Mornats

In an attempt to bring this back on topic, this is out now and is half price: http://auddict.com/celestial-voices-calypso.html - the demos sounds like it has lots of potential. I can't really buy a) yet another female voice VST and anything else for that matter after grabbing Albion One. Speaking of which, I've had a play and it sounds great, fantastically amazingly great. It'll take a bit of learning but I jumped right in and did a quick one minute mockup just to try out some instruments. (Nothing I'd post, just something that covered most instruments and a few articulations I wanted to try out.) A few thoughts on it:[list] [*]Everything blends together amazingly well. I think it was well worth grabbing this rather than trying to blend instruments from various libraries. [*]Dynamics work really well once you get the hang of them (I found recording legatos using the modwheel "live" a good start but then went into midi overdub mode to focus on the dynamics more). [*]It has a sense of epic about it but can do calmness quite well. [*]The drums are blastingly loud if you hammer that keyboard! [*]As Lowdown mentioned, the Brunel Loops and Stephenson Steam Band contains a massive amount of first class material. I'm going to enjoy tweaking it. [*]I'm eager for the 1.3 update with NKS support. I believe it's a tad overdue? [*]I can guarantee this won't be my last Spitfire library. Albion V Tundra will be bought if it's ever on sale. But not for a while. Next year at least. I promise. (crosses fingers). [/list] I'm off to watch every video there is on Albion now Oh, and I still need to do a track for this month's composition challenge but my idea doesn't actually involve Albion at all (I actually went to Time+Space to grab the Alt-rock midi pack from Toontrack with my 10% off voucher before realising it would also apply to Albion One...). But hey ho, Albion got me a 15% voucher so I'll use that!

Ok, back to my Albion musings! I got a 10% discount code from Time Space after entering a competition. That puts the Albions at £360 instead of £399 so I'm going to pull the trigger on one. Question is, which one? Albion One is the obvious starting point but I love the ethereal sounds of Albion V. With the list of sample libraries that I already own (listed above) I'm wondering whether I can get my standard orchestral sounds from those and make some real use out of Albion V. But I still go back to thinking about Albion One as the obvious backbone of my orchestral sounds (with my other sample libraries to be used as added colour and layering). Edit: I made the sensible choice of going for Albion One

It's not time limited but it's good for (I think) 2 major version numbers. i.e. from Reaper v4 to v6. It's worth noting that Reaper gets updated a lot with bug fixes and feature enhancements and even brand new features. Version 5.2 added a notation editor so big features aren't reserved a big version release either. I'll simply pay the licence fee again when it's time, no question.

[quote name='RockfordStone' timestamp='1488300297' post='3247684'] on a side note, Graham Cochrane (the guy in the video) is an excellent source for knowledge on youtube when it comes to mixing and recording, i can't recommend him highly enough. his mate Joe Gilder is also very good. [/quote] Yep, +1 to that

Oh that was very enjoyable and superbly done!

That looks like an EDM dancefloor-killer bit of inspiration in that pic. Whatcha reckon Dad?

Ha! It's on my list I'm doing another one at the moment in between Feb and March's composition challenges. It's more of an experiment in sound design than anything else (strings put into Guitar Rig presets from Photosynthesis Vol 1.) Once I get an idea in my head for a follow-up to Puzzlewood I'll start work on it

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1488331682' post='3248041'] Quite. music that starts, then takes one somewhere. Would merit extension, so as to complete the journey, maybe returning to the point of departure (or not..?)..? Good stuff; thanks for partially quenching my thirst. It's not quite, perhaps, up to the giddy heights of Earl Grey, but definitely preferable to PG Tips with milk and sugar ([i]Shudders[/i]...). [/quote] Thank you This is the direction I want to take right now, some scoring, a tune that goes somewhere, a bit of orchestration (which is hard to do - I spent two weeks tweaking all those strings) with some light undertones of electronic sounds. I would like to do a sequel of sorts that takes it from where it left off (the repeating bass drum) and moves it elsewhere, with another chord progression that could in time come back to the original.

Got there in the nick of time And whilst not an entry for this month (it was done outside of the comp anyway) this one of mine I did in November may be more your cuppa tea Dad: https://soundcloud.com/mornats/puzzlewood (just as a respite from my EDM beat efforts!)

Well I would listen but soundcloud ain't streaming for me at the moment! Edit: there's an Amazon Web Services issue that's affecting a LOT of the internet at the moment!

[quote name='Dad3353' timestamp='1488241252' post='3247224'] I'm still not enamoured of the 'big beat', disco, edm movement, though, and so retain my grumpy, curmudgeon, old duffer status. [/quote] Guilty as charged I'm still in my experimental stage with all that and will eventually learn more about it so I can move it to something sounding less like a chav car driving past you with the stereo on hehe. Gonna listen and vote now...

[quote name='scrumpymike' timestamp='1487773396' post='3242688'] David Koenig of Retrovibe has just confirmed that he'll be coming along with a selection of his stuff! [/quote] Oh awesome, I've been wanting to try out some of his basses!

I've started to create a template that puts Rhapsody Orchestral Colours and Bravura Brass through the Guitar Rig effects that came as part of Audio Imperia's Photosynthesis Vol 1. Sphere. I'm getting some good results even before I've honed the sound to how I want it. By the way, they've got a walkthrough up for LCOS: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsxs7S-XblU

I'm kicking myself now for not getting one of the Albions (One or V) when I had the 25% voucher! Anyway, new plan. What I loved about LCOS and Albion V were the frozen string type sounds. I got the Frozen Strings Labs instrument and have been playing with some of my existing sample libraries too. So I intend to create a template in Reaper with one of these and tweak it with EQ, delay/reverb/whatever to make them sound frozen, icy, glitchy or whatever. So in effect, trying to emulate the sounds I like from those libraries. Those Kontakt library videos you posted will be a great help in doing this - cheers!

It's worth watching this, if only for his point at the beginning that even the budget interfaces can produce really good results (better than the studio equipment he used 10-15 years ago). He also has some good advice about the number of inputs on your interface. If you think you need 4 inputs rather than 2 in the future, then it's probably worth getting one with 4 now for example. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK1H7utrp_M

You've made me think a bit more about this now. My reasoning is as follows... I did think that I'm a fair way off doing anything with proper orchestration yet so felt that a full Albion library would be too much. Plus I have a few orchestral percussion libraries already, along with Bravura Brass, Rhapsody Orchestral Colours and a few choirs. It's mainly a good strings library I feel that I need. But then I really do need to learn how to combine strings with brass and wood I guess. But as you've said, Albion One is one of the best ways of getting all this to work in an easy way. So I thought about learning any orchestration using the Kontakt factory library plus the other libraries. So yeah, I'd be mixing Kontakt Factory Library with LCOS. However, what I liked about LCOS was that I heard the demos and was immediately inspired. When I hear Albion One I'm impressed but also disheartened that any proper orchestral pieces will fall well short of what I hear in those. But I could instantly place LCOS into some tracks in my head. I like the left field sound. I also love the sound of Albion V Tundra which may be more suitable as a first library than LCOS but not as suitable (or as traditional as Albion One). Also, LCOS is £240 until March 9th and the Albions are £399. I did have a 25% voucher for both Albion One and Albion V as part of their post-Christmas thing but bought my Maschine Jam instead! So, I have until March 9th to decide on whether I want LCOS but the Albions can wait until there's maybe another deal on them. I guess the question I have to answer for myself is whether I want to work with full orchestral pieces, or go left field with a strings library and my other stuff. And I thought buying basses was hard... Edit: another option is to wait for a half price update from KU10 to KU11 and I get the string, brass and woodwind symphony essentials (and Replika XT which I really want too). Edit 2: I could always get LCOS now and aim for one of the Albions later when they're next on offer (which could be Black Friday/Christmas). Just listening to the walkthroughs for Albion V and it sounds just simply amazing.

Not cheap or free but I'm looking at this with great interest https://www.spitfireaudio.com/shop/a-z/london-contemporary-orchestra-strings/ My thinking is that I could get a lot out of the kontakt library, save myself the money that I'd spend on Albion One and get very interesting sounding strings that I reckon I could do more with than the more classic strings from Albion One.

I'll bring my Yamaha TRBX 504 and my Nanyo Bass Collection SB320. Both for sale. I'll pay my basschat forum selling fee before I come along too. Might bring my MIM Fender P too but I'm sure you're all familiar with those yeah? Also got a Zoom b9 for sale which I can bring and if there's any interest in buying my Ashdown 220 touring combo with a vs 112 cab I'll bring it. If no interest I'll leave that one behind as boot space will be at a premium!

Finally finished mine today although these things are never really 100% finished are they? I could have gone on for another month tweaking every single drum sound but there's a point where I have to say hey, I'm sick of listening to this now, just upload it! Just like xgsjx I had a Stranger Things vibe going on which I hope can be heard in the arpeggiated synth. The tempo was originally a bit slower than the final version so it sounded a bit more like the ST theme at first. This one was done entirely in Maschine and at the composition stage I'd say at least 80% of it was done entirely away from the PC and screen. I used a Maschine MkII, S61 keyboard and a Maschine Jam for this. It was the addition of the Jam that let me arrange the track pretty much entirely in the hardware. Amazing little thing and I've not really touched the surface of what it can do yet. I was quite pleased with how the mix came out. I've spent at least two weeks just on the mix. My Yamaha HS7 monitors have proved their worth already. I had a bit of a light bulb moment too, quite by accident. I'd popped Neutron on the master buss for some compression and EQ and was quite happy with the sound. It sounded a but duller than commercial mixes but that's very common home-produced stuff, at least for me. So one night I was listening to a mix using Poweramp on my phone and was a bit bored and started messing with some of the EQ curves. Most sounded awful (I usually keep it flat) but then one suddenly jumped out and it sounded clear and so much better! So I went and ripped out the master buss EQ and replicated what was in Poweramp. Just a drop from the low to high mids and a touch of a push from 4khz upwards. Quite simply really! (Here's the final EQ chart below if you're interested.) I also had a few reference tracks to refer to. This is something I know is a good habit to get into but I've been very lax in doing it. It helped with getting an idea of how the individual parts should stand out in the mix. Anyway, you've read this far so probably just want the link now [url="https://soundcloud.com/mornats/turned"]https://soundcloud.com/mornats/turned[/url] Edit: here's the EQ curve. I actually added a boost (number 5 on the curve) as the piano hits around this frequency and it had been pushed back a bit. The rest of the EQ curve just fixed any muddiness and gave it some nice high end clarity. [attachment=238523:turned-eq.PNG]

Indeed! The whole plugin giveaway thing they're doing is great, a few real gems in there.

Focusrite and Novation are giving away a free Addictive Keys instrument if you own a Focusrite interface or a Novations Keys or Launchpad controller. I nabbed the Studio Grand and it's a really nice piano. I think it sounds better than the Grandeur, Maverick and Gentleman that you get with Komplete. The folks over on VI-Control (a composers forum) rate it highly too. And it's free (limited time I think) so well worth grabbing. I think you'll need your hardware registered with Novation/Focusrite to be able to grab it. https://uk.focusrite.com/addictive-keys https://uk.novationmusic.com/addictive-keys

[quote name='xgsjx' timestamp='1486668207' post='3233739'] Not long after seeing the pic, I saw the trailer for Stranger Things 2 & it's about everything getting turned upside down. [/quote] Ha! Me too

I'm in the mixing phase of mine now. I may have to change a synth bass as it's kinda dominating a lot of the bandwidth and I may start the master channel mix from scratch now that I've got everything else as balanced as I can get it.

[quote name='Skol303' timestamp='1485855453' post='3227152'] Yes you can certainly do this on a shoe-string budget. If you have a computer with an internet connection, you can make music with no budget at all. [/quote] A good start would be to grab the free players from Native Instruments. Each of them comes with a selection of content for each player and is enough to help you get some basics down. https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/free/ Do note that pretty much all of the very cheap and free Kontakt instruments from third parties won't work in the free Kontakt player (well, they run for 15 mins in demo mode). You need the full version of Kontakt for those. IK Multimedia do a Custom Shop version of Amplitube (guitar amp sim) that comes with some free gear: http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/amplitubecs/ and they also do a similar version of Sampletank: http://www.ikmultimedia.com/products/sampletankcs/ Browse through the recording forum on here to check out threads about other stuff and the occasional offer. Just watch out for the difference between Kontakt Players version (that work in the free player) and those requiring the full version of Kontakt!

Gear-wise? Way too much for my level of skill! [b]Hardware[/b] Focusrite Forte audio interface Native Instruments S61 keyboard Maschine MkII Maschine Jam (not used on a track yet it's still quite new) Fender MIM precision Squier VM jazz MarkBass 121P combo for DI Yamaha HS7 monitors Audio Technica ATH-M50x headphones [b]Software[/b] Komplete Ultimate 10 Maschine plus around 5 expansions Lots of sample libraries including Apocalypse Elements percussion, Olympus Elements Choir, Miroslav, Impact Soundworks Rhapsody Colours, Bravura Scoring Brass Chords and FX, a number of Sound Dust instruments, Vocalise, Ethera, Storm Choir, Kirk Hunter Solo Strings plus many other small libraries and a whole bunch of third party synth patches for Massive, Absynth and FM8. Neutron is proving to be very good for me (even if it doesn't show in some of my mixes!) So many instruments that I'm considering setting up a spreadsheet to keep track of the type of instruments and the type of sound I can get with them (or maybe I should add them to my Komplete Kontrol user library and tag them). All the gear no idea eh? Edit: forgot to add that you don't need all of this to come up with a great track and having all this doesn't mean you'll create a great track.