Good morning!

No matter how much I tweak, play with, adjust my VDL2
and Sibelius, the outcome when combining wind and
VDL2 percussion scores is less than satisfacotry,
particularly when trying to balance winds and
percussion.  Obviously, there is great limitation in
adjusting individual voices/channels as well.
Can you folks recommend a user-friendly, lower
end and priced mixing/sequencing program that
would allow me to take the individual tracks and edit them
so that the end result is more musical and as a result,
satisfactory?  And please forgive me if I have misused
some of the terms like track, mixing, et al.  I look
forward to your replies!

Take care!
Neal

Neal Flum
Associate Director of Athletic Bands
The University of Alabama

On a Mac you could try Logic Express or GarageBand. Logic Express will give you better control and quality effects for mixing all of the individual tracks. With an educators discount both of these are very affordable.


Ted Boliske

Indeed, the two most widely used sequencers on the Mac platform are Logic (Pro or Express) by Apple, or Digital Performer by MOTU. Both are great programs. Garage band is also very cool, though I'm not sure how well it would handle a large band score since it doesn't support multi-timbral instrument plugins (i.e. VDL2 has 8 voices per instance, though GB will only allow you to access one of those per instance).

Aside from the sequencer route, if you are using Sibelius' Kontakt Player (Gold or Silver) for your wind sounds, you've probably found that certain instruments vary widely in their ability to blend into the mix (oh how i've cursed that alto sax!). But you can certainly achieve decent results by simply spending some time balancing the tracks in the Sibelius Mixer window. If you need more headroom from the VDL2 instruments, you may find a simple adjustment of the volume knob on such instruments (in VDL2) can help.

Thanks, Ted. ��I have Garage Band on my
Powerbook. ��Here at work I use a PC,
a Dell Desktop. ��Would I  be able to
move back and forth between the
Apple and the PC without any ";gremlins";
emerging to complicate what it is I'd be doing?

Thanks!
Neal

. . .Thanks for your post, Jim.  I now have Kontakt 2,
so I should clearly take advantage of its features.
That seems a quick fix to my ";balance"; problems.
I'll investigate your other suggestion.  Hope all is well
in Portland!  We are actually having quite the
temperate fall season.  Ciao, Neal

On the PC side, a lot of people use Cubase or Sonar for sequencing.

If you're primarily familiar with a notation environment, you'll probably find working with sequencing programs a bit of a different world. So it's possible that ";complications"; may increase (at least temporarily, while you take the time to learn necessary skills with such programs). Still, it's definitely how music is most commonly produced on computers, so eventually you may find it's something you want to dive into.

Jim, I agree with the sax stuff,  have you looked into Candy.  Key introduced my to the samples and I love them.  Its has great samples to use for wind parts. 

GB is great, but I have found that  if I want the most control when editing midi data, use a pro. sequencing platform.  I use DP and logic.  Although DP 5.1 (in my opinoin is much better).  Its definetely worth the investment to learn because it will give you the most out of any midi sequence or audio recording you would need.

side note; motu is great, but I'm looking into changing to digidesign.  I might be introducing a new thread, but doe anyone have any thoughts on this?

Pro-Tools definitely has a hold on the high-end studios, but for the home studio I would say all of the available programs can get the job done.  I am often switching back and forth from PC to Mac so I see a digidesign mbox in my future.

[quote author=FSmith link=topic=1370.msg6082#msg6082 date=1159519411]
Jim, I agree with the sax stuff,�� have you looked into [b]Candy[/b].�� Key introduced my to the samples and I love them.�� Its has great samples to use for wind parts.��
[/quote]

What is this [b][i]Candy[/b][/i] you speak of?

[quote author=Dave Ratliff link=topic=1370.msg6088#msg6088 date=1159547092]
[quote author=FSmith link=topic=1370.msg6082#msg6082 date=1159519411]
Jim, I agree with the sax stuff,  have you looked into [b]Candy[/b].  Key introduced my to the samples and I love them.  Its has great samples to use for wind parts. 
[/quote]

What is this [b][i]Candy[/b][/i] you speak of?

[/quote]
Yellow Tools Candy is a Saxophone sample library that can be used standalone or via plug-in.  I know they have it at Sweetwater for around $350.  High quality sax sounds.

Gabe

Gotcha!  Thanks Gabe...

DR

[quote author=FSmith link=topic=1370.msg6082#msg6082 date=1159519411]
Jim, I agree with the sax stuff,�� have you looked into Candy.�� Key introduced my to the samples and I love them.�� Its has great samples to use for wind parts.��

GB is great, but I have found that�� if I want the most control when editing midi data, use a pro. sequencing platform.�� I use DP and logic.�� Although DP 5.1 (in my opinoin is much better).�� ��Its definetely worth the investment to learn because it will give you the most out of any midi sequence or audio recording you would need.

side note; motu is great, but I'm looking into changing to digidesign.�� I might be introducing a new thread, but doe anyone have any thoughts on this?


[/quote]

Pro Tools works great, I do almost all of my sequencing with it.  7x added and expanded on a lot of MIDI functions, and Pro Tools is starting to become more of a power MIDI wise.

Feel free to PM me if you have any Digi questions.

I've never used pro tools, but all the kids I know that use it love, except that is harder to control tempo with a sequence, like it dp's conductor track window.

what do you think, tylerdurden?

I haven't done as much midi sequencing with Pro Tools as I've done with Logic, but I've always found the Pro Tools interface to be very clean, simple, and easy to get around in. Editing audio in Pro Tools is wonderful. I've heard they've added many enhancements to midi functionality as well, but I can't speak from experience on that. I've been up to my earlobes in Logic, which rocks, but has a nifty learning curve to start feeling at home with.

One way to get your feet wet with Pro Tools is to purchase something like an M-Box which has decent preamps, and comes free with ProTools LE. You need the hardware connected to run the program anyway, so considering you're getting a high quality DAW and a nice audio interface, it's a good deal.

Yes, Pro Tools expanded a ton on its MIDI functions with version 7.  Pro Tools has about the same MIDI functions as Logic, except that they bury them a little more than Logic does.  I used to do all of my sequencing in Logic, then transfer everything to Pro Tools.  Now with 7, I've almost dumped Logic altogether.

FSmith-What are your needs for it?  Are you just sequencing, or are you going to be recording as well?  Are you using a MIDI controller, or USB?

Also, don't rule out Pro Tools M-Powered.  It gives you a wide variety of interfaces (M-Audio) to choose from, and if you're a student you can get a huge price reduction off of the M-Powered software.  The software is basically the same as LE.

Pro Tools can get confusing with tempos, since there are a few different modes.  What kind of problems were you hearing about it?  A lot of people don't know about the Tempo Ruler, or how to put Pro Tools into Manual Tempo mode.

One reason I gravitated toward Logic is that it uses Audio Units as its plugin format where ProTools LE required RTAS. It seems like a few of the plugs that I use regularly don't come in RTAS format. Tylerdurden, is there is a way to wrap VST or AU plugs within the ProTools environment? That was one of my understandings from earlier versions of Digital Performer when they leaned toward the more proprietary MAS (motu audio system?) format which isn't as universal. I believe DP has since fully adopted AU, though with many things, there are probably some details I'm not aware of.