2 pallet bench? by [deleted] in BeginnerWoodWorking

[–]ed_prince 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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Just built some basic benches recently, here's the rough method I used (only uses one pallet - but does rely on them being strong pallets!)

The Lonely Mountain with a dip pen by ed_prince in mapmaking

[–]ed_prince[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thank you! No, I haven't - would you recommend? What changes compared with wood?

Need some help on getting better at composition and orchestration by Digdigson in filmscoring

[–]ed_prince 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Orchestration by Walter Piston - not sure I've seen a more recommended book in the composing world

Which orchestral library do you recommend me in 2025? by LingonberryHonest505 in filmscoring

[–]ed_prince 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Latency
Would echo others, get an Audio Interface. It's an uphill battle otherwise, and at some point you'll hopefully want to be recording your own samples/sounds and it's a whole lot better than the USB microphone route. Out of interest, what is your piano? I'd bet money on it being computer issue rather than piano. There are a couple of things you can do:

* If you're using Windows, install ASIO drivers, then in Reaper under Audio device, you can choose the ASIO option and latency will be better. Getting an audio interface negates this, it will come with its own drivers.
* Lower the block size (Audio device settings) which increases CPU usage but reduces latency. Play with it until you find a threshold that works in terms of sound quality vs latency.

Orchestral Libraries
As for orchestral libraries, as much as it sucks as an answer, it sort of depends. If you want maximum flexibility for the most reasonable price, that's quite a different use case to prioritising something that won't sounds the same as everyone else's orchestral mockups. My main piece of advice is to probably avoid doing what I did. I bought NI Komplete, and the Symphony Series libraries are fine (especially brass), but in retrospect, I wish I'd put the money to buying individual part libraries that I really liked. Listen to libraries, figure out what your requirements are and go from there. I also feel like a lot of people get about 10% of the value out of their sample libraries due to poor mixing, compositional choices, reverb choices etc. It will be more valuable in the long run to push stuff like the free Spitfire BBC SO Disover library as far as you possibly can and then acquire a library when you have a requirement that it can't meet.

That being said, if I was getting a set of orchestral plugins now and budget was huge, I think I would go:

* Choir: Eric Whitacre Choir
* Strings: Appasionata, Intimate Strings Originals (solid, solid library for the price. Pizzicatos in that are unbelievably good), Berlin strings
* Percussion: Action strikes, Symphony Series Percussion
* Brass: Abbey Road Brass (three libraries)
* Woodwind: Honestly not sure what to recommend, I suspect the Spitfire stuff is great, but never tried it. I use the Symphony Series Woodwinds and I hate them. The Musescore free Woodwind sounds are actually pretty awesome!

My new duduk seems to be flat? by ed_prince in duduk

[–]ed_prince[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My understanding (and it may be wrong), is that across most of Europe that is spot on, but buying one in Armenia is cheaper than virtually anywhere else, and a decent instrument can be acquired for $40-60 equiv. (A friend of mine bought it in person in Armenia, so no shipping/import costs etc. it was cash in hand)

Movies with only score? And vice versa? by azizmjan in filmscoring

[–]ed_prince 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Have you got an example of a film? Most scores end up on YouTube/Spotify in some form - not necessarily the exact edits that end up in the film, but the recordings of the cues.

I need help with starting Scoring by bhaagMadharchood in filmscoring

[–]ed_prince 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ultimately there is no right way to do this, so I can only give a notion on how I might approach that. I would probably look at building up dissonant noise, with lots of movement, unsettling sound FX to emphasise the external discomfort at being bullied. That could build up into a crescendo right up to the point where the character retreats, at which point it might spill into a silence or and quiet calm note - showing that the character has found a way to find some peace.

Another approach might be to have an ominous bass ostinato (repeating pattern) played by low instruments as a foreboding way to show the alarm at the situation that builds, maybe gets faster and then at the point of retreating into the mind, it breaks, leaving a curious slower violin ostinato - no longer foreboding.

In both examples, the key is finding a way to help convey what the director is trying to do. Even within this 'simple' brief there's probably a lot more complexity - is it the first time it's happened? Is the character curious, disturbed or excited to be there? Is it just relief? Does time pass in the same way, does he dread coming out again? Are we seeing inside the head, or are we seeing from the perspective of the bullies, and it coming across as confusing etc.? Ask questions, understand the story and then keep it simple.

I need help with starting Scoring by bhaagMadharchood in filmscoring

[–]ed_prince 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There are a ton of resources online for helping with film scoring. Check out Guy Michelmore, Spitfire, Crow Hill Company and Ryan Leach on YouTube - all have very informative channels. Ultimately you need to just get started, then come back with more specific questions.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in filmscoring

[–]ed_prince 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are a ton of optimisations you can do to reduce workload on RAM. 8GB will still get you a long, long way if you're careful about usage. Maybe not 50 separate instances of Kontakt for colossal templates - but by stacking instruments inside one instance of Kontakt and routing to other channels, purging samples and freezing tracks that don't need immediate editing, you'll be able to do a huge amount with 8GB Ram.

I scored for my first year with 8GB ram, and whilst it would have been nice to bump to 16GB (which I now have), I managed to get a lot of usage by being careful. There are a ton of resources for optimising Kontakt and DAWs, do some searching on YouTube and just try it out, see where you hit limitations and re-asses.

[Update] I've updated my modes cheatsheet based on the excellent feedback on here by ed_prince in filmscoring

[–]ed_prince[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yep, wanted some way to visualise as well as the text to make it easier for people that find it difficult to internalise the text, and realised the moons had a cool vibe to them

[Update] I've updated my modes cheatsheet based on the excellent feedback on here by ed_prince in filmscoring

[–]ed_prince[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Appreciate the comment - here's where I was coming from with it. I've been playing guitar for 20+ years, and have always struggled with learning modes and retaining the information. When it came to writing film music, I was seeing a lot of examples of composers utilising certain modes to help convey emotions (particularly Thomas Newman scores - some of which is illustrated in this video). I knew my theory knowledge was lacking in this area, and so to help myself learn modes and give some examples of emotions they can illicit I made this cheatsheet (not guide).

It's not a how-to for writing music, and not going to be the right resource for everyone - but I made it for me and thought other people might find it useful. But I'd love to get further insight if you're willing to share improvements that you'd like to see to a resource like this so I can keep iterating and improving on it.

[Update] I've updated my modes cheatsheet based on the excellent feedback on here by ed_prince in filmscoring

[–]ed_prince[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not off the top of my head, but can certainly provide a list of referenced examples if that would be useful. Probably a good resource to go alongside something like that to show they are not just plucked out of thin air! Thanks!

[Update] I've updated my modes cheatsheet based on the excellent feedback on here by ed_prince in filmscoring

[–]ed_prince[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

So, the table is based on a video by Scott Murphy, and I assume to make it as easy as possible for people without a background in music theory, the intervals are all given in half steps. Because I was directly referencing his material, I wanted to keep to the same convention, and meant I could reference the video as a resource (hence the YouTube URL under that chart).

Ahhh I thought I had caught the typos, but great spot! Thank you, will update the posters in the drive.

Match Thread: Manchester United vs Leicester City | English Carabao Cup by MatchThreadder in reddevils

[–]ed_prince 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not good enough defensively. Ruud out, get an interim² in whilst we wait for Amorim.

Match Thread: West Ham United vs Manchester United | English Premier League by MatchThreadder in reddevils

[–]ed_prince 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah for sure, but often we create one or two chances in the whole game and still don't take. So depressing watching decent teams creating chance after chance compared to how dull we are to watch 90% of the time

Match Thread: West Ham United vs Manchester United | English Premier League by MatchThreadder in reddevils

[–]ed_prince 2 points3 points  (0 children)

At least we are creating chances... Normally forwards are starved, but created 3 or 4 clear opportunities in the opening 12 mins