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In my last post I wrote about how I was looking to rebuild my entire library. Through support and advice given I have been forced to consider what it was precisely that was bothering me.

Was it REALLY the libraries? Did I REALLY use them to their best potential?

I'd like to answer yes, but the answer is yes, and no.

Bwah?

I feel I know how to manipulate the library's sounds to get decent quality out of them. So in this context I have used them to their best potential.

But what I haven't done is used the instruments to their best potential. David Orr said to me in the last post, that I should try creating a solo piano piece.

and I did (okay I HAD to throw in a soloist singer in there)

The effort necessary just for those 30 seconds was staggering for me. 2 hours. My understanding of the orchestra is not weak, but my understanding of each instrument in it is apparently, horrible.

So I will not be using these 2 months to purchase an entire new library *though I WILL still be on the lookout for a few new sounds*, but I will take that time to dive further into these instruments whose voices I never took the time to truly listen and understand.

I hope none of them are going to pout on me now!

Workout Files:
Solo Piano Medley 1
Solo Piano Medley 2

Big news coming soon also.

Updated: 07/13/08 12:48 PM Log in to comment! | Share this!

The People Have Spoken

18 Comments

Jul. 13, 2008 | 2:47 AM New-Milkman says:

Does big news have to do with the MAC? :D

Jul. 13, 2008 | 2:49 AM MaestroRage responds:

that it's going up tomorrow! HELLZ YEAH!

but no.

Jul. 13, 2008 | 4:44 AM Assassin2 says:

'Horrible' is a bit harsh on yourself. Think less of the instrument's relationship with music and more about the instrument's relationship with you.
My music teacher (when he was young and learning) played the congas and his teacher was this cynical Chinese man. One day he dropped his congas and there was a crack in the side that made it sound pathetic and flat. He wanted to blame that crack on the reason that he couldn't make the congas sound good. And his teacher said, a true musician can make anything sound good.
I have faith that you can make anything sound good. It shouldn't be easy, if it's easy, there's no real struggle, so you have no journey with your own music meaning there can't be any true emotion in it.

Good luck with it.

Jul. 13, 2008 | 8:11 PM MaestroRage responds:

though I agree with the teacher, even that has limits. In my opinion there are certain condition that must be met before you can truly make something sound good.

You must be inspired by, and in turn, inspire the instrument. If the congas made a sound which irritated your music teacher, or made each hit a sour experience, I don't see any way he could truly make them sound good. After all, how do you speak through a medium which doesn't speak to you?

Perhaps one can emulate sincerity. Take what you are given and weave from them something that through other trials you know sounds good. Me however, I'm just not good enough to fake the emotions just yet. If I don't find the instrument speaking to me, i've already lost the song.

In any case learning how to speak through the instruments is crucial. Thank you for your kind words, this new struggle will no doubt, lead me places I had not seen before.

Jul. 13, 2008 | 2:10 PM RedHotPoker says:

Sounded good to me. Do you play your stuff with a midi keyboard or just input it mouse style?

Also what vst(or package) do you use for your piano. I've been looking for a solid piano for a while now and that sounded fantastic.

Good look in your exploration.

Jul. 13, 2008 | 8:13 PM MaestroRage responds:

Everything done through mouse. That's another thing that bothers me. Making the instrument sound real without having touched it. Making them sound organic is rather difficult through this means.

This piano is a simple steinway patch found on the EW Symphonic Orchestra Gold package. It's hidden away in the percussion/wood section... what it's doing there i'll never know.

Thank you for the support. Hoping to find new things in old places.

Jul. 13, 2008 | 2:28 PM TjA says:

i just got nexus, i like it so far, yet if not had it that long to use it to its fullest potential

Jul. 13, 2008 | 8:15 PM MaestroRage responds:

I often find exploring a package somewhat boring to be honest. I mean I hate sitting down and going through all the sounds and fiddling with them in my head. "This patch is good for song type A, B, C, this one is good for B, C, E" etc etc.

Keep trucking at it though, you won't regret it. I assure you!

Jul. 13, 2008 | 3:12 PM hypermatrix000 says:

A random "Happy birthday" to u firstly!

so you think 2hrs for 30 secs is very long? Well I think orchestration makes composition much more efficient, cuz you have something to build new things upon, and different layers complement each other. what do you think?

Is the big news about teh Toronto meeting?

Jul. 13, 2008 | 8:18 PM MaestroRage responds:

Thanks! 21 years young and getting younger by the day!

30 seconds for 2 hours of work isn't that long, but in consideration to what it is. I mean 30 seconds of solo piano work? That's just too much time for one instrument and 30 seconds of it. I know I shouldn't be spitting out notes by the dozen and should take my time, but it shouldn't be this hard to get the feel down just right.

And you're right, when you have a full orchestra, and you find something lacking you can usher in some instruments to fill the void. Does the instrument you just used work best in that fashion? The answer is not as important at that stage, surely if the end goal is reached the details are often swept aside.

And no, the big news is not about the Toronto meetup ;D!

Jul. 13, 2008 | 6:41 PM Nintechno says:

I review both. Nothing fancy, but I made a couple of points. BOTH could be expanded apon, and turned into something great.
Anyways, I hear the new MAC is being announced soon? I seriously wish i could remember what some of the possible themes were XD

Oh, and does the big news = The overhaul of "Symphony of Spectres" ?

Jul. 13, 2008 | 7:30 PM Chronamut says:

dude what th hell did you do with the massive amt of stuf I gave you..?

Jul. 14, 2008 | 8:19 PM SolusLunes says:

If you need help making pianos sound "organic" with only using the piano roll, hit me up on MSN, I do all mine with mouse for the most part.

Jul. 15, 2008 | 6:58 AM WritersBlock says:

Great to hear the personal growth, Maestro!
Go out of your comfort zone. You're the cow that jumped the fence. Once you're over that fence, you'll realise that you're now only in a bigger paddock, only free to jump between new and old, and you'll need to keep jumping those fences. Some may be electric, some may seem too high, but Maestro, someday, someday, you'll be known as the cow that jumped over the moon.
Do you like my analogy?
I often feel like I'm a very productive person, always experimenting, tasting the grass on the other side, but I don't truly immerse myself in one solid way (I'm like this with religion, too), and so I don't know your field as well as you do.

Keep up the good fight Maestro, I will listen to your solos. Expect reviews! I'll try and fit reviews and listens in around work (someone's sick, I think...).

Jul. 15, 2008 | 7:00 AM WritersBlock says:

Oh, and I didn't notice your ageing, congratulations, Mr-Legally-allowed-to-drink-in-Americ a-man!
I was on holidays for 1 week, and everything seems to be happening...

Jul. 16, 2008 | 3:49 PM PianoForte says:

It IS a huge difference to write orchestra pieces and solo pieces. When I play the piano and want to record a piano-solo song, my greatest fear is that the song turns out to be boring and pointless.

Jul. 19, 2008 | 2:10 PM TheSilverGuitar says:

Since when have you been a mod?

Jul. 20, 2008 | 8:24 AM Kr1z says:

WHAT IS TEH BIG NEWS? 8-D

Jul. 22, 2008 | 2:11 AM BlazingDragon says:

I seem to have the exact opposite problem as you. I feel faiyl comfortable writing a piano piece; it is working with all the instruments of the orchestra that gets me.

Keep working at it, though. I work solely with a mouse and FL Studio, and assure you that composing piano music at the computer isn't so bad. Continue to experiment and you'll find that making it sound organic is not as hard as it may seem. Tweak the velocity of notes here and there, make a slight change of tempo between the opening phrase and the section that ensues...There's really not much to it once you gain a bit of experience. Listen to the advice WritersBlock provided in the reviews of the piano songs. I agree 100%.

Continue to fight the good fight; you'll be a better composer because of it. :)

Jul. 23, 2008 | 10:29 AM WritersBlock says:

I've only just noticed that your site was down. Am I slow on that? When it first went up I was checking back there regularly but as the initial buzz died out I didn't look into the site as often. When will it be back up?

Jul. 26, 2008 | 3:49 PM geacu says:

..........farewell maestro...for the last time.........you have been the good friend....(my latest post explains what i mean by this)

Jul. 31, 2008 | 4:58 PM KillBillvolume2 says:

You sir, are awesome. =D
Keep up the good work on the music man.

Aug. 6, 2008 | 4:02 AM Danman87 says:

I wouldn't go for a new library, EW delivers the best stuff you can get for about 1000 bucks, most of other libraries are recorded with close mics, I found it a lot harder to get a realistic sound with these. The only thing that stands above SO is VSL, they have an intelligent system that automatically detects the articulation, that's how you get realism without any efford. I'm not quite sure if EW's PLAY version of the SO has a similar system but it's possible. I'm going to upgrade within the next few months whatsoever.

I also work completely with the mouse except for piano or guitar parts. It's often recommended to make use of the DXF patches and the modwheel, but I didn't try that yet. Another good way is using various articulations for one performance, sometimes people even go out of the sequencer and tweak the .nks by themselves.

However, these are just a few tips I got when it came down to the instruments. Hope this helps you in any way. I'll probably start to upload music once again and yeah I also work with EW now. There's no better library out there for a price like that in my oppinion.

Take care man!