Resources for music contributors

Create music and sound effects for mainline or user-made content.

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West
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Resources for music contributors

Post by West »

I thought it might be a good idea to put together a list of resources for musicians who wish to contribute music to BfW, just like there's a lot of stuff available for artists on the wiki. So here's a bunch of interesting material related to orchestral music and creating realistic simulations using samples and sequencers. I'm pretty sure I have even more stuff but my bookmarks are a mess... I will be adding more things later on, and I encourage anyone who knows of a fitting article/guide/etc to do the same.

If this topic might be of use to people, maybe it could be stickied?

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GENERAL

Principles of Orchestration
Free online version of Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov's "orchestration bible" complete with audio examples.

Philharmonia Orchestra
An invaluable resource. I recommend everyone who wishes to learn more about the orchestra and its instruments to take a look at this site.

Making orchestral music... without an orchestra
An insteresting insight into creating a virtual orchestra by composer Bjorn Lynne.

Improving Orchestral Simulation through Musical Knowledge
An article about making realistic orchestral simulations by Alan Belkin.

Artistic Orchestration
Another great and in-depth piece ny Alan Belkin.

10 tips for making your MIDI orchestrations sound real
The title says it all.

CREATING REALISTIC SAMPLE-BASED ORCHESTRAL ARRANGEMENTS: PART 1
Old but very informative SOS article about sample-based orchestration.

ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES
Another good SOS article.

The symphony orchestra
Some basic info about seating and instruments.

Instrument data
Some technical data on orchestral instruments.

Sequence-stration
Another article about getting good results from MIDI orchestration.

Using Advanced Orchestral Libraries
Some tips on... yeah, it's all in the title.

An interview with Jerry Gerber
Uh... yep.

The Unreal Orchestra
Interesting article about moive scoring by Jerry Gerber and Michael Prager

Digital Orchestration.com
The personal site of composer Maarten Spruijt. A lot of good info on MIDI orchestration and music production.

Glossary of Musical Terms
Might come in handy.

FREE SAMPLES

G-Town Percussion
Excellent orchestral percussion sounds.

Celtic Harp
Beautiful 250MB celtic harp soundfont (d/l links are in the thread; there's also a giga version available)

Soeren Bovbjerg's Pianos
A few pianos in sf2/gig format. Sound good considering their size.

Maestro clarinet Legato
Maestro clarinet Breath
Maestro clarinet Staccato
Very good clarinet by Mats Helgesson. The site requires registration.

Maestro Concert Grand
985MB concert grand piano by Mats Helgesson.

Alex Glockenspiel
A nice little glockenspiel.

EmulatorXone Trumpet
60 meg solo trumpet in emulatorX format.

Douglas Concert Timpani
Very good timpani freebie from Naturalstudio.

(more free samples coming up, I just need to figure out where the heck I got some of the stuff I use)
Last edited by West on January 31st, 2008, 5:07 am, edited 6 times in total.
Boucman
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Post by Boucman »

I think it would be better if you did a wiki page of it, and only linked the page here...
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West
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Post by West »

I wasn't aware that anyone can add stuff to the wiki. But that's a good idea, I might do that. Still, a forum thread is better if others want to add some good links too.
floodbud
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hey

Post by floodbud »

lots of stuff here about how to make music sound real, but no resources for actually creating music. Not all of us can go blow a few thousand on a special keyboard, sound board, sound card, breath control, etc. etc. etc.

May I suggest fruityloops as an excellent alternative. Express version is $50, super-extra-deluxe-producer version is $350. This makes music production realistic for normal people.

No, I'm not working for fruityloops, I just like it a lot :).

Tell me what you think.
--floodbud
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Re: hey

Post by Jetrel »

floodbud wrote:lots of stuff here about how to make music sound real, but no resources for actually creating music. Not all of us can go blow a few thousand on a special keyboard, sound board, sound card, breath control, etc. etc. etc.

May I suggest fruityloops as an excellent alternative. Express version is $50, super-extra-deluxe-producer version is $350. This makes music production realistic for normal people.

No, I'm not working for fruityloops, I just like it a lot :).

Tell me what you think.
Vis-a-vis for Apple's Garageband, which is an excellent introductory music program.
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West
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Post by West »

floodbud wrote:lots of stuff here about how to make music sound real, but no resources for actually creating music. Not all of us can go blow a few thousand on a special keyboard, sound board, sound card, breath control, etc. etc. etc.
I didn't include any DAWs in this list as I would assume that most musicians already have one, just like most artists already have a gfx editor of some kind. I was aiming for more general stuff, guides and articles that can be applied to any platform and any program without getting caught up too much in the technical bit. Once we start listing DAWs, soon we'll also be listing plugins, soundcards, external drives, mixing desks... and suddenly it's not about making music anymore, it's about technology. The web is full of info about various sequencer software, I see no point in reiterating it here. But then again, I can't stop anyone from posting whatever they see fit in this thread. *shrug*

Tips on good samples and sample libraries are of course very welcome.
floodbud wrote:May I suggest fruityloops as an excellent alternative. Express version is $50, super-extra-deluxe-producer version is $350. This makes music production realistic for normal people.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't FL a pattern based sequencer? If so, I can't see how it could be useful for creating orchestral stuff. I've never used it though, so I might be talking out of my ass here...

For musicians on a tight budget I would recommend REAPER, which gives you tremendous bang for the buck.
floodbud
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h

Post by floodbud »

Actually, Fruityloops can be used to make orchestral music, as well as any other kind of music. But I will be frank: I don't know what a pattern-based sequencer is. However, I am certain Fruityloops will serve any purpose you want it to.

And FYI, it looks like this thread started out as a discussion of technology...those links tell you what you have to have (keyboard, editing software, etc. etc. etc.) So don't give me that stuff about "this isn't a technology discussion". I wasn't starting anything new.

I have actually used fruityloops, so I ought to know what it does. Pretty much every instrument in existence is represented. Plus it is user-friendly, so any fool can put together an orchestra.
--floodbud
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West
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Post by West »

A pattern based sequencer is kind of like a drum machince, or a tracker. You create several four-bar patterns and then combine/repeat those in various ways to form a song. Needless to say, that's not suitable for orchestral music where nuance and variation is extremely important. Whether FL is pattern based or not... well you probably know that better than me. But...
wikipedia wrote:FL Studio is a pattern-based music sequencer, which allows the artist to create songs in pieces (patterns) using the Step Sequencer and the Piano Roll view, then merge those pieces together using the Playlist window.
floodbud wrote:Actually, Fruityloops can be used to make orchestral music
Examples?
floodbud wrote:Plus it is user-friendly, so any fool can put together an orchestra.
That isn't necessarily a good thing... ;)
floodbud wrote:And FYI, it looks like this thread started out as a discussion of technology...those links tell you what you have to have (keyboard, editing software, etc. etc. etc.) So don't give me that stuff about "this isn't a technology discussion". I wasn't starting anything new.
Then feel free to post whatever links and tips you see fit. But keep in mind that I didn't intend this to be resources for "beginners". And before you start calling me an elitist snob, what I'm trying to say is that there are other and better places where budding musicians can go to learn about recording software and techniques. For person who's new to working with sequencers, samples and synths there is a lot of things that need to be learned before s/he can move on to doing orchestral stuff. But like I said, if you have any resources you'd like to share, please do.[/quote]

edit: hey, there's a trial of FL studio available. I think I'm going to give it a whirl so at least I know what I'm talking about.
Last edited by West on October 4th, 2007, 10:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
floodbud
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h

Post by floodbud »

I never called you an elitist snob.
For the record, "I admire you".
No, FL is not pattern-based.
Any more questions?
--floodbud
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Re: h

Post by jdsampayo »

floodbud wrote: No, FL is not pattern-based.
:?:
West wrote:
wikipedia wrote:FL Studio is a pattern-based music sequencer...
:!:

:roll:
FL home page wrote:FL Studio functions as both a pattern and track-based sequencer.
I don't think than FL is good to make orchestral music. But, hey, I remember some guy painted the Mona Lisa with MS Paint. So, I'm not sure now. It depends how do you use it.
floodbud
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re

Post by floodbud »

Not the right analogy, man. I have used FL, must I say it more than once? I know for a fact that FL can do orchestral music, and I even did a little (though nothing of acclaim). Maybe you should download the trial version and see for yourself.
--floodbud
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West
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Re: re

Post by West »

floodbud wrote:Not the right analogy, man. I have used FL, must I say it more than once? I know for a fact that FL can do orchestral music, and I even did a little (though nothing of acclaim). Maybe you should download the trial version and see for yourself.
yes I have downloaded FL but I don't really have the time to check out its capabilities thoroughly. And I've never said you CAN'T do orchestral music with it, but I would still be interested of hearing some examples.
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fl + edirol

Post by blurec »

fruity loops is nothing if you have no good vst plugins ( for orchestral music ). the question is. i think that the best solution ( result/money ) is edirol orchestra. but even this solution is quite expensive for common people.

example ( fruity loops + edirol orchestra )?

http://neuron.fei.tuke.sk/~rockai/mp3/D ... tarinu.mp3

do you have any ideas for cheaper / free alternatives?
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Post by Dveman115 »

I was browsing the interweb, and stubled upon this website. It is a "freepository" that has items for most common OS's. May I suggest you add it to the list?

http://freemusicsoftware.org/

Despite the name, they have quite a few VST's there also. :wink:
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West
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Re: fl + edirol

Post by West »

blurec wrote:fruity loops is nothing if you have no good vst plugins ( for orchestral music ). the question is. i think that the best solution ( result/money ) is edirol orchestra. but even this solution is quite expensive for common people.

example ( fruity loops + edirol orchestra )?

http://neuron.fei.tuke.sk/~rockai/mp3/D ... tarinu.mp3

do you have any ideas for cheaper / free alternatives?
I have Edirol Orchestral and to be quite frank, it's stinks if you look at the price tag. Twice the price and half the quailty of something like EWQL Silver. So no, I wouldn't recommend it.

As for "free alternatives" -- no chance. There's a small number of good samples out there, but you are going to need some commercial, pro-quality samples if you're looking to make music that sounds good.

edit: And of course, it depends on how much work you're willing to invest. You can go a long way with free stuff if you're good at modifying and tweaking samples.
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