02-06-2017, 07:37 PM
Thanks so much for the thoughtful replies! I had a feeling this would be a great community to be a part of.
To address reverb first: I have a couple of Waves reverb plug-ins (I use Reaper as my DAW, Kontakt as my sampler) the H1 which I suppose is more of a standard one, and one called IR1 which is a convolution reverb. I tried using the IR1 first, since my books mentioned that this is the best method of reverb for orchestral stuff, but it just sounded crazy to me--way too wet. I know that this is mostly due to my inability to actually work this (or any) reverb effectively, so I'm going to find some videos to help me understand how to get the best sound of them before I put up my second piece next month. I used the H1 on basically everything and left most of the settings as-is, while attempting to push some instruments "back" using the predelay only, but I don't feel I really succeeded. I think I'm getting myself kind of stuck by trying to follow the information I've read on making my pieces sound "real", while also wanting it be more of an in-you-face, cleaner sound that I associate with more modern hollywood and video game music (big fan of Final Fantasy and Zelda soundtracks.)
As far as instrumentation goes: I used the tom samples in one of the Spitfire Albion tracks as well. I kind of felt like they were too intense and hollywood-cliche for what I was going for, but it's all I could work effectively before my self-appointed deadline :p Maybe I'll figure out a way to tone them down or get a better sound out of them. In the B section, I switch to a Kontakt-library basic Timpani sound.
With the winds, I used two different Spitfire libraries: The Albion, which divided it into simply "Winds Hi" and "Winds Lo" which I was not a big fan of--but again, deadline. Otherwise I know I just would have worked on this one piece for weeks and weeks
And then a Spitfire standalone flute library, which may be where some of the inconsistencies come from. Next time, I'll be looking to use separate instrument tracks for sure. The brass were the same way--Hi and Lo--, and I used one Kontakt trumpet solo to try and help some of the articulations be a bit sharper. Working with a full horn section definitely made me more fearful of them--they are so powerful! I'll definitely work on allowing them to do what they do best, instead of trying to push them play nice with everything. And you know, my book (A Guide to MIDI Orchestration) actually told me to try singing horn lines out so that they'd be realistic, and I totally forgot until this moment. Message received.
I'm definitely going to take all of this into consideration, as I'm only in the writing stage for my next piece now. Reverb is going to be one of my big focuses this time, although I also need to learn a bit more about the mastering phase. I will be looking for information on use of reverb and EQ for orchestrated music on my own, but if you guys know of any videos/articles already, I'd be grateful
To address reverb first: I have a couple of Waves reverb plug-ins (I use Reaper as my DAW, Kontakt as my sampler) the H1 which I suppose is more of a standard one, and one called IR1 which is a convolution reverb. I tried using the IR1 first, since my books mentioned that this is the best method of reverb for orchestral stuff, but it just sounded crazy to me--way too wet. I know that this is mostly due to my inability to actually work this (or any) reverb effectively, so I'm going to find some videos to help me understand how to get the best sound of them before I put up my second piece next month. I used the H1 on basically everything and left most of the settings as-is, while attempting to push some instruments "back" using the predelay only, but I don't feel I really succeeded. I think I'm getting myself kind of stuck by trying to follow the information I've read on making my pieces sound "real", while also wanting it be more of an in-you-face, cleaner sound that I associate with more modern hollywood and video game music (big fan of Final Fantasy and Zelda soundtracks.)
As far as instrumentation goes: I used the tom samples in one of the Spitfire Albion tracks as well. I kind of felt like they were too intense and hollywood-cliche for what I was going for, but it's all I could work effectively before my self-appointed deadline :p Maybe I'll figure out a way to tone them down or get a better sound out of them. In the B section, I switch to a Kontakt-library basic Timpani sound.
With the winds, I used two different Spitfire libraries: The Albion, which divided it into simply "Winds Hi" and "Winds Lo" which I was not a big fan of--but again, deadline. Otherwise I know I just would have worked on this one piece for weeks and weeks
And then a Spitfire standalone flute library, which may be where some of the inconsistencies come from. Next time, I'll be looking to use separate instrument tracks for sure. The brass were the same way--Hi and Lo--, and I used one Kontakt trumpet solo to try and help some of the articulations be a bit sharper. Working with a full horn section definitely made me more fearful of them--they are so powerful! I'll definitely work on allowing them to do what they do best, instead of trying to push them play nice with everything. And you know, my book (A Guide to MIDI Orchestration) actually told me to try singing horn lines out so that they'd be realistic, and I totally forgot until this moment. Message received.I'm definitely going to take all of this into consideration, as I'm only in the writing stage for my next piece now. Reverb is going to be one of my big focuses this time, although I also need to learn a bit more about the mastering phase. I will be looking for information on use of reverb and EQ for orchestrated music on my own, but if you guys know of any videos/articles already, I'd be grateful
