Quick & Dirty GPO Demo

[robgb]

Finally got a chance to sit down with GPO. Here\'s a quick and dirty demo I did using a few instruments. Took me about 20 mins, used GPO through SONAR, mixed in Vegas, using Ozone 3:


Yeah, I know it\'s short and kinda weird, but...

[Hardy Heern]

Great for 20 minutes. Sounds like you\'re on your way to \'Hollywood\'!!

Frank

[Jamie Haggerty]

Yes! Very nice. I think we can see the potential here. I could have used this library yesterday and today.
Nice work Rob.
J

[robgb]

Thanks, guys. I actually HATE the timpani (not GPO\'s timpani, just what *I\'ve* done with it), and if I had 20 more minutes, I\'d probably remove it or drastically change it... images/icons/frown.gif

Of course, if I had twenty more minutes, there might be some actual substance to this piece. But I think it illustrates GPO\'s POTENTIAL.

[Alan Lastufka]

Rob,

Very cool demo, lended some inspiration for the piece I am currently working on.

Was this just to illustrate GPO or is this for a project?

AL

[Haydn]

Did you use both the right and left hand hits for the timpani? Try playing with the sensitivity settings on your keyboard controller. Then add some more reverb.

[robgb]

Alan,

I was just goofing around, but except the timpani and cymbal, I kind of liked what I came up with and will probably expand on it. Has a kind of Jeff Beal feel to it (not to insult Jeff Beal images/icons/smile.gif ).

[robgb]

Originally posted by Haydn:
Did you use both the right and left hand hits for the timpani? Try playing with the sensitivity settings on your keyboard controller. Then add some more reverb. <font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">I just threw the timpani in for the heck of it after I\'d finished playing around with everything else. I\'m pretty sure I can get a MUCH better sound out of it, but at this point I think I\'ll replace it altogether when I have time to sit down and mull it over.

What most impressed me was the ease of using GPO. I was able to concentrate on the doodle rather than spend all my time hunting for samples.

[Alan Lastufka]

Originally posted by robgb:
What most impressed me was the ease of using GPO. I was able to concentrate on the doodle rather than spend all my time hunting for samples. <font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">As I said on one of the other threads:

Originally posted by Alan Lastufka:
</font><blockquote><font size=\"1\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">quote:</font><hr /><font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">Originally posted by keytar:
I am surprised that you guys aren\'t yelling about how quick and easy it was to make your first tune, isn\'t this supposed to be the selling point?? <font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">GPO - QUICKER AND EASIER THAN MY LAST GIRLFRIEND! images/icons/smile.gif

AL </font><hr /></blockquote><font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">

[JonFairhurst]

The timpani sounds okay to me. The brass so-so. The pizz was nice. The ensemble winds occasionally had the dreaded accordian sound, but not near as bad as, say, GM500. Great work for 20 minutes!

No doubt, GPO is the one-stop shopping solution. I can\'t wait to receive mine. It\'ll be great to fill all of the gaps in my current collection of instruments. Even if some of the instruments aren\'t exceptional, none sound bad. It should blend well with my existing and future instruments.

[robgb]

It\'s funny how we hear things differently. I particularly LIKE the winds and don\'t hear the accordian sound you\'re referring to.

But keep in mind that part of the problem you have with them may have more to do with my playing/mixing abilities and less to do with the samples themselves.

[JonFairhurst]

>> \"It\'s funny how we hear things differently. I particularly LIKE the winds and don\'t hear the accordian sound you\'re referring to.\"

I know what you mean. You had mentioned not liking the timpani above, and I was expecting something horrid. I was pleasantly surprised to find it to be okay.

>> \"But keep in mind that part of the problem you have with them may have more to do with my playing/mixing abilities and less to do with the samples themselves.\"

That\'s possible. Not that your performance was bad in any way, but there might be something about your choice of instruments, their tight intervals and synchronization that lit up my accordion sensor. The solo part sounded fine. I only reacted to the ensemble part, and even then it was fairly subtle. Please don\'t lose any sleep over it :-)

I\'m probably a bit sensitive to winds right now. I have WC and can play slow solo lines fine, but I\'m really strugling to write/perform well for quicker parts and most any wind ensemble. I just can\'t seem to render the music the way I hear it in my head. Sure, a VSL legato solution would help, but I own at least 95% of the problem.

I\'ll get GPO for Xmas. Maybe I need a wind controller as a New Year\'s present. Yeah, that\'ll fix it :-)

[robgb]

Originally posted by JonFairhurst:
>> I just can\'t seem to render the music the way I hear it in my head. <font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">I think we ALL struggle with this problem on a daily basis... images/icons/smile.gif

[astrt4]

What is the opening wind instrument? Is it a mix of two different instruments (trumpet and horn maybe)?

[robgb]

The link above now goes to a NEW version. New timpani, which is a bit better. And the mix is a little better.

The opening instrument is a French Horn ensemble with ff overlay.

The opening woodwind is a clarinet. Followed by a flute.

[sri_bubba]

Originally posted by robgb:
The link above now goes to a NEW version. New timpani, which is a bit better. And the mix is a little better.

The opening instrument is a French Horn ensemble with ff overlay.

The opening woodwind is a clarinet. Followed by a flute. <font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">robg, how does the F Horn motif sound with the overlay REMOVED for the passing tones between D and G (the E and F sixteenths)? Part of what I hear is a uniformity of sound in the horns. My GPO order hasn\'t come in yet but the first thing I would try would be to use the overlay only on the sustains, with staccato, high velocity-value attacks on the passing tones. Would this idea work?

I\'m really excited that you did the first pass of this in twenty minutes. I\'m getting a strong feeling that this might just be a library that allows composing NOW and massaging as an intermediate process prior to post. Getting the musical idea espressed is the key.

Has anyone else got an impression they can share for those of us who are still standing in line, shifting on our feet like we have to pee? images/icons/grin.gif

[robgb]

The uniformity of sound can be adjusted by various means. I played the ensemble all at once with one midi port assigned to the three horns and the overlay.

It is possible to play each part separately, of course, varying the expression and volume, giving it more a sense of reality. You can also use the Var knobs to slightly change the tone/tune of one or more horns, to give it even more of a realistic sound.

The overlay gives it a bigger, brassier sound. And I don\'t see why it wouldn\'t work as you\'ve suggested.

[agarner32]

I also heard the \"accordian-like\" sound. Actually, it kinda sounds like a bandoneon. It\'s after the clarinet solo I think. Is that clarinet and flute? Anyway, I\'m impressed with sounds and can\'t wait to get my copy. Great little piece.

Aaron

[christianb]

Hey Rob,
It sounds to my like the release is set too short. I often get the same exact effect on faster passages. Play with lengthening it and you should find a smoother legato effect.

cb

[robgb]

Not sure about the release. Sounds fine to me. But Hadyn was right about the vibrato. I added some and the flute stands out a bit more, avoids the accordian sound.

Unless, of course, I\'m nuts.... Anyway, enough of this thing!

[robgb]

Originally posted by agarner32:
I also heard the \"accordian-like\" sound. Actually, it kinda sounds like a bandoneon. It\'s after the clarinet solo I think.
<font size=\"2\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">You\'re right. I listened to the original version again and heard it a bit as well -- right at the end when the flute cuts out and the clarinet/brass play the last notes in unison. Probably not a good choice.

The new version fixes that.

[Haydn]

The accordian sound is caused by the NV Flute coming in over the clarinet. Using the Flute with vibrato or an oboe will fix that.

[robgb]

Hmmm, I didn\'t get it with the flute/clarinet, but the clarinet/brass. I\'ll try a little vibrato, though and see what happens...

There are obviously things I need to learn about orchestration. images/icons/smile.gif

[Haydn]

It\'s usually not natural for a flute to play with no vibrato. The composer will normally notate for no vibrato if that\'s what is wished for. Most of the woodwinds have various degrees of vibrato depending on the instrument. For example the oboes go from almost no vibrato to a pretty heavy one that works great for solo passages. You should be to pretty much eliminate the accordian/organ sound with careful choosing of instrument types. Once you figure out what each instrument does, then its quite quick to work with them. I found that it was a good idea to spend a day just playing with the woodwind instruments to find there strengths and weaknesses. Working on pieces went much quicker after that.