# "ROS" | Orchestral



## ka00 (Apr 3, 2019)

Here's a piece I just finished. Happy to receive any sort of feedback on composition, structure, mix, orchestration, etc. I've learned a lot from the fine and fair people of vi-control, and submit myself to your lashings!

Thanks for listening!

PS: I'll list sample libraries used tomorrow. My wife is waiting to watch OA with me!


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## jbuhler (Apr 3, 2019)

ka00 said:


> Here's a piece I just finished. Happy to receive any sort of feedback on composition, structure, mix, orchestration, etc. I've learned a lot from the fine and fair people of vi-control, and submit myself to your lashings!
> 
> Thanks for listening!
> 
> ...



Not quite what I expected from the example you posted earlier, because that version came nearer the end of the piece, but I like very much what you did with it. Really, very lovely. Also great title.


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## whiskers (Apr 3, 2019)

beautiful, very intricate and textured. Love it! Got a bit of Danny Elfmann vibes. Or maybe JNH.


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## eph221 (Apr 3, 2019)

Myers Briggs INTP MBTI?


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## whiskers (Apr 3, 2019)

eph221 said:


> Myers Briggs INTP MBTI?


wrong thread bro?


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## ka00 (Apr 4, 2019)

eph221 said:


> Myers Briggs INTP MBTI?


 Haha, I am INTP, yes. How did you know?


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## ka00 (Apr 4, 2019)

jbuhler said:


> Not quite what I expected from the example you posted earlier, because that version came nearer the end of the piece, but I like very much what you did with it. Really, very lovely. Also great title.



Thanks, jbuhler! It’s been a very long, dark winter here in Canada.



whiskers said:


> beautiful, very intricate and textured. Love it! Got a bit of Danny Elfmann vibes. Or maybe JNH.



Thanks, whiskers! Glad you enjoyed it. I should probably listen to more of those two.


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## ka00 (Apr 4, 2019)

Here’s a list of the VI’s I used:

Main Strings:
CSS

Solo Strings:
CSSS
Embertone Joshua Bell

Piano:
Spitfire Simcock Felt

Brass:
CSB

Woodwinds:
VSL SE
Embertone Herring Clarinet

Percussion:
Berlin Percussion
VSL Synchron Percussion
SampleLogic Drum Fury
Sonixinema Superball

Textural:
Spitfire LCO Textures
OT Time Macro
Spitfire Angular Strings
Spitfire Fragile Strings
Spitfire Euphone
Fracture Sounds Singing Bowl
OT Symphonic Sphere


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## Illico (Apr 4, 2019)

Very nice.. (Thomas Newman for me).


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## jbuhler (Apr 4, 2019)

Illico said:


> Very nice.. (Thomas Newman for me).


I was thinking Thomas Newman as well.


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## chrisr (Apr 4, 2019)

Really very beautiful, great listen to end a long day. I'l be listening again with fresh ears tomorrow.


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## ka00 (Apr 5, 2019)

Illico said:


> Very nice.. (Thomas Newman for me).



Thanks, Illico! Thomas Newman is my composer hero, lol. His music is pure emotional alchemy, and it really resonates deeply. A huge influence, and I’m happy that’s coming across. (Anyone know an address where I can direct my fan mail? Ha ha.)



chrisr said:


> Really very beautiful, great listen to end a long day. I'l be listening again with fresh ears tomorrow.



Thanks, Chris! That’s a really nice thing to hear.


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## keepitsimple (Apr 5, 2019)

Beautiful!


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## whiskers (Apr 5, 2019)

Illico said:


> Very nice.. (Thomas Newman for me).


thought the same thing about the piano bits


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## ka00 (Apr 6, 2019)

keepitsimple said:


> Beautiful!



Thank you, keepitsimple!


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## Dave Connor (Apr 6, 2019)

Very good. Nice strings (writing and sound.) I thought a key change would have renergized the piece midway (where the file is largest) and been easy enough to do. Piano also nice and seemed to work best when held and not followed by an eighth note with the eighths following in other instruments (which you did mostly.) Enjoyed the piece, it’s concept and execution. Looking forward to more.


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## ka00 (Apr 7, 2019)

Thanks so much, Dave! That’s quite encouraging coming from you. I will definitely try your suggestions on future pieces. 

My initial sketches for this song had some key changes in sections that I ultimately omitted after I started getting a little bit lost in the process.

My lack of music theory is still a blind spot that I’m trying to address as its making the writing process more excruciating than it likely needs to be.


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## Morodiene (Apr 7, 2019)

Great piece! (INFJ here) I agree with Dave about a key change. All it takes to do an effective key change sometimes is change one note or a chord to shift the tonal center.

But really, you have a very evocative piece here and a clear affect - so sometimes more fiddling isn't worth it.


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## Dave Connor (Apr 7, 2019)

ka00 said:


> My initial sketches for this song had some key changes in sections that I ultimately omitted...



Actually, once you’ve completed a section and then start a new section of similar or contrasting material (or even an exact repeat of the prior section) you can simply begin the new section in a different key. That can be as easy as selecting the midi and moving eveything up or down a whole step or whatever (pitched instruments, not percussion obviously.) As long as you don’t move too far where some instruments are moved into extreme ranges you can usually get away with that. If you have already recorded your midi to audio that’s a different story of course.

Back in the day a key change or _modulation _would be _prepared _by steering toward the new key center but modern ears are used to _abrupt_ modulations and indeed expect them. So it’s something to keep in mind.


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## ka00 (Apr 7, 2019)

Morodiene said:


> Great piece! (INFJ here) I agree with Dave about a key change. All it takes to do an effective key change sometimes is change one note or a chord to shift the tonal center.
> 
> But really, you have a very evocative piece here and a clear affect - so sometimes more fiddling isn't worth it.



Thank you, Morodiene! I will definitely try to start thinking about that more. I still don't know how @eph221 had me pegged as an INTP from this song (but, @eph221 if you happen to have a psych degree, a new thread with advice on how to curb sample library acquisition addiction would be helpful to many on this board, myself included!) 



Dave Connor said:


> but modern ears are used to _abrupt_ modulations and indeed expect them. So it’s something to keep in mind.



Will do! Some common feedback I've gotten on past songs was that there wasn't enough grounding them or enough clear patterns to lock onto. So, I made a conscious attempt on this one to use more repetition and keep things simpler. With more experience and feedback, I'll hopefully find the right balance.


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## jbuhler (Apr 7, 2019)

ka00 said:


> Some common feedback I've gotten on past songs was that there wasn't enough grounding them or enough clear patterns to lock onto.


That sounds to me like your extroverted intuition at work. (Another INTP here.) Personally, I thought you had enough textural and motivic variation in the middle section that lack of tonal variation didn't bother me, though you could have used that development to move tonally if you wanted to. Another place you could move tonally is at the very end, taking one of the afterthought statements in the coda out of key for a bit of tonal surprise in order to more emphatically set up the close. But I do think your piece works quite nicely as it is, and I very much like how the full version of the tune emerges from the development rather than being stated, developed or varied, and then returned to.


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## MOMA (Apr 9, 2019)

A treat! Impressive composition and arrangement indeed! I do have a question for you regarding the Joshua Bell – do you, like me, find this very hard to control? I have major problems keeping it in place and we just doesn't seem to get along. Any thoughts or tips?

Great piece!

Best to you
MOMA, Sweden


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## ka00 (Apr 10, 2019)

MOMA said:


> A treat! Impressive composition and arrangement indeed! I do have a question for you regarding the Joshua Bell – do you, like me, find this very hard to control? I have major problems keeping it in place and we just doesn't seem to get along. Any thoughts or tips?
> 
> Great piece!
> 
> ...



Thanks, MOMA! I think I have an easier time with the CSSS violin than with JB, so the solo violin you hear is mostly CSSS violin 1 with a touch of JB layered on top. I think the tone of JB violin is a little too smooth and delicate for my preference, so that’s the main reason I haven’t used it more.


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## MOMA (Apr 10, 2019)

ka00 said:


> Thanks, MOMA! I think I have an easier time with the CSSS violin than with JB, so the solo violin you hear is mostly CSSS violin 1 with a touch of JB layered on top. I think the tone of JB violin is a little too smooth and delicate for my preference, so that’s the main reason I haven’t used it more.


Well the 1.st violin in CSSS is a steady (yet almost too perfect) companion. The JB seem to have issues in expression and have a tendency to be a bit "jumpy". But then again, it might just be me

Take care
MOMA


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