# Old composer looking for new tricks



## BreakBeatDJ (Sep 15, 2021)

Hey all. Long time lurker. Some amazing work coming from these members! Man, very impressive group.

I studied composition and music history as undergrad, then composition and musicology in grad school (thesis was on Kraftwerk) in the 90s. Started with Fostex 4 track, Roland TR505 and Yamaha DX7. Used digital performer on a Mac Classic II chaining keyboards together for polyphony.

Got out of grad school and wrote some music for CDROM games, and some avant guard theater, and some early interactive TV.

Then . . . bailed on music, moved to NYC and became a photographer and commercial director. Yikes!! After a very busy 20 years, I'm exhausted of the set, the travel, and want to get back to music.

Grew up singing church music, listening to classical, hip hop, pop, rock, took bluegrass guitar, and studied piano & violin . . . moved in to djing, trip hop, electronica, acid jazz, 20th century concert music (Elliot Carter) . . . got nostalgic and dug in to the Blue Note, Verve, Riverside catalogs from the 50s . . . I love dream pop and 70s "yacht rock", alt singer songwriters, currently in to funk jazz from the late 60s, and on and on.

Been reading a bunch, and trying to come up with a strategy to catch my technical skills up to my compositional skills. Almost nothing from my midi past, conceptually anyway, seems relevant today.

Seems like you all are amazing composers AND have incredible grasp of the technical/performance aspects. You are essentially crafting performances with your VIs. The technical skill to do that, beyond the compositional knowledge and talent, is very impressive.

That's the introduction. Many questions to come for this generous group!
Mark


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## Double Helix (Sep 15, 2021)

Welcome, Mark -- just jump right in


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## manw (Sep 16, 2021)

Welcome!
Good news for you: The software evolved, but since the MIDI protocol hasn't changed much in the past decades, there's a big chance you can pick things off where you left them !


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## CatComposer (Sep 16, 2021)

Welcome to the forum.
This is an extremely active forum and people here are mostly very helpful and some have vast knowledge.
I'm rather new to the scene but have learned much over the past few months about the software that is available.

My tip would be to start learning how to navigate in a DAW of your choice.
I have tried most of the ones on Windows (best on Mac is Logic).
If you're on Windows my pick would be Studio One.
There's a free version.








Studio One 5 Prime | PreSonus Shop


Your free download of Studio One Prime begins with a 30-day free demo of Studio One Professional, no credit card required. After your demo period ends, you'll have full access to this free edition of Studio One. No additional installation necessary.



shop.presonus.com




A new version was released yesterday, and the Pro version (which also comes with the monthly plan) has incredible chord analysis features.

What kind of music do you want to make?


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## BreakBeatDJ (Sep 16, 2021)

Sseltenrych said:


> Welcome to the forum.
> This is an extremely active forum and people here are mostly very helpful and some have vast knowledge.
> I'm rather new to the scene but have learned much over the past few months about the software that is available.
> 
> ...


Hey Sseltenrych. Thanks for the tips. I'm curious what libraries you've jumped on.

I have been editing video, and sitting in editing and colorists suites, for a long time and had to get proficient in a lot of media creation software. I'm a little bit, a VERY little bit, proficient with Logic from a recording audio standpoint, but no VI or Midi. So, Logic's on the computer and ready to roll.

What controller are you using? I have a 88 key Kurzweil SP4 for playing in the dad band, but it's a little big for a desktop controller. I've gotten a NI S49 to integrate with Logic. Getting up to speed on that one.

I love orchestral music, funk, jazz, soundtracks, and many many other styles. Right now, I am sorta, not judging, and just what ever I feel like doing, I do.

What's your music flavor of the month?
Mark


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## CatComposer (Sep 16, 2021)

BreakBeatDJ said:


> Hey Sseltenrych. Thanks for the tips. I'm curious what libraries you've jumped on.
> 
> I have been editing video, and sitting in editing and colorists suites, for a long time and had to get proficient in a lot of media creation software. I'm a little bit, a VERY little bit, proficient with Logic from a recording audio standpoint, but no VI or Midi. So, Logic's on the computer and ready to roll.
> 
> ...


Hi Mark,
Logic is the best DAW in the world for music creation, based on what I have seen of Jacob Collier (his Moon River Logic session has over 100 tracks!)

And there are amazing plugins for Logic not available on other DAWs.

My favorite songs at the moment are:


and the ones I mentioned on this thread




__





Greatest Instrumental Melody of all Time!


Since Melody is so fundamental to great composition, I have decided to embark on a study of melody, and have been looking for great melodies lately and revisited this one by Morricone: Which in my opinion could be the greatest melody of all time (with orchestral instruments in mind). I love...




vi-control.net





I have a Roland FP-30 which I am very happy with, except it doesn't have a mod wheel.
Still not sure if I'll get one, as I can program mod data in other ways.

I purchased my first string VST 2 days ago - https://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/a-z/originals-intimate-strings/
Which at $29 is a steal!
I found out that it used to be part of a $400 product that was discontinued.
However, it's not comprehensive.
There's no marcato articulation, which you need for playing melodies clearly, although you can layer in shorts with the longs.
It's also only got one dynamic layer (as far as I can tell) and it's not easy to separate the instruments.
On the positive side, it sounds better than anything in the EastWest catalog, which I've been exploring for the past month.
20 Years ago, Eastwest were at the cutting edge of Instrumental VSTs, but have fallen far behind the others in the past 4 years.
Instrumental VSTs are accelerating in number and quality. 
New companies are popping up, like this one:








Norrland Samples - NORRLAND SAMPLES


Norrland Samples - NORRLAND SAMPLES




www.norrlandsamples.com




Which is giving away a high quality trumpet right now!

I was so impressed with the Spitfire Strings sound, that I bought the Woodwinds and Brass one also for $29. The Woodwinds are particularly good.
Unfortunately I can't afford any of their other products, but compared to other companies, most of them seem overpriced (at their normal prices).
However they seem to be one of the companies at the cutting edge of improvement.

I'm looking forward to Black Friday when there are crazy sales.
8dio often does 85% off or more!
And has a great bunch of string and vocal libraries.
They also have heaps of VSTs to help with unusual sound design (including free stuff), so it's worth checking out their website.
I bought their Warm Solo Woodwinds a while ago, when I was looking for an English Horn, and it was half price.
That particular English horn may indeed be the best one currently available in terms of legato sound.
But not all the instruments are equally impressive.

I'm glad you joined the community here.
You seem like a nice person! 😁🎶


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## CatComposer (Sep 16, 2021)

BreakBeatDJ said:


> Hey Sseltenrych. Thanks for the tips. I'm curious what libraries you've jumped on.
> 
> I have been editing video, and sitting in editing and colorists suites, for a long time and had to get proficient in a lot of media creation software. I'm a little bit, a VERY little bit, proficient with Logic from a recording audio standpoint, but no VI or Midi. So, Logic's on the computer and ready to roll.
> 
> ...


Here is a mockup I made to test my new Spitfire libraries.
I haven't added any modulation data yet, but they sound pretty nice.

View attachment Adagio String Woods.mp3


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## BassClef (Sep 16, 2021)

Hello Mark and welcome. 70 year old retired bloke here. Educated in Music Education, french horn player, taught for a few years then needed to earn a better living, so I left music completely... now dabbling at composition for fun. I also use Logic and VIs. Like me, you have a wide range of musical interests, and one mistake I made was spending too much time and money on VIs to try to sound like a real orchestra. The VIs are much better now than 10 years ago, but still a long way to go and that always frustrated me. Now I spend more time in the hybrid area where I am not so concerned about how REAL my cello legato sounds! Unless you are planning to make a living writing music, just have fun and compose from your soul! And there are lot's of good VIs that are not terribly expensive to get started with.


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## jonathanparham (Sep 16, 2021)

welcome


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## BreakBeatDJ (Sep 16, 2021)

Sseltenrych said:


> Here is a mockup I made to test my new Spitfire libraries.
> I haven't added any modulation data yet, but they sound pretty nice.
> 
> View attachment Adagio String Woods.mp3


Very very cool. Of course I can’t hear this without thinking of Frank Costanza’s flashback scene on Seinfeld! Hahaha. You’re right, those sound pretty good. Not quite sure what you mean by modulation data . . . But I’ll get there.

My problem is that I have been following the thread and looking at the Berlin Orchestra Berklee library. Amazing, absolutely amazing. So my eyes (ears) have gotten toooooooooooo interested. I’ve been looking in to some online classes at Berklee as well (not that the BO Berklee is necessarily part of that interest). There are some interesting classes there.

Thanks for telling me about the sales on Black Friday! I’ll be on the look out!


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## BreakBeatDJ (Sep 16, 2021)

Sseltenrych said:


> Hi Mark,
> Logic is the best DAW in the world for music creation, based on what I have seen of Jacob Collier (his Moon River Logic session has over 100 tracks!)
> 
> And there are amazing plugins for Logic not available on other DAWs.
> ...



Is that Conquest of Paradise all VI? That’s a big rich sound if so.


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## Laurin Lenschow (Sep 16, 2021)

BreakBeatDJ said:


> Is that Conquest of Paradise all VI? That’s a big rich sound if so.


I don't think so - however, if you want to know how good virtual intruments/orchestras can sound in the right hands, I recommend checking out the YouTube channels of Blakus, Andrew Barraclough and Luis Humanoide (I linked each name to one of their works). 
...welcome to the forum by the way


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