GarretGraves

Well ya do a good job of it! Thanks!

http://soundcloud.com/soleparadigm/tr-strings-excerpt-2 That does make a difference. Thanks for that! I layered the spiccato samples of the staccato ones but only on the pulses of the rhythm and not every bow. So on the 1 beat and the 4 beat. (Im in 6/8 time I think) I think it's almost ready. EDIT: Oh! And I finally get what you meant about being stuck in fortissimo. The first note the strings bow is one long bowing motion. So as the bowing continues, the velocity tends to drop lower because the violinists are slowing down to keep the note going. But the sound drops to do that. So what I'm doing now in the session I'm in is doing TWO bowings of that first note to keep that note both loud and realistic sounding over the rock track. EDIT2: Like so. http://soundcloud.com/soleparadigm/tr-example I could make the strings track louder. I'm thinking about it. I'll worry about it later though. Point is, this was more of what I meant.

oh i see. such an unnerving process. The goal is to be dynamic but in doing so it seems the strings get weak at certain points and no matter how I adjust the velocity its either too much power or not enough. EDIT: Ok i've messed around with the mod wheel a bit and hopefully to you guys this will sound better cause it does sound more real to me. http://soundcloud.com/soleparadigm/tr-strings-excerpt I really need to listen to more orchestral music. I haven't in a long while.

this is what i was doing before but it came off as not so good. i could try it again. we'll see.

http://soundcloud.com/soleparadigm/tr-strings-demo-4 Ok. I got a hold of SIPS. Put everything into Kontakt and applied to script (one of them anyway) to all the instruments. I replaced the legato instruments with DXF or EXP in their patch title. Messed with the mod wheel and hand adjust some of the mod wheels events to try and humanize. It feels better now. EDIT: But when mixing it with the rock track it feels inconsistant in volume. I have to go over all the sections and make sure they match in volume and velocity. I could automate in PT but that would be a lot of work.

http://soundcloud.com/soleparadigm/tr-strings-demo-3 ok i did as you said and it feels much MUCH better. I adjusted the attack slightly and used EQ on the master filter for the violins and violas to drop some highs and make it sound less harsh. I added double basses but considering there's already a bass playing in the rock track I think it would mud things up. May have to roll off the mud on the strings. all in all though, i feel its a massive improvement. At least...I hope. haha Edit: crap. Even my programmer buddy says it sounds synthetic.

I'm familiar with how dynamics work but applying them correctly seems my problem with EWQLSO. I'm adjusting attack and release and adjusting velocity lines all over. The thing to keep in mind is that these strings have to be mixed with a metal track. So it requires to be loud for most of the track which is why they're being bowed so hard. I'm using FL Studio 9 for MIDI stuff because I find that the MIDI piano rolls in Pro Tools are hard to look at. There is swing that helps with my drum tracks but it doesn't seem to have the same effect with the strings. I'm also googling about kontakt scripts to learn how to apply them.

I know absolutely nothing about Kontakt scripts. I'll have to google it. I'll give it a try. Thanks.

I have Kontakt 4 Stand alone but I'm just inputting EWQLSO without it. Would there be a difference if I did? And I see the RR's you're talking about. I Found them for the Staccatos and they do sound more put together with I adjust the velocity lines. But I don't see any RR's for the legatos. I tried adjusting the velocity lines for them to make them fit better but they seem to lose power if dropped too low and if I go too high it goes back to sounding fake. http://soundcloud.com/soleparadigm/tr-strings-excerpt-2 This is without EQ or verb. It sounds better put together but I feel like I could do a better job.

Is it normal to have something like that? I should also mention I have the old Kompakt version of EWQLSO. I've heard it's mediocre compared to the PLAY version. So if it's suppose to come with notation software, I don't see it here. And the manual says nothing about it. And Round Robin capable samples? Shouldn't they all have that?

Like this? http://soundcloud.com/soleparadigm/tr-strings-excerpt If you meant score as in sheet music I have nothing I can use for that.

Been a while since I've been here. Hope all is well. I've been taking classes for Pro Tools hoping to get certified and even more hopefully getting my degree in sound engineering. I've switched to a new school with less asswipe students but that's another story. Anyway, I turned in this track as one of my final projects for the quarter: http://soundcloud.com/soleparadigm/the-room-instrumental After I turned it in, I got a comment from one BZ Lewis (an emmy award winner 5 times over I think. Owns his own studio in Oakland, CA and has worked with CBS and other). He said my mixing was spot on and that I knew what I was doing (A thanks to Moseph AGAIN for giving me a great demonstration on mixing) However, he said that the only thing wrong with it was that the strings sounded "fake". Particularly at around 1:24 (Pre-chorus if you will) It was his only criticism and it bugged the crap outta me. I've since remixed the strings using velocity lines in FL studio and it does sound better, but I'm still getting the feeling that I'm not properly using the software to it's full potential. And I know this thing can sound fantastic when used right so I know that I'm in need of some pointers. I've been tampering with the different samples EWQLSO provides and my real issue that I'm also now noticing is the switching from legato to staccato in the chorus parts. It does come of as synthetic. I juggled around a bit but I just can't seem to get the strings right. The samples I'm using are: F 11V Keysw Trl C0-E0 for Violin legato F 11v Marc Short for Violin staccato F 10 Vas Keysw C0-F0 for Violas legato C Vas Shrt Mart Up Dn for Violas staccato For the violin staccato parts however I blended both the staccato and legato parts to give them enough power for those parts because they came off as too quiet and unmatching. I googled for a tutorial but came up with nothing. The students at my school have no experience with EWQLSO so I'm turning to you folks. Thoughts? and thanks!

Thanks guys! Yeah I figured my speakers are shit. Headphones too.

i did at a compressor on the master track to kinda glue the mix together. that a bad thing? EDIT: I felt this was an ok thing cause i heard this: http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02217/ Another thing ive noticed is im lacking on the low end. And what sucks is that Pro Tools 9 doesnt seem to have a multiband compressor which was what I normally use to add and subtract frequency on the master track. But im also scared to add any low end cause that was the problem i had with loudness. Too much mud. And when I try to add low end it seems to distort with the limiter in place. and i cant just download a VST because PT9 dont use VSTs and if i wanted to use any i'd have to convert them to RTAS with fxpansion which is like 100 dollars and im out of money at the moment. grrrrrr.

I recently finished this track using a new limiter (Massey's Limiter) which is awesome. But even though Pro Tools doesn't register any clipping, I can hear what sounds like clipping in my computer speakers. So if someone could take a listen for me and see if either I need to re-mix it or if my comp speakers are just shit. http://soundcloud.com/metaldevin/birth-of-a-bounty-hunter Thanks! P.S. Ehhh by the way it's about 11:13 long.

if only i could photoshop.

I've recently started a prog rock project and I'm in need of a logo. I use to know an artist who could help me but his personal life is so jacked up (and annoying to watch. it's a long story) I can't ask anything from him. Name of my project is Sole Paradigm. I chose this name cause 1) it sounds cool. 2) I use the word Sole because I am the sole member (harhar). The word Paradigm means, ": example, pattern; especially : an outstandingly clear or typical example or archetype. Or : a philosophical and theoretical framework of a scientific school or discipline within which theories, laws, and generalizations and the experiments performed in support of them are formulated; broadly : a philosophical or theoretical framework of any kind" With those definitions in mind, I felt it was something a prog rock artist could make good use of. Especially since I'm taking heavily after Dream Theater, King Crimson and Pink Floyd. If anyone knows anyone who could help design a great logo based around anything I've just mentioned I would be most grateful. We can also talk about compensation of course.

It may be more complicated than that. I thought you had to go through some paperwork or something that costs money to scopyright it. I also would like to know how this process is done. I would also like to purchase the CD.

There's a lot of great musicianship here. Only thing i find odd is the amount of limiting kinda gives the track a sort of "pumping" feel. Gives me the same feeling as sticking q-tips in my ears. Not sure if that's normal. Im still getting the ins and outs of mixing myself. Other than that, really awesome stuff!

OCR: NekoFrog, Sixto, Moseph (because he taught me some mixing directly ) n-JeKted have been the biggest for me I think. non-OCR: Dream Theater (HEAVILY as of late), King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, The Beatles, Tool, A Perfect Circle.... you know there's way too many.

that second one seems the best so far. thanks!

That give me a good tick. But I was looking for something more like a pendulum sort of thing. ya know like a grandfather clock or something.

Chances are, they used parametric EQ and maybe delay and/or reverb. Those are the most common used on guitar tracks. At least I think so. It's what I use all the time.

I want a clock's tick tock. I checked findsounds.com and didn't find anything I can use. Any other ideas?

I've planned for a concept album simply by the title alone. Well, that and where I heard the phrase from. But if you and I are thinking of it, chances are many musicians out there have done that. As for where to begin, as a prog rock/metal person, rhythm or melody are almost always the first out the gate. Very rarely does a bass line begin the creative process for me. More often than bass lines I'd start with some weird ambient sound I found while rumaging through FM8's library of stuff. Kind of a pass time for me is going through sound libraries and take notes on which ones I can use. But melody and rhythm are almost always first. Drums tend to follow from there. So an and so forth.