So far, I’ve described how I decided what equipment I needed and which DAW and Virtual Instruments I’d use. Now it is time to actually play each instrument part into the computer. This, in itself, isn’t so hard (or so I thought) – playing one instrument at a time on a keyboard should be child’s play relatively speaking.
However, ‘playing’ them to make them sound realistic is a different matter. The usual method is to use a ‘Midi Controller’- although you can – if you have the patience – enter everything with a computer mouse and keyboard directly into the DAW. (A Midi Controller is – basically a piano-like keyboard as described in my Initial Research post – that you can plug directly into your computer).
I have a Novation controller at home.
For recording a ‘piano’, then a keyboard is a natural option – a digital piano is perfect. However, what about the rest of the orchestra? … with a keyboard, once you have actually hit the note, you can’t make it louder or softer (or add vibrato) by pushing harder or wiggling your finger.
Taking the String Section as an example, when violinists play, they can draw the bow up and down the strings either softly or digging into the string, they can bounce the bow off the strings, the can pluck the strings with their fingers rather than use the bow. Each of these things dramatically changes both the volume and overall type of sound produced. Also, mostly when you see them play, the left hand (which is on the strings themselves) frequently rocks gently backwards and forwards (adding that unmistakeable vibrato to an otherwise relatively flat sound).
Wind instruments are very much controlled by how the artist breathes – adding vibrato by using the lips, creating volume changes within a note by blowing harder or softer or tone changes by subtle differences on where they blow into the instrument. For instruments such as brass, there is all the above plus adding accents by the use of their tongue whilst playing.
Clearly, if you don’t play every instrument (which I don’t), then it’s not obvious what type of differences in sound are possible. However, if you can’t replicate these effects (and more) through your DAW, then the sound is extremely flat, unrealistic and uninspiring (even if it is based on a ‘real’ recording of the notes).
After some cursory investigations, I got on with the task of recording the instrument tracks and, as you might imagine, the results weren’t great. Countless hours of YouTube video tutorials, reading of blog posts and other material followed as I tried to work out how to breath life into the flat synthetic, sounds I had so far created.
I could probably find enough material to write a book or two on this subject but for the purpose of this blog, I’ll skip the detail. In short, there was clearly much more involved in generating a realistic sounding Orchestra.
In my next post, I’ll cover off some of what I managed to learn (or at least think I managed to learn). I think I might even re-record the entire thing using my ‘new’ knowledge.
