# How do you deal with people-relatives reacting badly to sample mockups?



## Mr Greg G (Nov 30, 2022)

When I meet people and explain what I'm doing for a living, they often ask how I record orchestral tracks and if I "cheated" with the use of a computer. When you try to explain what a mock up is, how you have to compose and program everything so the client can hear and know what to expect with the final cue, you can immediately see deception in their eyes: "what? Computer programming and music in the same sentence??" And they often look down on you as if we were just pushing magic buttons to produce orchestral mockups.

I'm sure you also faced this very same situation, how do you guys deal with this?


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## goalie composer (Nov 30, 2022)

One word: acceptance. I accept that some people will most likely never understand my work / job and that's OK  If they want to learn more about it, that's great! If not, that's fine too.


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## charlieclouser (Nov 30, 2022)

Tell 'em: "I write my music on the piano, and then I use the computer to change some of the sounds to strings and brass so that civilians with small imaginations and inferior minds can get a better sense of how the finished recordings will sound."

That ought to shut 'em up.


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## Loïc D (Nov 30, 2022)

I use to say I’m too penny-pinching to hire an orchestra so I prefer to spend thousands on libraries.

The issue with this joke is that only people doing mockups can catch it.

Back to square zero…


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## SimonCharlesHanna (Nov 30, 2022)

Mr Greg G said:


> When I meet people and explain what I'm doing for a living, they often ask how I record orchestral tracks and if I "cheated" with the use of a computer. When you try to explain what a mock up is, how you have to compose and program everything so the client can hear and know what to expect with the final cue, you can immediately see deception in their eyes: "what? Computer programming and music in the same sentence??" And they often look down on you as if we were just pushing magic buttons to produce orchestral mockups.
> 
> I'm sure you also faced this very same situation, how do you guys deal with this?


my autistic disposition generally eliminates people's willingness to engage with me for any meaningful amount of time, so it's usually not an issue. Have you tried being severely socially awkward?


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## Tice (Nov 30, 2022)

It's the same problem that game developers and movie makers in general run into: People often think they understand how something works and base their judgement on that, when they really don't understand. And they can get pretty drastic in their resulting 'takes'. It's the Dunning-Kruger effect. When it happens to me I try to remember that is has nothing to do with me, and they're not aware that they're doing it. The only thing you can do is patiently explain to them how it works, without making them feel attacked. And with every new insight they gained they'll once again draw a conclusion as though that new insight was the final one to complete the puzzle, even though it's not.
Don't take it personal.


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## Ben (Nov 30, 2022)

Mr Greg G said:


> you can immediately see deception in their eyes: "what? Computer programming and music in the same sentence??"


Don't tell them about CGI - they might not recover from the shock.


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## Laurin Lenschow (Nov 30, 2022)

Whenever I try to explain to someone how I make music and mention the use of a computer they always nod and say "Ah, I see, synthesizers..."

For context: I make orchestral music


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## Scottyb (Nov 30, 2022)

This is an interesting post as I usually run into the opposite response. People usually can't believe I _did_ everything on the computer! Especially the orchestral stuff! lol


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## Jett Hitt (Nov 30, 2022)

I’m not in the habit of sharing my music with general passers-by, as I try not to cast pearls before swine, but occasionally it’s unavoidable. Usually the response I get is, “Why do you need to go hire an orchestra? You’ve already got it.” Just don’t even tell them it’s not real. Most will never know.


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## Astronaut FX (Nov 30, 2022)

I never cease to be amazed by how many people (even including a lot of musicians) who don’t seem to understand that performing with an instrument and composing are two very distinct skills and activities.

Just tell them that you do what Beethoven did. Except instead of paper, you have technology that lets you hear what it will all sound like together without having to drag in an entire orchestra.


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## Rudianos (Nov 30, 2022)

I am realizing just not to tell them Virtual Instruments... I say that I am a composer here is some of my work.


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## NekujaK (Nov 30, 2022)

Many folks have preconcieved notions about the role of computers in any creative venture, especially music and film, where the exposure to computer-based manipulation occurs on an almost daily basis.

I don't know that the goal should ever be to sway someone's viewpoint, but rather, simply to accurately inform and educate.

One example that most folks are familiar with is the use of green screen and CGI in movies. The explanation is simple: actors are filmed against green screen on a soundstage and then superimposed onto CGI-generated backgrounds because it's simply too costly and takes too much time to build such sets and film live, often for just one or two scenes.

A parallel explanation can be given for using virtual instruments. The time and money required to hire and record real musicians, especially for big orchestral music, is simply too prohibitive. The computer and virtual instruments are the substitute for hiring studio musicans, but the important thing is the effort to write the music is still the same.

Beyond understanding these basic explanations, people will still believe whatever they're going to believe. So just appreciate that the work you do is valued by somebody out there who is hopefully willing to pay you for it


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## ibanez1 (Nov 30, 2022)

i'm surprised any of you have family members that look down on the use of computers for this. My family has been generally amazed and impressed at how believable the music can be coming from these libraries. My mother is a pianist and except for a few comments where she feels nothing will beat a true performance (which is still very true), she loves the endless options for creating. We were actually planning some group composing sessions using my set up in the future.


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## Scottyb (Nov 30, 2022)

That’s awesome you two can share in that! I hope you get to make it happen soon!


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## ka00 (Nov 30, 2022)

Rudianos said:


> I am realizing just not to tell them Virtual Instruments... I say that I am a composer here is some of my work.


I’m surprised the term virtual instruments isn’t translating to people. 

If you say sample libraries I think that people don’t understand that term, translating it to mean something like that you are taking whole phrases and mashing them up in interesting ways.


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## jcrosby (Nov 30, 2022)

I rarely if ever have this kind of response, if anything people tend to be interested in learning how technology's made this possible if they aren't already familiar with the process... Even my friend who's a well respected concertmaster loves talking shop about the process. (Then again he also loves everything from Massive Attack to drum and bass...) 

If someone did look down their noise at it I think I'd opt for confirming their bias, telling them I just play my computer like it's an instrument, and privately have a laugh to myself.


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## HCMarkus (Nov 30, 2022)

As per several above, the typical reaction I get from non-musicians (and a lot of musicians, too) is an impressed "Wow!" After all, it is pretty much magical what one person skilled with VIs can do these days.

Mr. Greg, you could always ask the inquisitor if they cheated by reading the news, doing their taxes, writing a letter or a poem or editing a photo on a computer... Of course, Charlie's approach has an admirably joyful assholishness to it.


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## José Herring (Nov 30, 2022)

Mr Greg G said:


> When I meet people and explain what I'm doing for a living, they often ask how I record orchestral tracks and if I "cheated" with the use of a computer. When you try to explain what a mock up is, how you have to compose and program everything so the client can hear and know what to expect with the final cue, you can immediately see deception in their eyes: "what? Computer programming and music in the same sentence??" And they often look down on you as if we were just pushing magic buttons to produce orchestral mockups.
> 
> I'm sure you also faced this very same situation, how do you guys deal with this?



You ask if they use a wordprocessor and if they say "yes" which they will. Look at them and say, "isn't that cheating?" and walk away while they chew on that for a while.


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## Henu (Nov 30, 2022)

I seem to be living in a complete bubble, as I've never heard of this sort of behaviour before. In fact, those I've met who don't have any knowledge on music production and orchestral samples are usually only_ amazed_ if they are told that "it's actually made with a computer".


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## TWY (Nov 30, 2022)

It's the same sort of thing whenever people look at my Lemur touchscreen setup with digital faders on it, and they go, "Oh, you don't have one of those ginormous mixing boards with REAL faders on them? Oh, then you couldn't possibly be a professional."

Anyway when it comes to sample mockups, I usually say to these types, *"Sure, we can use a real orchestra and real musicians. However, they're not gonna play your music for you for free. Would you pay for it?"*

That usually shuts them the hell up.


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## Gingerbread (Nov 30, 2022)

I sense that people are really misunderstanding the OP's scenario. His problem was with _verbally describing_ the concept of sample mockups to non-musical relatives. He wasn't _playing_ his mockups for them, presumably because they were all at a Thanksgiving dinner. I can see how it would be difficult to convey our process, and how it's "not cheating", when restricted only to a dinner conversation.

It's entirely different when people can _hear_ your music, which you made with amazing sample libraries. Most can't tell it's not a live recording.


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## Daryl (Dec 1, 2022)

I wouldn't give a shit. I'm probably richer than they are anyway.


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## PaulieDC (Dec 1, 2022)

Mr Greg G said:


> When I meet people and explain what I'm doing for a living, they often ask how I record orchestral tracks and if I "cheated" with the use of a computer. When you try to explain what a mock up is, how you have to compose and program everything so the client can hear and know what to expect with the final cue, you can immediately see deception in their eyes: "what? Computer programming and music in the same sentence??" And they often look down on you as if we were just pushing magic buttons to produce orchestral mockups.
> 
> I'm sure you also faced this very same situation, how do you guys deal with this?


Ugh. Same thing for years in photo work. "Was this Photoshopped"? That's like one of your friends asking "Was that Cubased?".

If it didn't hit software it wouldn't exist folks, I prefer that over chemical baths in a dark room or hiring an orchestra and a remote recording truck. I think we need to just stick to what @charlieclouser said early on.


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## Hansu Heya (Dec 1, 2022)

I am actually not fully unsympathetic with the public notion that using computers is somehow cheating, even if their response may be a bit undirected and uniformed. But if you see how technology advances and what becomes possible due to technology, it is obvious that human ability becomes less and less important. Since the invention of Midi, it has become less important to play an instrument well. Then loops and increasingly complex software make it possible to create arrangements with no serious knowledge of orchestration, counterpoint or harmony. And within the next years, AI will certainly play a increasingly bigger role.

To look at a different field: recently there have been huge advances in AI creating pictures or paintings based on text. So, if you say you are a painter and you do that with the help of AI, you are lying. I know of course that some people use some tablet and digital pen and paint with their hands in photoshop. Are there people also lying, when they call themselves painters? Certainly not to the same degree as the people writing text and letting the AI do the work! But they still skip on a whole lot of craft that they would have to learn as traditional painters. And if the skip it, they are of course missing stuff.

That is why I think intuitively people notice that craft becomes less important. But their respect and admiration for the job of a composer or any artist is dependent on the mastery of such a craft. And that is why they are somewhat disappointed to hear the craft is being replaced by a computer.

This is of course sometimes very justified (like in the example of the AI doing the full job) and sometimes less so (when composers actually write their music and just mock it up with a computer). But the observation that human craft and ability get replaced by machinery in principle is correct IMHO.


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## JohnS (Dec 1, 2022)

Mr Greg G said:


> When I meet people and explain what I'm doing for a living, they often ask how I record orchestral tracks and if I "cheated" with the use of a computer. When you try to explain what a mock up is, how you have to compose and program everything so the client can hear and know what to expect with the final cue, you can immediately see deception in their eyes: "what? Computer programming and music in the same sentence??" And they often look down on you as if we were just pushing magic buttons to produce orchestral mockups.
> 
> I'm sure you also faced this very same situation, how do you guys deal with this?


Ask them if they know any composer or conductor that can play all the instruments used in their compositions.

Then ask them how often they listen to symphonic music. Most of them do not realize that they do, probably everyday...


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## Vik (Dec 1, 2022)

Mr Greg G said:


> you can immediately see deception in their eyes: "what? Computer programming and music in the same sentence??"


Buy them a radio or a TV.


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## EanS (Dec 1, 2022)

Once a friend said "you're using auto-tune" on a Austin Powers mockup I did. 🤣🤣

So yeah, now I say it's like Excel but instead of cells it's midi, and it's formulas instead of notes and harmony. And you'll find out they don't know how Excel works either....

So I end doing a mine sweeper analogy 🫤


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## Crowe (Dec 1, 2022)

I generally roll my eyes, give my sarcasm muscles a workout and continue to not really care all that much.

There's always people who won't "get" what it is you do. If they're honestly curious, explain it. If they're prissy about it, fuck 'em. Ain't nobody got time for that.


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## Roger Newton (Dec 1, 2022)

I never tell them anything. It’s a mind numbing pointless exercise even trying.


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## thesteelydane (Dec 1, 2022)

You should try explaining being a sample library developer to people...it's damn near impossible. I always end up with something along the line of "I'm like a violin builder, but the violin I make only exists inside the computer, it's made of thousand and thousands of tiny recordings of a real violin and it can do impossible things", and then they usually go "oooooh, I get it...I think...kind of...well, not really..."


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## Crowe (Dec 1, 2022)

Roger Newton said:


> I never tell them anything. It’s a mind numbing pointless exercise even trying.


Jup. I've managed to boil it down to 'I'm in IT'. That's generally enough to make people zone out within seconds.

EDIT: Oh, and if they for some inexplicable reason want to know more I say "I manage people and processes".

If that doesn't do it I usually just leave as I'm obviously talking to some sort of freak.


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## Roger Newton (Dec 1, 2022)

Crowe said:


> Jup. I've managed to boil it down to 'I'm in IT'. That's generally enough to make people zone out within seconds.


What always gets me through the years is when anything comes up to do with music you tend get confronted with stuff about their children or grandchildren ‘play the piano’ and are really very good.’

‘Oh really, how utterly fascinating’ you say and pray the holiday photos don’t come out next.


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## JohnS (Dec 1, 2022)

thesteelydane said:


> You should try explaining being a sample library developer to people...it's damn near impossible. I always end up with something along the line of "I'm like a violin builder, but the violin I make only exists inside the computer, it's made of thousand and thousands of tiny recordings of a real violin and it can do impossible things", and then they usually go "oooooh, I get it...I think...kind of...well, not really..."


Tell them that as all the recording industry you are trying to capitalize on selling others peoples performances, difference being you deal with separate instruments not whole records...


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## Mr Greg G (Dec 1, 2022)

charlieclouser said:


> Tell 'em: "I write my music on the piano, and then I use the computer to change some of the sounds to strings and brass so that civilians with small imaginations and inferior minds can get a better sense of how the finished recordings will sound."
> 
> That ought to shut 'em up.


I LOVE that 🤣


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## Mr Greg G (Dec 1, 2022)

Gingerbread said:


> I sense that people are really misunderstanding the OP's scenario. His problem was with _verbally describing_ the concept of sample mockups to non-musical relatives. He wasn't _playing_ his mockups for them, presumably because they were all at a Thanksgiving dinner. I can see how it would be difficult to convey our process, and how it's "not cheating", when restricted only to a dinner conversation.
> 
> It's entirely different when people can _hear_ your music, which you made with amazing sample libraries. Most can't tell it's not a live recording.


Exactly, I wasn't talking about clients or situations where it was possible to have a listen to music but people in general in casual conversations when they ask "what do you do for a living". Yes _some _people are genuinely interested in hearing what's behind the scenes and the technicalities but _most _people (even friends of mine) have really NO clue, they just know it involves music and that's it.

I would be cloning beaver embryos in a shed they wouldn't be surprised at all.


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## Stringtree (Dec 1, 2022)

Yeah, music is something I _really _listen to. When I hear something amazing, that thing is probably overlooked by most people who aren't really aware of what to listen for, or how to identify _amazing_.

I guess, consider your audience. Orchestral is a blur that all sounds the same to many folks. Mom and Dad think I dig TSO because I like orchestral music, so they blast that at Christmas. Connection lost.


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## Macrawn (Dec 1, 2022)

I think only failed or mediocre musicians act that way. The only people who think it is cheating are other musicians. Most people are in amazement that a full orchestra composition can be done on a computer, and most can't tell they are samples. They usually ask a lot of questions about how it is done. And nobody cares or thinks about how the music is made while watching a Netflix show. It just sounds good.

But another rule of thumb I've always used is I'm brief and vague about work and personal issues with relatives and only if asked, because there are no artists or musicians in the family. But with only a couple of exceptions my family is boring, closed minded and non inquisitive. Better to just talk about the weather with them and keep the peace.


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## Jeremy Spencer (Dec 1, 2022)

Scottyb said:


> This is an interesting post as I usually run into the opposite response. People usually can't believe I _did_ everything on the computer! Especially the orchestral stuff! lol


In over 25 years, this is the exact response I've always received. They are always blown away at how it is even possible.


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## ism (Dec 1, 2022)

I've been known to vehemently deny any use of technology whatever and insist that it's all live recordings of an actual orchestra of (magic) animals playing in a (magic) Room of Requirement. Conducted by Bob the (magic) Giraffe. Unless it's a choral work, in which case Penelope the (magic) cow will sometimes take over from Bob.


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## nolotrippen (Dec 1, 2022)

Tice said:


> It's the same problem that game developers and movie makers in general run into: People often think they understand how something works and base their judgement on that, when they really don't understand. And they can get pretty drastic in their resulting 'takes'. It's the Dunning-Kruger effect. When it happens to me I try to remember that is has nothing to do with me, and they're not aware that they're doing it. The only thing you can do is patiently explain to them how it works, without making them feel attacked. And with every new insight they gained they'll once again draw a conclusion as though that new insight was the final one to complete the puzzle, even though it's not.
> Don't take it personal.


Dunning-Kruger, beat me to it.


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## Baronvonheadless (Dec 1, 2022)

Mr Greg G said:


> When I meet people and explain what I'm doing for a living, they often ask how I record orchestral tracks and if I "cheated" with the use of a computer. When you try to explain what a mock up is, how you have to compose and program everything so the client can hear and know what to expect with the final cue, you can immediately see deception in their eyes: "what? Computer programming and music in the same sentence??" And they often look down on you as if we were just pushing magic buttons to produce orchestral mockups.
> 
> I'm sure you also faced this very same situation, how do you guys deal with this?


I tell them Mozart and Beethoven were just visual artists. Fucking drawing on paper like a nerd!


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## handz (Dec 1, 2022)

I'll remove them from my will or put them in a nursing home


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## mikrokosmiko (Dec 1, 2022)

Same for me. I have found that most of people are double amazed
1. Wow, YOU composed this???
2. Wow, so this is not a REAL orchestra????

That's how it usually goes. If the person is a professional musician, there is also: 
3. Wow, how long before I'm replaced by a computer?

But the most mind-blowing thing for musicians is when I show them some physically modeled instruments like pianoteq




Jeremy Spencer said:


> In over 25 years, this is the exact response I've always received. They are always blown away at how it is even possible.


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## charlieclouser (Dec 1, 2022)

Jeremy Spencer said:


> In over 25 years, this is the exact response I've always received. They are always blown away at how it is even possible.


Me too. Then again, it might be a different response if it's coming from friends+family who are already classical composers, conductors, music educators, etc. My family didn't have any other "creatives" so they were always slack-jawed that I could conjure up whole songs out of tiny molecules of audio strung together. I've explained how sampled "true legato transitions" work to a few civilians and they're as amazed as I was that anyone would even attempt such a ludicrous task as sampling the transitions between every note and every possible second note (hats off to Herb Tucmandl at VSL!). It sounds like something a couple of stoners would think up!

"Dude.... dude.... you know what we could totally do? We could sample every note... and THEN sample the transitions to every OTHER possible note.... and then.... *takes bong hit* .... and then... *exhales massive smoke cloud*... make a Kontakt script that would read the notes you're playing, find the correct transition sample, and stitch the three samples together.... IN REAL TIME. It would totally work, dude...."

I still can't believe it actually works as well as it does.

I had one of those stoned moments in the late 1990's with Steve Duda (of BFD and Serum fame). And, yes, we were literally stoned as hell, as we were chopping up multitrack drum samples recorded with Steve Albini, and dumping them into SampleCell and E-Mu E4 samplers during the production of the NIN album "The Fragile". Frustrated that we were working with stereo mix-downs that Alan Moulder had done from the original 16-tracks-wide recordings, we thought that if we chopped ALL of the tracks in the whole 16-track recordings, and were very precise about file-naming, we could stack them all up in the samplers and assign them to individual hardware outputs to replicate the channel layout on the SSL. When you play one note, 16 samples would fire, each coming out of a separate output. That way, when you triggered the snare sample, you'd hear the snare bleed in all the other mics, just as you would in the original 16-track recording.

We were maybe a little too stoned to realize how big of a mountain that would be to climb - especially with the slow computers and crude editing capabilities of ProTools III (which had 16-tracks max), no easy batch-file-renaming methods, and SCSI transfers and manual mapping of a zillion samples in the E-Mu rack samplers.... but we did it anyway. It took... days.

Only to find that neither the SampleCell cards nor the E-4 samplers could handle firing off a 16-deep layer of samples with anything approaching sample-accurate timing. You'd hit a note and hear "brrrrrrrrrrah" as the layers fired off a few milliseconds apart from each other, like the world's fastest bell-tree glissando. That made the results of our "true 16-channel multi-mic sample library" mostly unusable, so we changed our overly-ambitious concept a bit and wound up with a four-layer approach - Alan re-mixed the original recordings into a stereo "dry pair" and a stereo "room pair", and we chopped+named+exported+mapped those, with the end result in the E-4 being much like the simpler two or three fader "close / decca / room" mics on a strings library in Kontakt... and that approach DID work.

We KNEW the basic concept was sound, it was just that the hardware of the day wasn't up to the task, but a few years later Steve would hook up with the team at FxPansion and develop the world's first software sampler with sample-accurate multi-mic drum sounds, called BFD.

Nowadays we take it for granted that every software sampler does this, but 20+ years ago it was a mind-blowing development, allowing mixers to deal with sampled drum kits using exactly the same mixing techniques they'd use on conventional multitrack recordings.

Sometimes a too-stoned midnight "what if" session can produce ripples that make some big waves!


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## muk (Dec 1, 2022)

Scottyb said:


> This is an interesting post as I usually run into the opposite response. People usually can't believe I _did_ everything on the computer! Especially the orchestral stuff! lol


Interesting how much experiences differ. I never get asked _how_ a track was created. People are hearing an orchestral track, and they always go 'Oh I like that music' or 'Cool, but not my style' or similar. Never once have I been asked 'Where is that orchestra coming from?', 'do you do that on a computer?', or 'Wait, you recorded an orchestra?'. The people around me apparently simply accept that you can work with orchestral sounds without wondering where they are coming from.


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## Henning (Dec 1, 2022)

When people ask what I do, I mostly say "I make music". Then inevitably they go "oh... ahem, and you can make a living from that?"


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## PaulieDC (Dec 1, 2022)

Roger Newton said:


> I never tell them anything. It’s a mind numbing pointless exercise even trying.


Good point. Let's just respond with "Fine, don't listen." and walk away.


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## Mr Greg G (Dec 1, 2022)

Henning said:


> When people ask what I do, I mostly say "I make music". Then inevitably they go "oh... ahem, and you can make a living from that?"


True. So that's the occasion to ask them to pay for your drinks the whole night.


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## Roger Newton (Dec 1, 2022)

PaulieDC said:


> Good point. Let's just respond with "Fine, don't listen." and walk away.


There's an old axiom with magicians. Never tell anyone how you do magic. The second you do that, it ceases to be magic and just becomes a trick.

I remember being confronted for the twentieth time by a guy years ago in London on whether I had heard his wife singing. After 19 attempts at polite subterfuge, I succumbed and said I had indeed heard singing from his flat, ran to the window, checked the sky and then ran for the nearest underground shelter.
That did the trick.


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## ScarletJerry (Dec 1, 2022)

This thread made me remember that we have to compose music, then create a multitrack arrangement and perform each part. Let’s just take a moment to pause and contemplate how amazing we all are  

Scarlet Jerry


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## Scottyb (Dec 1, 2022)

ScarletJerry said:


> This thread made me remember that we have to compose music, then create a multitrack arrangement and perform each part. Let’s just take a moment to pause and contemplate how amazing we all are
> 
> Scarlet Jerry


Preach! 😂


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## Scottyb (Dec 1, 2022)

And mix it so it doesn’t sound like it was recorded in a shoe box!


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## ScarletJerry (Dec 1, 2022)

Scottyb said:


> And mix it so it doesn’t sound like it was recorded in a shoe box!


I'm still learning how to do that part.


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## kgdrum (Dec 1, 2022)

I have a sister with very limited musical exposure and let’s just say pedestrian taste. Years ago to have a bit of fun while hearing her objective opinion on music I was working on, I made up a story telling her the music was that of a extremely deranged friend of mine.
I made up a preposterous story of Dolf recently released from prison, a genuine psychopath,with a trail of atrocities against mankind. Dolf was a menacing individual howling at the moon with industrial music,noise and feedback as the musical content. Needless to say the music and Dolf (who was actually me) totally freaked her out! lol
My late mother who played and appreciated music was in on the joke. For a few years I tried to explain to my sister that the music was actually all me. She never was able to believe it,lol
To this day 35 years later she is petrified that I might show up with my buddy Dolf and try to set her up with a psycho from hell that wants to hook up with her & sing 🤬 to her………


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## ryans (Dec 1, 2022)

I have one friend who I occasionally gig with. He is a really old school rock guitar guy. Smart, amazing guitar player. I've tried probably over 50 times to explain to him how my DAW works and what MIDI is. He still doesn't get it. 

"So, the sounds are coming from the keyboard?"

"No, it's a MIDI controller. It transmits pitch, note velocity, and note duration to the computer and the computer generates the audio."

(He will nod, totally and completely confused) "Okay, but how does the audio get from the keyboard to the computer?" 

I've given up.


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## Roger Newton (Dec 2, 2022)

kgdrum said:


> I have a sister


It can happen to the best of us.

Sisters can be difficult at times.


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## kgdrum (Dec 2, 2022)

Roger Newton said:


> It can happen to the best of us.
> 
> Sisters can be difficult at times.


Yes but in my case they also can be a treasure trove of unlimited entertainment with a focus on light hearted pranks w/practical and somewhat unpractible jokes! 😂


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## J-M (Dec 2, 2022)

This is the approach I use with "the uninitiated". I got tired after numerous failed attempts to explain anything about my "music" or how I make it.

Them: "So you write music, what kind?"
Me: "Yes. The weather is nice today, innit?"


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## Jeremy Spencer (Dec 2, 2022)

ryans said:


> I have one friend who I occasionally gig with. He is a really old school rock guitar guy. Smart, amazing guitar player. I've tried probably over 50 times to explain to him how my DAW works and what MIDI is. He still doesn't get it.
> 
> "So, the sounds are coming from the keyboard?"
> 
> ...


I also have a few of those friends. Even after explaining everything, one buddy went ahead and bought a controller and was frustrated because he couldn’t access the sounds on it. It was an M-Audio MIDI controller.


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## Epic Wonder (Dec 2, 2022)

This video has helped me a great deal to deal with failure and insecurities.


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## Saxer (Dec 2, 2022)

Over the years I got all kind of reaction to DAW made music.
It's from "wow, that was you?" to "It's astonishing what computers can do nowadays" to "Music out of the computer and music out of the radio: where is the difference?".

Fun thing: I play sax in live bands and have my DAW studio for media music work. For some people the live playing is the "real music", the pure art without electricity and fake. For others the live music thing is kind of a begging busker or day laborer but at least he has a "serious job" as a composer. Impressive for the most is if I play some music I've written and show them the orchestral score. Producing something written on paper is still something most people associates with "real work".


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## ryst (Dec 2, 2022)

Here's what I tell myself: There are around 8 billion people on this planet. It's really difficult to care what people think if they don't like my work in any way.


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