This stuff is harder than it looks….

So I decided to try my hand at writing some sort of dramatic orchestral piece (and I blame this guy Hetoreyn and his VSL Podcast for this you know*)…

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I’ve been holding back from trying to write something like this because, well frankly, my formal knowledge of theory and composition is not really up to the task in my opinion. With traditionally orchestrated stuff, there is a much larger, tighter, and more widely recognized rule set and when you break the rules or don’t know them, it stands out like a sore thumb. I’ve been trying to get up to speed on music theory with the thought that I would move on to more structured studies of composition and arranging. It’s a slow process compounded by my lack of time. But Slow Steady Progress is the order of the day….

Except for those damn podcasts! They make me impatient!

I have many of the tools (or so I thought), some of the knowledge (just enough to be judgmental), and I keep hearing these wonderful compositions. Surely I can come up with … something? Well I m trying my hand at it..and boy is it humbling. Some things I’ve learned in the last 24 hours:

• I really do need to know my Theory better. Yep. I spent 2.5 hours trying to find the “right” chord progression for the horns and if I knew my theory I’m pretty sure it would have taken me about 10 minutes to end up where I finally did. I’m not even sure where I ended up is “right”. We’ll see if it survives.
• It’s the articulations, stupid. I have three Orchestral Libraries: EWQL Symphonic Orchestra Platinum, VSL Special Edition, and Miroslav Philharmonik (acquired over the years during various sales and promotions). Between them, I have a pretty good set of different articulations. Unfortunately, I don’t seem to have the particular type of articulation I need for the Horn section that I hear in my head. OR I do, but I need to construct it out of several separate articulations (via a great method offered by Todd Jones in episode 4 of the VSL Podcast), and I don’t understand how to do this. Right now the horns sound tired and extremely flabby despite all types of velocity and expression programming. (They are supposed to be epic and a call to battle!) I think maybe they are just the wrong articulations.
• Choose your orchestral library wisely. While trying to solve the above problem I thought I’d use bits and pieces of all three libraries to create the arrangement. I discovered that it is very difficult to layer up the EWQLSO and VSL Libraries convincingly without a lot of work on reverb and ambiance. The VSL instruments are recorded really, really dry. This is nice because you can add exactly the type of reverb you want. EWQLSO is recorded with a lot of presence and a big hollywood sound. Even “dry”, it has a good deal of reverb in the recording. Getting the two to play nice requires a good deal of work. I’m sure it’s possible, but I didn’t get there. I had more success combining the EWQLSO with the Miroslav Philharmonic Library. (I use the MPL to provide some bite to the horn section.) So basically the lesson is this: When you pick a library, choose one that you can grow with. The VSL product line has (1) amazing breadth, (2) extraordinary depth, and (3) a breathtaking price should you want to get the whole thing. EWQLSO has (1) a big sound, (2) a fair number of articulations, and (3) a reasonable price (particularly if you can get it on sale). The VSL still wins on the breadth and depth, but it is just too expensive for me.
• What does a reasonable expression automation curve look like for horns? Cello? Violin? I always read that careful programming of note velocity and expression (cc11) goes a long way to helping your parts sound more authentic. But what does a reasonable expression curve for an instrument look like? Is this a reasonable bit of cc11 programming for a “horn” section?

Seems to me that expression programming is helped greatly by some knowledge of the how an instrument responds to …well expressive playing. Since I don’t play horns, I’m SOL in that regard. ‘Course I guess the answer boils down to: Does it sound “right” to you? Still, it would be helpful to have some info on reasonable dynamics curves and behaviors for different instruments…(more)

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* –As some of you may know, the VSL podcast is a show for composers. Each show contains original music from composers and usually many technical tips and insights on ways to use orchestral virtual libraries effectively. There’s 52 podcasts in all, and I’ve been listening to back episodes on my daily commute to work. I’m somewhere around show #35 right now.

Anyway, the show is fun, Hetoreyn is a good host and he is absolutely unafraid to share knowledge … even if in later shows he comes back and says something like “You know that bit about reverb a few shows back? Well someone showed me a better way to do it.” You really get the sense of picking up tips with him as he becomes more experienced and better informed. He’s not embarassed by that at all, and frankly that is what I look for in a person I want to work with or learn from. It’s basically an attitude that says: We are all in this together.

So every show he plays some of his pieces or, more often, pieces from other composers (hobbyists to working professionals) who use the VSL library. Some of these pieces are mind boggling good. Others sound like they were written “by mere mortals” … that is to say good but not flawless. I must have listened to well over a hundred of these pieces by now.

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