Hi,
Herewith I would like to present you a virtual version of Benjamin Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Based on a theme of Henry Purcell it takes the listener via a set of variations through all common orchestra instruments heading towards a “molto allegro” fugue in which again all musicians play their part.
Why this piece? First: I was getting to know it via a CD box with classical music for children and I just fell in love with it while presenting it to my own children (like they did themselves with the main theme btw). Second: I think, that this piece is very challenging to translate into a virtual one. It contains all orchestra sections: strings, woodwinds, brass and percussion. But: what it makes it so unique is the use of solo/section intermezzi. Whatever library is capable to handle all these different articulations and effects for so many instruments and sections?
Well, of course I started with VSL. I needed for example tremolando sul ponticello for the string sections and easily to implement brass and woodwinds divisions. For the strings I used full versions of Orchestra Strings, with added solo parts form Solo Strings (as has been done very often by VSL users). Woodwinds full versions (as download now available). Brass used: Dimension Brass, since it makes it a breeze to handle all parts (like horns I-III, II-IV, trombones I-II, III). Tuba from Special Edition +.
VSL shows its merits here without any doubt imho.
So almost all patches are from VSL, except for the harp and percussion. I needed a staccato patch for the harp for example and an abundance of percussion instruments, more than I have in the VSL SE+ anyway. So I choose for Sonokinetics Arpeggio for the harp and Vir2 Elite Orchestral Percussion (both affordable and on my HD already), since this library contains almost all instruments for percussion mockup and it has just a fine quality. The sound of the whip in the percussion ‘presentation’ I had to download a sample myself.
I used Cubase 6 with its user friendly Expression Maps to keep even two different lines within one instrument in one midi channel, with thanks to the VI Pro player (1.0).
Sound editing plugins for mixing from Tonebooster (Ferox), but moreover with Ozone4 for fine tuning the sections as well as mastering eventually. Placement on stage (depths) with Yellow Tools Origami and VSL Powerpan. Main reverb: Ircam Session Verb, since it is one the best plugins for at least orchestral work. So, sorry VSL adepts: no MIR (yet). Maybe I will use it with their MIR PRO? The current version is far from ideal yet when it comes to mixing and mastering. I regularly compared and checked the sequence with a “live” CD-version I have here at home.
Anyway, it was a very interesting job to go deep into this score, I used a midi version from the internet (I don’t know who made this basically very reliable version, it must have been a hell of a job however). Only a few adaptations concerning instrumentation had to be made. Of course I changed tempo settings and velocities to my taste.
I started actually with the final Fugue, but after finishing that, I did the flutes ‘presentation’ and then I decided to do the whole piece after all. With utmost care I have tried to render it as faithfully as possible to the original score concerning articulation and dynamics.
Humanize settings within VI Pro were quite high basically, as the live performance was quite often humanly out of tune a little bit.
I also used further humanize script with the MIDI Inserts of Cubase itself: so attack, release, filter and even humanize parameters (delay and tuning) have been randomized within customized ranges.
Herebelow an overview of track time and instruments: at your service!
1. 0:00 Theme of Purcell, full orchestra
2. 0:40 Woodwind section
3. 0:48 Brass section
4. 1:06 Strings and harp
5. 1:23 Percussion
6. 1:40 Reprise theme
7. 2:00 Flutes (2) and piccolo
8. 2:28 Oboes (2)
9. 3:14 Clarinets (2)
10. 3:49 Bassoons (2)
11. 4:37 Violins 1 and 2
12. 5:15 Violas
13. 6:09Violoncelli
14. 7:12 Basses
15. 8:05 Harp
16. 9:03 Horns (4)
17. 9:54 Trumpets (2)
18. 10:25 Trombones (3) and Tuba
19. 11:30 Percussion
20. 13:12 Fugue (allegro molto)
I hope that you will enjoy this virtual version. Getting to know this work better and better by doing this job it resulted anyway in an increasing respect for Benjamin Britten, who wrote such an appealing and so well instrumentated work (originally written for a film called’The instruments of the orchestra”), as mentioned in the score, “for edification and entertainment”.
Of course I realize that my version might cause also criticism. I am open to whatever comment regarding whatever subject concerning this result. Midi issues, balance, mixing, mastering, musical point of view. Just let me know.
You can find the MP3 here (size 37Mb - 44.1 KHz - 320kBit/s).
