@Errikos said:
I agree that many a successful film scorer today couldn't write their own name on the staff, however they are only successful financially (and maybe that's enough for a lot of people). Their music is, and will always be execrable.
I am also not averring that solely music readers can be composers. I believe Vangelis for example to be brilliant and charismatic. To be an 'orchestral composer' on the other hand is a very different matter. I can grudgingly accept the piano-roll and expression maps as a different form of notation by which to tabulate original orchestral thought, but presets?!
Mike, you hit on a point that had never occurred to me before in relation to all this. These preset-junkies will NEVER experience the ecstasy of real composition, i.e. the genesis of a work inside one's own head. For me that is probably the most enjoyable part of the whole process; the epiphany and the rush are incomparable, aren't they? Putting everything down on paper is manual labour to me. Sure I'll considerably tinker with the material at that stage as well, but I wish there was technology available to just "bluetooth" music off my head and into Sibelius.
Plus, I don't believe that suddenly we are surrounded by countless musical gods who need not study what the masters before them have achieved and are magically able to churn out great music. Thousands of them. Do you know why they'll spend $15,000 on VSL and another $15,000 on hardware and more software, but not another $2-3,000 on proper music instruction? Of course you do, you said it yourself: Harmony and counterpoint are hard. Pressing middle-C to pirate other people's musical thoughts and then glueing them together in a DAW, well...
I did not mean to say that people who use or take easier routes are any less of a composer, I meant to say, start somewhere but dont stop. If you know nothing of music, start with more accessible tools. Arguably, VSL and some sort of DAW / notation software may not be the best starting point..
To expound on study, expand your horizons. There is a reason we still use much of what the Greeks developed with regards to philosophy and science, in fact, we use the methodology they developed still to this day as the fundamentals in structuring an argument (which, if you think it through, applies to the scientific method). Math is probably an even better example, what we use today came from many different cultures, the concept of the number 0 is widely considered to have come from the Mayans, many concepts used in Algebra from the middle east but may have started as early as the Egyptians in biblical times when the pyramids were being built.
The same is applicable to music. I listen to and study ALL sorts of music genres, with exception to a few that I just cant stand: Polka / Mexican music that sounds similar to polka, most rap, super heavy metal where the lead singer is more yelling with a raspy and unintelligible voice, 'progressive' jazz (the crap that doesnt sound like music, it just sounds like people playing whatever the hell they want with no sort of rhythm or tonal structure - akin to 'artists' who throw random paint on a canvas and call it 'art'). Thats a few genres, might be a few Im forgetting, but you get the idea.
The absolute two best technical singers today? David Phelps and Celine Dione. Regardless of whether you like their music, there is alot to be gained by watching these two sing.
If you want to know who does it best, bringing different cultures of music together to create emotion and inspiration to me, its Yanni. While Im not a big fan of his objectification of women during his early work, the music itself is inspiring, moving, emotion, and impactful.
I am absolutely terrible with composition. Just freaking awful. Ideas come slow and it takes even longer to get my idea in some semblance of tones that give a small glimpse of the tones I am hearing in my head. They are by no means complex. However, one of the most beautiful pieces of music, Cannon in D demonstrates that complexity is not required.
Vienna was kind enough to give me a demo of their Special Edition library. Ive opened it once in the two weeks Ive had it because I found 10 minutes last week sometime to fiddle with it for a bit. Maybe the lack of time in my schedule has something to do with ideas coming slow.
The complexity of this stuff is beyond me sometimes and I consider myself computer saavy. In fact, Ill throw this out there, Im considering buying Instruments Pro, not because of any of the features it has but simply because it has a piano roll sheet built into it; where everything is integrated and would make getting my ideas 'on paper' that much easier.
I say all of this to go back to my original point, these are all tools. If you have no experience with sheet music, orchestral instruments, or fundamental music theory, VSL is not the best place to start. Fruity Loops or some tool that will teach the fundamental basics of how music works, what a measure is, what a phrase is, how to structure a melody to chords, etc. might be a good place to start.
All I am saying is, dont stop there. This isnt to say that these tools are necessarily bad, its to say, these should be stepping stones. I would argue that Vienna is near top of the line but with that comes more work.
If however you have some basic understanding of music theory and the different instruments in an orchestra, their range, and an understanding of how they can be played (ie. articulations), VSL is a good place to start.
However, one might argue that VSL is overly complex for just getting an idea on paper.
For me personally, I write on a Motif XF and a Kronos. Not because the sounds are particularly good in the boards by todays standards, but because they are easy to quickly get an idea from my head into an audible form. Sometimes, the technology needs to get out of the way and I feel like for me, soundfonts are just a bit too complex to get everything working how it should. If only I could write a composition as quickly as the cinesample guy does it, hell, I cant even figure out how to get my DAW to record a midi channel with a soundfont while playing back a different soundfont I previously recorded. Mostly, I have too much Calculus and Physics to work on to have the time fiddling with computer stuff to get it working.
So, in the meantime, Im just buying the Special Edition collection (I have Core 1,2 and 4 and will buy 3 next week and complete the plus collections by early next year) and maybe a MirX pack with Instruments Pro so that when I do have the time, Ill have something to work with. Thinking about buying Cubase (currently using Reaper) as well.
Bottom line is this, create more, consume less.