Starting with orchestral music production? Avoid this mistake.
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ธ.ค. 2017
- I see lots of beginners making this mistake with libraries and gear. Here's why you should avoid it and get started the right way.
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🎼 PROJECT FILES: www.patreon.com/alexmoukala?ty=h
⏫ PRIVATE LESSONS: Coming soon...
📚 EVENANT MUSIC COURSES: alexmoukala.com/go/orchestral...
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🎧 MY MUSIC: / alexmoukalamusic
💬 COMPOSERS COMMUNITY: discordapp.com/invite/tZ275cj
🗣️ GET IN TOUCH: / alexmoukalamusic
📷 BEHIND THE SCENES: / alex_moukala
🐦 TWITTER: / alex_moukala
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🎻 LIBRARIES & SOFTWARE:
(For each module, the libraries are sorted based on how much I like them).
- STRINGS: Metropolis Ark 1 & 3, Nucleus, Cinematic Studio Strings, Fluid Shorts, Cinematic Strings 2, Jaeger
- BRASS: Metropolis Ark 1 & 3, JXL Brass, Nucleus, Twelve Horn Ensemble, CineBrass CORE, Century Brass, Jaeger, Angry Brass
- CHOIR: Oceania, Metropolis Ark 1, Stormchoir 2
- WOODWINDS: CineWinds CORE, Nucleus, Metropolis Ark 1 & 3
- HYBRID PERCS & LOOPS: Damage, PercX, Decimator Drums, Cerberus
- BIG CINEMATIC PERCS: Los Angeles Modern Percussion, New Epic Toms Ensemble, New Epic Dhol Ensemble, CinePerc
- ORCHESTRAL PERCS: CinePerc, Rhapsody Orchestral Percussion, Kontakt Factory Library
- PIANO: The Giant, Woodchester Piano, Spitfire LABS Soft Piano
- HARPS & OTHERS: CineHarp, Kontakt Factory Library
- SYNTHS: Juggernaut, Serum, Harmor, Jaeger, Evolution Atlantica,
- ORCHESTRAL SFX: Metropolis Ark 3, Palette Orchestral FX
- SOLO STRINGS: Tina Guo Solo Cello, Solos of the Sea, Cinematic Studio Strings Solo
- SOLO VOCALS: Jaeger, Vocalisa
- GUITARS: Basic Live Guitars & Bass routed into Waves GTR / Guitar Rig, Metropolis Ark 1, Heavyocity Atlantica
- TRAILER SFX: Custom / Private Samples, AVA Instinct, Cinematic Trailers Designed, Epic Sound Effects Quantum, Scenes From The Multiverse Vol.1, Juggernaut, Jaeger, Evolution Atlantica, AizerX Classic Trailers Toolkit, AizerX Trailer SFX Tools
- REVERB: ValhallaRoom, ValhallaShimmer
- MIXING & MASTERING: iZotope Ozone 9 Advanced, iZotope Neutron, FabFilter Pro-Q3, FL Studio Plugins
- DAW: FL Studio 20
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💻 HARDWARE & PC SPECS:
- Desktop PC: 3.7 GHz Intel Core i7 8700k / 32GB DDR4 RAM / 2TB Samsung Evo860 M.2 SSD
- Laptop PC: Asus ROG GLW752 (2.6GHz Intel Core i7-6700HQ / 16GB DDR4 RAM / 1TB Samsung Evo860 M.2 SSD)
- Audio Interface: M-Audio M-Track Plus
- MIDI Keyboard: M-Audio Keystation 49 MkIII
Song: Torn From The Heavens (Final Fantasy XIV)
Original Composer: Masayoshi Soken - เพลง
Orchestral Multitracks, MIDI & WAV Downloads:
- www.patreon.com/posts/15463662
Libraries used:
- Berlin Orchestra Inspire
Is it possible for me to make a good orchestral track with free orchestral vat and libraries as a starter and complete beginner
@@ADEDAYOADEWOLE nope bro cuz free vst cant get u that realistic feel but i recommended u to install layers and free orsachtra by samprojects and also labs soft piano it gives u some realistic feel
I hope u understand 😁😁
Thanks
How about BBC Symphony Orchestra? It is FREE to download and FREE to use.
Hey Alex,
Are your sound libraries original and not cracked versions? You must have invested in thousands of dollars.
Known fact: "the less you have, the more creative you can be"
This isn't always the case, but that's an okay general saying.
Speak it Wise One!
Well, I will say most of the time I find myself coming up with creative solutions when I impose limits on myself, but sometimes having limited software can sorta hinder what you can do convincingly, therefore discouraging you from experimenting more. Double-edged sword.
soundcloud.com/skyy38/trench-run-star-wars-excerpt-by-acb
Only to a certain point, when you outgrow WHAT you have been given to create with.
"If you have 0 skill, having all the libraries still results in 0, and that is not good" - Alex Moukala
I got the skills but damn do you have see the price of the good sounds librayries for orchestral how do you want me have the best sound when you sell your plugins 400-500$ this is just not in my range lol. So i dot what i can with what i have and i probably in some time sound better then people with all the laybrairies hahaha!
I like how Alex's video's are generic enough to be useful even for people who use completely different DAWs and libraries, ty Alex.
yeah, I even tried some of the techniques here in Renoise.
I think you mean his videos are broad. Because they aren’t very generic
"It's not as good as my other tracks" - was it a joke?
I mean, he _has_ made some more insane tracks
Another Guy On TH-cam link?
This is so cool. I didn't know people made orchestral music using a DAW. I would love to learn this!
Did you learn anything yet about DAW's and orchestral music?
"Is not as impressive as my other tracks" Plays a Super Inspiring Gem
Hello there! Thanks alot for your videos. I feel like I have found a goldmine. I have made alot of electronic dance music and hip hop tracks in Fl Studio but I love classical music and I want to compose myself. I have already started composing and your videos are very helpful! Keep up the good work!
I started watching your videos recently. They're very helpful. Thank you for taking your time to make these!
Never saw your channel before, but you earned another sub!
Loving this, will be watching a bunch.
Me to he deserve it
I'm a bass player and singer in a Symphonic Metal band, but I play a bit of keyboards and your videos are helping a lot to improve my composition skills and orchestration
You can make good tracks with LABS from SpitFire.
Yea you can, honestly not for Epic Trailer music for example, but really you can make cool stuff with LABS
I just found out your channel and I'm loving it! I think it's going to be very helpfull for me, congrats for your work :)
DUDE, THIS IS F***ING AMAZING!!!!!!!!!
I am so glad I found you channel and this is great educational content Shout out to YOU!!!
I’m glad I found your page. Thanks for all u do!
This song is amazing, great work man! Ahhh the memories!!
Finding your channel just changed my life. Thanks.
Thanks a lot! Your videos encouraged me to restart my hobby to compose music. Your tips are very important for us! I'm following you right now! Regards from Brazil!
The lesson I got from this video doesn't just apply for music production and composition. This is why I love watching it so much, even though I don't compose orchestral music.
This is one of the most valuable production advice I heard from awhile
Gracias Alex. No te das una idea de lo bien que le hacés a estos pequeños principiantes, como yo, que estamos intentando hacernos un camino, evitando la frustración (tanto como se pueda). Nosotros somos simples alumnos de primer año, entrando a un mundo desconocido, recién bajados del tren.. y vos te aparecés con tu farol, gigante, cual Hagrid, diciendo: "los de primer año, conmigo!", y ahí es cuando nos sentimos tranquilos y seguros, porque sabemos que escuchar tales experiencias es el verdadero camino hacia una vida exitosa. Esto vale para cualquier ámbito de la vida, no sólo para la música.
Thank you.
Great video man :) I'm sure this will be helpful to many beginners!
Thats great stuff! Lovely arrangement and good level of drama
Omg this is insane dude... chills.. CHILLZZ
Hi Alex, I am starting on my FL music composition adventure from scratch and I’m finding your videos very informative! Thank you very much for what you do 😊
Amazing how realistic your music sounds!
Brilliant video sir. Thank you for great advice
That sounds like a really good library overall. Nice tracks
thank you so much Alex ;) greetings from Slovakia
This playlist of Videos helps a lot!
Wise words. May you please in the future do a video on the tricks you use to smoothen your workflow i.e. ways to avoid wasting time when composing.
The ONLY time you waste by composing, is when you are trying to COMPOSE and PRODUCE your music at the same time!
John Williams STILL starts with COMPOSING and then, and ONLY then, proceeds to the PRODUCING.
And screw "tricks".
You ever hear of a thing called "knowledge"?
No you haven't, because you don' have the patience for it!
you are great speaker, thank you for tips
Thanks for this. Just subscribed!! I will be checking out your other tutorials.
I love the comment about mixing being the icing on the cake; but if the Cake Sucks, no amount of icing is going to fix it. LOL!!!
I have been writing and arranging music for Pop, Rock, Jazz, Orchestral and Marching Bands for about two decades. I like to listen to great works by artists like: Two Steps From Hell, Audiomachine, Full Tilt, BrunuhVille and Thomas Bergersen for inspiration; and now I want to produce my own music that is consumer ready. The advice you give is great as it enforces the fundamentals without focusing so much on the branded tool. These types of tutorials will help for sure.
I started using Native Instruments VST libraries about six years ago along with my notation software Finale. I did a cover medley of Howard Shore's LOTR music. They were good as demo tracks; but I just couldn't get them to sound like professional recordings.
In 2020 I switched to Presonus Studio One Sphere. I was already using Studio One in live settings with a Presonus mixer; so, I had a head start on using that tool. Using the libraries I've already own, along with the abilities that come with Key Switches and dynamic automation has had an immediate effect on my product. I can now get the best articulations along with control of dynamics and color of each section. All of this goes to having the best arrangement. (see cake note above)
I was looking for a Flugelhorn sample library when I came across these from AudioBro. Don't let the name throw you off. These are top end professional libraries.
Strings: audiobro.com/modern-scoring-strings/
Brass: audiobro.com/modern-scoring-brass/
Children's Choir: audiobro.com/genesis-childrens-choir/
The items that drew me in are not only the incredible samples, but those items I use in my workflows like: microphone placement, Key Switched articulations, auto-divisi, as well as a wide range of instruments typically only offered as additional libraries from others like: Piccolo Trumpet, Euphonium, Cimbasso and several "muted" instruments, are available in their standard libraries.
One last item to note is about their technical support. I was in the process of downloading and installing their libraries over a weekend when I ran into a licensing problem. The app has a direct way to send messages to their technical support. I thought, it's the weekend and I'll be waiting until Monday for an answer. Nope. I got a response, from the company owner Andrew Kresztes, right away. He fixed my problem and I was up and running in a matter of minutes. YMMV
If you are looking to expand your libraries, I highly recommend taking a good look at these not only for their product, but for their support after the purchase.
thank you! this video was super helpful!
This is a truly excellent video.
Thank you so much Sir, will contact you after the holidays for more info about your lessons and other subjects. Again thank you, Jean-Marc
FF14 warrior of light.....
You know....I'm extremely jealous of you and your very being and what you are doing and what inspire you are literally what I dreamed of doing since I was young.
I start making random songs since 8 but asian parents being asian parents, composing is for the poor and they go against it every way possible and even delete all my files and my works.
And to be frank....you are honestly really good, and it pisses me off
I'll just eat up my pride and just watch you you and learn your stuff....-_-
learn to hide the files. cant let em stop you forever
Bro just a tip. Store em on a usb or something and hide the usb
Your parents are blocking your passion? Put your things in a suitcase and go away to a place where you can be yourself. Even if you did all they asked you to do in life no one is gonna give you any reward. Because no one cares. People will only care when you actually become great at orchestra and they'll like to hear the story about how you went for what you were actually meant for.
Backup to the cloud storage. Although I would be livid to see my work be deleted.
i cant believe i just found your channel gonna binge your videos
Thank you very much for the video!!!!
Fantastic score.👍
i discovered your channel last year but lost motivation because i couldnt afford the libraries. But now I've found a free orchestral vst pack (sonatina symphonic orchestra if anyone else wants to try) and this video makes me want to try again, thanks so much
Um.. Yeah you've definitely earned my sub!!! Great work!!
finally back to orchestration, and going through ENTIRE tutorial :)
Back around 1999, I had a PS1 game called Music 2000. I compose remixes of Final Fantasy Games as well as other Jrpg soundtracks. Music 2000 was my entry into composing as I couldnt afford a PCl! I was curious to continue further into studying music so I took it further in college and then Uni. This is very inspiring thank you for your advice on composing and understanding that when you have a library, you must focus on mastering that library first. In a way this is similar to my experience composing on Music 2000 on my playstation lol. Although I didnt have a DAW or even any Vsts, I remember really enjoying learning the FF music and it improved my arrangement skills. I still have the recordings of these remixes btw!
I FREAKING LOVED MUSIC 2000. :D
That was my very first to music produciton too. Second one was my Nokia 3310 Ringtone maker. Gosh, that makes me feel old.
smallfry14 Seng started on Music Generator #comrade
TY FOR THIS !!!
I just downloaded the orchestra complete 2 and this showed up. Great!
Bro literally you make the best Orchestral Music💯💯🔥🔥
This is very impressive!
nice bro, good job!!!
Really impressive and helpful.
Impressive,nice work
Nice video, Alex! Not sure if people would be interested in this, but I think it would be cool to see your process of writing a piano mockup and translating it to an orchestral track. Another video idea is how to hear multiple elements of a composition that support a melody, for example bass and chords, even competing melodies with violas/violins for example. Any advice on that?
Curious, I actually recorded a video tutorial about that (not so much about hearing but about how to go from piano sketch to a full composition with bass, harmony, melodies & cool percs) but didn't publish it 'cause I wasn't 100% happy with it.
I think I'll re-make it in the future though, that one's an important topic.
Yes, Alex, please do...it would be really helpful. And thank you so much for all your work and dedication, you shure helped me out A LOT
Yes please do that , that's exactly what I (and probably many others) need so badly ! ! ! :)
Please do. That would start us off from where most of us are.
@@AlexMoukala Did you do it yet? (I'm definitely looking forward to seeing it!)
Wow, that is awesome sound.
Thanks..... awesome video.... nice tip that anyone didn't tell.....need book and knowledge
For all you guys looking for a great beginner library, try writing the BBCSO Discover survey and waiting 2 weeks for them to send it to you. It’s all separate instruments, great for trying combination sounds.
you are Amazing , thank you for your great videos
Great Video!
Really helpful thanks 😊
3:10. I have been producing music for a couple years and just made my first music score using ONLY the library from FL Studios FLEX. If you process it right and add humanization (off timing notes and changing velocities) you can get great result. Of course I also used the KSHMR packs from Splice lmao
wow alex zimmer here. I'm gonna start your all tutorioals~~ thank u
I like what you said that the best way to develop your skills is to create your own mock up of existing symphonic works. Copy them to the best of your ability using your own instruments samples and processing and mixing tools in your on DAW!!!!
Love it as always perfect ....can you please make a tutorial of runs strings plz ?? it's a hard topic to understand.....
This is interesting. I also compose orchestral music in FL Studio. My main libraries are east west strings. I use a resample technique; I export instrument tracks into wav files and put all the wavs into a master track. This saves time in the end; the master track renders in 5 seconds especially with my low specs PC.
You shouldn't do. You can convert the tracks to wav in FL Studio without exporting and reimporting them. Advante is that you still can go into the piano rolls to correct things
You shouldn't do so. You can convert the piano rolls into wav in FL Studio itself without exerting and reimporting them. Advantage is that you still can edit the piano rolls to fix things
I fully agree with everything you are saying. I have so many patches from the huge amount of libraries that I have that I don’t have time to go through each patch and therefore never get anything done composition wise. The less you have, the better because it forces you to get good with what you have and you don’t spend forever searching for that right sound and not get anything done.
That's right Bryan! Choose ONE kit to go with and learn it to the roots!
All the time I read about "ultimate set ups" and the like, but when I listen to the examples, it makes me wonder what the priorities of these up and coming "John Williams" really are.
However you are mistaking "orchestration" for "composition." WRITE your music FIRST, without succumbing to the temptation of trying to "orchestrate" or "produce" in the same instance, because THAT is the real time waster.
Think about it- do architects try and BUILD their house before they are finished with the FLOOR PLANS?
Nope!
"It's like having a Ferrari parked in your garage because you don't know how to use it" haha love it! I'm one of those people (without the Ferrari) so really appreciated this video.
Far most important is, to master and have a decent amount of knowledge/technique , but really good sounding libraries give you always good inspiration! For instance drumming on plastic buckets or drumming on a great drumkit…..You get my drift?
3:24 love the way he sings "you need" haha
You said this is not impressive as your older track ..whatttt 😂
I downloaded this video make it mp3 cut this piece and listen evry morning and evening to get inspired 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿 and its actually inspire me... ❤️. respect.
Hey Alex thanks for all yours incredibly instructive videos. What do you think about dealing only with the kontakt factory library ? What's the biggest limitations of this library ?
Nice nice! The arrangements sounds awesome, Alex! :) I'm going in circles trying to invest in libraries. Every time there are the Black Friday sales I tell myself I'm going to buy everything I need, but I feel I'm still not decided yet on what's the best options. Thanks for your vids, I think they will be helpful. :) And you are totally right, I want to spend a lot of time learning how to modify/mix my libraries to get the best out of it. I Also need to learn a new DAW completely and was thinking about taking a whole winter to teach myself all of this. Otherwise I'm usually too busy composing and I use my old crappy DAW because it's the quickest to go when creating (at the moment). :P
The creative part is important, but I lack the technical side which I think is also crucial. :)
Same here I can always get creative when it comes to writing music, but I lack the technical side, but I hope to overcome that in the next year.
People say that FL Studio is a simple DAW it's not. People say that it's easy to learn. It isn't. It goes really deep. There is a LOT in FL Studio. There's a lot that I WISH that books taught. For example you can do what I call spot reverb; you reverb a small part of a track. The method:
1. link your instrument to a channel.
2. Go to automation and automate; an automation show appear of send channel to mixer track or something like thta.
3. Now, if you curve the automation and play the track the channels will flash as the track plays.
4. Note where you want automation as the track plays.
5. Put a reverb on that track . This works especially well for a piano trill that you want to emphasise.
Why don't the books teach that? I use that spot reverb method so often. None of the books on FL that I have ever read talk about it.
I haven't articulated that very well. It is hard to put that method into words.
@@musicalneptunian You can say that again lol...
What (I think) you were saying is that Reverb can be Automated. That's in a lot of books. It's common practice really.
1. Create an Aux track.
2. Add a Reverb on that Aux track.
3. Bus (Send) your desired instrument to that Aux track.
4. Automate Wet/Dry% on that Aux track.
Side-note: If you manage to master one DAW, you will know the fundamentals of _ALL_ other DAWs. At that point, the only thing you'll need to learn is where things are. It's like sending a chef to a new kitchen; he just needs to know _where_ stuff is rather than how it works.
The reason for this is because DAWs are the digital equivalency of an analog studio, minus the limitations of physical gear. Realizing this helped me to understand much more intimidating concepts, allowing me to become _much_ more proficient the studio.
Hey Alex! I am just curious, can it be done with BBC Symphony Orchestra? And not to mention, your 'Pirates of Caribbean' orchestra theme is... Super Natural!!! Without seeing you making this in the DAW, no one can believe that it is not a pure physical orchestra!!! It made me come to your channel and I am very happy to see that you have put something for the very beginners like me. 🥰 Thanks a lot!!! May God enlighten you with his blessings and you enlighten us with your wisdom. 🙏🏾❤️
Thank you very much..
Very wise and very helpful Video: subscribed!! :-)
How long have you been on my back :) I fully support this point of view. I also decided some time ago to clean up my HD full of beautiful libraries from P2P ... I now stick to my Cubase, Reason and EW Composer cloud I paid for. I try to get the best from my favorite patches.
Cool! It might suck at the beginning but I'm certain you'll notice quite some improvement in due time, a way more organic and substantial improvement than you could have achieved before.
"not as impressive as my other tracks."
*plays FINAL FANTASY LXXXVIII OST* lmfao ur insane dude.
He was probably referring to how he feels about the production quality/orchestration that he's done on that particular track, not the composition itself. Disclaimer: I'm interpreting his statement here, I'm making no statement whatsoever in that regard.
does anybody knows what song exactly did he remake?
@@hannsenpai torn from the heavens from ffxiv
Hey Alex :) Great Video again. Because you mentioned it in the Video: can you make a tutorial on how you setup your ozone7? Because you obviously would want a dynamic mix while still making the loud parts come out powerful. That is at least what I am struggling with at my mastering. Have a great day :D
I'll make multiple for sure.
But only once I'll really get the hang of it, I haven't delved into mastering a lot for now and I definitely have a few things to learn in that field before I start making lots of tutorials about it.
Although there definitely are a few tricks I could show you guys. :D
This FFXIV mock-up was lit! Thank you for the video.
I started to learn here ...... 👍
your skill is so cool! Hello from Ukraine. Good luck!
WHOAH!! It's FFXIV! I came here to learn how to make music and I can't believe I ran into a song from my favorite video game! I'm hitting the subscribe button. XD
you know the name of the song that he remake in this video?
"It's not as impressive as my other tracks."
*gets blown away by how dynamic it is anyway*
Very explicite explainings and tips very nice person dude. Could you show how you opened kontakt in FL?
Mannn!! You are so creative and pro man! How many years did you using the FL studio?
Dude... thank you.
Torn from the heavens. Nice!
Hey Alex,
I am working through this series right now. It's challenging and exciting at the same time. I am following your advice about trying stuff as I go. I can see it's gonna take years to be able to produce the sort of stuff you are producing. Right now, I feel in over my head. Maybe sometime I'll have to get some tutition.
speaking of tools though!!!!
What do you think of the latest version of Orb Composer S?
Since I am a tools guy, I could not resist the half price sale and so I got a copy. As the intro video says, it is not designed to replace the composer, it is designed to give some structure and inspiration to make the job easier. I reckon it would be amazing to get an in-depth review from you. No one has done a comprehensive review. They should send you a free copy and maybe even pay you to do a couple of compositions by using it and you can explore and articulate to the viewers whether it actually caused you more work or whether it was actually helpful. I would like to know. I certainly plan on finding out for myself but I have no baseline experience to compare it to. I think because I am a beginner, it will definitely help me out.
th-cam.com/video/q8uyW9y1VRo/w-d-xo.html
I'm excited about discovering your channel man.
Interesting stuff, I'll check it out on a second moment.
How do you like it so far?
Yo my man, in response to people asking you if they need lots of libraries: Composer Cloud by East West is your friend. It's probably the first Software-as-a-Service application for sound libraries. You just pay 20-30 dollars a month and you have full access to most of East West's libraries. Including a full orchestra ensemble, ethnic instruments, Storm Drum etc. It is basically all I use and enables me to own the stuff I use to produce my music legally instead of torrenting.
I produce my own music already, without "torrenting" or I LOKS or ANY of that crap.
It's a WONDER how my initial $200 investment, pro-rates to only $12.50 a YEAR!
wahhh that so amaze me
hi bro.. i have just got the komplete 12 ultimate, and got the essentials series with it. now i am learning abt orchstration and different forms of articulations. just wanted to know your thoughts abt it. i have not seen you use or speak of native instrument libraries.
You deserve a sub sir
1 year after starting making music using DAW I find this video. I agree 100% with you...I made this mistake :P
This video is exactly shows my mistake. If this did not exist, I would continue to make this beginner mindset
so much wisdom
Orchestra sounds so fckin epic, i love it
Hi Alex, thank for the video and the message. I was wondering what do you think about the Projectsam Orchestral Essential 1 which is a bit cheaper than the Berlin Orchestra Inspire. Thank you very much.
I love your sound.. Hughe! Also I wanna ask you. I have this guitar synth. And I wanna get some new sounds for it. should I go for expander or software plugins? Do you have any experience with expanders? If so, do you know any expanderrs with plenty of orchestral instruments? I usually find harmonicas and grand pianos. But who need 1000 pianos? I dont, and Im not sure what to get.
No, personally I just use kontakt libraries & things of that nature
sometimes i get picky because i need some library that does sounds real, but the point is you don't need many libraries, you just need one that suits you and then your skill should do the rest. let your creativity being the chef
Hallo Alex. I am putting together a home studio. Please I’ll need some advice on which studio monitors would be best on tight budgets?
Mighty fine boss music sir
Thank you.