# Composing AVATAR w/ Sibelius and Pro Tools HD



## MikeH (Mar 11, 2010)

Very cool video:

http://www.sibeliusblog.com/people/avat ... d-be-lost/

So..does Horner compose in Sibelius? In recent interviews he states that he only works with pencil/paper...but in the video he talks about writing in Sibelius. Then later in the video they talk about getting getting rough orchestral pencil/paper sketches from Horner to mockup. A combination of both, perhaps?


Michael


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## Ed (Mar 11, 2010)

Maybe he considers Sibelius to be practically the same as pen and paper, wouldn't you?


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## MikeH (Mar 11, 2010)

Good point!


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## synthetic (Mar 11, 2010)

Weird that they say they mixed in the box, because I was at Record One in November and they still had tape on the SSL and Pultecs from mixing the Avatar score.


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## dcoscina (Mar 11, 2010)

That was cool


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## dcoscina (Mar 11, 2010)

That was cool


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## spectrum (Mar 11, 2010)

Nicely produced video - but it's a bit odd that it gives the impression that they used Digidesign's own Virtual Instruments to produce the score - when I don't believe they were used in the score and they actually used Spectrasonics instruments a great deal (as well as Kontakt, NI, etc):

http://www.spectrasonics.net/news/2010/spectrasonics-instruments-featured-in-avatar/ (http://www.spectrasonics.net/news/2010/ ... in-avatar/)

Oh well....


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## mf (Mar 11, 2010)

Well, I may state the obvious but the clip is surely commissioned and paid by digidesign. It's a promotional clip, not a unbiased news report covering the totality of music related tools used in Avatar.

Makes me wonder how much James Horner would have asked for saying he used my pencil, which was oh so helpful and without which he couldn't have written such a complex score...


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## JMDNYC (Mar 13, 2010)

synthetic @ Thu Mar 11 said:


> Weird that they say they mixed in the box, because I was at Record One in November and they still had tape on the SSL and Pultecs from mixing the Avatar score.


Just watched it... Simon Rhodes does say he mixed it "completely in the box," but earlier he says they used external Lexicon Reverbs. Today "In the box" may just mean no board recalls. 

He also implies that they weren't using Digidesign converters for the orchestral recording even though they show pictures of 192's. 

It's documented elsewhere that they used Kontakt and Omnisphere even though the video only shows Digidesign VI's. It is, after all, a promotional video, not an instructional one.


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## Evan Gamble (Mar 13, 2010)

Ed @ Thu Mar 11 said:


> Maybe he considers Sibelius to be practically the same as pen and paper, wouldn't you?



No Way, completely different tools=different mindset.


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## synthetic (Mar 13, 2010)

It was mixed here:

http://www.oceanwayrecording.com/studio ... anoaks.php

Even the Avatar CD says, "Score Mixed at: Record One Recording Studios & The Newman Stage"

Note the 96-input SSL 9000 J-series. I'm sure they just used it as a big mousepad. :roll: 

I have a feeling that the quote was taken out of context.


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## Nino Rajacic (Mar 20, 2010)

> Note the 96-input SSL 9000 J-series. I'm sure they just used it as a big mousepad. Rolling Eyes


 /\~O Exactly. They should hide also those B&W's from behind.

I find it bit too much how they are advertising their products, like this: 
http://www.sibeliusblog.com/opinion/why ... er-finale/

OK, I use finale, because it was there before Sibelius, and I'm used to it. But I find this "crapping all over the competition" advertising technique disguising. Same As Mac Vs PC; Pepsi Vs. Coke, etc. It can be amusing but I think it's not very ethical.


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## scottbuckley (Mar 21, 2010)

Nino Rajacic @ Sun Mar 21 said:


> OK, I use finale, because it was there before Sibelius, and I'm used to it. But I find this "crapping all over the competition" advertising technique disguising. Same As Mac Vs PC; Pepsi Vs. Coke, etc. It can be amusing but I think it's not very ethical.



The Sibelius machine was better before Avid bought it. Now it's just one of the Avid family, complete with marketing and slow support/admin staff. That said, I'm a devout Sibelius user, but just because it has a more prolific user base here in Oz compared to Finale ...

-s


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## dcoscina (Mar 21, 2010)

I use both myself but I also find the anti Finale ad scheme to be a bitò¨   Ê7†¨   Ê7‡¨   Ê7ˆ¨   Ê7‰¨   Ê7Š¨   Ê7‹¨   Ê7Œ¨   Ê7¨   Ê7Ž¨   Ê7¨   Ê7¨   Ê7‘¨   Ê7’¨   Ê7“¨   Ê7”¨   Ê7•¨   Ê7–¨   Ê7—¨   Ê7˜¨   Ê7™¨   Ê7š¨   Ê7›¨   Ê7œ¨   Ê7¨   Ê7ž¨   Ê7Ÿ¨   Ê7 ¨   Ê7¡¨   Ê7¢¨   Ê7£¨   Ê7¤¨   Ê7¥¨   Ê7¦¨   Ê7§¨   Ê7¨¨   Ê7©¨   Ê7ª¨   Ê7«¨   Ê7¬¨   Ê7­¨   Ê7®¨   Ê7¯¨   Ê7°¨   Ê7±¨   Ê7²¨   Ê7³¨   Ê7´¨   Ê7µ¨   Ê7¶¨


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