Soft Sounds Wanted for New Age Music

[ulrichburke]

Dear Anyone.

I'm a wannabe New Age composer. I have Kontakt (no samples) and Edirol Orchestral. I have to do everything on the computer because I'm disabled and can't play a keyboard well enough.

I've got a gigabyte of memory, Cubase and a 1.8 gigahertz AMD Sempron motherboard and an M-Audio Audiophile 2496 Soundcard. And Kontakt which - please say if I'm wrong here - is what you load samples into before plugging it into CUBASE.

I've also got an MU-80 sound module, but all the sounds are tinny.

Now I'm still fighting to learn how to use Edirol Orchestral (at the moment it's two falls in front but I'm wrestling hard!) but there's GOTTA be an easier way. Hence the 2 questions. If I've got my basic concepts wrong, tell me, please!!

Can someone tell me where to get nice, soft flutes, strings, pads, drones, choirs, horns etc. that I can just CHOOSE and USE without having to spend longer faffing about programming them than actually using them? Is it possible to just get a sample, write a chord using it on a notation program (I can actually read blobs on sticks!) and change the velocity or volume on it so it sounds SOFT, not like fingernails on a blackboard the whole time? I'm happy to pay for them, I just don't know which ones to go for. I was advised to buy the MU-80 Sound Module by a genuine composer, but it was a hopeless piece of advice, most of the sounds just aren't good enough.

I'd prefer the synthy sounds right now, pads, drones etc. The MU-80 piano and flute are almost passable, the French Horn's great, it's just the strings and other sounds are hopeless.

Right. Question 2.

How do you obtain VOLUME on a computer???

I have my soundcard going out through a Hi-Fi stereo system. I thought if I did that, I'd know exactly what I'd hear on a CD. Ignoring the fact that most of the sounds themselves are s*t, as stated above, I can get them balanced against eachother. But to hear them, you have to have the hi-fi volume on full blast. If I get them so the volume is on a normal level (as if you were listening to a CD), I have to have EVERYTHING on 127 and even THEN it's only just loud enough - it's just it's terminally distorted because all the numbers are so high! I've checked the soundcard, that's on full volume, too.

Please, any help? I've reached the point when I don't like composing any more because I can't make the sounds I'm using sound any good. Everything sounds almost as bad as a MIDI file being played on an internal sound chip.

Yours hopefully

ulrichburke

[Alternatewords]

Hi Ulrich,

I may be able to help you out a bit. First off regarding samples for ambient music to drop and use out of the Box. There is a tremendous amount of loop collections out there to use. It can be quite daunting sifting through all of them, especially considering the fluctuating quality levels each offer. My suggestions is always is to go with 24 Bit/96 Khz collections. They offer you a better base for conversion and have naturally a higher detail level than the usual 16 Bit/44 Khz loops. That said M-Audio offers some of the best loop collections out there for all different genres. Their ProSession loops are professionally and meticulously sampled. I personally enjoy Jeff Rhona's cinematic collection in this library. It offers a lot of variety for different genres, not just soundtracks.

Sounds Online (www.soundsonline.com) is another well known loop resource. Their collections are enormous (and pricey at times) and are used in many professional productions. Most of their products actually come with Kontakt pre-configured for each collection.

If you're looking more for a sample based virtual instrument with lush pads or full orchestra sounds you may want to look at MOTU (Mark Of The Unicorn). They offer some excellent symphonic and ethnic collections with an extremely powerful editor that plugs right into any VST host (including Cubase).

There are many more smaller studios that offer their own sample collections often for very little money. My recommendation here would be to find those that offer free samples to verify the sound quality. You also want to have a look at the license and make sure all material is original and royalty free. Beware of some of the eBay offers out there, they are sometimes blatantly ripped from commercial CDs and would get you in hot water if you'd ever use them in a commercial project.

Now as far as your volume problem is concerned my first recommendation would be to verify you use the latest drivers. Next I would generally advise against using your stereo for monitoring. The reason is that a consumer amplifier (I am assuming that's what you are using) is not well suited to present the full range of high dynamic audio used when mixing. While they do give a great home sound stage they fall flat when compared to a set of powered studio monitors. Which leads me over to my recommendation of hooking up a set of monitors to verify volume levels. At the first stage a simple set of PC speakers will do (for testing). Ensure that the volume levels under Windows are set according to your liking. Next play back some samples through the Windows Media Player and check that output against Cubase. If there is a significant difference you want to verify your Cubase settings again. Most certainly you do not want to push the levels to the max in Cubase as this will lead to severe distortions. Keep in mind that the levels in Cubase are independent of those of your soundcard. What you configure under Windows affects the output on your speakers, what you configure in Cubase affects the actual volume levels of your mix.

If you still can't get enough volume something may be amiss with your soundcard. Before going through the hassle of removing the card and installing a new one first try to get a hold on an external USB card. They will run parallel to your PCI card and allow you to independently monitor levels.

Another bit of advise would be, just for the sake of it, to ensure any on-board soundcard is disabled (if your motherboard has one). Sometimes a rogue driver may still be running even after disabling the card. Check under your Windows Device Manager > Show Hidden Devices and ensure all internal drivers are disabled.

Hope this helps a bit. Let me know how things work out.

[chasin_insane]

Well...All the software you listed might be fine and all...And I personally
have a very strong dislike for a "tinny" sound also...and from the sounds
of what you are saying, I would advise you get Reason 3.0....It is a MIDI
program AS WELL AS you can compose with your mouse and it has the
high quality sounds you are seeking built right into the factory soundbank
and it has the orkester soundbank, both of which come with the software if
you buy it with it, and the orkester soundbank is nothing but an orchestra
on the pc...It's wonderful....you can use the sounds 'out of the box' OR
program them to how you would like them to sound and Reason has the
ability to change velocity, another thing for which you seek, has mastering
capabilities to achieve that hi-fi sound you are looking for...I don't wanna
sound like I am promoting Reason here as I have mentioned it many
times before, but it really is awesome software...It is a bit intimidating at
first when you look at it(I had it installed for almost 2 YEARS before I sat
down and really looked at it) but I sure am glad I did....It will do
everything you are looking for and then some...And your PC hardware will
work fine with it.....I have not used the software you have listed since I
am a devout user of Adobe Audition 1.5 for my multi-track recording when
I actually play the instruments myself and now I use Reason for my
"mouse music", as I call it, projects....There are many tutorials out there
that will help you along learning the software and truth be told, I got a
good idea how to do it after about 2 hours of watching those tutorials....Its
very versatile stuff...If I can answer any of you questions about it if you
are considering it let me know, would be glad to help.....

[paul05]

Go to:
www.pgmusic.com

[Reconsiderate]

[ulrichburke]

Dear Everyone.

Thanks for all your kind advice, I really do appreciate it.

I'll get Reason when I have funds again - before I knew what I was doing - not that I yet know what I'm doing, but you know what I mean! - I spent a pile on my MU-80, Cubase, Kontakt (with no samples!!) etc., and now I've got to let the funds build up a bit. But I'll do it!

I expect most of you will have heard of this but I might as well post it just incase. I've found a very nice recording program called Ntrack Studio that happily records whatever you play, wherever the midi signals are being sent! It must catch all the sounds on the way to the amps, I suppose.

It does compression and has an EXCELLENT volume booster on it - I virtually made my speakers pogo with that thing! I think I'll try it out and see if I have to faff about with soundcards or if this will keep me going for the moment - I'm tired of mucking about with technology, just wanna write some music!

I'll post some when I've recorded them. There'll be with the MU-80 sounds, and the Edirol sounds once I've finally got CUBASE to yell UNCLE!

You're right about the samples. It's amazing how the sites all claim their samples are the ULTIMATE QUALITY, and how often you can insert the word S**T between those two words! Considering they want to sell their samples, you'd think by now the standard would be fairly universal. It aint.

Once more, thanks to all of you. You've given me the encouragement to go back to my tracks and actually finish 'em! Whether or not you've done yourselves any favours will be revealed when I stick 'em up - I've heard next door's dog joining in with one of 'em - dunno if that's a good thing or not....!!

Yours in respect and friendship

Chris.

[mindp]

hey man i just wanted to let you if youre not a key board guy use acid 6.0 im not a young guy ive been doing this stuff since the begining of midi no one can top me im well ahead of the class you wont need cubase just acid pro all of the soft synh stuff you own will fit right in it plus you get to use a world class sample library by sony plus all the efx plus add a few of youre own it takes direct x and vst plug ins such as waves and then control new synths or old with the slave function and do some midi stuff then there.s an audio set up the audio is unlimited its a all in one daw deal every week sony gives free samples if you dont believe me check it out for youer self go to sony acid pro 6.0 and check there sit. ps nick patterson/ groove school call me for furthr questions at 615-870-1455 nick patterson /groove school

[ASNAZZY]

I would highly recommend using Sony ACID LOOPS, they sell huge libraries of samples (in WAV format) for many styles of music. I use their samples alot.....

ASNAZZY