dannthr

What you need to keep in mind is that fundamnetally, Kontakt is a software sampler. Yes, it comes with an extensive and growing factory library, but that library alone is not the only reason to get Kontakt, in fact the best sounding Kontakt libraries (aside from the stuff Scarbee puts out) are not published by Native Instruments at all but rather by 3rd party developers who explore the depths of sound and sample reproduction and truly exploit the technology while utilizing top-notch sampling methods. Having Kontakt means you have access to this breadth of sampled instruments that can take your MIDI orchestrations to the next level. While a lot can be done with the factory library, it is not the choice of the professional mock-up artist. With that said, there are a few fundamental aspects to MIDI orchestration that resonate no matter what library you have. 1) No human played note is ever played at the same dynamiic level throughout the note--this means that you need to find some way to control the expressive qualities of the virtual instrument, or to at least force expression into it using some kind of MIDI Continuous Controller assignment. 2) No two human played notes are ever played in exactly the same way--this means that you would benefit from employing some kind of round-robin technique to make sure that repeated notes do not sound identical. This also means that not only making sure that the same sample is not being played consecutively, but that the MIDI orchestrator (you) is not executing the note in an identical fashion (so varying velocity, even if only slightly, varying MIDI CC curves, etc). 3) Humans play notes in a phrase, as if speaking a sentence, which starts at the execution of the first note and plays out without breath until the end where the human takes a breath at the end of the musical phrase--this means that even if no rest is written into the music, a human would take a breath, and as such so should your virtual "performer." Think about the arc of expression as the breath is expelled and consider how that relates to a MIDI CC arc that controls expression across many notes. Finally, to summarize all of this up: If you only think about a human being (What Would a Human Do?) then you will more than likely find a lot of success in creating convincing performances no matter what instrument you employ. When you master these techniques, then your sound can only get better the better recorded your virtual instruments become (as you upgrade your setup over the years). The best way to start out is to engage your analytical listening skills and mock-up a piece with which you're familiar and then compare them directly against one another and adjust your version to match the live recording as closely as possible. Of course this requires you to have extensively explored and understood all the instruments in your palette first.

I'm not sure if you're at the level where you can start customizing this sort of stuff. Using a tracker may end up being an issue for you, I'm not sure how MIDI versatile Renoise is. Again, EWQLSO has a lot of HALL noise built into the samples, I'm not convinced that this is going to bring more life to your tracks--rather I contend that there's a lot of life already in the samples themselves, and when you get far enough along, you'll realize that this can actually be annoying. What I will say is this: EWQLSO is designed to sound mixed OUT OF THE BOX. It's pre-panned, pre-processed, and generally speaking it can sound quite good with only two skills applied librally: Good writing and good midi execution. Well, not only is it a problem that you don't change up velocities, but that you don't employ EWQLSO's Dynamic CrossFade instruments (that's the dxf or xfd instruments) which allow you to breathe expression and life into your samples to create virtual performances. I would also say that as it is, your writing could use some help. You're not writing for orchestra, you're writing an electronica track with orchestra samples. This is a problem. Not sure about your mix? Not sure about your instrumentation? Not sure about your writing? It's time to engage your analytical listening skills. You should check out the GREAT selection of youtube videos posted by the Berliner Philharmoniker (The Berlin Philharmonic) which has an incredibly detailed sound due to their fairly advanced mic arrangement and some great live mixing--here's their youtube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/BerlinPhil Your goal should be to mimic the sound of real live instruments as closely as possible using every MIDI tool at your disposal, and if it's EWQLSO, then your tools are going to be MIDI Velocity, MIDI Pitch wheel, MIDI CC1, MIDI CC11, MIDI CC7 mostly. If you don't know what a MIDI CC is, that's a problem--educate yourself in your DAW. Here's a good sounding mix: http://www.youtube.com/user/BerlinPhil#p/u/8/Yj-4ew4p8pE As far as writing goes, that will be a life-long journey if you're up to it. Here's a good piece to listen/analyze throughout that journey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZtsUzpRtm4 Good luck and if you want to chat more about this, you can PM me your AIM. Cheers, - Dan

There are many options of all different kinds, but Biznut has not described exactly WHAT kind of music s/he wants to make.

I would go with Komplete 8 Regular and then save my 500 bucks on 3rd party Kontakt only sample libraries.

It's an odd question. EQ, Levels, and Panning are the fundamental elements of mixing, compression, reverb, limiting, harmonic enhancement, etc, etc are all effects and are all considerations when mixing. What's best is to make them sound like they belong, that they live and breathe in a real environment, a real space--for virtual instruments, that means making sure that the sound matches that of the other elements in the mix, it means making sure that they stand out when they need to and sit back when they don't, it means making sure that the strings are appropriate. Mixing is an exercise in conforming.

When aspiring to realism you must directly reference a real performance and mix. Try mocking-up a composition of which you're familiar with a live recorded version and see how closely you can use MIDI Controls (Velocity, Modulation, Expression, Volume) to emulate that performance with your own virtual instruments.

LASS is in my template as well. But be warned, it is a very raw sounding library and can easily be poorly mixed. The entire production chain from concept: writing, harmonic voicing, to samples: scripting, MIDI programming, to engineering: mixing, mastering is a vital piece of the puzzle that makes a mock-up sound realistic. No piece can be over looked.

No offense, but it's called the Special Olympics for a reason. For an engineer, having the use of only one ear is a very real disability and you will not be 100% effective nor be able to truly keep up with engineers with the use of both their ears. In fact, I consider myself as slightly ineffective as an engineer for the mere fact that I know I have ear damage at 16khz and up, I can barely hear noise above 16khz, and that is a VERY REAL problem when mixing/mastering. That doesn't mean you can't be an effective musician, composer, performer, etc. Just not a professional engineer. Which brings up another important topic--ear care. Some things are unavoidable, but most people don't take good enough care of their ears. I don't know the circumstances surrounding the loss of use of your ear, so I wouldn't accuse you of damaging your own ear in some way, but for everyone else reading, curious, becareful. Your ears are important. I no longer go to loud concerts or shows without attenuating ear plugs, I take breaks during long sessions, sometimes of an hour or more, if I feel fatigue setting in I will stop all together or find some way to under-use my ears for a while. I've already lost some of my top end frequency range and I do not want to lose anymore.

I think the goal is counter-intuitive. The majority of music I hear in JRPGs does not sound live (nor alive).

Realism in VIs is about programming. Programming not merely automation, which is important, but also articulation. Realism with samples is about blending together several articulations or patches to create a total performance. It is about employing automation with not just volume curves, but using patches that respond to dynamic cross-fading using MIDI CC1. A trombone sounds warm and round at lower dynamic levels (p, mp) and sounds forceful, aggressive, and even flat and farty at higher dynamic levels (mf, f, ff+). A realistic phrase with a Trombone requires you to employ a greater range of dynamic performance than what CC7 or Volume does. You need to use Modulation or MIDI CC1 and patches in EWQLSO that respond to MIDI CC1 are the XFD and DXF patches. When notes in a phrase are short, switching from a long, sustained patch to a short staccato patch can be more appropriate sounding. To program realistic VI performances, you must THINK like a player and IMAGINE what a player is doing, what a player CAN and CAN NOT do. Feeling and emotion in creation requires feeling that emotion and articulating that feeling through music. If there is music that MAKES you feel that emotion, then that is how your brain associates that feeling to music and that is what will work for you--to make you feel something. If your brain does not associate feeling and music, then you probably will not be able to effectively articulate feeling in music. Critical listening is the only effective way to engage these two concepts--feeling and realism--otherwise you will be relegated to trial and error which will take a long, long time. The reason being that most of what makes feeling and realism possible in VI programming can not be easily quantified.

Really great work! Good sound, good playing, etc. What I didn't like as much was more of an arrangement issue overall, the medley would go through the same pacing for just about every piece, four bars here, change-up, four more bars, etc. I'd like to see your arrangement to equal your playing in sophistication and I just really want you guys to take off with your playing and go into exploration. The source material is really simple, so there's lots of room for exploration. Otherwise, a pleasure to listen to, so good work!

Hey Karthick, I had some difficulty loading your mp3 player in IE9 through your page's embedding. I ended up having to load the swf file individually in order to hear your tracks. Cool jive. I have a violin guy I already go to, but he gets quite busy, and I will definitely keep you on file if I need someone. I assume you can read music?

Dude... No, don't post your game on the Internet so publicly if you're really nervous about theft. You mention prosecution, I'm assuming you have access to a lawyer, if that's true, there's no way a lawyer would have recommended this way of presenting your secret game. Instead, do not post your game for free download. Post your desire for some composers, and then have interested composers sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement, and then feel more comfortable sharing your assets. Not like this, you have no way of knowing who is viewing this topic, nor who is downloading your game, no way to track them, no control over any aspects of distribution. Take it down, man, and do it right. PM me if you need help with non-disclosure agreements.

This is not about a dream. The problem is when you allow people to exploit you in this manner, you set a precident that it is OKAY, when it's not. You also teach them that when they want to, they will be able to request developed assets for free--anytime, without consideration for the creators. This devalues our efforts as musicians, composers, sound designers, audio engineers, etc. It cheapens the playing field. That Parasite is a composer himself only demonstrates how out of wack the Game Audio Industry on the Indie level really is--it's baffling! I will say this again as I've said it many times before: There is NO good reason for offering NOTHING to the winner. If a company uses YOUR CREATIVE WORK to make a PROFIT, you should somehow SHARE in that success. There is NO good reason for them to offer NOTHING in recompense. They don't have to offer cash, they could offer a percentage of profits--allowing them the condition that they will only pay when they are successful, and this success, ultimately, whether Parasite wants to admit it or not, is partly because of the winners music. There is NO good reason for them to offer the winner NOTHING. Parasite is getting paid, he is getting paid for his music and sounds, he is getting paid. Is he just getting paid because he has more experience? No, he's getting paid because he's providing assets and there is absolutely NO reason why they would not pay a beginner for great music. And finally, I will repeat this: This game does not constitute "breaking in" the industry. No one will give a shit that you've worked on a small iPhone title as evidenced by the fact that no one has ever given a shit about the work I've done on small iPhone titles. If you're a pro, you do these gigs because you need some side money or because maybe you really like the guys doing the project and you don't take upfront, but you get money on back-end sales percentage. The real difference between a pro and an amateur is really just two things: Attitude - A pro knows their limitations like a professional runner knows how far and long they can run, what their performance is like when they push themselves. A pro can produce when inspiration has left him or her for the project. He or she will rely upon a tool-box of tricks that offers solutions where inspiration has left but deadlines approach. They get it done and produce quality product. A pro takes responsibility for their product. An Amateur would want to take it slow, spending months or more on a single piece of music and not realizing their own limitations when setting milestones. Experience - A pro can recognize potential pit-falls, they can plan a project from the start because they've done it before. They understand how the final vision is pieced together, and know the path it takes to reach it, even when that final product is something that has never really been done before. They can manage that effort over sustained periods. Neither of these things requires you to have been paid for your music, if you want to work on an iPhone game there's about a hundred thousand in development right now that is looking for a partner who is willing to take on the responsibility of audio and more than willing to share in the product's potential success through back-end payments on sales. You don't need to GIVE it away--that is the most sure-fire way to ensure you do not get paid to create music. Don't give your music away for free. I have never done this, no one I know has ever HAD to do this, there is NO REASON to do this. I encourage EVERYONE here who is interested in a professional career in games to create music for this contest that you do NOT submit. These sorts of challenges are a GREAT way to test those two professional qualities I just mentioned. Create music for a zoo game, create it before a deadline, but then keep the music, use it in your portfolio as an example of how creative and professional you sound so you can get PAID work. If you guys are interested, I will create a series of professional challenges that you guys can tackle for your own portfolio.

Hey Parasite, First I'd like to say thank you for thinking of the OCRemix community as a potential source for some great original game music. The people here are enthusiastic about game music and it's great to see the wealth of talent and passion recognized by the greater game industry. With that said, and coming from someone who actually works in games, I would like to warn my fellow OCRemixers from this contest. Firstly, do NOT be fooled into thinking that a company such as this does not have any money and that they are groovy folks seeking some hip volunteer musicians for their garage-style game project. They are a business. "Freemium" apps are an incredibly lucrative sales model for games--a VERY recent analysis of over 90,000 apps for sale reveals that Freemium games actually control a majority of the revenue share: http://blog.flurry.com/?Tag=Freemium Now, that's not at all to say that the folks at Fluffy Logic aren't groovy, they may very well be extremely groovy. However, they are also a business and are creating a game with the intention of it becoming a revenue success and a source of income. When you see a contest like this, it is essentially a business requesting FREE content which they will use in their product to make money. If you win this contest, you will be providing the means by which they entertain customers. Why are they making this request? Well, they will say that they are offering up-and-coming artists an "opportunity" to break in to the industry. I can tell you that getting your name on a game like this will not facilitate such a break-in. I won't ask people to try to recall the name of the Farmville composer without looking it up, but I can tell you he doesn't work in games a lot (wonderful composer and musician that he is). 3 minutes of loopable music contracted from a game composer in the United States would generally run Fluffy Logic around 1500-3500 USD (or less if they offered back-end revenue). This, combined with the fact that you had never heard of the game UrZoo until this contest (providing the game with a unique promotion) is essentially why they are holding this contest. In short, what I am trying to convey to my OCRemix brothers and sisters is this: This contest is exploitation unless they offer either a cash prize OR a percentage of back-end revenue (which they probably won't because they expect revenue to far exceed the value of a cash prize). Either way, neither here nor their site expresses such a prize/award. Freemium does not mean they won't make money, they are trying to make money, and they are hoping they can get a hungry, eager composer to give them quality content which they can then use to make THEMSELVES more money.

RA is a survey library, Silk is focused. RA has many different sounds and instruments, but the sampling philosophy was fairly shallow. Superficially designed with quantity over substance. Many instruments use pitch stretching or whole-tone sampling, and the articulations are fairly limited if non-existent. Silk is focused on three specific regions and only contains a few instruments each. The instruments are more deeply sampled with real legato and many expressive articulations. There are no drums in Silk. So it's all about what you want--if you want focused, deeply expressive samples, then Silk is your library--if you want many different and varied instruments, then RA is your library.

More than likely, the expensive licensing costs to encode in the Kontakt Player platform was not worth the added benefit of protection and the added benefit of additional non-Kontakt-using customers--especially when such benefit is overall fairly dubious to begin with.

My guess is there will be an upgrade path for existing owners of EP1.

If you have solid converters and are recording/working in 24-bit, then you don't need to max out the input, in fact, you can and probably should leave about 6dB of headroom. If you're recording in 16-bit, then get it as hot as possible without clipping, but in 24-bit, there's really no reason to get anywhere near risking clipping. You get so much more dynamic range, your signal to noise ratio is so much broader, that you don't need to walk the line, so to speak.

Looks like Requiem Light is going to make a come back on SoundIron.

Good tip, Snappleman!

I don't think that's ever been the case, ever. We're talking functionality from hardware. What you CAN do is in the TRANSPORT window set up your cycle record properties. You should be able to select parameters which will allow cubase to create a NEW track each time you record with CYCLE on--each pass it will create a new track. You can also have it create sub-lanes/tracks much like PLAYLIST record in PROTOOLS, which I find really helpful for subsequent takes. However, you can't hear what has been recorded in sub-tracks previously while recording the new take, but you might be able to make it so you can hear your previous tracks while you record. Worst case scenario, you merely move to a new track each take and record each pass on a fresh track allowing you to hear other wave files or MIDI/Instrument tracks.

Hey, Cubase's internal audio routing is a little different. The first thing you want to realize is there is a track for EVERYTHING in cubase. Almost to a ridiculous degree. You know that saying "there's an app for that?" well in cubase, "there's a track for that" is probably what you'll find yourself saying more often than not. However, Side-Chaining works a bit differently. In the mixer, you will find the SIDE CHAIN button on the channel strip itself, this will enable side-chaining signals. Unfortunately, I'm not in front of a cubase right now or I'd take a screenshot or something.

Yes, for orchestral development, please study scores: http://www.imslp.org/wiki/

I'm not talking about the mix or balance, I'm talking about replacing one instrument group for another.