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Best Headphones for Orchestral Music Production

This article will focus on the best headphones for orchestral music production with regard to orchestral sample libraries. The best headphones for this type of orchestral music production, because of their neutral frequency response curves for those frequencies utilized by an orchestra, and their ability to produce an adequate soundstage effect, allowing you to hear the instruments originating from their …

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Andrew Feazelle – Music Composition Awards

Andrew Feazelle’s classical music compositional awards occurred during the era he was most active in the classical music community: 2006 to 2015. Compositional Awards Time Frame 2006 marked the first year Feazelle had stopped perusing film music writing, secondary to a permanent carpel tunnel injury sustained a few years earlier, which made it painful to work the 16 hour days …

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How to set up Korg nanoKONTROL2 for Orchestral Sample Libraries

Here’s how to set up a Korg NanoKontrol2 MIDI control surface on Windows 11 Pro, with Digital Performer 11, or other similar DAW’s. This setup will be solely used for controlling the expression, dynamics, vibrato, volume, etcetera, of the instruments in an orchestral sample library, via the MIDI continuous control messaging sent by manipulating the unit’s faders. I won’t go …

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How to Write a Symphony

The holy grail of classical music writing, and the one format that separates its practitioners’ true masters from those of a less accomplished status, is the symphony for full orchestra.  Even Beethoven who had been writing music since he was 11 years old didn’t complete his first symphony until he was 29. Vaughn Williams didn’t complete his until he was …

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How to Build a Music Production Computer

Welcome to my article on how to build a music production computer!  In it, I’ll first give you the references needed to build a PC in general.  Then I’ll cover tips on the pre-building process, as it pertains to music production. There I’ll also give you a parts list to my particular music production PC build, that is powerful enough …

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Do You Need a Graphics Card for a Music Production Computer?

So do you need to include a graphics card when building a powerful music production computer? One for running large orchestral sample libraries with several plug-in effects happening on a digital audio workstation (DAW)? The short answer is that it’s not an absolute necessity to have a GPU for your music production computer, especially if you’ll be using your computer …

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MIDI Fader Controllers for Orchestral Sample Libraries

MIDI fader controllers for orchestral sample libraries ideally have at least four, consecutive, side-by-side faders that can be pushed up and down easily, and importantly, in tandem, so that you can control multiple performance aspects of your library’s instruments all at once. These would be expression (i.e. volume), dynamics, vibrato, and library specific applications. Extra faders beyond these core 3 …

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How to Make an Orchestral Sample Library Sound Real

So how do you make and orchestral sample library sound real and authentic? Today’s MIDI, DAW, plug-in effects, and sample library technology has advanced to the point it’s getting a lot harder to tell what’s an actual orchestral recording, and what’s a meticulously programed MIDI orchestra. Below lies my research notes in figuring out just how in the heck to …

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How is a Clarinet Transposed?

A B flat clarinet is transposed a major second above the notes the composer wishes the listener to hear. An A clarinet is transposed a minor third above the composer’s intended notes. And the E flat clarinet is transposed down a minor third from the composer’s intentions. For the convenience of the player, you should also add the equivalent of …