GarretGraves

I've done that. But I'm curious as to how low to begin and end. I don't want it too quiet cause this is going over a rock track and if it gets too low it'll sound like it disappears.

https://soundcloud.com/soleparadigm/tr-strings-demo How's this sound? I feel the difference in the stitching together.

Yeah this scares me a little cause I'm worried my machine won't be able to take that much at once. Got an Intel i5 processor with 16gigs of RAM and all my drives are 7200rpm. Sounds like an up to date machine but i still freak out when I start loading all kinds of shit.

I think this is what I'm doing now actually. I got Play set to a port and then a handful of MIDI outs routed in FL Studio for each articulation. That the same thing? Sounds like it. What I meant was Im gonna need more than one instance of Play because I think I'm gonna need more than 16 channels for the articulations for the other string instruments.

Ah! CLICK! But it was as I feared. I'm gonna need more than one instance of Play to fulfil my needs. Was hoping to avoid that but I guess it was inevitable. Thanks Dan! And thanks for the honorable mention. haha

I figured as much and I'm willing to do the work. No question. But I'm surprised that almost no one has posted a tutorial or anything in regards to an in depth look at the library and how to use it. One guy so far as been attempting to make a series of videos to help people out but he's been to busy to make them. Its funny. You'd think someone out there after all this time would have gone and done something like that. I've seen videos for basically everything else like Massive and Absynth and FM8. It would seriously be helpful to laymens like me to learn some as initially complex as this. Best I can do now is bug forums with questions. and attempt things myself of course. EDIT: Now when you say old, are you telling me there are better libraries out there that simplify the work?

My midi controller is busted. I use "edit events" in the piano roll to automate. Little bit harder but it gets the job done. That part I understand and need to toy with. Its just that there's SO MANY samples I don't know what the right one is for what I'm doing. Whatever will make it sound natural. As for the mixing goes, I'm kind of having a hard time in that area too. I'm listening to some more orchestra music like the 25th anniversary Zelda disc that came with skyward sword. So far all I could match closely is the panning for the strings. (Violins and violas to the left, cellos and basses to the right) But my mix feels a bit cold and somewhat lifeless compared the to disc. Is it possible to match the quality of a real orchestra with EWQLSO? I know it can get awesome. But I've become such an audiophile in recent years that I badly want that level of authenticity out of my gear.

https://soundcloud.com/soleparadigm/orchestra-test-1 Sorry for the low-volume mix. Didnt have time to add a limiter or anything. My mixing is also an issue. I lack a certain warmth you'd expect from an orchestra.

First the need answer I need most at the moment: How to go from legato strings to staccato strings and back in unison using EWQLSO Platinum Plus whilst sounding realistic. Can't seem to do this right. Samples don't connect naturally. Now the story (Skip if you want. I'm only telling this to show what I've done to solve this so far): I've recently upgraded my orchestra library to EWQLSO Platinum Plus and got rid of that old Kompakt version I had. The PLAY engine is giving me some nice control over things now. But I'm still having an issue in the realism department. I've looked on the internet for some tutorials on this matter but there were only a few and only 1 of them was only sort of helpful (and somewhat poorly put together I might add.) Just to give you an idea: This guy gave more of a tour on Cubase 5 than how to use the SO. This guy did a better job in regards to sustained notes and DXF's but didnt mention what samples he used nor did he mention stacatto at all. 48 minutes of sustained lines?! sheesh So far that's all I've found as far as tutorials. I've read the manual but it only tells you what the samples are and what they're suppose to do but they don't describe HOW you're suppose to do it. I've been on the forums of East West and tried to get some answers there but since I'm a new member there it takes until the forum moderator approves my posts that people can see them. (Or maybe no one is taking the time to respond ) Which as led me back here. I only mentioned the above to show I've made the effort to learn on my own and you know where I've looked. Does ANYONE know where I can learn how to use this properly or at least teach me how to go from legato strings to staccato strings and back and making it sound natural?

I just bought an Axe-FX II a month or so ago and I gotta say it's the best investment I've ever made. www.fractalaudio.com will show you some super-well-known musicians hailing this baby. Dave Mustain (Megadeth), John Petrucci (Dream Theater/Liquid Tension Experiment), Adrian Belew (King Crimson/Talking Heads/David Bowie), etc. They just updated the firmware and it sounds killer! I'm selling my Line 6 Spider IV amp since I won't be needing it anymore. Of course, if you wanna play with the Axe-FX live, you're gonna need a cab and a power amp. But if you're using it for a home studio (like me) just plug it into the mixer! It also has a software called Axe-Edit (that's FREE!) where you can use your computer to edit your tones and FX without looking at the itty bitty screen on the unit itself. There's SOOOOO MUCH that you can do with the thing! Like TONE MATCHING! Wanna sound like your favorite guitarist? You can come seriously close to their tone using Tone Matching. More on that here: Then they have FX like arpeggiator and stuff that open you up to even MORE possibilities. Of course, their website has all that info. I went looking for a great tube amp at Guitar Center by my house and asked them what they thought of the Axe-FX. The guy said, "Bah! It still sounds digital and it's not worth it. Here! Buy this Egnator amp!" After making my decision in buying the Axe-FX I know now that that young'un ameteur didn't know what the fuck he was talking about. Sure Egnator is a great amp, but I think I came out on top with my choice. It's down to 2199.99 at Fractal. With shipping it came out to 2236.64 I think. 500 less than what it was. If you can grab it. GRAB IT!

This really is an open-ended question. There is no wrong answer.

ebuch pretty much said it. But what I personally use is a limiter to raise the volume of tracks to keep from clipping. Massey's l2007 limiter works great AND it's trial version allows you to use it forever. It just won't save ur settings for it. Which I've been getting away with all year since I found out about it. I will eventually buy it though because the limiter is damn good and deserves compensation. I THINK they make it in VST form im not sure. Slap it on the master track, adjust the ceiling to about just under -1db. Then set the threshold to however loud you need. Check your headroom on your Master meter to see how much you should use. Also, another thing to keep in mind, (and I always thank Moseph for this) EQ plays HUGE factor in cleaning up your mix. Getting rid of frequencies you don't want and notching ones up that you do want. What I do for my mixes (I'm a prog rock guy) is cut the mud off of virtually ALL of my instruments. If you use a parametric EQ and roll off or cut around 250 or below for, let's say, a guitar. You'll find that it'll clean it up a bit and give more room for the other frequencies above it to flow. That's pretty much the first thing I go for now when mixing is EQ. Then compression or multi-band compression if I need it. (If you have 200 american dollars, Waves.com has their C6 MB Comp that'll do WONDERS!) Getting rid of mud will give you more headroom to work with so you can gain more loudness without sandwiching the shit out of it. EDIT: I should also mention that all limiters work virtually the same way. They have Threshold, Ceiling and Release knobs on them. So if you find a free VST one, grab it. Some work better than others so shop around and try a few and see the differences and which ones work to your liking.

That game OSTs. I'll assume it's the same for an album. Coo!

I figured. But what about it being a good idea? Would it sell?

Hypothetical question. If I were to release an album using a drum machine, could money be made off that? Is it frowned upon? Are there any laws regarding such a thing? I ask because it's something I've never heard of and I'm currently working on a double-disc album using all that I have in my home studio which includes Superior Drummer and Addictive Drums. As well as EWQLSO and other virtual instruments. I've yet to study music law or the like so was wondering if it were possible.