An In the Box Instrumental

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WhiteStrat

WhiteStrat

Don't stare at the eye.
Here's a semi-classical instrumental that's all "in the box." All the instruments (piano, violins & flutes) are VSTs. So without the normal concerns of mics & preamps and nailing the perfectly wanking solo, I got to focus more on composition and arranging than I normally do (something I always should do--even when actually recording!). It's called Variations on a Theme in E Major.



Thanks for your time!
 
Mr. Brown's Opus

Very pretty piece, Bob. It's a little more staccato and choppy than what I am used to doing with VSTs. I don't have a sustain pedal which I've been meaning to buy.

I'd like to see a video of this called "Dance of the Mannequins." I'm sure I spelled that wrong.

The run at :46 sounds a little canned. Not sure I could play that in real time audio, which is all I ever do. The one at 3:02 decending has a note outside the scale, I think it's F#. Did you add that note in there on purpose?

It's interesting and caught my attention. Was that your intention?

All in all a very enjoyable piece of music. I love to hear piano music and you do it very well. I like the agitato violins, but the pizz got a little overdone IMO. What pizz is that? Tight pizz?

The only think I could think to add would be a pad of some sort to give it some warmth. Rosin Pad is nice.

Well done.:)
 
Xeries,

You're reading my mail! Those are about my exact thoughts on the thing. The piano part is all programmed--drawn note by note, and you're right, some of the runs aren't "believable" enough. (I play moderately, but not that well, and sometimes I get ahead of myself with midi! :D)

I don't know which pizz it is exactly; it's what came with SampleTank 2. I agree the pizz may be too much, but when I approach a composing project like this, I'm often overwhelmed by too many options. So sometimes I don't get anything done until I "box myself" in and set some parameters, In this case it was piano, pizzicatto violins and the flute/piccolo.

The pad idea is good too, could add some needed contrast.

Thanks for taking the time to listen and comment!
 
Very nice, I like it a lot.:cool:
It does sound "midi". There are things you can eventually to get a more realistic sound, like changing some velocities, overdubbing some real playing etc.

The strings are pretty cool. They need some eq work, string synths are notoriously noisy. Try a substantial high cut on them.

Here is a real geek comment: Strings cant switch from arco (bowed) to pizz (plucked) without a little bit of time to regroup. In other words, this would be unplayable. If you want realism, I guess ya gotta go all out.:D

Very nice, very enjoyable.:)
 
DavidK said:
Very nice, I like it a lot.:cool:
It does sound "midi". There are things you can eventually to get a more realistic sound, like changing some velocities, overdubbing some real playing etc.

The strings are pretty cool. They need some eq work, string synths are notoriously noisy. Try a substantial high cut on them.

Here is a real geek comment: Strings cant switch from arco (bowed) to pizz (plucked) without a little bit of time to regroup. In other words, this would be unplayable. If you want realism, I guess ya gotta go all out.:D

Very nice, very enjoyable.:)
Click to expand...

I was hoping you'd chime in, DavidK! I had a feeling I was "doing" things that weren't doable. And now I know... Thanks for the tips. I recently saw cellist David Lee do a solo performance down here in St. Louis and focusing just on that instrument and his technique made me wonder if I handn't in fact created something unrealistic in this one.

And you're right about the velocities--I tweaked 'em a lot, but even at that I do them with a non player's tendencies, and patterns forms (up, down, etc). I'll work on that.
 
I think the composition of this is very impressive.
Basically I agree with what has been said already. I think the runs might be just be believable if they were played by a virtuoso, but if they were, the rest of the song would sound different, "breathing" more which i think is pretty hard with midi. I also agree that the pizzicato sounds plinky plonky, especially when the high register piano is happening at the same time. Having said all that, I reiterate a pretty impressive piece of work!
 
Rohan said:
I think the composition of this is very impressive.
Basically I agree with what has been said already. I think the runs might be just be believable if they were played by a virtuoso, but if they were, the rest of the song would sound different, "breathing" more which i think is pretty hard with midi. I also agree that the pizzicato sounds plinky plonky, especially when the high register piano is happening at the same time. Having said all that, I reiterate a pretty impressive piece of work!
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Yep, I agree. I'd rather have it believable than virtuoso-like. With a gun to my head, and some practice, I could play everything I programmed except those runs. Thanks for the comments!
 
Considering you drew the notes you did an impressive job...lots of "feel" in there, especially in the slower/less busy part :D Must have taken a while! As mentioned this is a great piece....!

:D:):D:)
 
ido1957 said:
Considering you drew the notes you did an impressive job...lots of "feel" in there, especially in the slower/less busy part :D Must have taken a while! As mentioned this is a great piece....!

:D:):D:)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words. When it comes to drawing notes, I'm a big fan of copy & paste. I'll get the core hook or theme down pat, then copy and paste the heck out of it. I can tweak the pasted versions--change an octave, add a flourish, shift timing and of course vary the velocity.
 
See what a good bump can do?:D

When it comes to drawing notes, I'm a big fan of copy & paste. I'll get the core hook or theme down pat, then copy and paste the heck out of it. I can tweak the pasted versions--change an octave, add a flourish, shift timing and of course vary the velocity.
Click to expand...

All good. Here's something I do: sometimes I play something hard at full speed, and basically miss most of the notes.:D I then go back, click on the notes and move them to where they should be. Its the best of both worlds because a real human is playing it, yet the notes are correct.:D
 
DavidK said:
See what a good bump can do?:D
Click to expand...

Indeed I do...thanks for that


DavidK said:
All good. Here's something I do: sometimes I play something hard at full speed, and basically miss most of the notes.:D I then go back, click on the notes and move them to where they should be. Its the best of both worlds because a real human is playing it, yet the notes are correct.:D
Click to expand...

I usually (or should I say sometimes) try that. This may have a germ of actual fingers on a keyboard. I see what you're saying though--if it starts off human it's likely to end up more human--even after sanitizing. I'll keep that in mind.
 
I really liked it -- you get into the big perfect run early, which establishes the non-worldliness of it, but to me it doesn't matter -- in fact, if midi lets you do things that can't otherwise be done, why *not* do those things?

DavidK - interesting about the arco/pizz issue - I wouldn't have picked that out, but it makes total sense. I guess you could have to different sets of players sitting real close together?
 
antichef said:
DavidK - interesting about the arco/pizz issue - I wouldn't have picked that out, but it makes total sense. I guess you could have to different sets of players sitting real close together?
Click to expand...

You would have to have really small chairs.:p

Actually, listening on headphones it works fine, they are panned wide and could be violin1 and violin 2. Hearing it on phones, there are a lot of eq tricks for the pizz, definitely a high cut is first, then a boost around 400hz. Also, the flute might work better in the center, since thats where they would sit in a concert.
 
nice piece, beautifully arranged! I particularly liked the strings. What VST are you using there? I don't see a problem with the arco/pizz thing. If you're simulating an orchestra, you'd have enough elements who can play different things.

Cheers
Joe
 
joeym said:
nice piece, beautifully arranged! I particularly liked the strings. What VST are you using there? I don't see a problem with the arco/pizz thing. If you're simulating an orchestra, you'd have enough elements who can play different things.

Cheers
Joe
Click to expand...

Thanks! The VST (for everything) is SampleTank2. I bought the full version with a pretty robust collection of instruments. I've since added expansion tanks, but I think this was all done with original instruments.

So that only helps if you have SampleTank. If you do--let me know, I'd be glad to open up the file and find the patch names.
 
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