My Big Fat Guide to using a Virtual Orchestra
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- Опубліковано 25 лип 2024
- This is a video I've been wanting to do for about a year as it's consistently the most requested thing I've had in emails and comments, so here it is!
I've tried to make it as forensic and as in-depth as possible so that it covers everything, which means it's wound up being almost an hour long. But if you're looking for hints and tips on making realistic orchestral recordings with virtual instruments, the hour of your time should hopefully be worth it.
If you've got any specific comments or questions, put them in the comments and I'll come back to you when I can.
I'm aware of a couple of issues - my capture software has stopped capturing the cursor for some reason and I can't get it back. Apologies, but just had to go with it. Also, the way I had to capture audio for the screen capture without ASIO meant I had some mic level issues, which means there's plosives here and there. Hopefully it doesn't bother anyone.
Timings:
00:00 - Intro
1:00 - Step 1 - Watch a real orchestra
2:20 - Step 2 - What is sampling?
3:23 - Step 3 - Which libraries should I buy?
7:46 - Step 4 - Supplemental sounds
Step 5 - Putting it down:
9:36 - In-depth breakdown of my Bernard Herrmann / Vertigo remake
25:56 - In-depth breakdown of my Alan Silvestri / Back to the future remake
36:25 - In-depth breakdown of my Angela Morley / A Canadian in Mayfair remake. AKA "My Computer is a 1950s orchestra"
52:33 - Summary & Outro
Some other questions you might have that I didn't mention:
Q. Do you play the parts in or draw them?
A. I play some of the parts in and draw some of them depending upon the difficulty.
Q. Do you master your mixes?
A. Yes, as a separate stage. I use T-racks for mastering EQ, compression and limiting but you can use any number of plugins for the job.
Q. How long do the remakes take you?
A. Depends wildly upon how complicated the piece is. I usually do them in segments late at night over several weeks, but probably something like 16 hours if I totaled it.
Q. Do you work this out by ear or use scores?
A. Mainly work from scores, but sometimes have reduced scores and have to work out the individual parts by ear.
Q. Where do you find the scores?
A. I have some that I've bought over the years, I borrowed others from music libraries and there's a lot lurking on Scribd. A lot of film scores aren't released publicly.
Links to the remakes I mentioned:
James Bond remake: • John Barry | Thunderba...
Back to the Future remake: • Alan Silvestri | Doc R...
Alien remake: • Jerry Goldsmith | Hype...
Vertigo remake: • Bernard Herrmann | Ver...
My computer is a 1950s orchestra / A Canadian in Mayfair remake: • My Computer is a 1950s...
Developers mentioned and/or demonstrated:
Spitfire Audio: www.spitfireaudio.com/
Orchestral Tools: www.orchestraltools.com/
Audiobro: audiobro.com/
Project Sam: www.projectsam.com/Home
8dio: 8dio.com/
Sound Dust: dulcitone1884.virb.com/
Cinematic Studio Series: www.cinematicstudioseries.com/
Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use.
For Composers of ALL breadth and width, this is arguably THE most important video on UA-cam!!!!
The greatest tutorial ever, raised the bar for everyone.
But what about composers with different girth.
Man.....those eyebrows......like 2 snakes on steroids
@@XiyuYang Oooh Matron!
So, really, this is a digital composing master class hidden in a 54 minute UA-cam video. Holy mackerel! Can’t thank you enough for taking the time and effort putting this out in the world. Amazing and essential.
Very well said!!!
Amen!
Would love a big fat guide to mixing and mastering, just a quick walkthrough for orchestra and also on your hardware synths!! This is a great video as always, I don't mind the length of the video or the depth of the explanations, I enjoy it ^^
Young man, your voice, alone, is so pleasing. However, your scholarship, ear, and its application is what makes your music so beautifully real. Thank you for giving me that goal to shoot for.
You're certainly right about Rule #1 being "Be familiar with a real orchestra". I have been involved in amateur orchestras for a large part of my life (playing 'cello), and have listened to orchestral music for all of my life, which stood me in very good stead now that I have BBCSO Core.
Edit: I've just read your questions and answers in the video description. The question "Do you work this out by ear or use scores?" struck me, because back in 1984, I was approached by the conductor and leader of the local amateur orchestra. They were wanting to do the Swan Lake suite by Tschaikovsky as the last item on their upcoming concert, particularly with the impressive Finale - a memorable finish to a concert for sure. Only one slight problem: while they were able to get the music for all of the other pieces in the Swan Lake suite, they could not get the music for the Finale anywhere in the world for love or for money. Remember, this was 1984. There was no Internet. To get scores that you didn't own, you had to borrow them from other orchestra's libraries. As a last resort, they approached me, as they knew I had Absolute Pitch (meaning I can tell what notes are, just by listening to them with no other reference). They asked me if I could write out the score, from a record. It took a week (bear it in mind that I had to write and correct everything by hand), but I did it. When I presented him with the completed score, that conductor looked like he'd just witnessed the impossible! He had fully expected a call saying that I couldn't do it.
Apart from the obvious (that this is really a masterclass), one great thing about this video: levels! With so many videos I need to keep riding the volume knob, as the voice is usually quiet while the DAW is usually massively loud. You got yourself a perfect volume balance here which is rare and makes life soooo much easier... so apart from the obvious, thank you for paying this much attention to... well, basics :-D
Wow wow wow. WOW! Thanks for this.
Generous, fantastic & insightful - glad I stumbled upon it!
This has been a absolut joy to watch - One of the best spent hour on youtube !
Very helpful guide. Thanks Alex!
your channel's literally treasure. thank you for all of this sir
This is just so enjoyable to hear it explained by such a pro. Thank you for your efforts, man.
A great insight into your methods. Very inspiring, cheers.
So informative...Thanks Alex. This is exactly what I've been looking for.
Well done video, thanks for taking the time! Top work
Thank you, Alex, for taking the time and sharing the video. Its mind-blowing!
this is next level! Must take so much time. crazy respect mate
Brilliant! Thanks so much for your generosity in putting this together. So many golden tips here.
This is amazing Alex!! What a great resource!! Thanks so much!!
Holy cow - What an invaluable wealth of overwhelming information. Such a gift ~ Thank you my friend 🖖🏾
This is simply stunning! I can’t thank you enough for taking the time and effort for creating this video and sharing it. It’s not an exaggeration to say this is one of the best videos I’ve seen on UA-cam.
Your channel is amazing! Thank you 🙏
Great guide - thank you so much!
Brilliant guide, very insightful!
Amazing video! I have been looking for a library that can do proper Measured Trills for SO long. Thanks for sharing!
Awesome video, thank you Alex!
Wow! This is very good! Many thanks!
Amazing ! I wanted this for a long time !
This is friggin’ amazing!!!
You’re very talented and very generous!!
Stunning, as usual
Thank you for this great learning material!
Added one more talent to your CV, Instructor ! Thank you so much Alex - this is Fantastic..
This is a must watch for music creators that want to get into sampling more. Great stuff, Alex!
This video is absolutely everything!
Thanks. Very informative and to the point and also brilliantly refined programming.
Wow I’m going to have to watch this 3 or 4 times what a wealth of knowledge thanks so much
Alex, this is huge information to absorb, thx for the video
Thank you for this fabulous course! I am going to follow your advice and get the plug-ins you suggest.
Alex Ball, your videos are really thorough and inspiring. Thank you.
Great informative reference video! Thanks a lot 👍
this is incredible, thank you so much!
Hi Alex, as a retired cranky old man who's taken to virtual orchestras your video is absolutely fabulous! Thankyou :-) Oh yes, one more thing, I'm so pleased you were using Cubase, it makes my life so much easier!
Brilliant stuff. Many thanks.
This is a great video, extremely helpful.
Great work! love it!
This was REALLY helpful! Thank you!
Top notch stuff dude. Love it!
Thanks Ashton! That's praise indeed from the score master.
So useful, really good video that helped me a lot. Thank you 👍
Love your use of the vinyl plugin to add just a little bit of pitch waver! Never thought to do that - really adds to the realism!!
Yes, absolutely. When a real orchestra plays together every note and every section interacts in the room. Samples are all isolated and don't do that. So any tricks to blend it back together and trick the ear help the realism. Vinyl/tape plugins help blur the edges and glue it together a bit in that way.
really fascinating and useful to see all of the details in the DAW and mix, thanks!
This is brilliant, thanks for taking the time to put this together!
Glad it was of use.
I’ll be watching this several times, so many good tips and techniques, whether you’re working on a bigger arrangement or a simpler string part for a Pop song, and everything in between.
Super well done and extremely helpful! Thanks Alex.
Glad it's helpful. Thanks for dropping by.
This is very generous of you. Thank you, Alex!
You're welcome!
Just brilliant! Thanks very much Alex!
You're welcome.
Brilliant work Alex
Wow! thanks for this video man! Such an inspiration!
Thanks! Hope it's of use.
bloody marvellous
It's wonderful to finally see all your programming. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Pleasure
This was very helpful. Thank you.
Great and helpful Video - Bravo
a fantastic video, thank you!
I learned so much about music from this video, and I don't even have computer set up for music yet. Just a guitarist who has always relied on others for mixing for recordings, I discovered your channel because I am getting into synths. Thank you for this.
Thank you so much for your utterly spiffing contribution! I think you're a wonderful musician!
Thanks Simon!
Este video es oro puro! Mil gracias Alex!!!! Un abrazo desde argentina maestro!
Wow, this is an amazing insight into the sampled orchestra! Good on you Alex for taking the time to do these really informative videos. I’ve learned so much! 👍👍👍
Thanks Bob!
This is invaluable. I'll be coming back to watch this through again from time to time.
Thanks!
thanks so much for doing what you do. Quality content, superb production and style.
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for stopping by.
Brilliant stuff mate!
Incroyable merci
Merci de m'avoir fait découvrir ! :) Je sais pas si tu partages souvent ces contenus sur Twitter quand tu les trouves, mais je t'y encourage O:)
Gold mine. Thanks!
Thank you very much for showing us how to do this. Your covers are the most realistic virtual orchestra music I've ever heard! :D
Thanks very much!
I really love that old sound and its something i've struggled with orchestral pieces. I really appreciate the insight into how you achieve it.
No problemo.
OMG Alex!! Thank you for this incredible video. You have become one of my favorite people on UA-cam. I'm composing an orchestral album and writing a thesis. And of course you'll appear in the credits.
Was funny the other day when you asked for this, good timing!
Send over your album when you have it. Be interested to hear.
This videos contained so much helpful information!
thank you so much!!!! Great Video!
Thanks a lot for this video! I'll definitely watch out for the next ones
Thanks Asaf.
Hi Alex. You obviously have financial resources that many (most?) of your potential viewers lack, but the principles you encompass are important guides for anyone working with orchestral libraries big or small, costly or free. The most important statement you make is, listen to live orchestras as much as possible as your starting point - also a continuing reference point. Apart from that, I am stunned at the amount of work that lies behind this video, it is something that every creator of computer sourced orchestral works should see. Thank you for what I have gained.
That's true - not many youtube video makers bother with considering the experience of the viewer. They just literally BUMBLE through, with no preparation, making you wait while they figure out or correct things, find & load files, "hum" and "hah", trying to find the right words, etc. Then when they finally stop tediously pointing out the obvious and say something you didn't already know, they blurt it out, or play it so fast, you miss half of it, and have to play it over 12 times to figure out what they did or said.
And worst of all, they TALK about music endlessly with no examples of what they're talking about. "Talking about music is like dancing about architecture" is one of my favorite quotes.
Thank you Alex for your insights.
Our craft is exceedingly uncommon in the modern age, and it's good to find a concise masterclass like this by someone who is actually getting his hands dirty with a modern workflow.
Cheers!
Thank you! Very interesting and helpfull! You allways explain difficult things in such an easy and fascinating way that it's hard not to understand.
Thanks. Glad it came across that way.
Wow, this is really helpful! Many thanks!
Glad to hear. Thanks
PERFECT! Thank you
you are a god. thank you so frickin much King
The BEST tutorial of its type on You Tube. PERIOD. A thousand thanks for the selfless help to others.
Another tutorial on building your template with the myriad libraries you are utilizing would be extremely helpful although tedious to produce.
Again many thanks Alex. Keep them coming !- Bob
Thanks Bob, glad it was of use. I don't actually use templates, I load up sounds as I need them. I know others who have very clever templates, so perhaps I should look into it.
Thanks Alex, this is a very well done video guide to using a Virtual Orchestra, super helpful.
Glad to be of service.
This is awesome!! Thank you Alex
Thanks Alberto!
Excellent!
Amazing Video!
Congratulations! Great video! Realist sound, articulations, modulations... Thanks for sharing. 😉
Thanks. Glad you liked it. 😀
What a fantastic video!
Thank you.
Thank you so much for this! This is probably the most useful tutorial of its kind that I've seen (and I've watched MANY). I compose for the love of it, and have no ambitions to make it a profession, but I want to be the best I can. Since my work will most likely never be played by an actual orchestra, these kinds of techniques are of tremendous value to me. BTW, I LOVE the Vertigo remake. Bernard Herrmann is my favorite film composer and Vertigo is among my favorite scores. Thanks again.
Thanks Wing. Glad it's of use!
Herrmann - pretty iconic composer. Love his sound. Might do another remake of his at some point.
Great info, bro!
Very informative. 👌🏼
thanks lots of great info here!
THNX A LOT! Most useful tutorial i have seen on youtube...EVER! ;-)
Thanks Alex for the tutorial
I just wanted to say thank you for this incredible resource you have produced! I hope we get to see some of the programming being done on the patches too in the near future. This is probably one of the best in-depth overviews I've seen around on virtual orchestration techniques. Cheers and all the best to you, sir!
Thanks, glad it's useful. I do have more tutorials and analytical things coming up.
WooWhoo! Can't wait! :)
Great Alex! thanks for the inspiration :)
This is by far one of the best videos for Cubase users ever !