# Into the Wild West- featuring LASS and Symphobia



## dcoscina (Aug 16, 2009)

So here's my first attempt using the legato from LASS and a bit of Symphobia and GPO4 (I was on a Macbook laptop up at my cottage with a single Firewire external drive and Digi Mbox2 Micro so I had to use what I had). Oh, all of this was played by a M-Audio 02 2 octave keyboard and a lotta editing on DP6.

Basically because memory and power were a factor, I only used the full sections and did not build lines with individual groups. I used pizz violins in unison with the staccato violins using open strings for that Aaron Copland sound. I love the celli legato and I hope I was able to achieve a good expressive sound using the speed legato. 

To be honest, when I first got LASS I loved the short articulations but found it hard to get a convincing expressivo legato and wondered if I made a mistake buying it. After having some time this week to get into LASS, I would say a resounding "no" to that question. It's an awesome library and one I can see just getting better as I master its intricacies.

http://www.box.net/shared/4z6rmcspux


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## dcoscina (Aug 17, 2009)

Hmm, 114 views and no comments.... sigh. 

Not to be a snot but I spent a fair bit of time working on this thing last week and I would like some suggestions and feedback so I can make this better.


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## Craig Sharmat (Aug 17, 2009)

115 now...damn Canadians...

I like the opening theme though it appears to be void of winds which would really help to create counter lines and texture.
The piece also starts strong but seems to meander afterwards and never revisits the strongest part which is the opening segment. The trumpets at 15 secs need to be finessed as they are pretty machine gun like now. There are a few other issues but I will leave it at that for now as these stuck out.


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## Ashermusic (Aug 17, 2009)

Well, you asked


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## Hal (Aug 17, 2009)

No offense of course you are seeking opinion
uve got mine 
sustains sounds extremely synthy and composition is like you sketched and improvised in 10 minutes some idea u didnt want to loose.

i understand you are using a laptop.

try using some percussion with this hits in a creative way cause they sound very repetitive
and the sustains need more tweaks and may be a different melody and harmony if you want.


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## dcoscina (Aug 17, 2009)

Craig Sharmat @ Mon Aug 17 said:


> 115 now...damn Canadians...



Hey I was born in Chicago! I'm a Yank, displaced as the case is. 



> I like the opening theme though it appears to be void of winds which would really help to create counter lines and texture.
> The piece also starts strong but seems to meander afterwards and never revisits the strongest part which is the opening segment. The trumpets at 15 secs need to be finessed as they are pretty machine gun like now. There are a few other issues but I will leave it at that for now as these stuck out.



Thanks Craig. 

Yeah, I think I will port this over to my bigger rig with more libraries and more power to double things. 

The trumpet was from Symphobia which I will probably transfer to VSL Fanfare Trumpets as they have nicer legatos.

Andrew K also recommended (on the LASS forum) that I dial down the CC1 as it's pretty high up there.

I have also bought ArtsAcoustic Reverb as opposed to the AU Logic plug-in 'verb which sounds very metallic and not as smooth. 

As for the string section part sounding "improvised in 10 minutes" well, I appreciate the candid comment (I did after all ask for it) but it was not composed in this short of time. I was trying to go for a section in the pandiatonic mode which is equated with a lot of Americana. I can certainly tweak the releases to make it sound more real but the body of that section will remain as is musically.

I do appreciate the comments though.


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## Hannes_F (Aug 17, 2009)

Hi,

I did not comment first time because I thought the first part sounded well but the second not. It is not such a problem of legato or not but more of how to play melodies IMO.


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## hbuus (Aug 17, 2009)

dcoscina,

After listening to this piece for the first time a few hours ago, I was not going to write a comment, but since you now emphasize that you would like comments, I have listened to it again, and here is my comment: I can't stand it! Sorry, man. Right from the beginning I think to myself, hmm, this sounds pretty annoying, then after 10-15 seconds I close down my music player.

I know this is not what you want to hear, and I would not have posted my opinion if it wasn't because you specifically asked for comments. I'm sorry!!

Best regards,
Henrik


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## Stevie (Aug 17, 2009)

Hannes_F @ Mon Aug 17 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I did not comment first time because I thought the first part sounded well but the second not. It is not such a problem of legato or not but more of how to play melodies IMO.



Full ack. The first part sounded promissing then I gets very extraneous.


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## Marius Masalar (Aug 18, 2009)

Hey dscosina!

I have to admit that I wasn't bothered by this as much as some others have seemed to be. The issues I had with it are less stylistic and more just personal feelings.

For example, I would have liked to hear some more "Bite" to the strings...the attacks on those short articulations sound fairly dull. It may have been a conscious choice for the style, but my ears were hoping for some more aggression.

I actually found that the weakest link, sonically, was the brass. They sounded quite synthy to me for some reason. Maybe I just listened to it over too many times before commenting. The only other thing I have to say is that your ending is rather underwhelming....I felt a bit let down when I got to it, like it didn't quite wrap things up as nicely as it could have. Maybe it just came too quickly?

Anyway, I enjoyed this. I think with some polishing and possibly some extending, you could have a really great piece on your hands!


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## dcoscina (Aug 18, 2009)

Thanks Marius, it's actually just the first section of a longer piece. I appreciate the comments.


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## Marius Masalar (Aug 18, 2009)

Any time! Looking forward to hearing the rest then.


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