"Imagine painting a portrait of a small child... You want them to sit still, but you don't want them to stop breathing". I had to stop to appreciate this one.
Have only watched a few minutes so far, but the sheer friendliness and willingness of the presenter to share his knowledge is making this a sheer pleasure to watch. Thank you.
The moment you said you dont read music either and yet created professionally for 20 years gave me so much happiness as I dont read and always wanted to release scores for films! I guess Logics notation helps here ( I use Studio One)
10:00 I don't understand why many people are against the assignment of different articulations to channel tracks. The majority of composers prefer this method. I see this method is far more practical than using expressions maps with few tracks. The main benefit is you can see your articulations on separate channel strips in your mixer so you can control volume, effects, EQ, ...etc on each one.
My viewpoint as producer and mix engineer is that such a workflow might be useful for composing but is in reality just useless to work with in a mix session. I don't wan't to control the EQ for every type of articulation done by the first violins. They are just an instrument (group) and I treat it as such. In the same way that I treat a Piano like 1 instrument and don't want to have separate tracks for loud playing, soft playing, stride playing, trills, etc. If a certain section needs some form of different EQ, I automate it. And that is how it has always been done. The point of mixing is that you are able to find your way around quickly and have as much within reach as possible in order to make it manageable and perform mix actions in a quick fashion as the track is rolling. DAW's allow for as many tracks as your CPU is able to handle and that runs in the hundreds. But the moment it ends at the mix engineer, they are not able to find anything within 300 tracks. I don't have time to scroll through endless lists of tracks. WIth the additional problem that I cannot label 300 tracks and see all those labels on my console as scribble strips have limits in the number of characters. Ergo: we bounce it back to stems anyways and mix that stuff, using automation to perform gain rides, patching in and out of different EQ's, etc. I don't want more than 5 tracks for a string orchestra so that I can set global levels for each section and maybe tweak something with EQ if one section is really sounding off because of the recording (maybe the double basses are recorded too boomy, that I'd fix there). Then just bus it to 1 String section track and treat the section as 1 instrument. I am active in jazz/rock genres but I doubt that the process differs significantly for general orchestral recordings. I do think it is different in Hollywood though. As they use 200 track consoles to mix film stuff (hence digital desks are so popular in scoring stages).
@@santibanks I like both of your thought here. I am amatuer at best, but I like the sources broken down into basic elements or on multiple tracks with groups going to buses and then mix buses from there to the master bus. I guess that is what may be called stems??? I like to control each element because, say, a harmonic edge of bow may be too harsh in the mix, and I may want that one sound controlled separately, for example. Learning a lot here...thanks.
I absolutely love your straight shooting approach. No airs put on. Can you just imagine with your genius, if you'd seen this tutorial at 16? You are amazing. I tried to describe what I'd seen to my wife, but could not find the words, so she just stared and smiled. All she knows is "this Christian guy...blah, blah, blah, blah". Thank you for being so generous with your process.
A real inspiration for people Who just love music and want to create but don't have the opprtunity to study with qualified people or institutuion. KEeep up the good work, We are all gratefull for sharing You'r advices...and big respect for the honesty !:)
Christian, great video! I absolutely love your tutorials, I have learned so much over the past 7+ months from just your tips and tutorial vids. Thank you for taking the time to do these! And by the way, don't shy away from speaking out loud when you use the quick short cut commands you use in Logic...I too am a Logic user, and you take me to school each time lol 👍🏻
I'm commenting like an idiot because I've only watched the first 53 seconds, but you saying that you started at 29 and didn't know music theory gave me a warm, reassured feeling. I'm 29 now, and am in the opposite situation of being a trained classical musician with zero knowledge of technology or production. I've been wrestling with the question of whether to start down the game music path as it's something I've always thought about, and my age and the initial expense of buying software and equipment are my main sources of doubt. Anyway, I'll keep watching but thanks for this minute I've seen so far, even if it's just an intro!
Man, this is fantastic. Really inspiring for someone with a music theory background but I'm not very knowledgeable on the patch and MIDI controller side of things. Brilliant!
This is one of the best kind of tutorials I have seen yet. Like the comment below mine: the honesty is incredibly humbling. You are an amazing composer.
Once again another really good tutorial from Christian/Spitfire - love the informal (yet still highly informative) presentation. Looking forward to more!
Fantastic!!! the SpitFire sound is perfect and this video was a really great lesson. This is one of these videos that I 'll certainly watch many other times! It's good to see a master in action!! Thank you!
This tutorial was a lot to digest for someone who didn't distinguish violin from viola. But after watching it couple of times, googling a lot Italian terms, and reworking it from scratch in Ableton with Spitfire Labs, I've learned a lot and probably avoided a lot of trial and error. Thank you very much Christian, and thanks to Spitfire for LABS. I will definitely buy some of Spitfire libraries in the future.
Thanks so much for putting this together. Full of great tips and humour. It's heartening to know that you didn't start composing until you were 29 - it's not too late for me then, either! More videos like this please!
Wow, I am only watching 5 min for now and can't help to stop and leave a comment You are so kind and knowledgeable to organzine the information clarity in this video. This is literary that I read in the orchestration book. Thank you!!!
As I am currently starting to get into orchestral composition from a more urban approach of music production for many years I would be willing to spend money for a collection of in depth tutorials on orchestration, music theory and composition like this from you guys, please keep it up!
Christian do you practice keyboards at all or do you just wing it? I always wondered whether keyboard practice is wasted time when composing media music since the goal is not to be a player...
Thank you very for all the great tutorials. Beautiful compositions ! Wouldn't it be possible to make a tutorial about making sound solo instruments as realistic as possible?
Jesus Christ man, you’re going to be in real trouble now for telling the truth. No bullshit, no sales pitch, just authentic information about the journey of a real goddamn musician. My son, why have you forsaken us? Why have you not tried to pitch us some bullshit “ this is how the Hollywood ARRANGERS get rich IN 15 EZ lessons!” But seriously, brother man, I’m going to save this video, and savior this video and think seriously on every word. Thank you for telling the truth. Thank you for telling the truth. Oh, and did I mention, thank you for telling the truth?I’m about ready to write strings for a big project and I really need someone to tell me the truth. So thank you. For telling me the truth. A big important person once told me - it’s the journey not the destination. And I believed him. And you have confirmed that.
Hi Christian, thanks for the video. I have a couple of questions about the way you use different articulations simultaneously on separate channels (e.g. VC Legato and VC Longs CS). Firstly, would having a voice (e.g. a VC part) playing on two channels correspond to doubling the number of cellos in the ensemble? Secondly, should the automation (the dynamics and expression that you controlled using the faders) be the same for those articulation channels? Big love and thanks again!
Hi there, To your first question, yes in theory I am doubling the players that you hear, but this is to create a sense of articulation coupled with the silky smooth zeitgeist that I like. This is why sampled scores tend to sound so massive, you're having to add and add and add to get the exact timbre you want? This is why SCS is my preferred strings library it gives you more freedom to track up and nuance your sections without it becoming a 600 piece behemoth! 2ndly NO! the more variety you add between controller data (or automation) even on parts that are totally unison, the more chaos and therefore reality you add into your arrangements. Thanks for your kind words. CH x
Hello not sure if you will see this, I was wondering what is your go to software setup for string projects. Like how many and what specific VSTs of chamber strings you load up before you start creating your first sketch ?
Let's say you did want to use this in a film or game that you are scoring? How much mixing or mastering would be done once you get to this stage (assuming the recording with patches stage has finished?)
I would spend a few more days leaving abandoning coming back, tweaking, getting all the voices to play then I would get at least one player to play on the top.... Without fail, the more the merrier, what is at the very limits of my budget... If I could afford it I would then get a professional engineer to mix it. However this would more be a second set of ears, he wouldn't change the character of the sound. If I was doing myself I would put through a series of bus processing, Compression, EQ, then Limiter, then, once happy with the sound I would rebalance the track... I would also check this balance against dialogue and on a variety of different speakers / systems, smaller speakers, mono speakers.... etc etc. By which point I would never ever want to hear the cue again!
Very informative. I'm a novice, so I don't even know the basics. I just want to verify that by ensemble you are referring to a group of violins or a group of violas or a group of cellos or a group of double basses, so each part occupies its own MIDI track. When you play with two hands to produce an orchestral sound, am I correct that you have split the keyboard into four ranges and mapped each ensemble to one of these ranges? Asked another way, you haven't sampled a family of stringed instruments that then can't be broken out into parts, have you? Thanks so much for the fine presentation!
Hi Christian, are you using here all Kontakts as single instruments (stereo, one per articulation and not multitimbral) for the sake of this particular tutorial or is that your usual way of setting it up? I don't recall from the video on your setup you published some time ago.
Thank you for taking the time to do this awesome awesome video! how do I set/teach each fader to a specific variable for the strings (expression, etc..) could you recommend a fader setup like the one that he has that's a good price? and does it have to be connected through MIDI or through the interface in a different way? I'm new to this and really want to learn.
Hey Christian, I was wondering what velocity curve setting you use on your Doepfer? Do you change the velocity depending on what plugin you are using? Great video :) Thanks!
I have one question about this: in any section (eg: 5 violins) What is the best practice as far as arrangement, all five instruments in unison or harmonized? Thank you for everything
I seriously love the song that you're creating. Does anyone here know you can teach the controls for modulation, vibrato, etc onto a midi mixer to kontakt? And also, are you able to mess with the those same controls post recording? Like if I didn't put vibrato as I heard it in my head but I recorded the piece, can I just 're record' the color of the notes without re recording the notes in real time?
+DUB FRED I've managed to have Cubase connect with the BCF2000, that is, faders, panning and EQ of tracks work fine, but I still can't get the BCF to affect Spitfire samples (or any other) within Kontakt. Learn MIDI in Kontakt does nothing. When moving a fader during MIDI learning on a Spitfire track, the fader just moves the volume of the fader I'm moving... Any ideas? I'm desperate!
once cubase recognizes the BCF, turn it off then hold the top left button and turn back on to set it to custom mode. From there you have to program each fader individually to the cc of your choice.
Christian do you practice keyboards at all How do you manage to play without reading? I always wondered whether keyboard practice is wasted time when composing media music since the goal is not to be a player...
Thank you for sharing this! This might be a silly question, but why do you adjust both the dynamics and the expression? Aren't the different dynamic layers recorded and layered at their correct level compared to each other so that crossfading between them will give a realistic increase in both volume and voice/timbre - something adjusting the expression as well would skew? I guess I'm missing something here, because why would you have an expression option otherwise? :)
By wiggling both you get the greatest variety of possibilities between natural timbral expression (CC01) and amplitude based expression (CC11), so you mix between natural expression, loud, mid, quoet, vs, a boosted higher natural expression, a dipped higher natural expression, a hyped lower natural expression and a dipped lower natural expression, so this instantly gives you 4 times more choice of timbral options beyond, loud and soft. Which I thinks matches more realistically the infinite amount of nuanced approaches the players can take to any note. Not just the three or four dynamic layers a sample library has decided to curate on your behalf. When I watch a string section play they're all rolling about in their chairs in a wave of chaotic and unsynchronised oscillations. This is my best attempt at imitating this. Learning what to embrace technically and what to abandon is one of the key 'taste' decisions one has to make. Is it how you're meant to do it (possibly not), is it how other people do it (I know some do), does it sound better? The latter gets my vote.
I would say right off the bat, that it's not unusual for me to write the cello line above the viola. Probably more often I do the reverse, but the cello above viola isn't unusual.
I have been looking at the Albion One pack for some time. Will I be more limited in composing strings if i choose a sort of "all in one" bundle like Albion One as opposed to buying something like the Chamber Strings pack? Also, thank you for the interesting video!
I have Albion One and it's pretty damn awesome,and that's selling it short. But it's meant more for those "Big & Epic" compositions (The orchestra recorded was huge),so it isn't as detailed as the Chamber strings,which (unlike Albion) has solo instruments and more articulations. Both are great and I'm looking to add Chamber strings into my collection as well. It really depends what you're looking for,you want all the necessary tools for orchestra music? Grab Albion. If you already have good brass and woodwind libraries,then you'd better take the Chamber strings. Hope you found this useful!
It really depends on what you are wanting to do. The strings in Albion are a bigger orchestra, generally louder, and not as detailed, but it works well to produce a good ensemble sound. I've found it to be great for sketching and producing a full orchestra sound as well as the different groups (strings, winds, and brass), and its aim is more epic than intimate. The orchestral portion is also not as complicated to use as Chamber Strings (for strings Albion One has one ensemble instrument with 9 articulations, and a variety of legatos available as another instrument) and it will run easily on a system with far less memory than required to take full advantage of Chamber Strings. Chamber Strings is more intimate and detailed, with more articulations available if your system has sufficient memory. In Chamber Strings, the five basic keyswitch instruments take 2.5GB for one mic position. In Albion, the six basic instruments (strings, hi and lo winds, hi, mid, and lo brass) take .84GB for one mic position. In Albion, the basic patches don't include legato (though they are available elsewhere in the library).
I've given it a go, but I'm stuck in my ways with my terrible Behringer! The key for me is the ability to independently control at least two faders simultaneously with one hand whilst having a clear idea of where I'm at 1-127 with each controller.
I'm trying to find some multicontroller to achieve the swaying realistic sound too. I've researched a lot and still can't find an ipad app that lets you control these things in real time. Christian, what might you buy if you were starting afresh now and hadn't got used to the Behringer? :) Does anyone have any suggestions?
What reverb are you using to get such a wide ambient wet sound ? And what are the settings ? Is it from an aux send or set as an effect in each instrument channel?
I'm guessing here, but if the Behringer is set correctly inside your DAW, you would just need to right-click on the parameters and select "Learn MIDI CC# Automation" and move the fader you want to assign to the parameter.
Pitch Black Aura at 28:28 in the video, how do you go about re programming the automation in logic? I have a nanokontrol 2, but I'm still trying to figure this out.
Not exactly sure, but every DAW lets you change between automation modes (read, write, etc...). Set automation to "write" and press play. The automation will react and change (as long as the controller is linked to the wanted parameter).
This proves that "ear" beats everything (and that's not wishing to denigrate sight readers, or music theorists in any way). If you can imagine in your mind what you wish to hear, and hear it when you get it, bob's your male relative on your father's side.
"This proves that "ear" beats everything". Unfortunately not. It's a trained, or aware ear, that might beat everything. Music theory is not a dry subject, and listening to really well composed music, and studying it, affords you the vocabulary to write more effectively yourself. In the same way it would be difficult to write an absorbing book if your word vocabulary was poor and your language skills were rudimentary. Many film composers get away with very poorly written music because most film audiences have ears that are easily impressed by sounds and sound effects rather than coherent musical writing. Much film "music" has now become a collection of impressive samples and sound effects masquerading as music. If you took away the visuals of the film, there isn't much there. Orchestral writing and arranging is a skill that has to be learned. You might occasionally be lucky and hit the right spot, and non-discerning ears will be impressed. Music Theory is an unfortunate term that leads to unjustified prejudice. It isn't something unpleasant, but an enlightened path to better understanding that aids creativity, not hinders it. By accident ignorance can occasionally come up trumps, but it is a little like a chimp hitting a keyboard endlessly and accidently coming up with a Shakespeare play. It isn't really possible. The language of harmony is a very difficult subject. Increasingly listeners have no exposure to or interest in quality music and are content with poorly composed material because they no longer have a frame of reference to what is genuinely well done. Music Technology has accelerated this misunderstanding and does so because people confuse at first impressive sounding samples or effects with quality music. They are two different things. Also accelerating this trend is music education which now puts far too much emphasis on production "values" at the expense of musical understanding. I know this because I taught music and music technology for many years and witnessed the relentless dumbing down of music, and particularly composition, in syllabuses which were weighted towards use of recording and sampling gear at the expense of even basic training about what a chord is and how to use harmony, rhythm, polyphony and orchestration in a creative way.
maybe think this way: the fader did not interact with the keyboard, rather, both the fader and the keyboard is controlling the virtual instruments at the same time. i dont have logic. but it should be a setting in preference... midi in out, something like that, and a grid to tick.
It's just a midi controller. In the actual instrument plugin you right click and choose "midi learn". Whatever you move then controls that slider/knob. In this case he moved his slider.
