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  4. A walkthrough of a cello concerto

  • A walkthrough of a cello concerto

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    I put together a little "walkthrough" of my workflow between Finale and Cubase as I put together this concerto. Please feel free to share it with those that you think might find some value in it. And, yes, it's very long (40 minutes!) I wanted it to take 5...sigh 😞

    Walkthrough of Cello Concerto

    Cheers!

    Dave
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    I strongly ecourage anyone who is contemplating getting into the world of composition using VSL instruments (or really, any type of virtual orchestra) to watch this video. It is the clearest, most straight-forward description of the work involved in creating lifelike MIDI renditions of this type of music that I have seen. Great work, Dave!
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    The composition and performance are absolutely amazing.

    So is the acompaning video.
     
    I like that the mix is not drowned in reverb, but keeps a very natural direct sound.

    Thanks for sharing this!

    Great work!

    Best regards
    Stefan
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    Absolutely excellent. Should be compulsory viewing form anyone startng to work with midi and sample libraries.

    Thanks for sharing.

    Kanon
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    Thanks, Dave, for giving us an insight in your workflow. Good explanation how you work. (By the way, I thought you were using Dorico, but here it is obvious Finale :) ). Nice to see also, that you and Becky are a good team also in this aspect. And composing so fast for me is amazing, I have to say. Indeed, a lot of time goes in a good rendition.
    I'm also glad, that you did go on with composing, despite moments of some discouragement. (Of course I noticed that much earlier). A week ago I saw an interview with Pierre Boulez. He told, that if he wasn't able to conduct any longer, of course that shouldn't be nice, but, well, for him it should be possible to live with that (he assured that he really liked conducting). But when he was no longer allowed to compose, that should be impossible for him. I can imagine it is the same for you. Am I right? So, keep up the good work!!
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    Thank you to all, for such uplifting words of encouragement!  When I started out, I recall the work of Beat Kaufmann helping me get started in what is an overwhelming new journey.  I'm happy to be able to help even just one person with what I've been able to figure out over the years (with, of course, endless learning still to come!)

    Thank you, Tom, Stefan, Kanon, and MMKA!  

    MMKA, to address your comments:  Becky is using Dorico right now to finalize scores, but I'm still using Finale for note entry.  There never seems to be enough time to learn new software when endless compositions need tending to.  Thank you for your kind thoughts re. composing.  I'll admit to being susceptible to "mean criticism" (as opposed to constructive criticism), which some fellow composers have hurled my way over the years, but am glad for the friendly community here that is helpful and supportive.

    Interesting info re. Boulez. I'd say that I'm a reluctant composer...I love every aspect of the creativity and process...not so much the struggle to survive in a society that doesn't value our work.

    Cheers!

    Dave
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    Agree with all those positive comments! It is some amazing programming of the cello, and a really fine composition.  
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    Thanks, William!  How is "Remember Tomorrow" coming along?

    Dave
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    Thanks for asking Dave!  I have it about finished though am discovering large errors in the printed score which ended up being 84 pages long after doing 30 pages of orchestrations of the old synthesizer cues.   I think correcting music scores has got to be the most difficult typo-searching a person can do.  But you know all about that...
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    Hi Dave,

    finally had a chance to go through your video. It was very interesting to learn about your workflow. I do not use cubase but I do write directly in Sibelius and also use that for the playback, despite being advised against that by many here. Part of the reason is my laziness....looking at your video its quite clear how much work it requires to make music using DAW.

    One question: it seems you are taking the midi file from Finale into Cubase. But if you include the key switches in the midi file wont that cut down the work overload in Cubase? you would then have to only worry about adding the dynamics and tempo. But I am not sure if there are VSL soundsets for Finale. 

    Anyways Thanks for posting this, will sure be helpful when I eventually move to using DAW and stop behaving like an amateur:)

    Best

    Anand
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    Thanks for checking it out, Anand.

    I don't bother with playback in Finale, except using built-in Garritan sounds.  As such, there is no link between VSL instruments and my Finale set-up.  I much prefer to enter keyswitches from scratch in Cubase, sometimes informed by the articulations I already wrote in the score, other times, I'll change these in the DAW if I think something else works better (and then go back and reflect those changes in the score later).  It's more work/time consuming, but c'est la vie 😊

    Dave

    @agitato said:

    Hi Dave,

    finally had a chance to go through your video. It was very interesting to learn about your workflow. I do not use cubase but I do write directly in Sibelius and also use that for the playback, despite being advised against that by many here. Part of the reason is my laziness....looking at your video its quite clear how much work it requires to make music using DAW.

    One question: it seems you are taking the midi file from Finale into Cubase. But if you include the key switches in the midi file wont that cut down the work overload in Cubase? you would then have to only worry about adding the dynamics and tempo. But I am not sure if there are VSL soundsets for Finale. 

    Anyways Thanks for posting this, will sure be helpful when I eventually move to using DAW and stop behaving like an amateur😊

    Best

    Anand
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    Hi Dave,

    Indeed an amazing screencast with very clear insight in your workflow and composing skills.

    I recognize everything, since I work pretty much the same way, except that I'm a lousy pianist and I have to enter most of the score manually. (Which can be an advantage sometimes, since strings don't actually behave like a percussive piano, but you are certainly aware of that. I play the 'button' accordion and don't have te piano keyboard feel like you do...) And the composing/midi programming ratio is correct: relatively short composing time, eternal programming and tweaking time 😠 - a most tedious job, but with a final rewarding result. A job we have to do, like you mentioned, if we ever want to be heard at all.

    Congratulations with the video AND with the very fine, but demanding concerto!

    Jos

     
     
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