# Hollywood Orchestra Opus Orchestrator Tips



## Soundbed

Here is an EastWest (& Sonuscore) Hollywood Opus Orchestrator "tips" video.

It's directed at users who are really new to the orchestrator and approaching it the first couple times. I found the official walkthroughs helpful, but a couple things that I discovered in practice seemed worth clarifying explicitly.

In the end the video is a combination of RTFM and little things I noticed while I was playing with the Orchestrator — to maybe save someone else a little time and frustration.





And another one:


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## Soundbed

Here's the "companion" video which was basically one take of my initial thoughts on whether or not using a computer orchestrator is "cheating".


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## ennbr

Enjoyed the first video wish it was available when I had first gotten Orchestrator I had stumbled through the same things you highlight in the video


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## ControlCentral

Soundbed said:


> Here is an EastWest (& Sonuscore) Hollywood Opus Orchestrator "tips" video.
> 
> It's directed at users who are really new to the orchestrator and approaching it the first couple times.


Trying to decide between Sonokinetik Modal Runs for this sort of thing or EWCC and wow- this is the type of thing that would have taken me weeks and a few bottles of Advil to figure out. Thanks for potentially giving me back hours and hours of my life.


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## Soundbed

ControlCentral said:


> Trying to decide between Sonokinetik Modal Runs for this sort of thing or EWCC and wow- this is the type of thing that would have taken me weeks and a few bottles of Advil to figure out. Thanks for potentially giving me back hours and hours of my life.


You're welcome. I'm finishing up a third HOOpus video (second video with "tips"). I also have the Sonokinetic Modal runs and I do like them. But I think I could do something very, very similar with HO and Opus Orchestrator. I haven't done it exactly yet, but it's been on my mind to basically make a "John Williams runs" type of orchestration preset ... I think I'd hold down every note in the run (or send them from the DAW) which may be less convenient than modal runs, but you could do any scale (not only a mode). So ... tradeoffs, I guess?


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## odod

Soundbed said:


> You're welcome. I'm finishing up a third HOOpus video (second video with "tips"). I also have the Sonokinetic Modal runs and I do like them. But I think I could do something very, very similar with HO and Opus Orchestrator. I haven't done it exactly yet, but it's been on my mind to basically make a "John Williams runs" type of orchestration preset ... I think I'd hold down every note in the run (or send them from the DAW) which may be less convenient than modal runs, but you could do any scale (not only a mode). So ... tradeoffs, I guess?


btw thanks for the video and for the voice two it acts just like divisi


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## Soundbed

odod said:


> btw thanks for the video and for the voice two it acts just like divisi


Yes I’ve since learned what the manual failed to mention; you need to select an arranger mode that allows at least two notes, and an articulation that is not legato, then voice 2 will work. For instance an arranger mode of “middle 2” and an articulation of sustains. Too bad it doesn’t do divisi legato (in my testing).


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## Mr Greg G

Great video as always, interesting topics, pleasant voice, thank you.


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## Soundbed

Added another video with even more tips. To help inspire you to make your own presets.

(It's already been added to the original post at the top of this thread. But it wasn't there at first. And now it is. And it's been removed from this post. Because I had it in the thread twice. Because I am still learning how to forum.)


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## ControlCentral

Soundbed said:


> So ... tradeoffs, I guess?


I have to make a piece with a nod to Ride of the Valkyries which is way above my pay-grade. Modal Runs has a demo video perfectly aligned with that- not sure if it's actual Wagner-- but I think when the time comes to dig into it I'll go with CC for a few months. I have so many overlapping sound libraries already and MR has no brass. Looking forward to watching your further tips!


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## alcorey

Soundbed said:


> Added another video with even more tips. To help inspire you to make your own presets.



Hi Nathan, isn't the video in post #9 the same exact video in post #1?
I was watching the one in post #9 after having watched the other 3 in posts #1 & #2, and I kept saying to myself (well he already said that in one of the other videos - all the way almost to the end and I then realized it's the same video  )

So I think it's a little confusing for anyone following


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## Soundbed

ControlCentral said:


> I have to make a piece with a nod to Ride of the Valkyries which is way above my pay-grade. Modal Runs has a demo video perfectly aligned with that- not sure if it's actual Wagner-- but I think when the time comes to dig into it I'll go with CC for a few months. I have so many overlapping sound libraries already and MR has no brass. Looking forward to watching your further tips!


Right, Modal Runs is a really great "filler" lib imho. But I also "sort of" craved a brass component... although the runs I typically needed didn't exactly require the trumpets to join in (and certainly not the horns or trombones) for the entire scale. So strings and winds were "enough."

That said every time I wanted to use it, I sort of froze up. Because I knew I'd worry (justified or not) about mic positions and room reverbs and so on matching what other libs I had doing the rest of the piece. I still haven't used it for more than a couple "audio logo" projects (one of which was a proposal which was not even used in the final version) where I knew it was basically an isolated runs figure and not connected to other libraries. Perhaps if I used everything Sonokinetic and all my projects were based around their libs it might make more sense for me.

I also never added Modal Runs to my "template" choices (in quotes because I use a modular drag-things-in "template" approach) ... because I won't always know in advance if I'm going to want a truly "modal" run vs something more so-called exotic, like a harmonic minor ascending.

If I had Wagner-esque cue request, esp with a quick turnaround deadline, then Opus / EWHO would potentially be a first choice for me too!

This is why the idea I expressed at the end of the most recent video seems so appealing to me ... wouldn't it be great if people could share or buy more presets like a set of "Wagner" orchestration presets for Opus?


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## Soundbed

alcorey said:


> Hi Nathan, isn't the video in post #9 the same exact video in post #1?
> I was watching the one in post #9 after having watched the other 3 in posts #1 & #2, and I kept saying to myself (well he already said that in one of the other videos - all the way almost to the end and I then realized it's the same video  )
> 
> So I think it's a little confusing for anyone following


Ok I'll remove it. So sorry to be confusing.


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## alcorey

Soundbed said:


> Ok I'll remove it. So sorry to be confusing.


BTW I forgot to mention that they were well done, helpful and I did enjoy them


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## Soundbed

alcorey said:


> BTW I forgot to mention that they were well done, helpful and I did enjoy them


That brings tears of joy to my eye, thank you! I enjoy recording them but editing them to remove any boring parts and keep things moving takes a ton of effort (and I'm still learning how to YouTube lol). So I'm really glad to hear any time anyone gets any benefit.


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## Faruh Al-Baghdadi

By the way, how would you, sonically speaking, compare their strings to Modern Scoring Strings?

For example, it seems that one of the strongest sides of MSS is how well it blends with basically anything, while maintaining solid character. Is EW series has the same qualities, that allow it to be considered as a "power horse"?

Would be really interesting to read your overall opinion on this comparison as you are(were?) a heavy MSS user.


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## Soundbed

Faruh Al-Baghdadi said:


> By the way, how woud you, sonically speaking, compare their strings to Modern Scoring String?
> 
> For example, it seems that one of the strongest sides of MSS is how well it blends with basically anything, while having solid character. Is EW series has the same qualities, that allow to be considered as a "power horse"?
> 
> Would be really interesting to read your overall opinion on this comparison as you are(were?) a heavy MSS user.


I have a video that tries to make MSS sound like Hollywood strings.

The Hollywood strings sounds is, without altering it, a bit bright without being too harsh. It does sound "Hollywood" and a little processed out of the box, but not in a bad way. The word "sheen" comes to mind. Processed as in I can hear that it was treated in such a way as to sound like a soundtrack as soon as you start playing it.

Depending on your frame of reference, it can easily sound like scores of the day, ten years ago. Or today, depending, but definitely ten years ago.

MSS arrives out of the box with a bit of Kontakt processing that is easy to remove ... as soon as one removes it, MSS does not have the same out the box "processed" quality ... seems to me to be more of the raw recording that you can form and shape into what you want. But you take on the role of the mixing engineer, if you want to disable those Kontakt effects and start "from scratch" as it were. You could make it sound more "organic" or more "intimate".

MSS sounds like it could work for a cool Netflix movie where things need to sound "natural" (today) whereas Hollywood seems slightly more ... big. And polished.

Hollywood starts you off further along the path of mixing toward an aesthetic.

MSS allows you to back out and choose a different aesthetic more easily.

Both are quite capable.

To your specific question:

MSS "blends with basically anything, while having solid character. Is EW series has the same qualities, that allow to be considered as a "power horse"?"

Yes, almost ... Hollywood blends with anything as a power horse with what I'd consider a slightly lighter touch. I consider them a little more transparent and polished. I'm not sure I've heard them "raw" and "organic" sounding. But I'd be interested.

MSS seems to be able to do the Hollywood thing, with a slight bit of more effort, and then also sound a bit more organic and natural or earthy, which reflects some of the current sensibilities in (soon to be) 2022. Neither of them has a ton of romantic vibrato like CSS. And it's not exactly about rosin on the bow. It's like ... I don't know. Both MSS and Hollywood can "disappear" into a piece and let you float off into thoughts so you're not worrying about their sound when playing decent notes well. I guess MSS feels a bit more full to me, a bit more close, but both of them are great for cinematic. The main advantage to EWHO and Opus is that it's an entire orchestra. With AudioBro we have MSS and MSB but I don't think there's a woodwinds or orchestral percussion section yet.

HTH!


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## toomanynotes

Great videos thanks, I also felt strangely cheating mocking up a quick piece using Orchestrator. I must say, it’s advantages outweigh any gulity feelings. 
1. It’s made me sit and write a piece that would normally take days!
2. It inspires too!
3. Recently I have had no desire to sit in front of a computer and go through the battlefield which is writing in a daw And the bs that comes with it. Today I have finished a piece! That’s got to count for something!?

I think I’ll take that anyday over procrastination and doing nothing. Plus I’m more than happy to write sketches and pass over to a ochestrator in real life situation. That’s their job.

thanks


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## Soundbed

Congratulations on writing the piece and having fun!!


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## odod

btw, did you turned on the "Show Alert on Pop Up toolbar"? .. and see whether you got the disk low warning too? i am just curious, because i need to refund my new Sandisk Extreme SSD due to the issue


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## toomanynotes

odod said:


> btw, did you turned on the "Show Alert on Pop Up toolbar"? .. and see whether you got the disk low warning too? i am just curious, because i need to refund my new Sandisk Extreme SSD due to the issue


Sorry are you asking me? I haven’t had any SSD issues, only bottle neck shld be CPU + Ram


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## odod

toomanynotes said:


> Sorry are you asking me? I haven’t had any SSD issues, only bottle neck shld be CPU + Ram


hi yes, i even hoping everyone would see this problem, by turning on the Preference - Show Alert on Pop Up Toolbar, and try some orchestrator patches .. Thanks in advance


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## toomanynotes

odod said:


> hi yes, i even hoping everyone would see this problem, by turning on the Preference - Show Alert on Pop Up Toolbar, and try some orchestrator patches .. Thanks in advance


I tried but get no warning! I use external Nvme Ssd With 64gb Ram Laptop.


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## odod

toomanynotes said:


> I tried but get no warning! I use external Nvme Ssd With 64gb Ram Laptop.


ahh i see, now i am curious, whether other people is experiencing the same or not with non NVME SSD.


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## RMH

What is the library size of each Opus library?
There is only the total size in the manual, and I don't think there is an explanation.
I want to know based on diamonds.


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## BassClef

Strings 377
Brass 201
Wodwinds 195
Percussion 75
Harp 16
Cello 41
Violin 39



https://media.soundsonline.com/docs/EW-Installation-Center-Getting-Started.pdf


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## RMH

BassClef said:


> Strings 377
> Brass 201
> Wodwinds 195
> Percussion 75
> Harp 16
> Cello 41
> Violin 39
> 
> 
> 
> https://media.soundsonline.com/docs/EW-Installation-Center-Getting-Started.pdf


Thank you!


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## szczaw

Very good overview of the Orchestrator. Is it a waste of time ? I find it much easier and faster to enter and edit notes in my DAW. What I'd like to see is midi import and automatic mapping chord notes to arp patterns. Fiddling with the small plugin editor is a waste of time, the concept is great though. If your track is made with of Orchestrator presets, it's very easy to make harmonic changes and very quickly explore different instrumentation.


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## odod

szczaw said:


> Very good overview of the Orchestrator. Is it a waste of time ? I find it much easier to enter and edit notes in my DAW. What I'd like to see is midi import and automatic mapping chord notes to arp patterns. Fiddling with the small plugin editor is a waste of time, the concept is great though. If your track is made with of Orchestrator presets, it's very easy to make harmonic changes.


of course not, you just need to play a few phrases and then drag the recorded midi (hand icon at the bottom) and voila .. you have your multi out tracks instantly with the phrases


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## szczaw

odod said:


> of course not, you just need to play a few phrases and then drag the recorded midi (hand icon at the bottom) and voila .. you have your multi out tracks instantly with the phrases


Huh ? I'm talking about IMPORTING notes into Opus, remapping of notes into arp steps.


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## odod

ahh sorry, i misunderstood the question


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## szczaw

Here's a Dm triad. This could simply be imported into Opus and remapped to arp steps. No need to fiddle around with the Opus editor, just select instrument targets, chord note positions, adjust octaves and done.
View attachment Dmin.mp3


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## BassClef

Any news on a fix for the Orchestrator/Logic problem. That's where (in Logic) when you do the import (with the little hand) It does not load the HO instruments but instead lt loads default instruments from Logic's library. Then you have to change the instrument in each track to the correct HOOpus one. That is too much work and makes it pretty useless in my book! EW says that it is a Logic problem.


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## Marsen

BassClef said:


> Then you have to change the instrument in each track to the correct HOOpus one. That is too much work and makes it pretty useless in my book! EW says that it is a Logic problem.


Once you did that, you can save it in Logics library as a preset.
Next time, you just load the preset , you can drag midi to this track, without logic loading the default Instruments.


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## BassClef

Marsen said:


> Once you did that, you can save it in Logics library as a preset.
> Next time, you just load the preset , you can drag midi to this track, without logic loading the default Instruments.


So... any HO-Opus articulation that I have saved as a Logic Preset will be pulled up later when I import from Opus Orchestrator into a Logic project? Next question... is there any easy way to get all HO-Opus instruments and articulations saved as Logic presets?


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## Marsen

BassClef said:


> So... any HO-Opus articulation that I have saved as a Logic Preset will be pulled up later when I import from Opus Orchestrator into a Logic project? Next question... is there any easy way to get all HO-Opus instruments and articulations saved as Logic presets?


First question: yes.
The most easy thing for me, to work with midi drag from Orchestrator or other Vi's is, to make a 16 CH Logic Library Preset within a summing stack, or folder stack.
So you have enough channels for more Orchestrator tracks.
Downside is, the articulations change per Orchestrator preset, but the miditracks from Orchestrator are named, and you also may like to use other VI's with that midi.

Second question: No
You get articulation sets with Hoopus, but these are something different. 

But you could build the most useful combinations of articulations, which suites your workflow. Say, like 10 or so.
And if one or two articulations don't fit, exchange them, and save them too for the future. 
So you're building up your personal library. 
A meaningful naming is important to later find the right preset, you're looking for.


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## Soundbed

szczaw said:


> Very good overview of the Orchestrator. Is it a waste of time ? I find it much easier and faster to enter and edit notes in my DAW.


yeah for some people it’s a lot of setup with little reward. For others, it is a time-saver and inspiring. I think import would be great too, especially if there could also be a marketplace for selling presets to import with various orchestration ideas.


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## BassClef

Soundbed said:


> yeah for some people it’s a lot of setup with little reward. For others, it is a time-saver and inspiring. I think import would be great too, especially if there could also be a marketplace for selling presets to import with various orchestration ideas.


Indeed. EW or a 3rd party could produce various instrument combos for different techniques.


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## ZeroZero

Soundbed said:


> Here is an EastWest (& Sonuscore) Hollywood Opus Orchestrator "tips" video.
> 
> It's directed at users who are really new to the orchestrator and approaching it the first couple times. I found the official walkthroughs helpful, but a couple things that I discovered in practice seemed worth clarifying explicitly.
> 
> In the end the video is a combination of RTFM and little things I noticed while I was playing with the Orchestrator — to maybe save someone else a little time and frustration.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And another one:



Enjoying these videos - just downloading Opus. It's taking ages!


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## ZeroZero

Soundbed said:


> Here is an EastWest (& Sonuscore) Hollywood Opus Orchestrator "tips" video.
> 
> It's directed at users who are really new to the orchestrator and approaching it the first couple times. I found the official walkthroughs helpful, but a couple things that I discovered in practice seemed worth clarifying explicitly.
> 
> In the end the video is a combination of RTFM and little things I noticed while I was playing with the Orchestrator — to maybe save someone else a little time and frustration.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And another one:



So glad I found this thread Soundbed - I am just struggling my way through the Arranger window. Doing a deep dive with Opus orchestrator. 

thank you

Z


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