Audio & Video Software Articles write an article

I would like to keep this relatively simple, but concise! So here we go...You are an aspiring musician, and it's about time you committed some of your compositions to permanence, but what's the best way to go about it? Well, as you would imagine there are about a bazillion answers to that question. My goal in this article is to give you a solid understanding of what equipment and skills you'll need to record a quality piece of art. Lets start with skills you need to posses, or learn. A decent understanding of your computer will go a long way if you plan on using it to record. If you don't have or wish to use your computer, there are a couple other options such as cassette 4 track recorders, and stand alone digital recorders. I'm going to focus on the computer as our main mode of recording. It goes without saying you also need to play an instrument, or make some sort of noise to record and manipulate as you see fit. That's it for skills, now lets focus on a bit more daunting subject.Good equipment will make or break your project. A properly setup studio is a joy to use and has a smooth workflow. The most basic setup is a computer,  a microphone, and recording software. While this setup will get the job...

                            The Art of MIDI Orchestration                                      By Jerry Gerber  IntroductionThe principles of orchestration have been presented in several classic texts by Kennan, Adler, Piston and others. In what ways do these principles apply when considering the virtual orchestra?Just as an acoustic score's realization will not be identical when played by two different orchestras, a MIDI-realized score also is interpreted by what hardware and software are used in the studio and what level of musicianship is brought to the production process. Though musicians use various hardware and software platforms to realize their ideas, the core issues are universal: How to achieve the most musically expressive score with the technology you have at your disposal. We'll focus on the many details which help bring expressiveness and intention to our music.While there have been many musicians who consider MIDI as a mock-up for what is meant to be performed by a live ensemble, this perspective often means that while sequencing a composition many shortcuts are made and many decisions that ought to be made are not. For those composers who are convinced of the expressiveness of MIDI as an artistic medium in its own right, this article will address some of those techniques.Like any medium, MIDI has its strengths and limitations. In the acoustic world, much of what we accept as part of the musical experience involves many sounds that are not really musical at all; fingernail noises against strings and the sound of breath and mouth clicks for example. These non-musical artifacts are so deeply accepted in our musical culture that we simply ignore them and focus on the music itself. But when a new medium arrives we become very critical and sense shortcomings very quickly. This makes it all the more important to understand how to infuse MIDI instruments with musicality, expression, gesture and intention. It means understanding your sounds and samples and exploiting all of the parameters that can lead to deeper expression. Very satisfying musical results are quite possible with MIDI, and the situation is improving with every new generation of hardware, software and the ongoing evolution of sample libraries.Orchestration styles change. The orchestrations of Stravinsky are very different from that of Mozart's, as are Copland's from Mahler's. Since the virtual orchestra defines a medium, but not a musical style or genre, this divergence of approach to orchestration remains true in the virtual world as well. We've seen music concrete, sound design, electronica and the virtual orchestra evolve from electronic music and we will continue to see new genres and styles find a home with this new medium. For those composers interested in taking the principles of orchestration and applying them to MIDI, the concepts of orchestral balance, blend, transparency and orchestral weight still make sense, we must still be concerned with primary, secondary and tertiary materials, and knowing how to score a good tutti is useful. We will return to these concepts later in the article.It is sometimes difficult to separate orchestration from composition. Many of the timbre choices an orchestrator makes has to do with planning how the piece's structure evolves, and orchestral textures are often employed to contribute to the form of the composition. I find Walter Piston's idea of the seven textural types very useful. Please see his book, on orchestration for a complete explanation and examples.
 
Type                     NameI                    Orchestral UnisonII                   Melody & AccompanimentIII                  Secondary melodyIV                 Part WritingV                  Contrapuntal TextureVI                 ChordsVII                Complex TextureIn the electronic orchestra, even just one synthesizer timbre can be a complex texture in and of itself, with multiple amplitude and filter envelopes, dynamic panning and modulation of harmonics synchronized to tempo. This is new territory and the point where classical orchestration is not going to be of much help. The virtual orchestra gives us new options: We can use samples of acoustic-based instruments to orchestrate our music and/or we can use sounds that cannot be duplicated in the acoustic realm; these sounds are often complex, sometimes with non-whole integer harmonics and often with a built-in rhythmic pulsation produced with sample-and-hold, LFO or other devices. When using complex electronic sounds, listen to the harmonics and rhythmic patterns that are present. This can provide a hint as to how to proceed to integrate this timbre into an orchestral setting.
 
Designing the Ensemble
One of the great joys of MIDI is that it gives the musician the capability to pick and choose instruments that, in earlier times most likely would not have been heard together in an ensemble. In my Five Songs on the Poetry of Tu Fu (Ottava 02-006) I designed an ensemble using samples of Chinese percussion and other instruments from that region of the world, a flute from South America, an Irish harp, Western strings and sounds of water and wind.By going through our synthesizer patches and sample libraries we create a specific ensemble for the needs of the piece. Later on, if an instrument needs to be deleted or added it's possible without too much diversion from the creative process. The idea that the sole function of MIDI is to imitate the traditional classical orchestra can be put to rest when we look at the creative options. Mixing unusual combinations of timbres is one of the new benefits of the virtual orchestra and there is a whole lot more to explore in this medium because of it's proven capacity to spawn new styles of orchestration and music. The key is to design an ensemble in which the instruments sound good together. As in so many aspects of artistic creativity, a particular element may be expressive and appropriate by itself, but in context it isn't contributing to the whole. If the ensemble is chosen with care and sensitivity we are off to a good start as each timbre will play an integrated part in the composition.
 
The Micro Level of SequencingIt is impossible to discuss orchestration in the digital world without a brief discussion about sequencing....