing how to analyze and understand narratives is crucial to your ability to communicate with filmmakers and write music which supports the story while adding a subtle but effective layer of meaning. Themes can be an important aspect of this process, and will also be the way in which you ultimately add can your own personal comment to the work.

Further Reading

A wonderful resource is available for free download online, and for further reading I recommend it. These are annotated scores which detail the various cues and use of themes in Howard Shore’s music for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (in PDF format):

Annotated Score for The Fellowship of the Ring
Annotated Score for The Two Towers
Annotated Score for The Return of the King

Choir Sample Library Roundup

Mon, 28 Mar 2011 14:55:08 +0000

Cinesamples Voxos

VOXOS: Epic Virtual Choirs is Cinesamples’ virtual choir instrument for professionals, containing a full epic choir, boys choir, soloists, an innovative phrase builder and the industry’s most realistic and powerful true legato engine.

Powered by the industry-leading Kontakt Player engine, VOXOS contains world-renowned choirs and soloists with over 15 years of experience recording for countless Hollywood films, trailers, video games and the concert stage. Recorded at the legendary Bastyr Chapel, with its gorgeous acoustics, the choirs were captured with multiple microphone positions in 24bit/48k 5.1 surround. The result is a pristine tone that sounds great right out of the box. VOXOS contains over 35,000 samples, at an uncompressed size of 35GB. VOXOS ships as digital download and boxed product.

$999
http://cinesamples.com/products/voxos/

Tonehammer Requiem

REQUIEM is the next-generation virtual choir developed for professional composers. The library is based on a variety of new recording- and sampling techniques some which have never before been deployed in choral sample libraries. The library can literally sound like a real choir and includes both full choir (SATB), divisi groups (males/females) and solo singers – all recorded in 24 bit / 44.1khz with 3 (5.1) microphone positions. The library contains true (polyphonic) legato intervals from piano to forte, sustains from piano to forte, staccato with repetitions, ultra forte marcato, BPM (host-synced) based latin chants recorded at different speeds across entire interval of choir, +1000 choral effects including whispers, shouts, clusters, demonic chants, sweeps, consonants without tone, claps, snaps etc.

Pro: $649
http://www.tonehammer.com/?p=4276

Tonehammer Liberis

LIBERIS is our next-generation choir library featuring a professional 45-piece multi-award winning Piedmont Children's Choir lead by famous choir conductor, Bob Geary from VOLTI. The library represents the most detailed sampling ever done of a high-end symphonic children's choir and the most ambitious release in the history of Tonehammer. LIBERIS allows you to create realistic sounding choir by using a variety of next-generation features, including true ensemble legato with speed control and legato for our poly-sustained chants. In addition the contains sustains from piano to forte, staccato with repetitions, marcato with sustains, BPM (host-synced) latin chants recorded at different speeds and velocity layers and a uncompromising effects section with +1000 effects ranging from basic consonant/vowels, clusters, sweeps, whispers, shouts, chirps, childrens songs, claps, snaps etc. In addition the library is recorded in 24 bit / 44.1khz with 3 (5.1) microphone positions, three different solo singers with poly-sustains and a gorgeous ambient section by Steve Tavaglione.

$499
http://www.tonehammer.com/?p=5953

EWQL Symphonic Choir

Imagine typing words into your computer, in any language, and hearing a world class Symphonic Choir sing those words in any key(s) you play "live" on your keyboard controller. Well imagine no more, that's exactly what Symphonic Choirs claims to do. In addition, this 24-bit Choir virtual instrument includes three simultaneous stereo mic setups (close, stage and hall), so users can mix any combination of mic positions to control ambience. The Choirs were recorded in the same concert hall, by the same team as the EastWest/Quantum Leap Symphonic Orchestra and blend perfectly with EWQLSO.

WordBuilder is the word building software that enables Symphonic Choirs users to type in words for the Choirs to sing. This included software runs on both Mac OS X and Windows, and includes a pop-down menu (under the "tools" menu) that includes 28 popular Latin phrases that you can load instantly. Many choirs sing in Latin so this is a real time saver for those on a tight deadline. The phrases have been optimized for each Choir. The pop-down menu is completely customizable so users can add their own phrases to the menu for quick and easy access.

$445
http://www.soundsonl...mphonic-Choirs/

The Giovani Edition: Voices of the Young

Bela D Media invites you to discover an exciting and significant development in the world of sampled voice. The Giovani Edition is the first truly dedicated children's choir library determined to strike a chord with musicians ranging from the semi-pro to the most seasoned professional. Bela D Media has faithfully captured the glory of an authentic youth choir complete with 24-bit traditional church ambience. The Giovani Edition effortlessly produces a sincere, natural tonality alive with essential human characteristics.

Enlisting the talents of a professional 32-piece youth choir, the Giovani Edition achieves a sampling first by incorporating both ensemble and chamber sized vocal sections, finally enabling the correct composition of choral parts using a sample library. In addition, Bela D Media is the first to acknowledge and sample a complete girls' choir.

$375
http://www.beladmedi...iovani-edition/