As I sit down to write a new track for my album Gypsy Road I encounter the same difficulty that possibly you do too.  How do I start the darn thing!   So many paths to take depending on what has inspired the song in the first place.  The number of choices is quite frankly a little overwhelming.  I started this track with a title and the given that it needed to be a fast tempo.  My thought processes take me to what I’m trying to say with the piece or how I want it to feel.   So I start making a short list.  It turns out to be a little shorter than I’d like.

It includes:

• I want it to be very fast and hectic.
• I want it to have a dirty, grungy feel.  So that means some drums and distortion and/or overdrive guitars.
• I want it to also use electronics and orchestral instruments.
• I want a contrapuntal style something like J.S. Bach would write.  I want this because it fits the need to be fast and hectic.
• As the title is Cerberus and that little doggie was said to have 3 heads (or more) I want 3 melodies that can intertwine.

These are great ideas to bear in mind but none of them help me decide really how to start the song!  So then what?  How can I close in on making a decision?

So I set up the tempo track.  and when in doubt…I noodle.

I start with the contrapuntal idea.   That doesn’t work.  There are too many options for rhythms, scales, arpeggios.

I play around with harmonic progressions.  Nothing happens there that is all that exciting really.

But as I go through these noodles I start to discover what I really need to get a path started.

A rhythmic motif would be REALLY helpful.   Now, I dont know what methods you use to come up with interesting rhythms but there are lots of ways to go about this.  One tool I use is what I call “rhythmic recycling”.  Its where you take a favorite melody and extract just the rhythm of that melody.  You can then add or subtract other rhythmic elements to spice it up and take it in a direction that interests you.  Start adding percussion instruments and it comes together.   Another useful tool for me if I’m feeling creatively dry is to listen to some of the plethora of drum loops out there.  I listen to them at different tempos and choose something that interests me rhythmically.   Because I never want to just copy someone else’s work I just use that as a bouncing off point and create my own rhythm that is similar in nature.

For example,  I was listening to a Yanni CD and realized I really liked his uneven time signatures.  At the faster tempos they really have some pizazz and I really like how rhythms in these meters lead the ear to the next measure thus creating a sense of motion.  This is what I wanted.  So I decided to create a rhythm in 7/4 time.

This time my noodling had some direction and things started to happen that I really liked.

• I created a great rhythmic pattern
• I created a great chord progression that has the ability to change and modulate easily
• I created a really fun bass line that has a contrapuntal nature to it.
• I added in some fun string patterns in my new harmony.

Now I’m confident that Cerberus is starting to take shape and direction.

TIP:  ALWAYS PRESS RECORD WHEN NOODLING.   You never know what cool stuff you will come up with…

There are quite a few choices but I’ve chosen to use the services of CDbaby  https://members.cdbaby.com/ as they have the cleanest setup process and really excellent customer service. They can help in all steps of the process (for a fee of course).  Regardless of who you decide to use you will need to deal with the following:

1. Make your music-  Don’t forget to do the best quality you can.   Compose, Record, Mix, and Master to the best of your abilities or hire professionals to help with these steps.
2. Design your album artwork.  If you are submitting only digital download material, then you only have to design a front cover.  If you are releasing a hard copy CD as well, then more artwork is necessary.  They have templates and easy to contact staff to help with this, you can used their stock designs, or you can even hire them to do this step for you.
3. Register with a site and start uploading information.  This will be things like album description, Band/Artist bio,  album title and track names, and any reviews or press release information.
4. Upload your music or send in the CD that you’ve had made.  (Making a CD is a whole different topic that I’ll cover later).   They will send you an email when its entered into their catalog and ready for you to advertise!

Its really pretty easy to get this done.  Most reputable companies can guide you through the steps with whatever part you need.   Or feel free to leave a post for me,  I’m happy to help answer questions!

How do I know what these are?  I’m a professional cellist and also have advanced degrees in other stringed instruments.   I know these articulations inside and out.   Yes it is an advantage but that doesn’t mean if you’ve never studied a stringed instrument you can’t learn how and when to use them in an orchestration.  There are many skilled symphony conductors, composers, and orchestrators who don’t play these instruments.   They get help.  They study videos,  They study recordings.  They go to concerts.  They take private pedagogy lessons.  They get their work critiqued but knowledgeable experts.   They learn.  They listen!

The same holds true for brass, woodwind, percussion, and the plethora of ethnic instruments you might use.   I’ll admit it.  I’m weak at brass articulations.  When I’m unsure of how to make the sound I want to hear I have two resources I consult first depending on what time of night it is.   If it’s a good polite hour of the day I will call my friends you play brass instruments.  I have three super friends who each play professional trumpet, French horn, and trombone/baritone (low brass).   They are the best for getting me an immediate answer and they can usually tell me which symphony or solo album to go listen to for more listening examples.   If it’s the middle of the night I find (believe it or not) that Youtube is not a bad place to go for listening examples.   Although the quality is usually lacking its close enough for me to figure out what I need.

Mostly this is the same thing you would have to learn anyway in order to become a good orchestrator.  It really has less to do with MIDI and more to do with your own ear.  The MIDI comes in when you have to choose your samples.

The next step for realistic articulations is to examine note releases and note spacing.  With the software we have the ability to run notes one right into another.  But this is rarely the case in reality and you will need to tweak your note release times to accommodate for a more natural sound.  For example, although trombones (because they have a slide) have the ability to glide directly from one note to another don’t actually do this.  It isn’t clean and would end up sounding “smeary”.  The player actually stops the air for a brief moment when moving the slide from one pitch to another.  Something similar happens when slurring from one partial to another.  The player has to deal with the change in air pressure needed for the new note and other mechanics of the instrument.   Consequently you must make this sound happen in your MIDI.  Usually its easy enough to just decrease the release (note off) by a tiny bit.   Listen to your changes until it sounds right.

Lastly, be aware of how a real player would breathe.   We could make a melodic line run forever and a day but obviously they can’t without inserting a breath or two.  In fact where a player chooses to take a breath is influence by the phrasing of the music.  It actually helps the listener hear phrases and makes the music come alive.  So if your MIDI realization sounds robotic, check your phrasing and breathing.   An additional note be aware that string  players consider the use of the bow as a type of breathing and good players learn to breathe with their bow.  There are again small but distinct sounds when the bow changes direction.  Most good samples have these built in for long notes, but if yours don’t you’ll have to figure something out.

As promised a brief note on organization for your MIDI tracks.

I like using my “track folder” option as much as possible.  It makes soloing and muting sections easier to hear.  If you group your samples from your player into folders as well it can make it easier to know which “player” to turn off if you need to save on CPU processing.   My typical track count for a medium project of 10-20 instruments is at least 100.  If I keep all of my woodwinds in a folder I can just open and close that folder for visibility.   It saves on having to scroll up and down on the monitor and makes it much easier on the eyes.   You can also group all your articulations for a chosen instrument into one folder for convenience.  For example, you might have a French horn line that requires 2 different staccato articulations, a legato with a quick release, a legato with a slurred attack, a legato with a dynamic swell, and a legato with a longer release tail.  You don’t want to have to scroll through all those tracks every time so just collapse the folder and get it out of the way.   You can imagine how useful this would be for a large full scale orchestra project of 50-100 instruments.    You can even have sub-folders within your folders.

In the words of some gum commercial… “Life’s messy, clean it up!”

How do you get rid of the  mechanical nature of your sounds. The first place to look is the start or attack of your notes.   Do not quantitize unless you are going for a clockwork sound.  Human beings aren’t perfect and neither should be your notes.  You are going to have to spend time adjusting the start times for your notes depending on the sample you are using.   Your software will have a “piano roll” view which you may need to explode to get a finer adjustment.  Some samples have an instant attack and others start gradually with varying degrees.  Listen for the style of attack of your sample and make sure it is really what you want.  Then adjust the “key on” timing for each midi note.  You can do the same for the release or the “key off” timings as well.  Even with professional performers the release of the notes must be considered.

Another huge step for making your music sound more human and less mechanical is Note Velocity.  Your software should have a way for you to adjust the velocity of each specific note.  Most commonly this is done by how hard you hit the key on the keyboard.  In the sample this can translate to how much force is done by the virtual player ie. how hard the clarinetist is blowing to how hard the cellist attacks the note with their bow.

Note Expression is another thing to tweak in your samples.  This is the element that will make your music sound more alive than anything else.  Rarely do musicians play a sustained note that is completely flat.  The sound will change dynamically while it is being played with crescendos and decrescendos.   Many sample libraries have samples that allow you to adjust these swells usually through the mod wheel of your synth or whatever other controller you prefer.   Not all samples allow you to do this.  In fact  this is one of the things that can drive up the price of a good sample library, but I think its worth it.  The more control you have over ALL aspects of the note the more likely you can achieve that dream sound.    Many samples are designed to have the expression built in which is fine but can lead to a larger number of tracks because you will need a separate track for each sound.   It all depends on how expressive you expect your virtual musicians to be OR how exposed the part is going to be in the mix.  Lastly you can sometimes save on tracks by using “key-switching” samples but these again will be processing hogs and you may not be happy with the exact sound of the choices.      A good sample library will allow you to choose sounds that fit your needs.  Sometimes your needs are to be fast and simple.  Sometimes your needs are to be extremely detailed.

Next post is some thoughts on realistic articulations for strings, brass, and winds as well as some quick organizational tips for your tracks.

I’m not going to go into gear at this time but if you are serious about creating your own music from scratch then you need to just resign yourself to the fact that you will become a gearhead, needing knowledge about technology from CPUs to audio interfaces to microphones and cables.  Face it, its inevitable.

I can’t afford to use a real orchestra in my music so I use real instruments in solo passages and the rest is often samples.  Therefore I pay a lot of attention to the fine details of the MIDI realization.  If you are only doing a mockup for a producer or director then you don’t need to be quite as fussy.  Have you ever listened to those demos from the sample library’s website and purchased the software, only to get it home and discover its not sounding quite that good for you?  Here’s what you need to know.

If you are writing for an orchestra you need to know how the instruments sound in an orchestra.  If you are writing for a rock band then you need to know how the instruments sound in a rock band.   I’m not talking about the melody or harmony lines. That’s composition stuff.  But  rather how the instruments actually sound.  The attacks, decays, breathing, dynamic swells, vibrato, and most importantly how they tend to blend with each other.   If you want to be a good composer or orchestrator then you really should know this stuff too.  If you’ve never played in an orchestra or whatever style of ensemble that you’re composing for then you need to experience that.  If you can’t experience it personally then you need to talk to people who have and listen, listen, listen!

Start with something small like 2-4 instruments.  I’m going to assume that you have setup your tracks with the correct inputs and outputs for your samples.  Play or transfer in your parts.   Go to the MIDI editing feature of your sequencer.  In Sonar and other software this is some sort of piano roll view.  You will need to listen to each instrument by itself.  This is when you are going to discover that you may need multiple tracks for each articulation or playing style.  You need to learn your samples and choose the attacks and styles that you will need.  Maybe there is a fast staccato passage.  This might have a sample different from short accented notes.  Every sample is a little different and you are going to have to make choices.   Ask a professional to listen to it and discuss how they can tell it still isn’t a real player.   When they sound surprised that it is “virtual” you know you’ve done it.

That’s just the tip of the iceburg!  There is no shortcut and it will take a lot of tweaking.

Next time I discuss how to tweak your samples to keep your music from sounding mechanical.

So that being said I will try to impart what knowledge I have about MIDI and using these fabulous libraries.  Please feel free to ask question or advice on your projects.

The first step in a good MIDI realization is to make sure that you have reviewed every resource out there on Orchestration.  Take classes, read books, quest through the internet.

The second step is to get really familiar with your samples.  Most libraries today come with some sort of documentation describing the samples and how to decipher the titles/names of the sounds.  If you don’t have anything like this for your sounds it is in your best interest to make one.  Get a spiral binder or a notebook or something and start checking out your sounds.  Make a ratings system of which sounds you like the most and how they would be best used.  Pay particular attention to articulations and expressive abilities.

The third step is to start playing in your composition.  There are many different software packages available.  Some are easier to use MIDI in than others.  I prefer  Cakewalk’s SONAR for many reasons.  Whatever you use you will need to set up a lot of tracks.  This is where a good MIDI realization is made.  It may not be enough to have one track per instrument.  You may need multiple tracks for each instrument depending on the compositional needs.  You will most likely need a separate track for each articulation unless your samples use keyswitching.   So plan for lots of layers!

Check back for more steps and tips on MIDI realizations for your compostions.   I’m just getting started!

Remixing a score for a soundtrack CD isn’t always just a simple process.  The cues in the show might need to be spliced together or edited in a different fashion.  They always need to be remixed at the minimum.  I usually mix my cues for the film at a level required by the sound dept because the music is frequently under dialogue, sound effects and environmental sound.  The music has to be EQd so that it can be heard the same at lower decibels.  By that I mean, all the parts have to be heard in the same blend.  But if you crank it up some things like lower frequencies become too overpowering.   So the cues need to be remixed for proper listening decibels when on their own.

Sometimes a music cue I wrote gets cut into peices by the editor… Composers new to this field often write to me complaining about “what have they done to my beautiful music”.   I tell them,  ”hand in your work, wait for revisions, when they claim they are happy with it then just WALK AWAY”.  That doesnt mean to not stand behind your product but you can’t get emotionally attached to your work in that way.  Get used to it.  It happens all the time.

In fact I had to laugh when my friend in the art dept submitted his work to Koldcast.tv and they reworked it and added flames too!   He cried, “what was wrong with what I sent them!”   Whomever is in charge is going to rework your material until it suits them.  It happens all the time.  Deal with it.  (sorry to sound harsh but hey, thats me.)

So now I’m reworking my own material into the product I see fit to distribute on behalf of the tv show.  (I’m glad they let me do this)

I have to say the collaboration on this project has been outstanding, and if you haven’t seen an episode yet you can catch them on Koldcast.tv, Blip.tv and on their blog at Ackernon.com

http://www.koldcast.tv/show/border-guardians-ackernon

It made me realize how important it is to take breaks when you are really focused on something.   I know it seems counterproductive on the surface because you are on a deadline.  I try to write around 3 minutes of music a day.   But that includes orchestration too not just simple composing.  That may not feel like much until you’ve been working hard all day and only have 60 seconds of musical ideas.  And they’re not really even fleshed out much.

My body gets tired of sitting at the computer DAW.  I build up frustrations from software crashing, searching for melodic ideas, exploring harmonies etc.   After some time (just like my computer)my brain gets overloaded with information.  My body gets stiff and sore.  (I have a sore shoulder as we speak from leaning on the arm of my chair).

I force myself to turn off the computer and walk away for 15-30 minutes.  I actually turn the computer all the way off!  That way I’m not tempted to run over and try another idea.  (I also have heard that my computer can clear its cache completely and cool down which is good for it)  I go for a walk.  Drink some water.  Have a little snack maybe, play with the dog.  The dog has a little snack.  We chase the squirrel digging the hole under my propane tank…   Anything to get away.

Its amazing that when I come back stuff just falls into place.  Ideas pop into my head.  I can hear in my head more clearly what I want my music to sound like.  I know just what sound library I want to get that trumpet from…

And my butt is not tired and my shoulder is no longer sore.

Check out Border Guardians of Ackernon: The University on Blip.TV

I am also reminded that the tool is just that, a tool. I am the one who still has to come up with the musical ideas and creations. “The fanciest sewing machine does not make a good seamstress”. There is no substitue for training, experience, and creative juices!

So don’t let the fact that I use slightly out of date equipment to help me create my music. Its good stuff! (Of course I hope you all think so too- so go listen to some samples of my music and then if you like it buy it.)

Amazon, CDbaby, iTunes, SuperDstop, and other places in the universe…

As soon as a get some tracks done I will be releasing 30 sec. clips for you to hear.

I would love to hear of any ideas that you might have regarding your favorite dogs of myth and legend. I wouldn’t want to miss anything and you might have a tale I hadn’t thought of yet!