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  4. VSL in pop/rock-songs

  • VSL in pop/rock-songs

    H
    H
    Does somebody use VSL in pop or rock songs?
    Is it usefull? How do you make it sounds more powerfull and less classical?
    Any tricks?
    Are there user demos with pop songs?

    Heimi
  • A
    A
    I don't. But you wouldn't need to add much or ANY reverb. That makes it sound powerful but maybe to up front which may not fit.

    The vsl samples are useful with and for everything. It depends on who is using and composing with the samples.
  • F
    F
    I'm working on a solo project right now with a mix of stuff, the common thread being VSL strings. I'm going for a contemporary sound with a mix of jazz, pop, and orchestral colors...and string arrangments which, while hopefully sounding original, achieve the lushness and function done so superbly by two of my contemporary orchestration influences, Nelson Riddle and Claus Ogerman. They're not straight-up pop songs, per se, but they're certainly not classical in any sense.

    So far, everything I've heard I've been able to create with VSL...and some of the samples have inspired me to go for some stuff I might not have tried otherwise.

    That's about all I could ask for.

    Fred Story
  • Beat KaufmannB
    Beat KaufmannB
    last edited
    last edited

    @Heimi said:


    Are there user demos with pop songs?
    Heimi

    Hoi Heimi
    ...but near pop
    http://www2.vsl.co.at/static/horizon_demos/player_ho_chamber8.html
    Go to the middle of the song...

    ...not pop, not rock but VSL
    http://homepage.hispeed.ch/beat.kaufmann/downloads/bksousaexcerptsvsl04.mp3
    And in swiss-german:
    Was machsch du för VSL-musig?
    S'würd mi freue öppis z'ghööre vo der!

    Beat Kaufmann
    - Tips & Tricks while using Samples of VSL.. see at: https://www.beat-kaufmann.com/vitutorials/ - Tutorial "Mixing an Orchestra": https://www.beat-kaufmann.com/mixing-an-orchestra/
  • M
    M
    Hi Heimi,

    I did some PoP-Rock arrangements with the VSL samples, which is one of the best libraries I've ever heard in my life - in conjunction with any style of music. [:)]
    All demos are made on a Dual G4 1,25 GHz with 2 GB RAM installed and/or on a PowerBook G4 with 512 MB of RAM.
    Please understand that the mix of all these songs is still "WIP", because I can't afford expensive studio monitors at the moment. That's why most of these songs were mixed on M-Audio loudspeakers and a commercial hifi headphone.
    [:(]
    The only song which was conceived as a pop song is "The Hour of TRUTH" (The last entry on the site called "Truth.mp3). Don't be afraid - the beginning is very classical but after adding some modern elements to it ...
    Also "The_conception"!

    Here is the link:
    http://homepage.mac.com/the_maestro2k/FileSharing2.html

    90% of all you hear are the VSL orchestral samples.
    The two pieces "Fall after the Rise" and "Free" contain some portions of the VSL Demo DVD. The remaining stuff was fully done with VSL samples.
    I'm currently working on a new song which includes some sort of "bondish" sounds at the beginning - also with many electronic elements. Maybe I can finalize it until the end of the week - depends on my job.

    All the best,
    Hans-Peter
  • D
    D
    Heimi,

    Heres an example of VSL in a Pop/Hip Hop song..... Carefull though, it's not mixed correctly yet and the beat in Bangin'!

    http://www.cratewatchers.com/new/BreakEmOffScottStorkStyleTest.mp3

    -Ben
  • C
    C
    basicaly everything posted on my website is vsl intensive, and I have VSL in every pop-style song on the sight. Unfortunatly I only have opus 1, and I have 0 training in mixing/postpro, I was trained as a composer, but I've been doing this as an "amatuer" for about 10 years.

    But the way I see it, if someone like me can make use of it in pop-songs, then you'll probably have no problems ^^

    "Leaving" is probably a good one to listen too, as I focused pretty heavily on vsl strings in that one.

    http://www.cmpsr2000.com
  • DietzD
    VSL Team
    DietzD
    We have a nice little project going on in this respect with a promising young pop-project here in Vienna. Stay tuned for some nice examples in the next few weeks.

    /Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Library
    /Dietz - Vienna Symphonic Library
  • G
    G
    This link will bring you to a track that i finished about 6 months ago... Only the instrumental is posted so that you could get a good feel for how the VSL is mixing with the other elements in the track. It was by an artist in the vain of Enrique Iglesias or Marc Antony.

    Only the guitars were recorded live, everything else is either VSL or other soft synths etc. VSL sounds used were Strings, Horns, and percussion elements. Hope this helps!! Let me know what you think.

    Peace,
    Graham

    http://www.volume8musik.com/vsltest.html">http://www.volume8musik.com/vsltest.html
  • N
    N
    Musicmaster - hijacking the thread - what PowerBook did you use, and can you give me an idea of the performance you get out of it?

    (I need to keep a G4 for Pro Tools when I move to a G5 next month, and I'm considering selling my dual gig G4 and G4/500 PowerBook in favor of a newer PowerBook that can hold 2GB of RAM. Nobody seems to have an idea of the performance I can expect relative to the G4.)
  • M
    M
    Hi Nick,

    Sorry for my late response, but I haven't visited the forum for some long time.
    I did some of these pieces on a PowerBook G4 500 MHz with 512 MB RAM installed.
    I can only assure you to move to the G5. From my point of view it's the best computer you can currently find on the market. Especially since I've found a way how to overcome OS X's 3.5 GB (physical or virtual) RAM limit. I really have to say that it's unbelieveable how this machine performs. I have now 6.5 GB RAM installed and I'm running a really big orchestral template in which nearly every major articulation of all VSL (and other libraries) instruments are loaded. Only Logic 7 seems to loose some midi connections within the AudioInstruments. Hopefully this bug will be fixed after releasing the Logic 7 update next week in San Francisco.

    Regarding PowerBooks ... Maybe it's too late to give you the following advice: It seems that Apple and IBM are working together on a dual-core G4 processor which will be used in upcoming PowerBook laptops. To have nearly the same power like on a dual-cpu system on a mobile computer seems to be very thrilling ... at least for me.

    All the best,
    Hans-Peter
  • N
    N
    Vielen Danke, HP.

    I wonder whether that dual-core PowerBook will run Pro Tools MIX, i.e. whether it will have a different PCMCIA card "architecture." But it's encouraging that you're able to work on a PowerBook similar to mine. I guess I should try putting Logic on it.

    And how are you getting around the G5 RAM limit? A second instance of Logic?
  • M
    M
    Hi Nick,

    Funny, most people also call me H.P. - in english articulation [:)]

    I don't think that these new PowerBooks will have a different PCMCIA architecture; simply because this interface has been a standard abouth roughly 7 years. Also dealing with a new kind of interface protocol standard would cause problems in selling one of those PBs. I mean: Would you buy a Mac if there was no software (music apps and so on) available? I'm sure not. So I guess this would be the same situation as changing hardware protocols.

    The G5 RAM limit: Unfortunately it's not possible to open a second instance of Logic 7, but it seems to work with Logic 6. However, my approach is a little different. For that I use Rax - a virtual rack. Needless to say that you won't be able to use EXS-24 in that app, BUT it is possible to convert the presets and load it into e.g. Kontakt. In my case I load patches from other libraries together with VSL SoloWoodwinds and Brass into Kontakt.
    8 channel audio is sent to Logics inputs; Midi-Ports are done with MidiPipe.
    The best: You can open as much Rax instances as you want to - only limited by RAM. I haven't experienced any great lose in performance ... The G5 is simply fast enough. [:)]

    Hope this helps!

    Best regards from Austria,
    Hans-Peter
  • N
    N
    Thanks again.

    Re: the PCMCIA slot, I'd normally assume you're right that there's no point in changing it if they hadn't changed the PCI slot architecture on G5s - and not just for PCI-X and different voltages, but all but the 1.8s have a new architecture.

    What that means is that Pro Tools MIX hardware won't work on G5s, since Digidesign abandoned development on it. You can't even use it in an expansion chassis on a G5 - they changed it.

    So if I'm going to run PT MIX on a PowerBook, it has to be one that can run PT MIX in my PowerBook expansion chassis.
  • N
    N
    And that's strange that you can't open two Logic 7s!

    Best regards from Los Angeles. [:)]
  • M
    M
    Can you open two Logic 7s?
  • M
    M
    It seems VSL is really the best choice for all purposes. For example Pip Williams (the arranger of the orchestra tracks from Nightwish) - genious between - also uses the VSL.
    [:D]
  • T
    T
    Hi

    I bought VSL Chamber Strings 2 months ago for use in my Pop music. They sound great there.
    Don't know if I'll ever need all these expressions for what I'm doing but it's better to have too much choice than not enough. [:)]

    Here is a link to a song part with my first test ride.


    http://www.winksbbs.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1069.0;id=182


    tele