a little bit of sample play today

[KingIdiot]

so for the past hour or so I\'ve been jsut playing around with libraries. I haven\'t tried writing anything with them lately because I\'ve been involved with a project thats limiting me to 500k for sample banks that I have to create.

Anyhow. I put in AO vioilings because I hadn\'t played with them in a while. and I thought...wow these aren\'t all that bad. They sounded very \"old\", a bit harsh, but for soft stuff and some fine tuned EQ I thought they would be usefull.

Then I popped in UStrings violins. I foudn the MF samples actually quite good, but the attacks pretty bad. Still the character was nice

then I popped in GOS 1st violins, expecting them to be jsut \"ok\" because I\'d grown to focus on certain things that I dont like abou the 1st violin sustain patches when used alone. the softer dynamics didn\'t ahve that \"bow noise\" that AO had (which I personally like). but I was REALLY surprised at the amount of vibrato the forte samples had. Especially compared to the other libraries.

Anyhow, then I realised that I should try doing some stupid layering tricks again.

I popped in AO violins, with only the piano layer playing. Layered that under the GOS violins, pulled back the AO volume so it wasn\'t too loud, and played pretty well under GOS-EXP piano layer, and tried somethign different today. Bumped up about 3-4 DB at 500k instead of pulling back anything. I used my basic reverb settings. And mand I tell you it sounded pretty good. I still heard some places where I would notch out some EQ, but I was pretty happy.

It made me realize that we might be WAY too close to these sounds. Its with taking some time away that I was able to actually see how great all these libraries were, and their pluses shined again. I\'m sure after workign with them the minuses will pop up.

But, dammit its nice to appreciate what I\'ve got here http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

it makes me realize that the resources are out there to make some fantastic sounding music.

I really wish that you guys could jsut hang out and grab some beers and play around on my giga system, or watch me goof of on my DAW, I think we\'d inspire each other to create and appreciate some great sounds.


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Really...I am an Idiot

[SOD213]

You provide the plane ticket, I\'ll bring the beer. http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif

Seriously though, this is what I like to see. I haven\'t had the time lately to play with my gear/samples lately (and the guitar library is on hold for now), but all the mudslinging on here has distracted us from what we come here for. To all the critics.. if you can do better, then DO IT.

Sample libraries aren\'t to the point of plug and play yet. I think though, that with a few tweaks, you can get the sounds that you want. Instruments don\'t play themselves, and if you play them badly, then they will sound bad.

BTW, I think I\'ve got an idea for getting that \"oomph\" sound for brass by adding some reverb, running it through a power amp to my 4x12, and then using some distant micing. Anyone try this yet? It sure brings out my guitar sound from my V-Amp, making it sound \"real\".

[thesoundsmith]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size=\"1\" face=\"Verdana, Arial\">quote:</font><HR> BTW, I think I\'ve got an idea for getting that \"oomph\" sound for brass <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

A cool trick Kurzweil used on their \"warm trumpet\" patch in the PX1000 was to layer a sine wave with the tpt. Suonds great until you listen on some big Genelecs, then the layers are fully audible as two independent entities, but on \"regular\" hi-fi and studio monitors it\'s just a warm trumpet.

Dasher

[composer22]

sad really...I thought we might be able to pull something off here...even at a low framerate.

I think it would be pretty cool to have some sort of get together with the NS-NoCal and NS-SoCal chapters and related special interest groups some weekend.

[jubal]

Yeah....a KingI real world show http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

Where he gets to vote people off his island and keep their libraries...nice.

Seriously though...a couple of days ago I was just playing around with AO\'s soft strings and GOS 1st Violins EXP patch with the p - mp layers...didn\'t tweak as much probably but the AO gave it a richer sound. Good ideas King!

[composer22]

Does it sound real? Or does it sound like unreal doublings - e.g. 101 violins locked in a beer vat

[PatS]

King and jubal:

Would either of you be willing to upload some comparison MP3s? I\'d like to hear the different results of your layering techniques. And, King, if you can or have done the same for brass (I vaguely recall you saying something about QLB and DDSB), I\'d love to hear those tweaks, as well.

Thanks!

Pat

[composer22]

Yeah, me too including any other demo\'s that can be helpful on layering approaches. We could set up a web page somewhere...

[KingIdiot]

hehee..
actually Iwouldn\'t be voting people off the island, I\'d be choosing people to put into Fear Factor type challenges like...

Edit VotA in Giga edit!!!!!


About the video. I\'ve actually got something planned with Avi/mpg for you guys. Its going to have to wait until I get a good digi vid cam tho.

It stems from the Guitar lib I\'m doing. It will be a tutorial on how to use it, becuause it will be a bit different than what most people are \"used to\". It will also explain why I sampled things the way I did.

Id considered turning that into a monthly/bi monthly video for \"fun\". But it would take too much time, so I\'d need to charge for it, and then of course, thats just not what I wanted it to be about.

Plus it would mean picking up ever library out there to have what everyone else has... maybe I can snag some freebies this way... hmmm http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/smile.gif

actually that might be bad, might get me too close to being in the \"press world\" again.

about MP3s. I\'ll throw some together today with the layeres of the strings. It will have to be real time \"noodling\" tho and no real orchestrated music.

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Really...I am an Idiot

[dalamein]

Hey King

Thanks for starting this page. A few weeks ago I tried the same approach, and have had much success using AO and US, especially hiding loop points. You can listen to my Demo
and maybe help me with some tips, on how I can improve this technique. If you go to the topic ..My First Attempt...
you can listen to the layering. Check it out. I would love to get some input on it.

Dalamein


[This message has been edited by dalamein (edited 04-09-2002).]

[PatS]

King:

I\'d love to watch you at work, particular since I\'m a visual learner. Have you considered video-taping yourself while working in your studio and then converting the video to QuickTime, MPEG or AVI? Another option is to install the free RealSystem Producer Basic and RealSystem Server Basic on a PC equipped with a digital video camera. You could then offer \"live\" or on-demand video streams (well, \"almost live\" since the latency is about 15 seconds across a FastEthernet LAN). Of course, if you can get RealSystem to deliver beer in real-time, you\'d have to order an OC-192 fiber-optic line. But you\'d certainly have our undivided attention . . . that is, until the beer starts to kick in. http://www.northernsounds.com/ubb/NonCGI/images/icons/wink.gif

Just thinking (wishing?) out loud!

Pat

P.S. Thanks for sharing your insights and experiences. I was just about to bail out of this place.

[This message has been edited by PatS (edited 04-09-2002).]

[composer22]

Pat S:

Can\'t we use NetMeeting or some such derivitive to have a conference going between us all? Say 5 people?

How about a tail gate party in Monterey some weekend?

[PatS]

By itself, NetMeeting only supports point-to-point sessions between two nodes. In a multi-user environment, you would need an MCU (Multipoint Control Unit, akin to the old CU-SeeMe \"reflector\"). Unfortunately, when you add up the cost of the hardware and software, you\'d probably save money by flying to Monterey . . . first class. Still, I\'d much rather drive up the coast on Highway 1. (My wife and I, sans kids, were in Cambria last Friday and Saturday. What a gorgeous coastline!)

Pat