Orchestration, Tips and Tricks for composers. Options

[musicart]

A few tips for orchestrating with virtual instruments:

- Record every voice separatelly, for example instead of treating the woodwinds or brass as a block, record each part separately, this will result in a more natural phrasing.

- One of the hardest things to emulate from the real orchestra is the articulations between the notes, fot example if you have a fast scale assigned to the strings for example, reduce the velocity of every other note by 20% more or less, this will accomplish a more realistic preformance.

- For the string sections record a track for the first violin, and then record another first violin track with a different sampler sound (record it again, don't copy it) and try to detune it a bit, try not to quiantize, small imperfections in pitch and tempo is what gives thickness to the sound of a real string section. Try that your "detune" sligltly modulates in time. Be carefull not to exagerate.

- Know the instrument ranges and limitations, know the spacial position of the instruments in the orchestra, and try to emulate the panning. You can even go beyond, for example if you have three channels of first violin, you could pan them to cover a broad spectrum, lets say from 7 o'clock to 9 o'clock. Cover and area instead of one point.

- Use your controlers to add life and expression to each phrase.

- Very important point: A flute performing inside an orchestra will not be heard with the same "brightness" as a solo flute player in a pop of jazz song. In an orchestra the individual sounds will have a tenedency to sound "dull" (at least to pop or rock standards). If you trim the high frecuencies of some instruments this will diminish its presense and move them to the back, making them easier to melt into the whole orchestral "sound". So if you have to eq., try trimming first instead of adding. LIsten to a real orchestra to see my point.

- Treat reverb with care, a good reverb is a most. Usually 2 seconds of rev in a medium hall will give you a good starting point. You should have an idea of the space that you want to emulate and its reverb time, it will also depend on the style of the music, and if the orchestra is alone or with other non orchestral instruments, in which case it works better with shorter rev times.

Alex Rodriguez
Legato Productions.

[BlazingMagnum]

I think it's partly a case of showing some discretion when using virtual or synthetic instruments. To pull off a convincing (traditional) piece of music when using electronic means - I find that it's usually best to stick to certain instruments for the lead sections, and use pads & synth'd sounds for the subtler & more ethereal parts.

Piano samples, xylophones, koto's etc, all work very well, however I've still never EVER heard a particularly convincing individual guitar sample - in any studio or package - aside from directly sampled licks, which I personally regard as recorded sections of audio rather than useable notes.

I think that using inappropriate instruments - simply because there is a cheap sample included in the software or hardware you happen to be using - only serves to weaken your compositions, and serves only to make otherwise interesting pieces sound like those dreadful free 'Movie Score' CDs available on the fronts of magazines - which usually contain good scores, re-performed by someone with bad taste.

[elipio]

Hello, I'm new around here but this thread is of great interest for me.
I'm about to invest in either QL/Eastwest Orchestra version Gold or VSL. There's a big price difference and I'v heard that VSL is superior in quality. But I produce pop music that only ocasionally needs good orchestral sounds so I'm thinking of going with the cheapest of the two...
Has any of you used any of the two products?
Would really appreciate you comments...
Pete

[thedomus]

I have been using VSL for a while, and recently purchased EWQLSO Gold to compliment it, I have to say the latter is superb for quick orchestral compositions. The sections are already panned / located in the right spot, and the natural reverb of the recording hall sits very nice with arrangements. It is very good quality and easy to use.
If tou need a well priced soloution then EQLSO has to be the most competitive , especially at the mo! - it's half price!!

[elipio]

Thanks for your thoughts, thedomus...

[fastlanephil]

I purchased Philharmonic Miroslav and am just starting to experiment with it. It looks to be really good for getting a big sound up quickly and the instruments are all placed for an orchestral setting. The playing on many of the samples are quite emotive. The full symphony patches do sound a bit synthy but are good for a quick orchestration or maybe live back up playing as it is stand alone also. It includes a very nice built in reverb that uses new technology.

Also picked up Art Vista's Virtual Grand Piano when it was $99 and was a great first piano. My problem is I spend too much time just playing it now because it sounds so good. I like the Keith Jarret preset for just playing.

I'm going to try the Synful demo pretty soon. From posts it looks like it still needs some work and is pretty expensive just for solo instruments but it is probaby the future of virtual instruments. It's hardware requirements are unbelievably low. I think it also has light copy protection.

I have found that virtual instruments can get pretty muddled if you try to use too many. It's a limitation of virtual vs real instruments though I have heard a piece that went back and forth from real to virtual and you couldn't really tell one from the other but who knows what trickes he used. But for me this isn't a goal, I just want to get a good sound. They sure have come a long way since the Roland and Emu synth modules but the copy protection sucks.