# Cheers from Split, Croatia



## Taron (Sep 26, 2021)

Hi there,
I'm Taron, originally from Germany, moved around the world and ended up in the south of Croatia, simply because it's beautiful and pleasant to live here. I've been making music since the moment I could reach the keys of our upright piano while standing in front of it (yeah, that Emoji totally fits!) ...composed my first coherent piece a few years later, then started writing SID tunes on the C=64, later Amiga before eventually migrating to PCs. First keyboard was my trusty Korg M1, which is currently a little dead, but one day shall get resurrected.

My main occupation had been visual effects for the longest time, all the while keeping my music rather private and untouched, so to say. Eventually programming became most relevant to me, allowing me to retire from project work and also return more deeply into music at the same time. I've written and released a free VST some years ago ("Lord of the Springs"), while I had started writing a few more, but that's on hold.

Over the decades I went in and out of symphonic/orchestral composition periodically, always excited about the idea to one day truly wielding an orchestra and access its enormous scope, depth and beauty. Thus every now and then I go on a hunt for nice libraries to use, which would give me the most amount of control. I just never liked the idea to hold a note and let some vendor play, hoping it might reflect a piece of my intention.

Anyway... what always excites me the most are free or cheap libraries not for my being stingy, but the chance to create something that could inspire others to create as well with the same tools and no need for financial privilege. In my eyes, this is where the real magic sits in waiting. Having thousands of dollars worth of instrumental arsenal may well be wonderful to have, yes, but it kind of bores me to think of that, too. It's all about the music and the will to make it come out.

Too much for an introduction? Ah well... anyway, this looks like an interesting place. I've been on KVR for great many years and still enjoy it deeply. But there I couldn't quite find the right threads for orchestral composition.

Well, Cheers everyone,
Taron

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/taronium


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## easyrider (Sep 26, 2021)

Hey!

I was in Spilt a couple of years ago….Love Croatia 

Welcome bro….❤️


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## LatinXCombo (Sep 26, 2021)

Hah! C-64. Love it. I still think of Bach's Two-Part Invention no. 13 as "That Commodore 64" song....


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## Taron (Sep 26, 2021)

Haha, LatinXCombo, that one even escapes me. But never will I forget Rob Hubbard's take on Philip Glass's Koyaanisqatsi in hyper-speed for the game "Delta". I even did one of the super rare covers I ever did for it as part of a little retro challenge many years ago, using a little mini DAW a dear friend of mine, Tomas "drpetter", called Musagi. 



Thanks, easyrider! Oh yes, it's precious down here. Everywhere has its own challenges, but here it's quite motivating to handle them.


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## easyrider (Sep 26, 2021)

Taron said:


> Thanks, easyrider! Oh yes, it's precious down here. Everywhere has its own challenges, but here it's quite motivating to handle them.


I’m taking a break from work at the moment…if you fancy putting me up for a few days I’d love to come and visit Croatia again…😜


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## Taron (Sep 26, 2021)

Looking forward to the days when such things wouldn't be an issue at all!


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## doctoremmet (Sep 27, 2021)

Hi Taron. 100 points for mentioning Rob Hubbard, what a great guy! Fantastic introduction, I can’t wait to read more of your contributions on here. Cheers and regards from The Netherlands.


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## Markrs (Sep 27, 2021)

Taron said:


> excites me the most are free or cheap libraries


That is a good approach to have, I often get tempted by shiny new purchased libraries, but free ones, especially from pianobook.co.uk offer a lot of avenues for creativity.


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## TomislavEP (Sep 27, 2021)

Hi, Taron, and welcome! BTW, I'm also from Croatia, based in Osijek. 



> Anyway... what always excites me the most are free or cheap libraries not for my being stingy, but the chance to create something that could inspire others to create as well with the same tools and no need for financial privilege. In my eyes, this is where the real magic sits in waiting. Having thousands of dollars worth of instrumental arsenal may well be wonderful to have, yes, but it kind of bores me to think of that, too. It's all about the music and the will to make it come out.


I wholeheartedly agree with what you've written above. I frequently use free libraries in my work and I well know the joys that come from it. Sometimes I use them as a substitution for some paid products that are currently out of my reach (I'm making ends meet only with music and I often have a limited budget to spend on equipment), but I also like the challenge regarding their "limitations" in comparison to much more expensive commercial counterparts. You're quite right; it's all about music, not tools!


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## Taron (Sep 27, 2021)

*AHHH, you guys are awesome! *
Right after day 1 here I want to put that line into my signature! 
@doctoremmet ...I will do my best to put those 100 points to good use! 
@Markrs and @TomislavEP ...when I first got my hands on a big library, I was so excited. I felt completely baffled and humbled by it and tried to use it with great care. But I'm used to create all my own sounds on the fly, having this process as a deeply integrated aspect of making music, never stopping my flow and suddenly I essentially was stuck with presets, however vast the collection, which wouldn't act like I wanted it. Now I had to switch gears and align myself completely to the given material. It has its own amazing beauty, but it would never take long for me to just switch back to synths. Something as simple as Discover holds actual promise, that even a library world could be at least more accessible and a lot less intimidating. I do wonder what their Core version might be like to work with. When I can and it makes any sense, I will try to make that plunge. 

At the end, however, Tomislav said it: It's all about music! And, wow, Osijek is literally on the other end of Croatia! We'd have to cross all of Bosnia to meet, hehe, but I'd love that some day!


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## TomislavEP (Sep 27, 2021)

> But I'm used to create all my own sounds on the fly, having this process as a deeply integrated aspect of making music, never stopping my flow and suddenly I essentially was stuck with presets, however vast the collection, which wouldn't act like I wanted it


I see what you mean. Sometimes, especially when working with synths, it is actually more straightforward to create the desired sound from scratch rather than going to all those presets, especially a large quantity of them. On the other hand, certain preset can be a great starting point and a source of inspiration.



> I do wonder what their Core version might be like to work with.


I'm also thinking about this. Over the years, I've had several "traditional" orchestral libraries in the style of BBCSO, but I generally prefer working with broad stroke tools such as Albion, OACE, BDT, CDT, etc. I find them quite adequate for blending with my primary instruments (pianos, synths, and guitars) and more intuitive to use. But lately I'm thinking about venturing more into purely orchestral arrangements and Core seems like the best compromise between sound quality, features, and price, at least at the moment.


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## Taron (Sep 27, 2021)

@TomislavEP yes, some presets can be inspirational or just fun to play around with. Yet, it's almost safe to say that I hardly ever use any at all, merely because I'm too curious to experiment with the synth or whip up the sort of sound I'm interested in. For most of the time I start with an agenda, and that most of the time is making a piano like sound. What the eyes are as subject for painting or art in any form, that's the piano to me when it comes to sound. It just combines so many aspects from intricate harmonics to percussive attacks and soaring decays. Not to mention that it's pleasant to compose with, of course. But almost always I end up creating some sort of key sound, because I stumble across characteristics of a synth that draw me into it, hehe... I'm so easily "distracted", hehe. And very often I also start by making drums. It's so easy and you get an entertaining starting point. All depends on mood.
Nowadays I'm actually interested in simulating orchestral groups. I have been in the past many times and did quite a bunch of synth orchestras, really. But never really too strategically. I always neglect brass and some of the woodwinds, particularly lower like bassoons and the likes. I think, I may actually play with this soon again, too.

But, yes, it seems like Core is really a hyper-extension of Discover, sort of delivering on its promise. If so, then it will be utterly attractive to have it, also for its rather compact size on top of all else. Sound seems very nice and fairly complete. Had I the option, yeah... but not yet.


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