Hi Mike,


if you really want to stick with Sibelius, then do not only follow the hints Evan gave but also add phrasing with tempo changes. I usually compose first in Sibelius and then use the sib file as a tempo reference to play in every part by hand (in cubase). And the score usually has lots slight tempo changes then. So when general tempo is 60, then there might 59 or 61 or sometimes 57 and so on to keep the tempo going with the phrasing. And added beats, pauses or fermatas certainly don´t hurt, too.
Then I use the sib file for the click track to play in the part by hands and select the appropriate articulation (can sometimes change note by note).

I understand your dream of connecting a virtual orchestra to a notation program. But if you want to have a mockup with a musical feel you won´t get away with a LOT of tweaking and effort.

Like our famous old comedian from Munich, Karl Valentin, once said: "Art is beautiful, but takes a lot of trouble..." (hm, the voice of this great guy is of course quite important to get the smile. Well, anyway.... [:D] )

Bests,
- Mathis

@mvanbebber said:

Can you post 'your' version of the Copland? I would love to hear it! About your comment on the 'punching notes into a sequencer' - like I said in the first post, I will be using all my samples with sibelius 3, so I kind of have to make the most out of that combo. I can use cubase sx2 for some editing, but I don't want to spend a whole bunch of time on it because I don't really have that much time for that.
How can I fix the breathing problem? Just add some rest where they should breathe?
mvanbebber

Yes you could hear it, but I have no way of posting it. And I haven't used the legato function.

Can't you play the notes into a sequencer via a keyboard, for inaccuracy? That's what Bill was alluding to. If every note of say a brass 'choir' chord starts more or less the same time, it sounds organ-ish.

In real life, say you have three trumpets, three french horns, two or three trombones and a tuba and their respectives notes all start on the same beat: what do you think that would look like if you were able to somehow show it as midi?
And these same instruments: Do they stop playing the notes of this chord all at the same time in real life, even if the notes on the score say they should?
Do they get louder at the same time, even if they're supposed to? With some brass samples, you may wish to start the note quite a way forward of where it's supoosed to start btw. Give it time to catch up with itself.

Thats what the others meant by breathing. Reverb of course. Lots of reverb for a piece like Fanfare. Loud piece of music. That's why Copland called it Fanfare.........

Try and imagine where the brass players would breath before they play the next note. Play little games with yourself. Like Ist trumpet is a big guy with big lungs - 2nd trumpet is a little broncial today - 3rd trumpet tries to outdo Ist trumpet, but is a heavy smoker - and so on. Even give them names! [[;)]] Write their 'names' on the score. Tell them off when they make a mistake. [:O]ops: Get a little insane.

The higher and louder a brass player plays, generally, the more 'rasp' there is to the note. Also, good reverb, like Altiverb or Waves helps with 'space'.

Regarding the percussion - if you are at the max on velocity - turn up the volume.

Lastly - why do we do other composers mock-ups? A friend of mine once told me when I was having to do a mock-up of some composer or other - why do we torture ourselves like this?

Good point, don't you think.

There's a book coming out - or is out by now by Paul Gil (something, I can't remember sorry) which looks good and may be of interest to you.

these are all good suggestions by Paul. Everything that can be done to make each individual instrument play a line by itself instead of just fill in notes of a chord is desirable.

By the way I have encountered that same problem with the ff timpani or bass drum. They are very rarely as agressively loud as they need to be, probably because when recording samples it seems a little crude and uncivilized to really beat the hell out of the instruments, though in a performance it is done all the time.

@William said:

By the way I have encountered that same problem with the ff timpani or bass drum. They are very rarely as agressively loud as they need to be, probably because when recording samples it seems a little crude and uncivilized to really beat the hell out of the instruments, though in a performance it is done all the time.

distort them. really. crank the marshall to 11.

@evanevans said:

William,

Why did you delete your post regarding you playing the Fanfare and how it could breathe with the reverb more?

Evan Evans

I didn't mean to delete it, I don't know what happened.
-mike

@PaulR said:

Lastly - why do we do other composers mock-ups? A friend of mine once told me when I was having to do a mock-up of some composer or other - why do we torture ourselves like this?

Good point, don't you think.

There's a book coming out - or is out by now by Paul Gil (something, I can't remember sorry) which looks good and may be of interest to you.

Paul-
Good question, but I have a good answer for you on why we do others' mockups. Here are just a few reasons:
1.) You can be sure the piece is well orchestrated and suited to each instrument it is written for. The piece is already considered to be great, therefore any problems with the mockup are your fault, not that of the composer.
2.) You can compare your version to previosly recorded 'real' versions considered 'great performances' and see how yours compares.
3.) You can learn to compose and orchestrate by literally copying other great composers in a much more thourough way than just simple transcription or score study. You are forced to realize the subtleties in each piece of music.
thanks,
Mike

Point 3 is a reasonable one.

Well Mathis I've done all sorts of things to "fake" a louder dynamic - simple volume, layering with bass drum, filters, etc. - but it would be good to have the actual samples of fff timpani for example because the timbre is so different. I remember trying to use some very good timpani samples at the end of a piece that had a fff timpani solo, and they sounded terrible even though they were excellent quality in general. So I got an old Roland S-50 sample floppy disc I had lying around the studio - it was not even multi-sample! - that happened to be an fff that sounded extremely "savage" and was perfect. Fortunately there were only two notes in the solo, so the stretching was not a problem.


Point 3 of this last post is a very good reason, because it's true you get a more "intimate" view of the music than any other kind of score study. The only thing better is orchestral playing or actually conducting it and hearing where all the problems are and how everything is put together. So MIDI is a tremendous learning tool in this sense especially when combined with such detailed samples as VSL.

@William said:

Point 3 of this last post is a very good reason, because it's true you get a more "intimate" view of the music than any other kind of score study. The only thing better is orchestral playing or actually conducting it and hearing where all the problems are and how everything is put together. So MIDI is a tremendous learning tool in this sense especially when combined with such detailed samples as VSL.

This is exactly right. Unless someone knows what an orchestra actually sounds like they will never be able to programme orchestral music successfully, even if they have the best sample library in the world. This is why many composers use orchestrators, as they can get a reasonable result with MIDI that has no chance of sounding good in the real world. Making a "real" orchestration sound good with MIDI is much more difficult, and therefore a very good learning process.

DG

Ok guys, thank you so much for all the help! I have tried to incorporate a little of each suggestion and make the performance more musical/less 'synth' like. I exported a totally dry stereo track recordered in Gigastudio, then imported that stereo mixdown into Cubase SX2 and added IR-1 - Concert Hall to the stereo file. Is this not a good way to add reverb? I have been trying to do the whole thing in Cubase with GVA, but I get horrible loud crackling sounds. Please comment on this one:

http://mvanbebber.myhosting.net/Fanfare%20with%20IR1-03.mp3">http://mvanbebber.myhosting.net/Fanfare%20with%20IR1-03.mp3


thanks,
Mike

Bill, I get your point.

@mvanbebber said:

Ok guys, thank you so much for all the help! I have tried to incorporate a little of each suggestion and make the performance more musical/less 'synth' like. I exported a totally dry stereo track recordered in Gigastudio, then imported that stereo mixdown into Cubase SX2 and added IR-1 - Concert Hall to the stereo file. Is this not a good way to add reverb? I have been trying to do the whole thing in Cubase with GVA, but I get horrible loud crackling sounds. Please comment on this one:

http://mvanbebber.myhosting.net/Fanfare%20with%20IR1-03.mp3">http://mvanbebber.myhosting.net/Fanfare%20with%20IR1-03.mp3


thanks,
Mike

Hey, that is a definite improvement! Though perhaps all the instruments (most noticeably the brass, of course) still seem to be play just too perfectly. Have you exported to a sequncer? Or are did you do the phrasing in Sib (the fact that I have to ask this question now is a good thing)? I find that in my sequencer, if I use the piano roll mode to slightly offset attacks and vary durations randomly, it does wonders for the realism. In real life, you can't expect five players (much less twenty) to attack the note at the exact same moment. So a very tiny time variation can go a long way in terms of getting rid of that computer-generated sound.

~Chris

P.S. Hey, when are you going to e-mail me that file?

@mvanbebber said:

Please comment on this one:

thanks,
Mike

Mike. I'm sorry about this, Have any of us confused you with too much information? [:(]

It's still miles too quick. There is not enough 'length' to the pauses. And the timing in places is all over the shop. The notes are starting at the same time, even though you've edited it. What can you do?

Paul R-
You're right, all the notes start at exactly the same time. I haven't changed that in Cubase - I will now though thanks for reminding me. About the tempo, it's slower now, at mm = 60, the score indicates mm = 52 but my samples will barely sustain long enough to even do it at mm = 60 - any suggestions? When you say 'timing all over the shop' [:)], do you mean incorrect rhythms or just tempo changes that make no sense, or what.
thanks again,
mike

mm= 50 or 52 is the only way to go with this piece. It's just very nervous, tense and hard to listen to at this current tempo. Makes my heart race, instead of putting me in awe.

Evan Evans

@evanevans said:

mm= 50 or 52 is the only way to go with this piece. It's just very nervous, tense and hard to listen to at this current tempo. Makes my heart race, instead of putting me in awe.

Evan Evans

Evan-
I know you think it's too fast, but like I've said before, the samples will not sustain long enough to go any slower. Any suggestions? Especially the perf- legatos will not even come close to sustaining long enough.
thanks,
Mike

Use two tracks per line, if you can afford it -- I know, it's difficult with Sibelius as your tool ... for some of my 'tuned' works, and some vocal realizations, I have used 8-10 tracks per line! Then, you can overlap much more easily, without one 'note-off' cutting off another one.

Hadn't listened to your example before, because the subject seemed too difficult, but will now if I can download it. [EDIT] and did, to the revised version -- it sounds good! But not good enough, I'm afraid, to compare to real. For me, still just a little too fast, too steady, too equal tempered, too much using the same default 'expression curve' for each note of the same length.

No I wasn't jumping to conclusions. The piece is awesome slower. If the legato samples don't last long enough ... take it up with Herb. It's annoying for all of us.

Evan Evans

@mvanbebber said:

Paul R-
You're right, all the notes start at exactly the same time. I haven't changed that in Cubase - I will now though thanks for reminding me. About the tempo, it's slower now, at mm = 60, the score indicates mm = 52 but my samples will barely sustain long enough to even do it at mm = 60 - any suggestions? When you say 'timing all over the shop' [:)], do you mean incorrect rhythms or just tempo changes that make no sense, or what.
thanks again,
mike

I can't hep you on this Mike. I don't have Opus 1 and therefore can't comment as I don't know what I'm dealing with. If you PM me your email address, I will in the next few days, send over an MP3 of Fanfare and you can pick it to bits in your own time. Sorry, I can be of no further help, because it would take an absolute age to go through every aspect of your rendition on this forum. Time problems and all that.

PR

@evanevans said:

No I wasn't jumping to conclusions. The piece is awesome slower. If the legato samples don't last long enough ... take it up with Herb. It's annoying for all of us.

Evan Evans

you know Evan, i think it's normal there are some problems like too short destination notes, legato is a so new concept ... you can't blame VSL for that (the reason = recording time)
so if you think it's annoying just wait for another library with a true legato with longer destination note... or just use a second midi line with long note sus patch