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Is less more???

J

jeffsarge

New Member
I’m new to all of this. I’m an animator who wants to get into creating soundtracks so I’ve been following a lot of threads here that are really great. And I’ve learned a lot. In my business, there’s a saying, “it’s the think, not the ink”. So I suppose my question is when it comes to soundtrack making, how do you weight the importance of sonic mojo vs. creative, imaginative composing? I’m beginning to dive into the infinite number of incredible libraries out there and my head is spinning. Do you really want all those options? Or do you?
Not to sound trite, but the Beatles used 3 instruments and a 4 track recorder ( I know, they used more , but you get the point).
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If less is more, just think, how much more more could be.

But I kid. Start with a style/genre you're interested in, then search for a few libraries (limit yourself) you think will help you achieve that sound. Trust your ears, ignore most opinions. Just start small, you don't need every library to be good -- or do you?
 
I would say, as in any creative endeavor, restrictions often breed creativity, and too much choice risk crippling the process or the result.

Highly subjective of course. But for me it’s true. I own more libraries than I would ever need, but I’m the happiest with both the process and the result when I stick to the basics and limit myself.

Of course I’m just a hobbyist, and I understand if professionals that actually know what they’re doing would disagree with me. :)
 
Both of the above posts are good advice. In my experience, skills and tools need to grow together. Start with a small set of tools and grow your skill; eventually your increasing skills will hit a limitation because of your tools, at which point you buy some more (and likely with specific purposes in mind). Then you grow your skills again, and so on. It is very easy to get overwhelmed in this space otherwise!
 
From the beginning of one's journey into composing, and all the way up to mid level, I would focus on utilising just a few core libraries and plugins. Don't discount the freebies out there, many are excellent starting points. Value for money, think developers like Heavyocity, they cover all styles.

Perhaps the best investment any composer can make is time - learn your sequencer-DAW and become a power user.
 
jeffsarge said:
... “it’s the think, not the ink”.
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I like this saying. In this arena equivalents might be: "It's the thought, not the bought," or "It's the apply, not the VI."

In my case, I have gathered enough stuff to where I sometimes have to artificially limit my choices, so as not to become paralyzed. You've already gotten some sage advice. Just be sensible and use your best intuition. In any art, whenever someone says that you should do something this way or that way, they may be right except for the fact that there is always the other way.

Good luck!
 
Quasar said:
In my case, I have gathered enough stuff to where I sometimes have to artificially limit my choices, so as not to become paralyzed. You've already gotten some sage advice. Just be sensible and use your best intuition. In any art, whenever someone says that you should do something this way or that way, they may be right except for the fact that there is always the other way. . .
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Yes, I like this. And just because it's available to me does not mean that I have to use it.
These are one and zeros; their feelings won't be hurt if I keep some of them on the bench.
 
jeffsarge said:
I’m new to all of this. I’m an animator who wants to get into creating soundtracks so I’ve been following a lot of threads here that are really great. And I’ve learned a lot. In my business, there’s a saying, “it’s the think, not the ink”. So I suppose my question is when it comes to soundtrack making, how do you weight the importance of sonic mojo vs. creative, imaginative composing? I’m beginning to dive into the infinite number of incredible libraries out there and my head is spinning. Do you really want all those options? Or do you?
Not to sound trite, but the Beatles used 3 instruments and a 4 track recorder ( I know, they used more , but you get the point).
Click to expand...
offtopic, what do you use to animate?
 
I'd say more is more. But less is usually enough.

Unfortunately, when you get into orchestral VI's, you will find you need multiple ones to get the sound you want because they don't all do everything. But until you know what sound you want, you are probably better off getting a relatively inexpensive one like Nucleus or BBCSO Core, preferably on sale, until you figure it out.

If you are doing animated stuff, you may also want to look at Project Sam's products.
 
Thank you everyone. I am stunned by the immediate, insightful response on this forum. It's really remarkable and rare. I think I have a good starting place. Just bought an NI s49 with comes with a basic library + I had some Artutia synth stuff and Pigments and I just downloaded the Discover version of Spitfire BBC Orchestra. That ought to keep me busy for a while. Thank you again until I post my next stupid question.
 
I love having a large collection sample libraries, but it’s easy to go down the proverbial rabbit hole. If the Beatles had today’s technology back in the 60’s, I’m sure they would have taken advantage of it. You just need to make sure your palette contains libraries you think you’ll truly utilize.

there are no stupid questions! I have asked some real doozies here over the years!
 
jeffsarge said:
I’m new to all of this. I’m an animator who wants to get into creating soundtracks so I’ve been following a lot of threads here that are really great. And I’ve learned a lot. In my business, there’s a saying, “it’s the think, not the ink”. So I suppose my question is when it comes to soundtrack making, how do you weight the importance of sonic mojo vs. creative, imaginative composing? I’m beginning to dive into the infinite number of incredible libraries out there and my head is spinning. Do you really want all those options? Or do you?
Not to sound trite, but the Beatles used 3 instruments and a 4 track recorder ( I know, they used more , but you get the point).
Click to expand...

Props to you for already coming to this conclusion so early on your path. This will likely save you lots of money and even time. Picking out new tools takes while, and learning to use them takes even longer. If you limit yourself to fewer tools that frees up various resources to focus more on your writing.
 
Well, as someone who has been fascinated with ‘more’ all my life, I would emotionally say ‘more is always more’. More is abundance, and that is satisfying. Bigger, faster, better… more!! More!! MORE!!!

Never found myself trying to convince myself that less ever made me happy, when I knew ’less’ meant, well…. less. Less is the absence of More.

Minimalism as a choice- Once you have mastered ‘more’, you can then find the beauty in ‘less’. But to find the true value of more means going all the way. You push the bounds until you find what more really means. That’s what big blockbusters are all about. Big, unapologetically loud and noisy. This takes skill, because the margin of error multiplies when dealing with ’more’. More is hard to pull off. Especially with audio.

But, TO ME, less as a choice is equally as hard, but for different reasons. Less is about restraint. Less can be unbeatably beautiful and evocative. There will always be the temptation to make it less minimal, that’s the big challenge. I just want to ADD this effect, or THAT doubled layer. Less can be about taking out all extraneous things to get down to the very essential things. Trying to get to that place just above the threshold where the structure falls apart is the hardest part. Less is far more demanding of orchestration, but less forces you to realize that things you thought were essential may not be required. The brain can fill in the space between two lines, and if you ‘suggest’ a larger thing ( ie extended voiced chord ) the listener will understand the big picture, even though you only provided an incomplete picture. Quincy Jones is a master of this.
Less is a choice relished when more is mastered. Why? Just because you can doesn’t mean you should, but knowing how, means the choice is just that, a choice.
 
Think of sample libraries as different styles of brushes. Until you know what kind of picture you’re trying to paint, there’s no sense in stocking up on every type of brush.

If you’re aiming to do complex John Williams style pieces with lots of divisi (many fine tipped brushes), an ensemble style library (broad strokes brush) is not the best choice to reach for.

If you’re aiming for a classical sound, aggressive and modern sounding hybrid libraries are not a good choice.

Figure out what kind of pictures you want to paint, then you can worry about what brushes will get you there.

If you’re like me, there’s many styles of paintings that are desired and that means lots of brushes. But if you know what painting calls for which brush, more is more and less is less.
 
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