# An introduction, of sorts...



## synkrotron (Oct 7, 2019)

Hi Peeps,

My real name is andy and "music" project name is synkrotron.

I was born in 1960 so I'm getting a bit crispy.

I bought my first guitar, and EKO six acoustic, from my mate's mum's Freemans catalogue. Probably cost me about six weeks wages back in 1979.

In the early 1980's I was lucky to receive a small amount of money from my grandma and that enabled me to treat myself to a couple of Roland products (Bassline, Drumatix, Juno 6 and SH-101). I also got a couple of electric guitars and a Tascam Portastudio. Not long after I needed money to do up the house and all that lovely stuff had to go.

I kept my EKO, though. Guitar has always been my main instrument. After forty years of playing I am still pretty rubbish.

Around ten years later I began trying to get back into creating. I initially used an Amiga with Deluxe Music Construction Set but then I entered the world of PC and that, with Windows, remains my weapon of choice.

During the late 1990's and into the early 2000's I started to build up a collection of hardware. Virtual instruments were just kicking off and you needed a powerful PC at the time to use them anyway, so hardware was the best way forward.

The early 2010's saw me go down the laptop route and I spec'd up quite a powerful Windows setup. This started my explorations into virtual instruments and effects. That laptop was passed onto my youngest son this year so that he could use it for his own musical exploits. I now have an i9 desktop.

Musically, I am the epitome of laziness. I dropped music education at eleven, having been given the choice. At the time I just didn't get the point of hitting a triangle every so often. Since leaving school I realised that was a mistake but my lazyitis prevented me from bothering to learn music theory and applying myself to either my guitar or keyboard.

But I continued on and for a time I tried to produce similar stuff to Tangerine Dream. I say "similar..." It was never that good.

In 2015 I found myself getting into certain aspects of ambient music. The fact that I could create a patch, hit a key and then see what happens kind of appealed to my lazy side. Drones, you could say, are my "speciality."


So, I suppose you should ask, "WTF are you doing here then?!"

Well, I was turned onto Spitfire Audio's LABS a couple of months ago on the REAPER forum. It had a bit of an impact on me and I have since been watching a pile of cinematic orchestration videos. I hasten to add that I will not be entering that particular world. My creations will remain ten minute "epics," relatively speaking, and not ninety second "cues" (not sure if I used the right word there).

But I know even less about libraries than I do about music and I am finding it a bit of a minefield.


So, here I am, lurking around VI CONTROL, trying to make some kind of sense of what the options are and even if I should be pursuing them, considering my total lack of musical theory and practise skills.


Thank you for getting this far...


cheers

andy


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## Mornats (Oct 7, 2019)

Hey Andy, welcome to VI control!

I'm from an ever-so-slightly similar background. I'm a bass player primarily and got into virtual instruments via a friend who recommended EZDrummer as a good tool to practice with. That got me into recording bass into the PC, putting drum tracks down in EZDrummer then plugging an electric guitar in. I've always loved the cinematic sound so I bought Session Strings from Native Instruments and started grabbing a couple of cheap plugins here and there. That escalated somewhat. It gets expensive!

There's a load of good people on here who will help you out with any questions. A lot (most?) of people on here are professional composers whose advice is indespensible and brilliant and is given very generously. Some may assume you're a working composer and may answer to that effect but I find that explaining that I'm a hapless amateur hobbyist usually helps 

In terms of help with libraries and what you may need, it's just a case of trying to explain what sound/feel you're after and what you already have. You may receive a lot of suggestions for a lot of different libraries! The good news is that at least one person on here will have any library you mention and may have a demo or mockup they've done and can let you know what they sound like.


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## synkrotron (Oct 7, 2019)

Hi, Paul 



Mornats said:


> Hey Andy, welcome to VI control!



Thank you very much for the welcome :D

It's the "expensive" bit that I find a bit scary. Having recently weened myself off spending many thousands on my Eurorack system, I really shouldn't be looking into library stuff haha!

But that damn LABS! It's drawing me in, and at around the same time Spitfire Audio go and do that keynote speech thing about their upcoming BBC SO library. And that is where I'm at right now, wondering if I should plumb for that, while the deal is on, or have a good look around first.

As for sound/feel, I really don't have a clue. I just have this idea that I could mix orchestral elements with my current electronic ambient stuff. LABS has certainly helped me try that out and I am starting to like the idea more and more.

Watching many videos on the ol'YouTube and I get totally lost when peeps start talking about articulations, Sul Tasto, Col Legno and all that jazz. A whole new world for me.


I'm having a quick listen to some of your SoundCloud stuff while having a look around here.


cheers for now

andy


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## BassClef (Oct 7, 2019)

Hello Andy and welcome to the wonderful world of VI. I too am an old musician, music educator, 35 years in non-music career, then retired, and now virtual instrument hobbyist. Keep reading and watching about things that interest you, and ask lots of questions. Make music that makes you happy!


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## Mornats (Oct 7, 2019)

With regards to the BBCSO from Spitfire, I think the general opinion on here is that those with loads of other sample libraries are seriously considering it. So for your first (and maybe only!) orchestral library it could be a good shout. Could be worth waiting until it comes out and folks have had a chance to play with it. Otherwise, the Studio Orchestra range, particularly the strings, are cheap (comparative to Spitfire's other stuff) and are recorded dry so they're easier to mix with other stuff (by dry I mean you don't get the sound of the orchestral hall and you can add your own reverb).

Thanks for listening to some of my tracks! I had a nice afternoon at work listening to some of yours. Perfect ambience for doing work.


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## synkrotron (Oct 7, 2019)

BassClef said:


> Hello Andy and welcome to the wonderful world of VI. I too am an old musician, music educator, 35 years in non-music career, then retired, and now virtual instrument hobbyist. Keep reading and watching about things that interest you, and ask lots of questions. Make music that makes you happy!



Hi @BassClef 

Thanks for the welcome


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## synkrotron (Oct 7, 2019)

Mornats said:


> Thanks for listening to some of my tracks!



Please was mine, Paul 

You appear to be creating a mix of orchestral and non-orchestral stuff, so that was most interesting to hear.

Oh, and, of course, thank you for listening to my stuff also!

cheers

andy


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## Mornats (Oct 7, 2019)

Yeah it's a bit of a mixed bag of stuff! One minute I'm eyeing up a Korg Minologue XD and the next minute I'm drooling over orchestral strings! They often end up in the same track too. I swear I'm going to accidentally create a new genre!


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## synkrotron (Oct 7, 2019)

Aye!

Well, I've go me modular, too, so who knows what's coming next


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## Mornats (Oct 7, 2019)

By the way, I saw your video in another thread. What do you use for those fractals? I want to put stuff up on YouTube but I'm struggling with visuals.


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## synkrotron (Oct 7, 2019)

Mornats said:


> By the way, I saw your video in another thread. What do you use for those fractals? I want to put stuff up on YouTube but I'm struggling with visuals.



Hi, Paul, 

I use something called Chaotica by https://www.chaoticafractals.com/

There is a free option but it is very limited in both render size and time. But it is worth installing the free version just to get your head around the interface.

I went for the full version so my only real limitations are what my PC can handle.

I have an i9 desktop and it took around 24 hours to render 18000 frames at 1920 X 1080 px.

If you go down the Chaotica route let me know and I will give you some help with that.

cheers

andy


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## Mornats (Oct 8, 2019)

Wow that's quite a render time! I'll check out the free version it in not sure I could spend that long on each render! I'm running an i7 4790k at 4.5ghz so it would probably take longer than yours.


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## synkrotron (Oct 8, 2019)

Mornats said:


> Wow that's quite a render time!



Yes, I'm afraid it is.

I don't mind so much because if I need to I can develop a new project on my little Surface Pro.

On my i7 laptop, which I have since handed down to my youngest son, it would take up to 72 hours solid to render something similar.

Definitely a consideration.

Chaotica are currently developing V2, which is in beta, and I think you can download that to test, and it may be worth having a look. The current version does not utilise the GPU whereas V2 does. I haven't tried it myself yet because I do not want it to mess up my V1 install.


I think that there are other options out there but having invested in Chaotica I haven't bothered researching.

cheers

andy


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## Mornats (Oct 8, 2019)

I'll give the v2 beta a go as I have a gaming GPU (GTX970) which I hope would speed up the rendering. I'll start another thread soon about what people do for visuals in their videos. I found a few other alternatives that may be helpful too.


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## synkrotron (Oct 8, 2019)

Mornats said:


> I'll start another thread soon about what people do for visuals in their videos. I found a few other alternatives that may be helpful too.



Great idea, I'll look out for that.

I always prefer something "dynamic" on YouTube rather than a still image...


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