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What's the best way to make orchestrated music?


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Hi, first of all I want to say I hope I don't sound like a n00b. I read the sticky topics and downloaded Fruity Loops, but I don't know if that's what I was looking for.

I want to make orchestrated music, like Chrono Trigger Symphonic. I know making that kind of music is a real challenge, and I won't be able to make anything of that quality for a VERY long time (if ever), but I think CT Symphonic is the most amazing thing on this site.

Is Fruity Loops the best way to start out, even if I just want to make music with ordinary instruments? I don't want whatever I make to sound like it's been made with a computer, and more like it was actually played at a symphony.

Gah, sorry, I'm really a music newb. I can read music and play piano, but I know nothing about theory or composing. >_>

Thanks for your help...

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I use East West Quantam Leap Symphonic Orchestra (EWQLSO for short. It's about $140 on ebay) It's a massive sample library (1 GB) with almost any kind of orchestral instrument and lots of different articulations, vibratos, trills, tremolos, etc. It can be used as a plug-in to FL and almost any other music program (like Finale, Sibelius, Logic, etc). If you want to hear a demo of what it sounds like there's lots of demos out there. I used it in my Top Gear Symphony.

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I use East West Quantam Leap Symphonic Orchestra (EWQLSO for short) It's a massive sample library (1 GB)

More like 15 GB

It's huge

anyway, Darth, channels>add>fruity soundfont player.

Not the Silver Edition. It's only 1 GB (hence why its only $140). The Platinum Edition is 15 GB (and its also like $2000. But obviously its got a hell of a lot more samples).

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Well, instead of "how do I remix" this is pretty much "how do I remix - orchestral music, that is"

Not the Silver Edition. It's only 1 GB (hence why its only $140). The Platinum Edition is 15 GB (and its also like $2000. But obviously its got a hell of a lot more samples).

Uhh, no Platinum is like 70GB. You're probably thinking of the Gold edition.

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I use East West Quantam Leap Symphonic Orchestra (EWQLSO for short) It's a massive sample library (1 GB)

More like 15 GB

It's huge

anyway, Darth, channels>add>fruity soundfont player.

Not the Silver Edition. It's only 1 GB (hence why its only $140). The Platinum Edition is 15 GB (and its also like $2000. But obviously its got a hell of a lot more samples).

Not to nitpick, but the Silver edition is 2.4gb, the Gold edition is 15gb, and the Platinum edition is 68gb. ;)

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Well, uh, if you don't know anything about composing, you should probably deal with that problem first before you worry about buying orchestral samples.

Probably the best little tid bit of information thus far. It would definitely help to spend some time learning some theory, developing your composition skills and learning about proper orchestration.

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I use East West Quantam Leap Symphonic Orchestra (EWQLSO for short) It's a massive sample library (1 GB)

More like 15 GB

It's huge

anyway, Darth, channels>add>fruity soundfont player.

Not the Silver Edition. It's only 1 GB (hence why its only $140). The Platinum Edition is 15 GB (and its also like $2000. But obviously its got a hell of a lot more samples).

Not to nitpick, but the Silver edition is 2.4gb, the Gold edition is 15gb, and the Platinum edition is 68gb. ;)

Thanks zircon. Maybe I'm thing of something else thats only 1 GB. GPO maybe? Oh well.

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I use East West Quantam Leap Symphonic Orchestra (EWQLSO for short) It's a massive sample library (1 GB)

More like 15 GB

It's huge

anyway, Darth, channels>add>fruity soundfont player.

Not the Silver Edition. It's only 1 GB (hence why its only $140). The Platinum Edition is 15 GB (and its also like $2000. But obviously its got a hell of a lot more samples).

Not to nitpick, but the Silver edition is 2.4gb, the Gold edition is 15gb, and the Platinum edition is 68gb. ;)

Thanks zircon. Maybe I'm thing of something else thats only 1 GB. GPO maybe? Oh well.

GPO's around 2GB

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Samples are well and good, but no amount of money spent on quality samples can make up for poor orchestration. Writing orchestral music is an art in and of itself; several great composers have written entire books dedicated the subject of orchestration alone.

So get samples/soundfonts and learn how to use them, but you also need to learn how to write music for orchestras. Get a simple theory book, listen to orchestral music.

The secret to writing music of any style is to completely immerse yourself in it.

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I don't know about books, but I know a lot of composers you could listen to. I like a lot of orchestral music. Some of my favorites:

Frank Ticelli "Vesuvius", "American Elegy"

Robert Smith "To Challenge The Sky And Heavens Above", Northwoods: Of Might And Mettle"

Gustav Holst "The Planets: Jupiter", "First Miltary Suite in E flat"

Carl Orf "Carmina Burana"

Dimitri Shotikovich "Symphony No. 5: Finale", "Festive Overature"

Percy Granger "Shepard's Hey"

Alfred Reed "Hounds of Spring"

Ludwig van Beetoven "Moonlight Sonata"

Giuseppe Verdi "Dies Irae"

These are just a few. There's a lot more but i can't think of them right now.

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  • 6 months later...

Couple quick questions about the Symphonic Orchestra Silver edition for any of its users. First off, I only have 512 ram on my laptop. I know min requirements are 256 and recommended is 1 gig, but will I experience any big slowdowns with my comp if I use too many of the instruments, effects, etc? My memory already dies after a while with a few effects in FL.

2nd question: Is this pretty much the most obvious purchase for orchestral samples in this price range?

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Couple quick questions about the Symphonic Orchestra Silver edition for any of its users. First off, I only have 512 ram on my laptop. I know min requirements are 256 and recommended is 1 gig, but will I experience any big slowdowns with my comp if I use too many of the instruments, effects, etc? My memory already dies after a while with a few effects in FL.

2nd question: Is this pretty much the most obvious purchase for orchestral samples in this price range?

Uh.. if your memory dies after only a few effects in FL, that's pretty bad. But I don't think that should happen. Tweak your computer's settings, disable background programs + services, and you should be fine. 512mb is low but not unusable. You can always use DFD (direct from disk) streaming as well as well as bouncing audio to disk to save your RAM.

Also, yeah, QLSO Silver and Gold are really solid for the price range. It's hard for me to recommend anything else besides those and GPO.

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Couple quick questions about the Symphonic Orchestra Silver edition for any of its users. First off, I only have 512 ram on my laptop. I know min requirements are 256 and recommended is 1 gig, but will I experience any big slowdowns with my comp if I use too many of the instruments, effects, etc? My memory already dies after a while with a few effects in FL.

2nd question: Is this pretty much the most obvious purchase for orchestral samples in this price range?

Uh.. if your memory dies after only a few effects in FL, that's pretty bad. But I don't think that should happen. Tweak your computer's settings, disable background programs + services, and you should be fine. 512mb is low but not unusable. You can always use DFD (direct from disk) streaming as well as well as bouncing audio to disk to save your RAM.

Also, yeah, QLSO Silver and Gold are really solid for the price range. It's hard for me to recommend anything else besides those and GPO.

Thanks, between QLSO Silver and GPO, which would you recommend? I am looking for all coverage of each instrument, but the most important to me are the piano and strings. I've also heard that QLSO Silver's piano is top notch.

Also, I know that Gold doesn't have the piano or choir that Silver does, but is it really worth the extra $200? Is the quality better at all, or is it only a bigger selection of samples?

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