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In this thrilling sequel to last week’s post, I will be discussing the software I use to compose and produce music.  Like last time, this gets a bit technical, and is really intended for those familiar with composing and producing music on computers.  I have included several links to explain the technical details, as I could probably write an entire post about each one of these things!

Logic

Logic is a Digital Audio Workstation, specifically designed to edit MIDI and audio together.  It is one of many music production softwares out there, (Digital Performer, Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Ploge Bidule), and they can be used independently or in conjunction with each other.

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I use Logic for all MIDI sequencing, audio recording, mixing, and mastering.  The last three are best done in Pro Tools, but Logic gets me where I need to go for now.  Each DAW has its pros and cons, but Logic works the best for me (it’s also pretty easy on the eyes).

Plug Ins

Having a variety of effective plug ins is essential for mixing and mastering music.  Simply put, plug ins allow you to manipulate the sound you are working with, like adding reverb to a musical instrument to simulate it playing in a certain type of room, making it sound more real.  It is always important to EQ and compress your audio, or to at least have that option.  I use British Factory EQ and compression.

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There are literally tens of thousands of plug ins, each designed to do a very specific thing to a sound.  When used correctly, artists can produce and manipulate sounds that are absolutely nothing like their original source material.  Plug ins also allow us to make minor changes and improvements to existing source material (MIDI data, audio from recording sessions).

The Sample Library

Sample Libraries allow us to mimic the sound real instruments make, by recording their notes individually, and putting them back together using the notes we want.  This process is much, MUCH easier said than done.  There are several sample libraries out there; I use East West‘s.  I actually use several of them.  Most of the time I use their orchestral library:

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It includes a diverse array of winds, brass, strings, and percussion.  It is also sampled with 3 different microphone positions, which is handy for mimicking certain ambient spaces.  I also use East West’s choral library, piano library, percussion library, rock library, gypsy folk library, and Asian library.

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Sibelius

Sibelius is a notationally-based composing and score formatting program.  Along with Finale, one of these two programs are usually in a composer’s arsenal.

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I use Sibelius primarily for orchestrating and score formatting.  Although it has a video function, it does not interface well with SMPTE time code, therefore I do not use it for most film composition (besides orchestrating).  But I use it exclusively for my work with classical guitarist Stuart Weber, since our work is with concert music.

New Music

I just finished a cue for Gary Chang’s genre study course, this week focussing on drama.  We were tasked with mimicking three opening credit sequences with dramatic music.  The films themselves didn’t necessarily have to fit into the genre category, but the music had to be dramatic itself.  I chose the opening credits from The Boondock Saints, recording guitar and vocals myself and using samples for the rest.  I hope you like it!