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 | | | | Jan31Written by:Bruce Richardson
Monday, January 31, 2000 6:00 PM  There are a couple of orchestral libraries, both by EastWest, that don't really fit the mold of the traditional sample library.Scoring Tools and Symphonic Adventures provide users with a set of fully orchestrated phrase components that can be used in loops, or cobbled together into larger structures. Once these basic structures have been built, one only needs to fill in with some melodic content, and presto, instant score.
In many ways these libraries are more akin to loop collections than to the more common "note per key" GigaSampler libraries. As such, if you used them long enough you could easily construct pieces that would sound similar to those another user might build. Maybe exactly like it.
So, do they actually have value? Is there real work to be achieved with these collections?
Of course. You could just string together combinations of what's on the discs themselves, and make several hours of marketable music. But the less you manipulate what's there, the less of a personal stamp you'll place on the final product. You could end up sounding exactly like someone else. And most likely, you'll "use it up" in no time at all doing this.
The Problem of Loops and MIDI
Fortunately this problem is completely avoidable. First and foremost, it's important to go beyond merely stringing together phrases of this stuff. You don't want your work sounding like anyone else's, so don't take that chance. That's not the way to use a phrase library.
Second (and I am pounding this point in, I know), your MIDI output is only the beginning. Don't try to finish your work straight out of GigaSampler, unless you've got an automated mix environment sitting right behind it. Even at that, if you pass up the opportunity to edit on the multitrack audio level, you're giving up a lot of control that can make your finished product stand out. Especially with this kind of library. If you've got enough technology lying around your studio to be using GigaSampler, you've got enough technology to be doing world-class mixes, too.
Consider the completed MIDI structure to be the end of the tracking stage, nothing more. You must edit your MIDI sequence to its highest level of expression to be sure, but capture those tracks, put them in an audio multitrack, and do a thorough edit and mixdown session. It will pay off handsomely.
When building the MIDI structures, get creative. Think outside the box and just make interesting noise. Sculpt that into forms. Use a sequencer to jam out some ideas, clean them up, and capture the files. Get them into your multitrack, then start cutting and stretching. Use a riff for an idea, then spin your own orchestration off of it, instead of reaching for yet another canned riff. Use plugins. Transpose things. Turn phrases around backwards and grunt out some little devil sounds. Throw an orchestral phrase into ACID, and start looping it into a new thing entirely. Now, throw that creation back into your MIDI app as a bed, and start layering on solo instruments. Try turning off the bed track after you've worked a while, and see if any of the new material wants to be orchestrated in it's own way. Rinse. Repeat.
You may be surprised where you end up.
Try to use these libraries in a way that even their author wouldn't recognize. You'll extend the amount of music you can squeeze out of them, have more fun, and most important, you'll be prouder of the results.
Approach them in that manner, and suddenly they make sense. These are essentially collections of orchestral color. Don't make them more than that, or they'll stifle you as easily as they can inspire. Listen to them as crude building blocks, with which you'll realize your own unique vision.
Scoring Tools
Scoring Tools was the first of this series, and is useful in its wide variety of styles. The accompanying help file explains the mapping of the different samples. The various musical tidbits are grouped according to name and description of instrumentation, but I found that it is best to just jump in and start hitting keys. There are seven different banks, and it will take you a while to get through them.
You'll find broad romantic chords, ominous underpinnings, battle music from outer space, and all sorts of feels in between. In every case, the scoring of the samples is missing melodic content, although some hint at melody.
The recording quality, musicianship, and writing is quite good. Naturally, your licensing agreement is royalty free with all the material. As long as you don't make it into another sample collection, you are free to use it as you wish.
Remember that once you've pieced together a basic structure, you'll want to use sample collections like the Vitous and Siedlaczek to weave melodies and countermelodies into the mix. Throw down some piano or harp. You should aim for a layer of melodic information that forces the Scoring Tools samples into an accompanying role. Roll every bit of your own contribution into the mix that you can. Sometimes you'll find yourself thinning out the samples you started with and letting your subsequent layers carry the load. That's the way to get mileage from this collection.
I built several pieces from this collection, and got fantastic-sounding results. If you are working on a budget or a deadline, and need to get large blocks of color thrown together pronto, Scoring Tools can be a very powerful ally.
Symphonic Adventures
This library is a real hoot, full of the more sinister side of Hollywood. Unashamed and over the top, it provides chase scenes in two different tempos, and explorations of suspense and tension with two different orchestra instrumentations.
I had a ball throwing together some fun and excellent sounding work with this library. The chase scenes are highly rhythmic loops that mix and match to create pulsating backgrounds of varying intensity. Just as with the Scoring Tools collection, once you've laid out a structure, you can start layering in the solo instruments and strong melodies that will eventually take over the orchestration.
The suspense and tension sounds are also quite fabulous. They can be used over the chase scene loops, layered up on top of each other, or in combinations with other sample sets. Most can be combined and dovetailed together nicely.
You hear some ribbing going on about the use of this kind of library, and some folks really have it out for Symphonic Adventures. In some cases, rightly so. It's not too hard to imagine someone just stringing the stuff together back to back. That would get boring fast. Think outside the box and really work this material, though, and you'll find a goldmine of raw material.
There are many perspectives to consider when you use tools like this. Certainly it begs one question: Is the music you produce with this library really your art when it's all said and done?
That depends on what you contribute. We're back to the basic ground rules again. If you want it to be your art, then you must use the material in a way that can be called uniquely and undeniably yours. You will know when this happens, and you'll know if you shirk it. The little voice in your head will make the call every time if you listen.
I'm all for this stuff. It's great. Rules are boring. Why not use some of this musical "clip art" to lure a client or two away from canned-music licensing? They're going to spend the cash anyway, so why not with you? If a library like this makes you a couple hundred bucks in an hour's time, then you've just paid for it. You've made someone very happy within his budget, and you have not broken your back doing it. That client will probably come back for more, proud of himself for making such a great deal, and feeling very important knowing he employs a living breathing composer. The relationship may grow. This is a very good thing, this musical clip art.
If you're going to make a living as a composer, you need to leverage every tool at your disposal. Scoring Tools and Symphonic Adventures give you a collection of usable orchestral color that would cost you a bundle to produce yourself, and all for a very reasonable price.
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