Moseph

Is there supplemental material that we should submit? Track comments, artist bios, etc?

My tracks are both done, and I'm either never doing symphonic metal ever again, or I'm never doing anything but symphonic metal ever again. It's too early to tell which.

Will do. I'll try to have finalized versions for both by then.

Do you have specific things in mind regarding coordination? As far as mix progress goes, The Earth is basically done and I'm finishing up on Last Decisive Battle, which will hopefully be done within a week or so. I can send you current WIPS for both if you want.

Quick question about final WAV delivery -- are the final files I send going to be used as-is or will someone be doing additional tweaking (mastering for level balance across the whole project, etc.)? In other words, should I master for optimum loudness on my own, or should I leave headroom/dynamic range so someone else has more to work with?

A small mixer -- probably whatever inexpensive thing you can find will do, as long as it has the correct inputs and a headphone output. A few examples from quickly trawling Amazon (none of which I've personally used): Rolls MX51S Mini Mix 2 Behringer Xenyx 502 Gemini MM1

Chant notation, which is what this plugin looks like it does, isn't quite the same thing as GSO is looking for. You can achieve the example in the OP just by customizing the note display in Finale. Sibelius can probably do something similar. I doubt you'd even really need to do that for an early music ensemble, as anyone who can read early notation can certainly also read standard notation.

I own a TEControl breath controller and like it. I'd recommend them if you're looking for something on the less expensive side that doesn't require knowing/learning wind instrument fingerings. It needs to be paired with a keyboard, though -- it doesn't have any note input of its own.

Choir pad is the simplest description of it. It's not an uncommon synth sound; most general synth preset banks will have something that resembles it, and you should be able to find tutorials for creating your own version pretty easily if you're so inclined.

Whatever you end up getting, I recommend looking into Sonarworks Reference 3, which is a VST plugin that corrects frequency imbalances for headphone mixing based on your headphone model. I use it with my AKG K702s and like it a lot -- K702s are skewed toward mids and highs, and it evens things out in a way that makes getting balanced mixes noticeably easier. (FWIW, Sonarworks supports the DT 880 Pro and the Sony MDR 7506 but not the Sennheiser HD 569.)

NI's The Finger can do this. If you have a not-ancient version of Komplete, you already have it.

EWQL SO Platinum is recorded in orchestra position in a concert hall, so you should be able to get decent results by simply running it through Spaces without changing the panning. It's dry libraries such as VSL that require more finesse with reverb. Very interesting to revisit my old reverb chain via timaeus's post. My current approach is to match dry sounds to the EWQL Hollywood series with Spat. But for the Hollywood series itself, which is recorded in position with multiple mics like EWQL SO, I basically just run it through Spaces unless I need some sort of special sound.

Some differences between VSL SE and the Kontakt VSL: VSL SE uses real legato -- that is, the transitions between notes have actually been sampled and those samples are triggered when you overlap notes into subsequent notes. Legato based purely on scripting doesn't sound as good. VSL SE has a better/more full-featured sampler interface than what's included in the Kontakt version. It has the ability to do things such as program custom articulations, apply filters, manage crossfade behavior, program articulation selection methods other than keyswitch, and so forth. VSL SE has slightly more articulations if you just look at Vol. 1, and many more articulations if you look at Vol. 1 PLUS. I suggest you use the Kontakt version until you feel limited by it, then look into upgrading.

For convolution, Reverberate 2 ($110) is good.

If you're looking for an approach to understanding/creating this sort of music, there are two big things you'll have to engage with: 1) Orchestration. In order to write orchestra music effectively, you need to understand how all the instruments in the orchestra function. There are various books available on the topic (and the Rimsky-Korsakov book is public domain). If you don't know how to read standard music notation, it would be a good idea to start learning it -- most of the worthwhile instructional material on orchestration makes frequent reference to musical scores. If you already know how to read music, then start studying scores. IMSLP has a ton of stuff available, and you can find recordings of most things either on YouTube or with a Spotify/Napster/etc. subscription. 2) Virtual instruments. You might think that money is the key aspect here, and it is indeed an important aspect, but you also need to understand how to use whatever it is that you buy. Part of this is orchestration knowledge, and part of it is general knowledge about digital music production and sample libraries. In order to create sampled orchestra music, it is important to be familiar with what an actual orchestra sounds like so you have a mental reference point for your work. Listen to orchestras, both recorded and (if possible) live. Think critically about the sounds of the orchestra and have some idea of what any given passage ought to sound like before you attempt to program it with samples. Don't rely on the samples for knowledge of an orchestra's sound; rather, attempt to use the samples to create what you know an orchestra should sound like. You may note that I've left music theory completely out of this list. This is because it's entirely possible to compose orchestral music with no more knowledge of music theory than it takes to write a pop song. If you want to write like Brahms or Williams, yeah, you'll need to know some music theory, but the examples you've linked really aren't all that complicated from a theoretical perspective.

Sounds like it could be an issue with the polyphony limit. At the top of a Kontakt instrument, there's a field that says Voices: [a number] Max: [another number]. The Max value is adjustable and controls how many samples can be sustained at the same time before Kontakt starts cutting them off. Try setting Max a lot higher for Virtual Drumline and see if that affects anything. Additionally, you could try doing a real-time render rather than an offline render. It won't fix the root of the problem, but I'm guessing that it will at least give you unglitched output.

I'm in the process of switching to Reaper after using Sonar for 8+ years because Reaper is far more scriptable. As far as just starting out goes, the only real limiting factor with Reaper will be that it doesn't come with a bunch of bundled instruments/effects like a lot of other DAWs do. Whether this is important is up to you. Regardless, as you acquire your own instruments and effects you'll likely start to move away from bundled stuff even if you have it, since it tends not to be as high-end/top-dollar/specialized as stuff you buy separately.

Before I moved them to SSD, the EWQL Hollywood libraries -- if I used four mic positions at once -- couldn't stream from disk fast enough for an offline bounce. I'd have to do a realtime bounce and actually listen to the playback to make sure there weren't audio glitches.

You might try double-tracking each rhythm part. Hard pan the doubled tracks as normal, but then reduce the level on one of them so you get the feeling of being panned left or right while retaining the fullness that double-tracking gives you. Adjust the balance between the doubled tracks so that when you switch which guitar is playing rhythm, the perceived panning changes enough to be noticeable but not enough to be distracting.

Yes, this is correct. Gold has only one mic position. I believe it's the main mics for strings and brass and the mid mics for woodwinds. Not sure about percussion.

The precise number of ticks (the smallest possible time units) in a note can be adjusted in the note's properties. Check your project settings under Time division and it will tell you the number of ticks per quarter note in the Timebase (PPQ) field. Once you know this number, you just need to do the math to figure out how many ticks should be in each note and adjust the notes to that length. So for example, if PPQ is 96, a measure-long 11-let in 4/4 would have notes that are 35 ticks long (96*4/11).

Subbed at 11:59 pm (CT). Had so many problems with Sonar, Kontakt, and audio drivers that I about gave up. But I did manage to use both of my kazoo libraries, so there's that.

Why don't you think legal action can apply? That seems to me to be the most straightforward way to approach it. Pay a lawyer to write them a letter explaining that it's illegal to use the music, and if they then release the game with the music still in it, sue them. Beyond that, if the publisher understands the situation and acknowledges that there is possibly copyright infringement going on in the music, it seems unlikely to me that they'll let the game get released with the music in it. They won't want the potential legal headache.

If you plan to study composition at a university level, your prospects will be better if you have good grades. Most music programs will also require proficiency on a musical instrument, and learning anything you can right now about music theory will be beneficial as well, because a lot of new college students get blindsided by the music theory classes. Professionally, though, no one cares about about a composer's grades (unless maybe you intend to teach). That said, if you do intend to do university-level composition study, school will likely to be the last time in your life that you will be able to focus on such a wide variety of music topics in depth and all at the same time, so you should make the most of it -- it will be your knowledge itself and not the degree that serves you as a composer. Piano skills, music theory, applied composition lessons, and tech-related subjects (recording, Finale/Sibelius, DAWs, etc.) will probably the most important areas of study.

If you're thinking of getting Session Horns, be aware that the non-Pro version doesn't have solo instruments -- it uses an ensemble set up where the instruments that play are determined by the range you play in. Great for fast sketching, not great for detailed arrangements.