What's new?

[Paul Battersby]

It's good to see that people are still checking in to see if there are any new posts. Also interesting to read what everyone is doing in their spare time. Perhaps this can be a thread for people to occasionally add a new post when something new happens - like updating a YouTube channel or passing a drivers test

[Nayrb]

(06-24-2021, 09:46 AM)Chris Spyratos Wrote: Nice to see a new discussion going on here! Personally, I haven't doing much productive work regarding music lately, even though I am studying some jazz guitar material as well as going through my personal notes regarding composition. Due to my day job pressure and the ongoing pandemic situation here, I tend to use music more as a hobby to relieve stress. The result being some retro/80s/synth/disco fun grooves with free VSTs, that might or might not evolve into something bigger than a single track. Working with synths is fun and easy for the most part and that project actually gave me quite a lot of understanding regarding the use of melody and rhythm.

I also had some ideas for piano and string quartet that I was working on but now I think of it more  of a study of a certain style and I don't really know if I should bother realizing them with VSTs since it would demand a serious amount of programming.

I have been really enjoying learning some foreign languages with a mobile app, cut down on the use of social media and their distractions, caring for my cat and walking the family dog, contemplating the world and stuff...

I was doing some 80s synthwave stuff, too. It got to be kind of analytical, though, like most things I do. I think I'm just looking to push my technical knowledge further, and that sometimes makes it hard to just relax and be creative. I should find some way to rectify that, honestly. Sometimes you just have to look at the thing and say "this is what it is" and just make tunes with it and see where it goes.

I've also been trying to boost my theory knowledge a bit too. Even basic stuff like time sigs can be perplexing to me. Reaper is way better for that than FL Studio is. Fortunately I have a useful, practical tool for that sort of thing now.

(06-24-2021, 01:04 PM)Paul Battersby Wrote: It's good to see that people are still checking in to see if there are any new posts. Also interesting to read what everyone is doing in their spare time. Perhaps this can be a thread for people to occasionally add a new post when something new happens - like updating a YouTube channel or passing a drivers test

I've been checking in almost every day this whole time. It's just a habit of mine, I guess. Maybe I'll start up a post about some of the stuff I'm doing for school. Or maybe even just about which old computer games I've been playing in my (rather limited) spare time.

[Paul Battersby]

(06-24-2021, 03:40 PM)Nayrb Wrote: I've also been trying to boost my theory knowledge a bit too. Even basic stuff like time sigs can be perplexing to me.

If you want to start a new thread and ask a question about time signatures, maybe I can help.

(06-24-2021, 03:40 PM)Nayrb Wrote: Maybe I'll start up a post about some of the stuff I'm doing for school. Or maybe even just about which old computer games I've been playing in my (rather limited) spare time.

Sure. Why not. We could use something new to discuss around here.

[Chris Spyratos]

(06-24-2021, 03:40 PM)Nayrb Wrote: I was doing some 80s synthwave stuff, too. It got to be kind of analytical, though, like most things I do. I think I'm just looking to push my technical knowledge further, and that sometimes makes it hard to just relax and be creative. I should find some way to rectify that, honestly. Sometimes you just have to look at the thing and say "this is what it is" and just make tunes with it and see where it goes.

Well for me, writing something in a style I had never tried before was refreshing. And the fact that synths usually do not require much tweaking to sound "real" made the process even more relaxed. Since I used drum machine sounds, I didn't bother with percussion realism either. I focused only on musical matters. The same thing I do when writing on musescore, not bothering with how it sounds.

It was also a fun way to explore these 80s harmonies that I always found too elusive to understand and I had fun setting up a synthwave template in Reaper.

Speaking of templates, I have yet to construct me an orchestral template... Everything I end up with, seems quite messy and honestly I tend to appreciate more good writing than "realism" so I return to Musescore. I have even considered setting up a template to utilize my Roland Sound Canvas hardware but I figured out that I like the portabillity of having everything in VST inside my Reaper. Then again, modern libraries are heavy on the CPU and I don't really love using Kontakt. You mentioned some old libraries Nayrb, which ones do you use and how good they integrate with Reaper?

[peastman]

I've mostly been spending my time on work and piano. Plus game playing. The only composing I've done in the last several months was to arrange a piano piece I was working on for chamber ensemble, because it totally sounded to me like that was what the composer had in mind when he wrote it. But when I tried to create a performance version of it, I discovered I didn't have any library with a decent solo viola, so I ended up putting it aside!

[Nayrb]

(06-26-2021, 12:48 PM)Chris Spyratos Wrote:

(06-24-2021, 03:40 PM)Nayrb Wrote: I was doing some 80s synthwave stuff, too. It got to be kind of analytical, though, like most things I do. I think I'm just looking to push my technical knowledge further, and that sometimes makes it hard to just relax and be creative. I should find some way to rectify that, honestly. Sometimes you just have to look at the thing and say "this is what it is" and just make tunes with it and see where it goes.

Well for me, writing something in a style I had never tried before was refreshing. And the fact that synths usually do not require much tweaking to sound "real" made the process even more relaxed. Since I used drum machine sounds, I didn't bother with percussion realism either. I focused only on musical matters. The same thing I do when writing on musescore, not bothering with how it sounds.

It was also a fun way to explore these 80s harmonies that I always found too elusive to understand and I had fun setting up a synthwave template in Reaper.

Speaking of templates, I have yet to construct me an orchestral template... Everything I end up with, seems quite messy and honestly I tend to appreciate more good writing than "realism" so I return to Musescore. I have even considered setting up a template to utilize my Roland Sound Canvas hardware but I figured out that I like the portabillity of having everything in VST inside my Reaper. Then again, modern libraries are heavy on the CPU and I don't really love using Kontakt. You mentioned some old libraries Nayrb, which ones do you use and how good they integrate with Reaper?

I haven't used Reaper for anything extensive, yet. I'm getting there, though. I hope to really take it for a spin soon, but I've just been getting used to all the basics to begin with. I really like it, though! I think VO templates are necessarily messy and idiosyncratic

Everything I have is Kontakt-based. I rather like it, though I understand it's not for everyone. The template I've built is based on my "old template" (quotes, because I never really did anything with it) from FL Studio. I just got sick of FL's strict handling of time sigs and such. It's necessarily huge, even with my preference for keyswitch patches. It's probably 100+ individual tracks. But that actually works for me because I know what goes where and how to process it; many tracks are just placeholders for things I might use.

All the "new" old libraries I'm using are also Kontakt based. I own all of the Westgate woodwinds now, except the section libraries. Initially, I went hunting for a solution for what was my main woodwinds section (stock Kontakt), and ended up with all of the solo winds, the rare winds, and even the french horn section libraries (also the concert harp). I got some good use out of the free VSCO Community edition, but I decided to go with the old Westgate libraries because they are pretty easy to integrate with what I already have, and they're sort of "a la carte." I'm pretty happy with them, but they are definitely dated. Then again, most of my stuff is dated anyway, so it works out just fine. These days, I like a good selection of articulations and some pre-fab dynamics and effects, in addition to the usual articulations. There are pros and cons, of course, but that's how it always is and always will be.

I also got a couple of the Xsamples libraries. These are kind of unknown, and definitely cater to the notation software crowd. They aren't very advanced, but they can answer a need. I got the concert harp and the pan flute last summer (I'm especially happy to have a pan flute library!). They also have their pros and cons, and the downloading and installing is a bit weird, but all in all, I'm pretty happy with them.

I usually get stuff on sale, or seek out free or cheap stuff these days. I tend to buy the Westgate stuff when Big Fish has a sale, and the Xsample stuff isn't all that expensive, comparatively. I should add that I grabbed a Bolder Sound dulcimer (I now have that and the cymbalom) and Project SAM True Strike 2 (part 1 being my main orchestral library) last year as well. I think I got TS2 for about 35-40 USD at the time. It's got some great stuff in it, but it's not quite as awesome as TS1.

As for how all this integrates with Reaper: it goes just fine. One thing that bugs me about Reaper is that I can't rename CC lanes. So my vibrato on/off, for instance, is just going to be called whatever CC 74 is called by default. I don't really mind, though, because I write things down in the project notes and just generally remember what's what. Reaper has been really accommodating, and, with a few little hiccups here and there, transferring and expanding my template hasn't really been difficult. I quite like Reaper!

[Paul Battersby]

(06-27-2021, 03:48 AM)Nayrb Wrote: One thing that bugs me about Reaper is that I can't rename CC lanes. So my vibrato on/off, for instance, is just going to be called whatever CC 74 is called by default.

I think Reaper does allow renaming of CC lanes. I haven't tried it but apparently if you go to your Reaper folder, then the MIDINoteNames directory, there is a file there called:

note_name_sample.txt

I think you are supposed to copy it, rename it, fill in what you want from within the MIDI editor, then you can load it by selecting

File > Note/CC names > Load Note/CC names from file

[Nayrb]

(06-27-2021, 01:09 PM)Paul Battersby Wrote: I think Reaper does allow renaming of CC lanes. I haven't tried it but apparently if you go to your Reaper folder, then the MIDINoteNames directory, there is a file there called:

note_name_sample.txt

I think you are supposed to copy it, rename it, fill in what you want from within the MIDI editor, then you can load it by selecting

File > Note/CC names > Load Note/CC names from file

I recall reading about that, actually; but it seems like it's not a good solution for me, because the same CC does different things for different patches in my setup. It's actually just easier for me to just leave it and remember what's doing what or make a few notes to remind myself.

[Paul Battersby]

(06-27-2021, 05:42 PM)Nayrb Wrote: it seems like it's not a good solution for me, because the same CC does different things for different patches in my setup.

I'm not trying to convince you to use this but I just tried it. The CC names work on a per track basis. So you can have different CC names for different patches and if I drag a MIDI item from one track to another, the CC names change to match the track.

[Chris Spyratos]

(06-28-2021, 11:39 AM)Paul Battersby Wrote:

(06-27-2021, 05:42 PM)Nayrb Wrote: it seems like it's not a good solution for me, because the same CC does different things for different patches in my setup.

I'm not trying to convince you to use this but I just tried it. The CC names work on a per track basis. So you can have different CC names for different patches and if I drag a MIDI item from one track to another, the CC names change to match the track.

That's some serious Reaper wizardry! Very helpful! Thank you both for bringing it to my attention!

There is also this tool called Reaticulate which helps to homogenize different libraries when it comes to changing articulations. It takes some time to figure it out as it is text edited, but it basically stands between your midi track and your vst, and translates program change commands to whatever keyswitch your VST wants to listen. So if you have a track with staccato phrases and bump it to another VST, Reaticulate will translate the program change to the correct keyswitch for that track. I am not sure it can do CCs the same way but it is still under development. https://reaticulate.com/

Even though this is really helpful when having different libraries, I have come across libraries that do not have consistent keyswitches even among instruments of the same family.