markhansavon

Great tips, neblix, but I don't know about using the phrase "should be". Like, for example, I like my hats lower and my toms a bit higher. And I want my toms to go BAAAAHHH (large decay) so they're like terminator drums. For me, personally, playing has always come before writing. So, I just know how to play drums on my keyboard, and drums in general, and I write what I play. I know it's different for different people, but it's another way of going about it. Whichever is easier and feels best. EDIT: Here's how I personally do it. This setup is made to sound more like it's live. Try it out, it should come out pretty good. [Volume] - [instrument] 100% - Bass Guitar, highly compressed 80% - Drums, I like to put the snare and bass kick high, then the cymbals lower like they're in the background. I actually don't like compressing my drums as much... 45%/45% (or lower) - Guitar 1 and 2, Left and Right, these cover the higher ranges. 55% - Keyboardist.

Nylon Guitar Combi [Requires Sonic Refill: Triple Guitars] MP3 Demo Download [COMING SOON] - Swaps out multi-velocity feel for a round robin feel. - More buzzing - Pre-EQed and Compressed. Just load and play. - As always, meant to be performed with your keyboard.

http://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/337513 This is a live performance (midi) of Naruto - Strong and Strike using Propellerheads Reason 4 + Record with the Sonic Refill Collection (for the drums). Since I don't have the best samples in the world, I tried to make it like it was 4 keyboardists performing a rock song live. Instruments are actually Drums, Bass, Guitar 1, Guitar 2 and ''Keyboardist'' (orchestral hits in this case). I have to say, I already know that there are better samples out there, and I know there are about a million people better than me, so please be nice... Thanks for the listen. I'm going to be honest with you guys, I'm not really looking to improve, I just want a listener or two.

Play the guitar line twice, lower the volume and pan them 50/50, then make the bass higher in volume and super compressed. I don't have the best samples in the world, but I know that rock is based off of live performance, and in a live performance of a rock song the bass is extremely....well it kicks into your body...I guess...how would someone describe it? Uncompress the drums. Make the snare and toms have more reverb than the hi-hats, cymbals and bass kick. The snare might go "PAAAHHHH" (good amount of decay). I don't know if that's what you'd going for, but it does sound great when one does do it.... I know that's not how everyone would design their sound, but that's what I would do. x_x With drums, I would listen to live performance and try to mimic it (not studio sound) because I feel that when making rock it's important to understand where everything comes from. It's not like synths, where you might have the tools at your fingertips that everyone else does.

Rock Template 4.0 MP3 Demo (Youtube) Download - No Real Guitars - Custom drums, round robin x2 or higher on all drums. - Each part, as usual, is performance ready. Just play your keyboard and go. With this one, however, you have to play the guitar tracks multiple times (layering the same part) to get a good sound. Notes: The drums require Reality Drums (Sonic Refills), but if you don't have them you could just add your own.

I'm sorry, but the mp3 samples on the website don't seem to be working for me. Is this just my connection?

Thanks, Slygen, for the reply. (And thanks for the tips on the compression on the drums) EDIT: Actually, I want to, as humbly and respectfully as I can to all musicians and mixers here, add in that the point of this is that it's a template to convert GM Midi files to a higher quality sound than Microsoft's Wavetable SW Synth. So actually...well I guess I could create another topic for this...but if anyone has any tips on how I could recreate the essence of metal rhythm guitar using just one velocity layer patches....it's what I'm looking for right now. So far, after trying all kinds of unconventional techniques, the solution for me has been to use P5 Muted/Chunk guitar samples for the lower spectrum (combined with a compressed bass), and then have a P4 or P5 sustained guitar to hit on and off. Again, I'm not looking to be realistic, or synthy, I'm looking to capture the essence of the original track in a GM Midi template using, more often than not, very unconventional methods.

Oh, definitely, I agree that having fun and following what feels best is always always always the best path. But I think it's important to know specifically what you want, and find a way to practically achieve that. Many, if not most hollywood composers for example don't do the mixing or production work, or sometimes even the arranging/orchestrating of their music. I personally have always wanted to just create really great melodies. So that's where I put all of my effort, and that's what I improved most on. Now, I'm great at making melodies, and I have a lot of fun doing it. I'm also good at arranging, I really enjoy that. But mixing, and production is my personal weakness. I see other people that aren't as fluent at creating melodies, but have more fun focusing on the sound part of things, creating sweeping orchestral fx-like soundtrack music. It's all good, it's all equal. It's just, there really really is a difference between composing (making melody+harmony), arranging/orchestration, and music production (dealing with the sound side of things), and sometimes it seems like a lot of kids growing up wanting to be composers don't know that. For example, I had always wanted to be like Nobuo Uematsu when I was in music training. He, along with so many other composers, doesn't do music production. I always had thought that he did his own orchestrating, doing Liberi Fatali, and the FF9 Plus tracks. It's like storyboarding in drawing. The composers do the outline, and the orchestrators and music producers do the rest.

I've used Play and the iLok before and really had a bad experience with it. So Kontakt doesn't use iLok?

Thanks. I've created a bunch of rock sounds that I plan on releasing sometime soon.

Alright, so that last clip is great. I like it. Now, here's what I find doesn't work in the chorus: http://ocrwip.fireslash.net/?fid=798 The lead seems like it's kind of frail or weak...or...something... x_x I need help with it. Many thanks ahead of time for any help that anyone would be able to provide.

Hello there OCRemix, I have a project that I've been working on for a while, and I have a lot of tracks to mix. So I've been at work on a midi rock template, using The Black Mages - Decisive Battle as a guide. Now, I don't have the end all best sounds in the world, so I want to at least capture the essence of what I'm trying to get across emotionally using the samples that I have here in Reason 4. I'm going to post here clips from this rock template. I know that I'm going to need different techniques for different parts of songs. Here's what I've got right now: http://ocrwip.fireslash.net/?fid=797 I'm not looking to use any other samples than the ones I have there, and I actually really like it as it is, and am ready to just use it like that... I'm just wondering if there might be anything else I could do effects wise, or leveling wise, or...etc... etc...? Any tips and tricks accompaniment wise, or effects wise that could make it....clearer I guess? Anything I should look for in arranging rock music that might be needed in my soundtrack? EDIT: What I mean by this is that I'm creating a midi template to convert GM midi files. Thank you for your time.

I would actually start with MIDI, composing in notation using Logic, Sonar, Cubase or a notation program. I would take 2 or 3 years to get better at the art of music before delving into the art of sound. That means - 1) Learning piano 2) Learning relative pitch 3) Learning notation 4) Learning midi through notation, not piano roll That's personally what I would do in your position. After you've gotten as good as you want to be in music, you can then get into the art of sound (mixing).

I'm going to release these two things here for free. I do think that you will be pleasantly surprised. I may release more here at another time. 1. Performance Quartet MP3 Demo (Youtube) Download - Broken Download Right Now - 2. Performance Orchestra MP3 Demo (Youtube) Download - Broken Download Right Now - Note: - All tracks are meant to be played with your keyboard. - There are many more, and depending on interest I may release them here. Thanks for downloading, thanks for trying these out.

Hello there. I was just wondering if there are any people here that either have an NI Kontakt 4 set up (like Komplete, etc... using the Kontakt 4 sample player as the center of your midi programming studio) or an East West Play set up (the EWQL sample libraries). If you had to take one of the setups exclusively, what would you pick and why? What are your thoughts on the samplers and their libraries?

Awesome. I could see it in Oblivion. At 1:05 those basses could just be quicker, sharp attack, lower release. (Spiccato or Marcatto are probably good articulations to use? I'm sorry, I'm not the best orchestrator in the world.)

Man...I don't know... Ok, so maybe you want to sound more like Hammerfall or Dream Theater, than more....well.... This is what I'm imagining in my head... I feel it's great, actually, as it is... x_x It's very 'original' sounding. The rhythm guitar is cranked high, which makes it feel like the guitar is the entire point of the song, which sounds really cool when you have it on lower volume (like, if it's in a soundtrack, it'll be low volume so the only thing you'll hear is the guitar, which is actually kind of cool in and of itself) With that said, just level everything out and make the snare stand out like it's in a hall like PAAAHH and you'll be good I think. x_x

Nothing could be said better, dannthr. x_x

Right now I'm watching a movie from 1925 called The Vanishing American. Listening to the soundtrack, it sounds as if it's samples. That violin sounds mighty fake. It can't be, of course, though, as...oh...I don't know...the movie's just from 1925. x_x It's like I've been working at getting a very pure, crisp, and clean legato solo violin all this time, not to mention all the other orchestral samples I've been working with, that the soundtrack just sounds bland and fake.... and it's a real orchestra! Has this kind of thing happened to anyone?

Alright, so here's the deal, In a string arrangement that I did 2 times through, the first run through my samples it seemed to sound very midi-ish. This is all strings. The 2nd time through, I was very satisfied with how it sounded. The difference was that I copied another song completely, trying to re-create it's warmness, and then used that exact accompaniment in my song. Using other songs as a template, I always seem to get the full potential out of my samples, even if they aren't the best of the best. I'll find myself using very unconventional techniques. James Newton Howard had a webpage that demonstrated his use of MIDI samples to re-create an orchestral score in these kinds of unconventional ways. This was when he was working on the movie Dinosaur, so there was no such thing as EWQL, SAM, or VSL. He could have just been using the Roland SRX Expansions for all I know...The sound was almost identical to the real orchestra. He talked about using unconventional MIDI techniques, like, for example, putting a low Pizzicato on orchestral hits. He also talked about how you should not look at samples names, but how they sound instead. A Horn might work as a flute, though I doubt with the samples (that most composers/producers seem to have that are serious about orchestral works) these days, it would be relevant. I'm wondering if people have certain guidelines, like these, they like to follow when running samples through a midi file. I know that a lot of people are very serious about their craft, here, so I know that a lot of you have big orchestral libraries, but I'd still assume that they are samples, and they won't make a mix sound warm by themselves, especially if you're working with a client that has provided you with a midi file to mix down into those samples. Just off of the top of my head, the first thing I usually focus on when working with a midi file, is accompaniment, dynamics, and then expression/volume. Regardless, it doesn't always turn out that great. Thank you very much, and please don't waist your time, like me, writing a gazzilion pages of information. =)

Ah I see. It might have just been me and my crappy computers. x_x

You know, I just wrote a horrible review on this, but East West's Borsendorfer has that rich, warm sound. So does Reason's Piano Refill... So does that one piano Kontakt has. So does Garritan's Piano sample library. If you're not actually playing the piano yourself, note that the velocities (in midi) usually stay around 1-70 per note hit. When I play, sometimes, I'm at around 1-35 only (on very very soft parts). If you run a midi through your sampler (assuming you're using very awesome samples) most likely the problem is that all of your note velocities are stuck at 100, which is gonna make it hit HARD every time.

I got it (Two East West Libraries/Goliath and Ministry of Rock) and really hated it. I traded it to a friend as I couldn't give the software back. The Play engine is absolutely horrible. At least it was in October 2009. x_x I had two computers and it ran horribly, and had all kinds of trouble with both of them. The sounds were great (absolutely stunning, actually x_x), but I had to mix each track 1 by 1, and at the time I had a computer that had 4GB of ram and a quad-core (2.0Ghz x 4) processor. I ended up sticking with Reason 3 with Sonar. I found that I could make things sound a lot higher quality in a music creation environment that I, personally, am comfortable with. I have still fooled a couple people recently with some demos that I have achieved in the sampler using what most would call lower quality orchestral samples. (It's not the size that matters, it's how you USE it!) Maybe having sounds that have an amazing quality really does help, but what's much much much much much much much much more important is ease of use for you personally. It'll be different with each person, so download some demos (of DAWs, and test VSTs and VSTi's) and set up your environment to your own tastes. You need to find a DAW and Sampler + Keyboard setup that works for you personally. Now, for a lot of people, East West works, and for those people that get really really deep into the Gold/Platinum orchestra, their midi performances...you couldn't tell the difference between the real thing and midi. =)

Wow, I really like those guitar samples. =) What library are they from, or did you find them online? I also like your cartman ''guitars are for old people''. ;p

Ah ok. It sounds like you've jotted some damn good quality out of them. I don't know what else to say, but it's really atmospheric and enjoyable. Long to, lots of variation and the like.