02-15-2022, 07:49 PM
Yep, I keep all of that in mind. I try to pay attention to physical limitations of performers and their instruments because, over the years, I realized that what I didn't like in my own music was that lack of realistic dynamism. When I first started, I didn't know what the mod wheel was for, so I wondered why my flutes and whatnot sounded so sterile compared to even other VO tracks (heh). I don't claim to be an expert on how long a wind or brass player can keep a line going, but I try to write lines now that assume the player has to breathe. I spend time learning about instruments, too, to that end. I generally just follow the logic that what I like to hear most out of the instruments of the orchestra is what they CAN do. So I try not to do impossible or improbable things. In part, that's because doing socan also make your samples sound "cheesy." You can get away with a run that sounds a little fake because of the samples, but you won't get away with a fake-sounding run with the best of samples, if that makes sense. I do not try to pull off shreddy solos with my trombone section
I try to limit myself to a certain number of performers in a section, which I find helps me keep tabs on things. I will definitely add extra things (especially exotic percussion and non-orchestral instruments), but I like to keep the core of my orchestra manageable. There's no big reason for this other than that it's the foundation of my VO tracks, and I want to have some sort of reference point to build on. There are tons of patches to keep track of with only that, after all. I've been spending a lot of time thinking about how to incorporate non-traditional instruments, and not just percussion. I did plenty of that on my one album, Beyond the River Skai, and I really like how it sounds in retrospect. These days, I tend to just think of the orchestra as occupying the "hall" and the other stuff sort of moving as needed between that "real" space and the idealized spaces that they sometimes sound better in.
In the end, I know I'm not working with a real orchestra, and that it would be a disservice to myself and my music to ignore the possibilities of the "studio." I love hybrid composition, and I know a lot of my favorite music is modern in the sense that it's more about the experience of the recorded product, which is precisely what I'm after; I'll likely never write anything a real orchestra would perform, so why limit myself all the time? I just try to be conscious about what I'm doing, because I've found that "if it sounds good, it is good" can backfire on you once your ears gain some more experience.
I do not, however, generally worry too much about whether the performers would be bored. Again, I am fully aware I'm not using a real orchestra, and I also have the knowledge of my own past, in which I always kitchen-sinked my arrangements and they came out as cacophonous mud with no cohesion or focal point. I like to play around with different timbres and textures, and it's just not possible to have everyone getting equal attention all the time. I'm thinking about the tracks and their effect more than the "performance." I'm going for overall listening enjoyment.
All that said, I'm no expert, and I'm sure there will continue to be times when I write something that is effective but totally absurd from a "realistic" standpoint
I try to limit myself to a certain number of performers in a section, which I find helps me keep tabs on things. I will definitely add extra things (especially exotic percussion and non-orchestral instruments), but I like to keep the core of my orchestra manageable. There's no big reason for this other than that it's the foundation of my VO tracks, and I want to have some sort of reference point to build on. There are tons of patches to keep track of with only that, after all. I've been spending a lot of time thinking about how to incorporate non-traditional instruments, and not just percussion. I did plenty of that on my one album, Beyond the River Skai, and I really like how it sounds in retrospect. These days, I tend to just think of the orchestra as occupying the "hall" and the other stuff sort of moving as needed between that "real" space and the idealized spaces that they sometimes sound better in.
In the end, I know I'm not working with a real orchestra, and that it would be a disservice to myself and my music to ignore the possibilities of the "studio." I love hybrid composition, and I know a lot of my favorite music is modern in the sense that it's more about the experience of the recorded product, which is precisely what I'm after; I'll likely never write anything a real orchestra would perform, so why limit myself all the time? I just try to be conscious about what I'm doing, because I've found that "if it sounds good, it is good" can backfire on you once your ears gain some more experience.
I do not, however, generally worry too much about whether the performers would be bored. Again, I am fully aware I'm not using a real orchestra, and I also have the knowledge of my own past, in which I always kitchen-sinked my arrangements and they came out as cacophonous mud with no cohesion or focal point. I like to play around with different timbres and textures, and it's just not possible to have everyone getting equal attention all the time. I'm thinking about the tracks and their effect more than the "performance." I'm going for overall listening enjoyment.
All that said, I'm no expert, and I'm sure there will continue to be times when I write something that is effective but totally absurd from a "realistic" standpoint