My Orchestral Music

[skysaw]

Here is some of my orchestral music for your perusal. I hope you like it! Vesuvius (2006) While honeymooning in Italy in 2004, I visited the ruins of Pompeii, and was struck by the image of Mount Vesuvius looming above. The work is divided into three movements, and represents an attempt to capture the power and beauty of the mountain as seen from different perspectives. 1. From the Foot 2. From Sea 3. From the Mouth Five Unlikely Visions (2006) This set of short movements was inspired by hypnagogic imagery I had during late-night composition sessions on low sleep. 1. Overgrowth 2. A Miniature Spectacle 3. Room in Filtered Light 4. Suddenly Moths 5. Dust Ascending I'll share more if people like these.

[Adrenaline Junkie]

Nice stuff skysaw, i like it alot I love ochestral music and since listening to those it has inspired me to go and try making some of my own. I love sequencing and using different effects to create pieces of music, its fun and creative. I'm just on your website now looking at the equipment and plugins you use. I have an 8 track mixer already and i may buy a midi keyboard since it would go well. Plugins though would be my downfall since they can be quite pricy. For the Room in Filtered Light track did you use purely MIDI instruments or did you do some recording of real instruments? I'd love to create some of my own since i got some ideas in my head but i just don't know how best to get the setup right so i can do it. Good job though!

[skysaw]

Thanks, Lucid. I appreciate the comments. I have to update my page, as my studio has grown a bit. Yes, the libraries can get a bit pricey, but I've been building up slowly over the years, buying when I can afford it. I started back in 1985 with a crappy little keyboard and a couple of cassette tape recorders. All of the sounds in those two pieces are software, and come from Garritan Persona Orchestra sequenced in Sonar. Garritan is a only $199 (maybe cheaper now?) and worth every penny many times over! Good luck with your setup. Let me know if I can help you with anything on it.

[pj]

Amazing quality, brilliant composing and orchestration. I especially enjoyed the "Unlikely" collection. Suits my mood this morning! Thank you.

[Adrenaline Junkie]

Thanks for the reply skysaw Well i currently have an 8 track mixer, many audio cables and leads. However i don't have any hard linked midi device into my PC. I would prefer to have something connected via usb, maybe a midi input box. I have Cubase SX3 on my PC and i prefer to use it. My biggest issue is finding some good midi sounds. What you suggested sounded good, i will research it, will the plugin only work for Sonar? Well in terms of midi keyboard, there is a very old and bulky one in the garage which could do. My setup is okay and it will probably develop as time goes by, i must admit though, space is a huge issue, my mum has an issue with keeping the house as spacious and tidy as possible, try and invade that space and she goes mental. I can't do anything, i share my room with my bro and its small enough as it is. Not sure how i would set it up but could you possibly recommend the best working environment? Thanks alot, its good to learn some things from someone who knows what they are talking about One more question, is learning to compose orchestral music hard, i think i could do it but interweaving all the parts so that they don't all sound exactly the same could prove difficult to me. I could always come up with something rough in sibelius though.

[skysaw]

Amazing quality, brilliant composing and orchestration. I especially enjoyed the "Unlikely" collection. Suits my mood this morning! Thanks, PJ. I appreciate it!

[skysaw]

Well i currently have an 8 track mixer, many audio cables and leads. However i don't have any hard linked midi device into my PC. I would prefer to have something connected via usb, maybe a midi input box. USB MIDI boxes are fairly cheap, and there should be a ton to choose from. I have Cubase SX3 on my PC and i prefer to use it. My biggest issue is finding some good midi sounds. What you suggested sounded good, i will research it, will the plugin only work for Sonar? Garritan works in all the big name sequencers, including Cubase. What you can get out of it will depend largely upon what kind of system you have. I recently upgraded to a dedicated dual-core music machine with 4GB RAM, and it can handle even the largest orchestras real-time. You'll definitely want at least 1GB, unless you want to do a lot of submixes and track freezing. My setup is okay and it will probably develop as time goes by, i must admit though, space is a huge issue, my mum has an issue with keeping the house as spacious and tidy as possible, try and invade that space and she goes mental. I can't do anything, i share my room with my bro and its small enough as it is. Not sure how i would set it up but could you possibly recommend the best working environment? The nice thing about working with virtual instruments is that they don't take up any space at all! All you'll need is a good PC, one MIDI keyboard, and a good set of speakers. A decent soundcard definitely helps, pro if possible, but if you only do MIDI and virtual instruments, it shouldn't matter too much. Thanks alot, its good to learn some things from someone who knows what they are talking about One more question, is learning to compose orchestral music hard, i think i could do it but interweaving all the parts so that they don't all sound exactly the same could prove difficult to me. I could always come up with something rough in sibelius though. It really depends on your expectations. I studied composition, orchestration, counterpoint, and theory for many years, and have been writing for orchestra for almost 28 years. All the study helps, but the best tool you'll have will be the ability to hear things instantly in the computer -- something that composers didn't have when I was learning. The Garritan forums also have some great orchestration tips and lessons, and it should be pretty fun to work through.

[philquiet]

I like it. These pieces of compositions are special, unusual... You are creative! You use Garritan? The midi sound very well... and the brass instruments a less artificial than usual.

[Adrenaline Junkie]

Wow, thanks alot skysaw, that really helped, gave me a better idea, well technically all i will need for the moment is to clear up my PC of old files that i don't need. Then i will need to aquire a midi input box that can connect to my PC via USB. I noticed on ebay that there are some very cheap midi keyboards out there, they are small and compact also, not really small, they have alot of keys on them but they have the keys, a pitch adjuster and thats about it. I think if i get that and some plugins for virtual instruments i should be able to create some music. I want your opinion though, i have good visualization skills, i can picture things very clearly in my mind, i can picture how things should sound and more. I tend not to start from scratch when coming up with my own music, i tend to be able to visualize a piece in my mind and how each part would sound, something that sounds good to me and then i can usually keep it in my mind long enough to get the initial notation down. Its cool but i feel that i need to improve still since i do misinterpret notes at times and the parts can sound the same. I'll look into it though and try some stuff since i love orchestral music so much, especilly japanese orchestral music. I just want to create one of those pieces which you listen to and you get a sudden change in mood, it makes you feel good inside. Like you can listen to a piece of music and it is just pure magic and sounds good. But i'm no composer yet, i'll just have to practice and see where i can go with it. Thanks for the help, i got a few more questions lol. What midi input device would you suggest on a low budget? What other virtual instrument plugins are available out there to buy? I think i'll go with the one you mentioned since it sounded nice, very nice in fact but its always good to know some others. EDIT - I just noticed, alot of my previous guitar teachers and music teachers had the Tascam US-122 which was a great midi input device, it may cost me up to £90 but it would give me a nice sound! Here it is below,

[skysaw]

I noticed on ebay that there are some very cheap midi keyboards out there, they are small and compact also, not really small, they have alot of keys on them but they have the keys, a pitch adjuster and thats about it. Make sure the keys are velocity sensitive, as some are not. It's also helpful to have a couple of assignable controllers. I want your opinion though, i have good visualization skills, i can picture things very clearly in my mind, i can picture how things should sound and more. I tend not to start from scratch when coming up with my own music, i tend to be able to visualize a piece in my mind and how each part would sound, something that sounds good to me and then i can usually keep it in my mind long enough to get the initial notation down. Its cool but i feel that i need to improve still since i do misinterpret notes at times and the parts can sound the same. I don't want to scare you, but you should know that composition, theory, and orchestration are VERY deep subjects. A good orchestrator knows what every instrument is capable of: their ranges, typical voicings, relative balance, seating position, and how the colors blend with each of the other instruments. He knows counterpoint, voice-leading, common doublings, the overtone series, practical string multi-stops, common notation, transposition, and some Italian to boot. It's part science, part art, part experimentation, and a whole lot of careful listening. There are some very good books on the subject, but you have to be ready to get serious and do your homework. On the other hand, with modern day tools, you can certainly dabble, and just keep what sounds good to you. It will only take you so far, but it might be what you're looking for. Thanks for the help, i got a few more questions lol. What midi input device would you suggest on a low budget? What other virtual instrument plugins are available out there to buy? I think i'll go with the one you mentioned since it sounded nice, very nice in fact but its always good to know some others. Which interface to buy depends on what kind of recording you'll be doing. If you only work with MIDI and virtual instruments, you won't need anything with microphone or line inputs... just the MIDI itself. This is very cheap. If you need the inputs, things start getting a little harder. Make sure you read some reviews of the unit you are considering. USB is perfectly fine for a pure MIDI interface, but it's not the best choice for an audio interface. The bandwidth in digital audio is often too much for USB to handle, especially USB 1. EDIT - I just noticed, alot of my previous guitar teachers and music teachers had the Tascam US-122 which was a great midi input device, it may cost me up to £90 but it would give me a nice sound! I don't know the unit, but I'm sure it would be fine to start you off with. I took a quick look at the specs, and the 122 seems to be USB 1, while the 122L says it is USB 2, so that would be an important difference. Of course, you have to have a USB 2 port on your machine as well. A point that catches a lot of people off guard. A pro sound-card that is external often conflicts with home networks... especially if you have a wireless card on the machine. I'm not sure why, but this is often the case. It's best to disconnect from the network while recording if it helps. What are your machine specs?

[Adrenaline Junkie]

Thanks once again for the detailed and helpful response Now, i got lucky, my guitar teacher actually has this plugin called Hypersonic 2 which is basically a virtual instrument plugin with tons of instruments and sounds, i don't know about orchestral but next week he is lending me the install disc so i can use it. Should be fun if it has some orchestral sounds on it. But i will probably end up getting the Personal Orchestra anyways since it sounds like it has some good samples in it. In terms of a midi keyboard, i found the perfect one, but it doesn't run on Windows Media Centre Edition which is annoying, could you maybe suggest a midi keyboard which would be sufficient? Oh, i did some visualization on the bus back from college on an orchestral piece and got a nice melody going in my mind and the good thing was that i could picture all the parts together and how each would work. I suppose the proof will be when i actually start doing some sequencing. We'll just have to wait and see i suppose. Thanks for all your help though, its been awesome to learn some more stuff about composing and more, your talented and it would be cool to reach your level one day. That reminds me, could you post some more of your compositions? I really like them so far and it'd be good to hear some more

[skysaw]

In terms of a midi keyboard, i found the perfect one, but it doesn't run on Windows Media Centre Edition which is annoying, could you maybe suggest a midi keyboard which would be sufficient? I wouldn't know which ones would have that conflict. I know the Edirol line has some cheaper ones that aren't too bad. They usually have a bunch of assignable knobs as well, which is a good help. Don't get anything with fewer than 49 keys as it's too limiting. 61 is much better, but 88 would be overkill for your needs. Oh, i did some visualization on the bus back from college on an orchestral piece and got a nice melody going in my mind and the good thing was that i could picture all the parts together and how each would work. I suppose the proof will be when i actually start doing some sequencing. We'll just have to wait and see i suppose. What is your musical background? I would highly suggest brushing up on your music reading/writing skills, and maybe start some piano lessons, and/or get a book on theory if you're really serious. It's very important to have the music in your head, but if you can't get it from the brain to the page (or to the mp3 in this case) it doesn't do you much good. Thanks for all your help though, its been awesome to learn some more stuff about composing and more, your talented and it would be cool to reach your level one day. That reminds me, could you post some more of your compositions? I really like them so far and it'd be good to hear some more I'm happy to help. Keep me posted on your progress. I'll post some more pieces very shortly for you.

[skysaw]

Here's another piece for your listening pleasure. Equilibrium (2007) This is a difficult work for large orchestra and piano. It gets pretty intense in some places, but it's all rollicking good fun! 1. Part I: mp3 file - pdf score 2. Part II: mp3 file - pdf score Lucid Seeker: I've included both the mp3 files and the written scores of each movement, so you can see what goes into a large orchestral score. A piece this big can be a bit daunting, but I thought I'd let you see what kind of detail can go into this sort of work.

[Adrenaline Junkie]

Once again thanks Skysaw Can't thank you enough, i've never been able to get advice like this before from someone who does this sort of thing. Well i went and looked on the internet at midi keyboards and i think i'm going to wait and see, my guitar teacher could get me one cheaper since he works through schools and more, i'll have to see, i'm still pending on what to buy and how to setup everything since i need to figure out what will be best. I have an idea but i just want to wait and see if i change my mind first before making any decisions. My musical background, okay here it goes. When i was about 7-9 years old, i can't remember now but i started playing the Clarinet and i got pretty good at it. I won a few local awards for coming first in some competitions, i won this big shield things with my name engraved on it but i had to return it because it had the yearly winners names engraved on a yearly basis so it passes round until the next winner comes along, i have a picture of me holding it though But anyways i went on and got a Distinction for grades 1,2,3,4 and 5. However when it came to Grade 5 Theory i just completely screwed up, i just didn't like the idea of learning all of that just so i could continue to do further grades. Unfortunately i had a pretty bad teacher at the time so i didn't learn much, but at the end of the day i could have put in the effort and i didn't. I then lost interest in the Clarinet and gave it up, i'd been playing the Clarinet for many many years and at the end of the day i'm the one who suffers though because i bought a £600 clarinet out of my savings just to give up like a month or two later. I then became interested in the electric and acoustic guitar and i have been playing for nearly 5 years. I play mainly the electric guitar and i like blues and improvisation the most. I'm okay at the guitar, i enjoy it but there are people way better than me out there. Okay, in terms of reading music i can easily read in treble and bass clef, when it comes to tenor and alto clef (is there an alto clef?) i tend to struggle since middle C is placed differently. But overall i can read music fairly well, maybe not to an advanced level but i can easily read it. I do have grades 1-5 theory books and i will eventually have to learn them for the course i'm doing at college but i'm doing okay. I an write music however i can be very scruffy when writing, it looks more of a mess when i write anything so i tend to stick with sibelius. I actually tried applying what you said after reading this and found that i could recognise notes from a recording and plot them out correctly in sibelius, this is an orchestral piece as well. The particular piece does strongly emphasize the type of orchestral music i like, i would post a link to it here but it would be considered illegal so if you want to hear it just let me know and i'll show you it some other way. But i found it fairly easy to transpose into sibelius and it was good practice to transposing by ear. Thanks for the sheet music that you posted with your tracks, they really did help since now i know what to expect of a typical orchestra, there are presets that you can select in Sibelius but you helped me more by showing me what you used, i really appreciate it

[skysaw]

Glad to help. It looks like you have a pretty good start. I was afraid you had no background at all, so this is good. The alto clef is used for the viola. The tenor is used in high ranges for bassoon, trombone, cello, and sometimes bass. Go high enough, and viola, cello, and bass can all go to treble cleff (bass still sounds an octave lower). The only other clef change you'll see is probably the French horns using a bass clef for their lowest register. By the way, some composers do not transpose their scores, though I am against that idea. I believe the conductor should be looking at the same notes that the instrumentalist is.

[adraw]

Hi. Its cool to find out, that musical composers also try lucid dreaming. Your music is really inspiring. And you feel it. Its something i didnt achieve . But its maybe i am too young and unexperienced. Thanx for your music. Adraw

[Adrenaline Junkie]

Sorry it took so long to reply skysaw, not been on in a while. Thanks for the wonderful advice, i feel asthough i am alot more equipped for when i start composing. I actually have decided on what i want to get. I am hoping to get a 49 key midi keyboard from college, i can get them cheaper through college. And then i hope to get this really nice orchestral set of virtual isntruments. The plugin is called East West Symphonic Orchestra i believe. There are many editions that have more instruments in but i am going with the cheapest which is £90. The silver edition which i'm getting still has a good range of instruments and it has some nice options for editing. I hope to post some of my own stuff on here in the coming months! Thanks alot skysaw for all the help

[skysaw]

Do post your stuff when you get something you want to share. I wanted to let people know that printed versions of some of my orchestral scores are now available at http://stores.lulu.com/allhands. Each has a preview available to check them out.