New track - The Song of Llorienne

Hi Dave,
 
Great use of Jenifer, which I've never heard of before (had to google it).
 
There's a lot of dynamic there, with the song starting off quite quiet. And it builds steadily throughout the three minutes of the song. That's a nice change that, although it caught me out a bit because I had turned up the volume a touch to begin with. I should have noticed that from the SoundCloud graphic haha 
 
To me, the mix sounds perfect on my headphones. I guess I'm not qualified to comment on the mastering other than, as a listener (rather than an engineer) this piece does not disappoint.
 
As I said, I'm not familiar with Jenifer, or any of 8dio's stuff... Are the vocal samples "played" and can therefore have their pitch shifted?
 
cheers
 
andy

Very nice Dave - excellent build up and crescendo towards the end. Plenty of variation to keep your interest. 
Good stuff

8Dio makes some ridiculously awesome Kontakt libraries, the whole collection seems worth getting, but it's way too expensive. I really like this track. I like how you play with density and texture throughout the piece, I think you really did a great job adding some great contrast. I like how the voice became a part of the ensemble initially, just a voice adding a nice color to the harmonies, and then how you stripped down the ensemble when she started 'singing' something more intelligible, and then how you increased the level of density with the vocal harmonizations and the rest of the ensemble was also cool. When the ensemble took over later on and carried the tune by itself, that was also a really nice way to keep developing contrast within the piece. Really, the way the voice existed in both worlds, one as a soloist and one as kind of an accompanist to the ensemble was a really nice touch from an orchestration perspective.
 
I have to ask because I am always curious about this. How did you go about sequencing this?

synkrotron
Thanks for the info Dave. I wish I was able to use this stuff in my own works, but I don't think it would suit the material I create. Who knows though... I could always try something like this out one day 

Thanks Andy. I don't know, I can maybe hear some Jenifer is some of your stuff. It would be an adventure to fit her into your style of music. I think you could pull it off!
 
Thanks also for mentioning my site.
 
- Dave

Beautiful. Very nicely constructed.

emeraldsoul
I've got a couple of 8dio things and I think they are great. However, I would not ask Jenifer to sing a lead line. You never get anything like lyrical clarity, which the listener expects/demands. If something is being sung up front in the mix, I'd like to know the meaning of what's being sung. Jenifer comes close but it's still kind of semi-English. Just my opinion.
 
That said, towards the end of your piece, you've got her supporting the rest of your orchestration as just background choral lines, and I think she totally works for that.
 
And, the last half of your song I think is up there with the best movie scoring I have heard. Totally great. Especially, when you transposed it up! Really high quality compositional work!
 
cheers,
-Tom

Thanks for the comments Tom! I agree it is pushing it to put even a great vocal library up front. The piece is meant to be "elvish" so for me anyway, the fact that the words are not understandable is OK. I just couldn't help myself. Thanks for the encouraging words. It is greatly appreciated.
 
 - Dave

Beautiful orchestration. Well done Dave!

Amine Belkhouche
Hey Dave,
 
That answer was helpful, I appreciate the reply. Now that you mention it, I did also want to know how you go about programming the MIDI parts for the different instruments in your composition.

Amine,
 
Here is a long-winded attempt to answer :-)
 
The libraries used are all East West Hollywood Orchestra Gold except for the vocal which is 8Dio Jenifer. EWHO does not use keyswitches to the extent that other libraries might. That means that if I want to have different articulations (arco, pizzicato, etc.) I need to create separate tracks for each one. I created a Sonar project template that has everything set up. The only thing I need to do is load the samples I will actually use. The template is explained more here: http://www.daveranck.com/#!Using-Templates-to-Streamline-Workflow/c1jbw/556b63090cf235f81968e16d
 
Every note is played not hand-entered
By playing every note, subtle timing and velocity differences are recorded that helps the track to sound like it is performed by live musicians and not a computer. If I quantize anything, I use a medium level of quantization.
That said, I find it is often necessary to hand adjust individual notes to get the timing to sound right. The same is true of the velocity. I had to hand edit the velocities of the timpani to get it just right.
 
The best articulations for the job
This can be obvious but in Song of Llorienne the first 2 16th notes of the main string melody needed to be doubled with sustain AND legato articulations. Legato alone was too wimpy sounding. For the string runs, even though they are just a few notes, I switch out to a sample made for runs . It makes a difference.
 
Expression
I have an app for my Surface Pro 2 called Xotopad . This allows me to enter CC11 and CC1 via a pad controller with one hand while I play the notes with the other. More info here. CC11 controls expression (volume) and CC1 controls the vibrato amount. Changing these slightly while playing can add to the realism.
 
For some parts (like the low strings in the beginning), I drew the controllers in because I used 2 hands to play the part. In any case, I edited the controllers to get the right loudness levels and to add expression. For example, I might add a slight swell to the beginning of a brass note or have the strings swell the way the cellos do in the first part of the song. I spend a LOT of timing tweaking the controllers.
 
Judicious Doubling
I will often double the violins with the cellos or violas for a bigger sound. You here this when the orchestra takes over the melody. It is easy for me to get too carried away with this though. You hear the violas drop out at one point and a counterpoint taken up by the horns and woodwinds. Too much of a good thing is not good. I also doubled the harp with subtle piano chords to add some depth to the sound. I think it helped to fatten the sound.
 
Reverb Sends
Each section or solo instrument has its own effects send for reverb. I use Quantum Spaces and generally use the IRs for real concert halls. The reverb for each section is slightly different to mimic their position front to back in the orchestra. For me this isn't a hard and fast rule. I'll change it for effect if needed. The combination of loudness, reverb and timbre help give the impression of depth of field. As far as pan goes, EWHO is already panned correctly so I don't usually touch it.
 
I don't know if any of that is helpful, but I hope so. If anyone has better tips, chime in!
 
Thanks,
 
Dave
 

That was sweet! Would make a wonderful soundtrack for the big screen. Thumbs up here Dave. Really enjoyed this and thank you for sharing it.

Steve -
 
Thank you for your kind words. I really appreciate the encouragement!
 
- Dave

Thanks Dan. You are referring to the phrases, correct? I hear that too but could not eliminate it. It seems baked into the patch....