I've just uploaded my newest piece of music, titled attic discoveries. Enjoy!
Just as with the first piece I posted on this forum, I started with a "piano" midi improvisation and added some extra voices with the mouse. This time, I moved some notes from the piano to other instruments (mainly the horn). This is more away from classical music and in the direction of sound design than my previous work. I hope to one day be able to combine sound design with melodies and harmonies that are (less or more) classically structured.
In this piece of music, I explored two new things.
The first is Spitfire Audio LABS, which is a free (as in free beer) sample library for Windows, which I could use with yabridge. (Thank you, @robbert-vdh !). I' enthusiastic about yabridge, but not so much about Spitfire Audio LABS. Maybe my expectations were too high (somebody recommended it to me, saying it was much better than for instance Virtual Playing Orchestra).
The second thing I explored is ... my own voice . It's my first piece of music in which I sing. I first used a choir sample library (from Spitfire Audio LABS), but I wasn't too enthusiastic, so I decided to give singing a try. I'm not so sure about my own voice, but I reasoned that me + some pitch correction would still sound ok and that using some pitch correction is less "cheating" than using a sample library. (I know somebody who has devoted her life to singing, so in that context, so I hesitated a little to use pitch correction.) In the first part where I sing, I used three layers of my voice, each with x42-autotune. For the second part (at the very end) (which I recorded separately), I prepared a more clear "guiding track" that I listened to while recording. I then believed it was good enough without pitch correction, so there you are.
I've also upgraded Qtractor ... and discovered that now it can show a "ghost track" This was a pleasant surprise since it was a feature that I wanted for a long time (and that has been in Qtractor for some time; I just needed to upgrade). I use the "ghost track" when editing midi to ensure that the note onsets are consistent and to ensure that the notes fit into chords. It's much more convenient than my previous approach.
The (virtual and real) instruments are (from the top of my head):
* piano: Salamander Grand Piano with Linuxsampler
* strings: Spitfire Audio LABS Strings 2
* cello and French horn: Virtual Playing Orchestra with Linuxsampler
* choir: several layers of my voice, with and without x42-autotune, with some EQ (Calf) and without and with reverb from Calf Studio Gear
* effects: some cymbal crescendo and tubular bells from VSCO 2 CE, with sfizz
I didn't use Ardour this time and used more mixing features from Qtractor.
Some lessons I learned
- It was a good idea to upgrade Qtractor, now I have a feature that I've wanted for a long time
- Virtual Playing Orchestra is not so bad in my eyes, even when compared with commercial sample libraries.
- Using a workflow that I find fun seems to give the best results.
- I can sing (a little)
- It payed off to prepare a clear "guiding track" to sing along with when recording.
I really couldn't do this without you, so I would like to thank (in no particular order)
- @rncbc , for Qtractor. This is what I had been looking for for a long time when I wanted to make music with Linux.
- @robbert-vdh for yabridge
- @jeanette_c, for showing the courage to use your own voice, even when you're unsure about it. I wouldn't have done the choir myself without your example. Thank you so much!
- @Rainmak3r, for showing the possibilities of Virtual Playing Orchestra with your symphonic poems
- the moderators of this forum, for creating a place where people like me can post their music and get only friendly comments
- the other LinuxMusicians, for making inspiring music and showing what is possible.