Listen on SoundCloud.com
Here's my latest work, my very first electronic piece. I did this at the request of a friend who requires a somewhat upbeat music to go with an instructional video on mixed-martial arts.
I realised I had to spend significantly more time on choosing sounds, and working on the sound design since it is a feature in the electronic music genre.
Here's hoping I can improve at creating electronic stuff because I hope to use sound design elements in conjunction with orchestral instruments in my future works.
I hope you like it!
Some stats on this piece:
Start-End Dates: 20130510 - 20130513 (3 days)
DAW: FL Studio 11
Synths in use:
- Image-Line Groove Machine Synth,
- Image-Line Autogun,
- Sonic Culture Konkrete,
- NI AbSynth 5,
- NI Kontakt Factory Library
Monday, 13 May 2013
John Williams Recording NBC Nightly News Beat
Amazing recorded footage of John William conducting his piece that gets played over NBC's nightly news.
It is so beautifully moving, the motif keeps evolving slowly, seamlessly moving from one form to the next. I can only describe this as wondrous. It lifted up my soul and left me with wet eyes as I listened and watched to the end.
Monday, 6 May 2013
The Making of Freljord Music
I happened to come across this great video, the making of the music behind Freljord. These guys really did a lot of work for the music score and were very serious about the recording process as well.
It is awesome that the music making folks were getting inspiration visually from the art and design department (and they even got that lady over to sing in their recordings). That should really be the way to go. Many productions tend to treat music either as a separate process from their visual workflow, or as an afterthought.
Also, I really like the fact that they were not rushing merely to meet a deadline, but they were actually allowing their creativity to soar while they explored different instruments that could further draw the player into the environment they create with the visuals, music and sound.
Touch and Go
Listen to this on SoundCloud.com
Some Stats to start off with:
Start date: 2013 May 5 (12.30 am)
End date: 2013 May 6 (4 am)
VI Library used: 100% Hammered Acoustic Guitar by Audio Wiesel (running off NI Kontakt)
DAW: FL Studio 11.0
Position & Reverb: VSL MIR-Pro 24
Dynamics: NI Solid Bus Comp, NI Solid EQ
Amp simulator / distortion processor: NI Guitar Rig 5
Yesterday I purchased Audio Wiesel's Hammered Acoustic Guitar (H.A.G.) virtual instrument.
Hammered Acoustic Guitar (HAG) is a sampled virtual instrument that runs on Native Instrument's Kontakt. HAG requires the full version of Kontakt 5.0.3 or later.
The concept behind this sampled library is the use of drum sticks and brushes to produce musical tones and sound effects from an Ibanez AE acoustic guitar. In order to make it punchy and powerful the guys at AudioWiesel used two steel strings and tuned them to same pitch. This resulted in the strings modulating each other producing a very lively, natural and organic sounding tone.
Containing 45 patches, 2280 samples at 2.5GB in size, HAG is no child's play. Being sampled by high end audio recording equipment at 44.1kHz / 24-bit, HAG contains 9 times round-robin and 7 dynamic layers. HAG is broken down into 2 products (core, and fx & percussion). These can also be purchased as a bundle.
I was so caught up in the quality and potential of the library, I decided I could build a whole song out of just one library. So over the next 30 hours (and in between spending time with my wife and household chores), I managed to complete this piece using only sounds from H.A.G. Only 4 patches out of 45 in the HAG library were used,
This was the first time I wasexploring the use of non-conventional sounds and using them to replace roles of a traditional band (using some patches to assume the bass, and some other sounds to fill up the high registers, for example). Same thing went for the percussive section.
Doing this made me become very aware of the sound I was producing, on top of the pitch and notes they were representing. Now I had to take care of another aspect of the production: controlling the tone and timbre of each part. This was on top of just making it play the correct pitch in the melodic and dynamic expressions department.
All this resulted in me spending quite a bit more time on the sound sculpting to get each track to sound just right. That was mainly due to the fact that I was only using 4 patches for the whole piece, so naturally I have more than 1 part using the same patch. If I did not make the same patches sound different for different parts, the whole mix would sound like a mess, with the same instrument playing all the different parts.
Fortunately HAG was programmed with sound-design in mind, so there were some controls that were conveniently located to enable me to drastically affect the sounds of each patch. However, I still needed to use Native Instrument's audio processing tools on top of those available in the patches themselves.
In the middle of writing I had a wild idea, and put a H.A.G. "soft mallet" patch through a guitar amp/distortion simulator. What I got was a pleasantly unique distortion sound that lends itself well to the piece. It is electric-guitar sounding, but because of the percussive nature of the soft mallet attack, it added interesting frequencies to the timbre as compared to what we are used to hearing on regular electric guitars.
Thanks to the faithful sampling workflow from the guys at AudioWiesel, who meticulously included the trailing end of all the notes, the 'electric guitar' actually had a long sustaining trail that gave a warm sustaining tone even after distortion is applied. Techniques like this give rise to the possibility of further expanding the sonic potential of this sampled virtual instrument.
For placement and reverb I used VSL's MIR24-Pro. Here's a peek into how the tracks were placed in 'space'.
Working on this made me quite happy about my working speed this time round. This piece felt easier as compared to my usual orchestral endeavours. It definitely has to do with the playability of the library patches, but I also feel it could be because this piece was set up more like a pop/rock arrangement, which has less parts to worry about, than an orchestra.
One of the unique points about the piece is that there are only two main chords: F Minor and B Major with accidental notes occasionally added to slightly alter the sound of the chords.
Finally, I entitled the piece Touch and Go, partly because this phrase was mentioned recently at work (by my boss), so it was at the front of my mind.
Also, I named it Touch and Go because I felt that it appropriately described my guilt for letting the song build up to the high point only briefly and then hastily declining in intensity for the rest of the way. To me the high point was near the middle when the distortion patch came in, and I felt I did not keep it long enough to satisfy the listener. From this point of view, I think I am justified to say that this piece is not really structurally pleasing.
I hope you like the piece!
Some Stats to start off with:
Start date: 2013 May 5 (12.30 am)
End date: 2013 May 6 (4 am)
VI Library used: 100% Hammered Acoustic Guitar by Audio Wiesel (running off NI Kontakt)
DAW: FL Studio 11.0
Position & Reverb: VSL MIR-Pro 24
Dynamics: NI Solid Bus Comp, NI Solid EQ
Amp simulator / distortion processor: NI Guitar Rig 5
Yesterday I purchased Audio Wiesel's Hammered Acoustic Guitar (H.A.G.) virtual instrument.
The concept behind this sampled library is the use of drum sticks and brushes to produce musical tones and sound effects from an Ibanez AE acoustic guitar. In order to make it punchy and powerful the guys at AudioWiesel used two steel strings and tuned them to same pitch. This resulted in the strings modulating each other producing a very lively, natural and organic sounding tone.
Containing 45 patches, 2280 samples at 2.5GB in size, HAG is no child's play. Being sampled by high end audio recording equipment at 44.1kHz / 24-bit, HAG contains 9 times round-robin and 7 dynamic layers. HAG is broken down into 2 products (core, and fx & percussion). These can also be purchased as a bundle.
I was so caught up in the quality and potential of the library, I decided I could build a whole song out of just one library. So over the next 30 hours (and in between spending time with my wife and household chores), I managed to complete this piece using only sounds from H.A.G. Only 4 patches out of 45 in the HAG library were used,
Doing this made me become very aware of the sound I was producing, on top of the pitch and notes they were representing. Now I had to take care of another aspect of the production: controlling the tone and timbre of each part. This was on top of just making it play the correct pitch in the melodic and dynamic expressions department.
All this resulted in me spending quite a bit more time on the sound sculpting to get each track to sound just right. That was mainly due to the fact that I was only using 4 patches for the whole piece, so naturally I have more than 1 part using the same patch. If I did not make the same patches sound different for different parts, the whole mix would sound like a mess, with the same instrument playing all the different parts.
Fortunately HAG was programmed with sound-design in mind, so there were some controls that were conveniently located to enable me to drastically affect the sounds of each patch. However, I still needed to use Native Instrument's audio processing tools on top of those available in the patches themselves.
In the middle of writing I had a wild idea, and put a H.A.G. "soft mallet" patch through a guitar amp/distortion simulator. What I got was a pleasantly unique distortion sound that lends itself well to the piece. It is electric-guitar sounding, but because of the percussive nature of the soft mallet attack, it added interesting frequencies to the timbre as compared to what we are used to hearing on regular electric guitars.
Thanks to the faithful sampling workflow from the guys at AudioWiesel, who meticulously included the trailing end of all the notes, the 'electric guitar' actually had a long sustaining trail that gave a warm sustaining tone even after distortion is applied. Techniques like this give rise to the possibility of further expanding the sonic potential of this sampled virtual instrument.
For placement and reverb I used VSL's MIR24-Pro. Here's a peek into how the tracks were placed in 'space'.
 |
| from the naming of the instruments you can probably figure out which HAG patches I used in the song |
One of the unique points about the piece is that there are only two main chords: F Minor and B Major with accidental notes occasionally added to slightly alter the sound of the chords.
Finally, I entitled the piece Touch and Go, partly because this phrase was mentioned recently at work (by my boss), so it was at the front of my mind.
Also, I named it Touch and Go because I felt that it appropriately described my guilt for letting the song build up to the high point only briefly and then hastily declining in intensity for the rest of the way. To me the high point was near the middle when the distortion patch came in, and I felt I did not keep it long enough to satisfy the listener. From this point of view, I think I am justified to say that this piece is not really structurally pleasing.
I hope you like the piece!
Sunday, 21 April 2013
How Oblivion Made Earth Sound as Post-Apocalyptic as It Looks
I found this amazing article of the same name on Gizmodo.
Check out more exciting and inspiring videos on Soundworks Collection!
Friday, 19 April 2013
FL Studio Mobile is Out!
What happens when inspiration hits you, and you wish you had your DAW with you in your pocket?
Here comes FL Studio Mobile, available on Google Play and Apple's App Store!
FL Studio Mobile is priced at USD19.9 in both the App Store and Google Play store. The iOS version will work on iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. Android version requires phones and tablets to be Android 2.3.3 and above.
Read the news release on Image-Line's official website, Image-Line's product page, and visit the App Store and Google Play store for more information..
This product looks and sounds amazing from the videos. Reading the specs makes me realise how serious Image-Line guys are when they wanted to create a mobile version of the big brother in the family. They ported a huge portion of functionality across, and whatever operation you can think of doing on the desktop FL Studio, there is a high chance that you can do exactly the same thing in the mobile version.
On top of faithfully bringing across all the features of the original desktop, Image-Line also makes full use of the mobile platform to make a native product that does not just seem like a OS port. For example, they make use of the accelerometer to control the pitch of the instruments.
Best of all, FL Studio Mobile is fully interoperable with the desktop version in terms of saving and reading files from either versions. FL Studio Mobile also has the ability to save directly to email or dropbox (cloud storage).
Here comes FL Studio Mobile, available on Google Play and Apple's App Store!
FL Studio Mobile is priced at USD19.9 in both the App Store and Google Play store. The iOS version will work on iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. Android version requires phones and tablets to be Android 2.3.3 and above.
Read the news release on Image-Line's official website, Image-Line's product page, and visit the App Store and Google Play store for more information..
This product looks and sounds amazing from the videos. Reading the specs makes me realise how serious Image-Line guys are when they wanted to create a mobile version of the big brother in the family. They ported a huge portion of functionality across, and whatever operation you can think of doing on the desktop FL Studio, there is a high chance that you can do exactly the same thing in the mobile version.
On top of faithfully bringing across all the features of the original desktop, Image-Line also makes full use of the mobile platform to make a native product that does not just seem like a OS port. For example, they make use of the accelerometer to control the pitch of the instruments.
Best of all, FL Studio Mobile is fully interoperable with the desktop version in terms of saving and reading files from either versions. FL Studio Mobile also has the ability to save directly to email or dropbox (cloud storage).
Friday, 12 April 2013
Where the Lord Leads Me
Where the Lord Leads Me
Hear this on SoundCloud.com
This is the title of my latest piece.
I intended for the music to be in a very soft and reflective/contemplating mood. Maybe for a romantic or uplifting visuals in mind.
Some statistics for this:
start / end date: 20130409 - 20130412 (3 days)
DAW: FL Studio 10
Library: VSL Special Edition 1 & 2
Reverb: VSL MIR-Pro24
Musically my challenge this time round is to create a personal and intimate piece in contrast to the big sounding pieces I've been writing.
In the technical department, I used only the special edition libraries from VSL for this piece.
I recently acquired VSL's MIR-PRO24 as well. This is my first piece using the physically accurate reverb and stereo positioning that's modelled from The Sage Gateshead (room pack 4).I used the space from Hall Two which is a smaller 10 sided hall that is more intimate sounding.
With the MIR-PRO24, I have to do away with panning and reverb in my signal chain for everything track, because the physical modelling of the acoustic space will now affect the actual directionality and reverberations of each instrument in the mix.
In addition to that, I find that the volume of each track also needs to be rebalanced because in MirPro24, bringing an instrument further back in the virtual space will also decrease it's volume in a physically accurate way.
I am using Vienna Ensemble as a multi timbral source to all my VSL instruments. So it took quite a while for me to set up the signal flow from each channel out to a mixer strip in FL Studio, and then add a MirPro24 instance an effects insert.
In total the number of instruments in this piece is only 8. MirPro24 limits the use of instruments to 24. Thus I think I will be able to work with this for quite a while before I actually come anywhere near to using 24 instruments. (of course I'll need to treat each section as a single instrument in my workflow).
In this piece I started relying more on expression controllers to control the expressive volume of the instruments. This allows me to continuously control the dynamic volume of the instruments on top of the existing dynamics resulting from note velocity. Long notes benefit a lot from this added level of control.
Problematic areas
I feel that the problem with this piece is an audio engineering problem. The levels of each track isn't mixed such that it's clear when certain instruments step up to take the leading line and when others need to recede into the supporting roles.
I am not too happy with the timbre change of the piano when it's taking the lead and when I lower the volume down in the background. I am doing this currently solely with velocity changes.
Hear this on SoundCloud.com
This is the title of my latest piece.
I intended for the music to be in a very soft and reflective/contemplating mood. Maybe for a romantic or uplifting visuals in mind.
Some statistics for this:
start / end date: 20130409 - 20130412 (3 days)
DAW: FL Studio 10
Library: VSL Special Edition 1 & 2
Reverb: VSL MIR-Pro24
Musically my challenge this time round is to create a personal and intimate piece in contrast to the big sounding pieces I've been writing.
In the technical department, I used only the special edition libraries from VSL for this piece.
I recently acquired VSL's MIR-PRO24 as well. This is my first piece using the physically accurate reverb and stereo positioning that's modelled from The Sage Gateshead (room pack 4).I used the space from Hall Two which is a smaller 10 sided hall that is more intimate sounding.
With the MIR-PRO24, I have to do away with panning and reverb in my signal chain for everything track, because the physical modelling of the acoustic space will now affect the actual directionality and reverberations of each instrument in the mix.
I am using Vienna Ensemble as a multi timbral source to all my VSL instruments. So it took quite a while for me to set up the signal flow from each channel out to a mixer strip in FL Studio, and then add a MirPro24 instance an effects insert.
In total the number of instruments in this piece is only 8. MirPro24 limits the use of instruments to 24. Thus I think I will be able to work with this for quite a while before I actually come anywhere near to using 24 instruments. (of course I'll need to treat each section as a single instrument in my workflow).
In this piece I started relying more on expression controllers to control the expressive volume of the instruments. This allows me to continuously control the dynamic volume of the instruments on top of the existing dynamics resulting from note velocity. Long notes benefit a lot from this added level of control.
 |
| Graphical overview of the piece, with the expression controllers overlayed |
Problematic areas
I feel that the problem with this piece is an audio engineering problem. The levels of each track isn't mixed such that it's clear when certain instruments step up to take the leading line and when others need to recede into the supporting roles.
I am not too happy with the timbre change of the piano when it's taking the lead and when I lower the volume down in the background. I am doing this currently solely with velocity changes.
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