Hi Leslie,

I listened to your piece and loved it, and I also agree with Jason Smith.  The recording sounds excellent.

John Minardi

https://www.broadjam.com/songs/johnminardi/dr-ellingtons-cat/Play

This is a copy & paste link.

Hi Tim,

I took a listen and I think it sounds extremely better than when I first heard the recording.  

John Minardi

Hello,

Attached is the score for Composition 26 - part 1.  After I recuperate from brain damage (just kidding) I will start on part 2.  Whew !          John A Minardi.............ooops       did not realize a pdf file was not acceptable !

Well, I am not sure if I can convert my PDF score so, if you email me I can send you the score if any one is interested.

https://www.broadjam.com/songs/johnminardi/composition-26-part-1/Play

(copy & paste link to listen)

If this is not ok to do, please let me know.  Thanks.

John

Hello,

Hope everyone is doing well.  Just wanted to share with you a new composition.  I struggled a bit through the recording, mix and master process on this one.   It seems my tinnitus is getting worse and sometimes it's hard to tell if I am getting a good mix or over compensating by adding too much high frequencies in the EQ.

I've been listening to some of the compositions on this forum.  It's good to have a forum like this to share the music.

Here is a copy and paste link;

https://www.broadjam.com/songs/johnminardi/composition-26-part-1/Play

Thanks,

John Minardi

Hi Jerry,

Just finished listening to this piece. I had no idea what to expect. WOW!  I have to admit, I am not really a fan of elecronic synth sounds but, man, you did such a good job of integrating the synths into this piece.

Congradulations and all the best on the CD.

John Minardi

Hi Paul,

Thanks so much.  I enjoyed putting that together.  And it does bring back a lot of memories for me also.

Take care,

John Minardi

Hi Jasen,

Yes, I know what you mean about today's contempoary scores.  I have to admit, I haven't gone out of my way to listen to much of it but, even with the little I have heard makes me feel creeped out.  It's seems so dark and, yes, brooding!

Hi Jasen,

Thank you for your kind comment.  Yes, I think it sounds somewhat like the 1941 March also. I like that piece a lot and I like John Williams' music in general.

I have a CD I purchased a long time ago that has every second of the Raiders of The Lost Ark music. Although some of the music seems like its just filling a space, it's interesting to listen to and analyze.  I can imagine coming up with enough music to fill almost 2 hours is quite a challenge.

John Minardi

Hi William,

I agree with you, although I did not think much on the emotion Mr. Bernstein had put into this score.  It does have that carefree feel but it also makes me think of a strong determination feel also.

John Minardi

Hi Tim,

I would like to comment on the use of headphones for mixing.

When I began studying about mixing and mastering, I always came across comments from almost all the studio professionals; and they said "never, never, never use headphones for mixing or mastering !" Now, I am old school ( I am 63) and I did understand their reasoning behind their almost ranting about this. But maybe todays headphones are of much better quaility that 30 or even 20 years ago. It is my opinion though that their opinion is still correct.

Apparently, our ears have a hard time determining the tone (or timbre) of particular instruments, when the source of the sound is so close to our ears, as in the case of the headphones.  Once again, most of those professionals said they use headphones exclusively for checking the balance of the instruments (left, right or center in the stereo field) but always relied on the studio monitors for tone and which instruments were too loud or too soft in the mix.

To make a long story short (maybe too late already) I usually wind up mixing 119 or so tracks with the way I mix.  That sounds like alot I know but every one has different ways of getting the results.  It drives me a little crazy at times but I have the luxury of time on my hands.

I am certainly not an expert on this but if you have any questions, I would love to chat about it.

John Minardi

https://www.broadjam.com/songs/johnminardi/composition-24/Play

Copy & Paste link

Hello William,

Thank you for your kind comment.  Yes! I try to catch that movie if I see it's going to be on T.V.  Almost three hours but I love watching it all the way through.

Take care William,

John Minardi

Hello,

I recently purchased the Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon and Flute full library ensembles.  Love the sound. In the past, I have tried to replicate an ensemble, but always was not satisfied with the results. I tried de-tuning and time shifting very slightly the multiple tracks, but, no good.  I couldn't get away with it !

With these new sounds I decided to record a rendition of a piece of music from a 1963 movie called "The Great Escape", composed by Elmer Bernstein.  It is probably one of the first sound tracks I was so impressed with as a child.  I was only eight years old in 1963 ( I'm dating myself now!) and I probably didn't see the movie until the late sixties.

I found three slightly different tracks of the piece on youtube and put together an arrangment that I liked.  I also found a composers score someone made a video of and I screen captured all of it.  The final quality was not too good, but it gave me some idea of what was being played.  Most of my rendition was done by listening to the sound track.

Here is a Copy & Paste link to my rendition of the music;

https://www.broadjam.com/songs/johnminardi/the-great-escape/Play

Hope you enjoy.

John Minardi

Hi Paul

Thank you for your responce.............Wow....I can imagine copying the score must have been quite a chore in itself.  I have been wanting to do something like what you have done with another favorite piece of mine; the planets by Holst.  I am still using Windows XP and a recording software called Samplitude. I am retired also but using my exsisting setup might require a lot more time than I have left on this earth to accomplish that task !

It has been very rewarding using the Vienna Library to accomplish the final recording of so many ideas I have had in my head for so long. I was in and out of playing drums in various bands for a good portion of my life. I always had a secret love though of classical, film scores and orchestra music in general. I have not had any formal music training but when I became retired I needed something to occupy my time. This might sound silly but I purchased a copy of John Williams' Star Wars Suite For Orchestra to see what I can learn from that.  I think it's been a lot of help but took a long time and study to make sense of the music. For a long time, written music seemed to look like some one dipped a chickens feet in ink and let it run accross the page.  A few books and the John Williams book help me out with making sense of things !

Best wishes to you paul and hope to converse with you again some time.

John Minardi

Hello Paul,

This is fantastic !  The New World Symphony is one of my favorite classical pieces. May I ask how many hours did an endeavor like this take you?

I just completed a composition that is about seven minutes long and it took me about 120 hours from conception to the final master.  I do not use midi and was just wondering about the time that is put into creating the final piece.

Here is a link to that composition.

https://www.broadjam.com/songs/johnminardi/composition-24/Play

You may have to cut and paste the link.

Once again, I think it's great and I can appreciate the time you put into this.

John Minardi

Hello,

It's been a while since I have visited this forum.  I just finished a new composition and since I am not so good at naming my music, it is simply composition 24 for now.  All of the parts were recorded with the Vienna Symphonic Library except the Bulgarian Piccolo and Piano.  I am still amazed with what can be accomplished with this software.

Hope you will take a listen.  Any comments would be much appreciated. If it brings to mind a feeling or emotion, maybe you can suggest a title for it.

https://www.broadjam.com/songs/johnminardi/composition-24/Play

You may have to copy and paste this link.

Thanks, and good to see this forum is still here.

John Minardi

Hello Francesco,

I listened to your piece this morning.  I like the feeling and the mood, and I thought there were a couple of suprises in the piece; you went to a slightly different feel at times I did not expect.

It seemed to me the mix was very good.  I agree with others about the strings.  I use the expression wheel alot when I record the strings.  Too much on the attack though and the strings sound like they playback backwards.  As far as I know, all of that can be taken care of in MIDI.  I don't record using MIDI; not because I am against recording that way.  It's probably a mortal sin to some not to use MIDI but I just was not set up for it when I started using VSL.  Any way I will stop rambling on here.

A nice piece Francesco.

John Minardi

http://www.broadjam.com/songs/johnminardi/composition-21

Hello Guy,

I thought your piece absolutly wonderful.  I love the intricate articulation of the instruments and the overall quality of the audio recording.  Obviously you have invested a great deal of your talent into this piece.  Very well done. 

I am new to the VSL and also new to composing in general.  I played drums, bass, guitar, keyboards and percussion in rock bands for many years, but my secret love for classical and orchestral music, and to be able to compose and record it, was not satisfied until I stumbled across the VSL program.  I am 62 now and unfortunately beginning to lose my hearing (Probably the rock bands).  But while I can, I'm going to continue to compose and simply have fun with the VSL.

Once again, a lovely piece of music.

Take care.

John Minardi

Hello Jos,

Thank you so much.  Your advice about the releases of the instruments is very much appreciated.  It is something that I have not considered and am glad to be aware of for future compositions.

I have said in other posts on this forum that working with the VSL has given me a great appreciation for the musicians in the orchestra.  The skill and dedication to play their instrument with perfection is just amazing; many, many years of work I'm sure.

Thanks again Jos

John Minardi

Hello,

I recently finished a new composition using this wonderful product and was wondering what I am missing by not updating the VSL program I have.  Mine is the Volume One version.  I have never used any music program like this in the past;  what I mean is, I have never composed any music in this genre using any product on the market.

I have been using VSL for about a year and a half but very much consider myself new to this environment.  It just simply sounds so good to me.  It really does inspire me to keep going.  I am not a classically trained musician by any stretch of the imagination.  

Here is a link to the piece. (You will probably have to copy & paste)

http://www.broadjam.com/songs/johnminardi/composition-21/Play

Maybe someone can tell me something about the articulation of the instruments.  Am I "doing it right"?  I always appreciate any critique that can help me improve.  Thanks!

Hello William,

Your responce brought me to tears.  No one has ever given me a compliment like that and it means a lot to me.  I listen to the great composers as much as possible and I am just awed by what I hear. I know there are a lot of good musicians out there who toiled very hard to obtain a good education in music composition.  I cannot say I am on par with them and then look at myself in the mirror - but I do greatly appreciate your compliment.           

Working with the VSL has given me a great appreciation for the musicians in the orchestra.

I believe that if the music comes from the heart of the one who composes it and makes it come to life, it will affect others in a pleasing way - not everyone of course, but thats OK.  I am glad you enjoyed the music.

Thanks again William and lets keep in touch.

John Minardi

Paul McGraw - Thank you and I am glad you enjoyed it.  Take care.

Hello William,

Well, I just want to start out by saying that I am a little nervous about posting what I think is my best melody.  But I think I have a good reason to be nervous.  You see, I have never had any formal education in music - in other words, I can't read or write music notation.  I truly wish I had had the discipline to stick with it so many years ago.  But I love good music, good musicians, and especially a good melody.

When I first heard what VSL could sound like, I was smitten, to say the least.  I had many ideas I wanted to get recorded but the sounds of the orchestra I just could not reproduce with the equipment I had.  I was a drummer in a rock band since 1976 but my secret love of classical and film music I kept hidden from my friends and band members. Pretty silly of me. I listened more to the local classical station than the rock music.

Anyway I hope you enjoy this piece.  As I already mentioned, I am quite new at composing and truthfully, I do not know if it is even "good" - The eye of the beholder and all that !

Thanks,

John M - You may have to cut and paste the link.

http://www.broadjam.com/songs/johnminardi/the-life-gift

HI Paul,

Thanks for your post.

40 hours a week! Thats great.  You're right about it being a daunting task.  In fact, and I hate to admit this but, I just started using the expression control on a composition I am recording right now.  I don't know why I didn't check out the performance controls a little better but I think I got a little impatient and just wanted to dive in.

Thank you for taking the time to write the list.  I will print it out and keep it on hand.  There are some things on it that I didn't consider at all.  Much of what I do is by ear as you know and this will be very helpful for me.

I don't know if you listened to any of my compositions but if you would like to, here is a link to them; any crtique will be much appreciated. (copy and paste)

http://www.broadjam.com/songs/johnminardi/composition-4-strings-adagio?utm_campaign=website&utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email

My recording technique, I think, may be a little unorthodox.  I don't use MIDI.  Not because I don't like it but I kind of gotten used to recording directly to my DAW.  It can be somewhat difficult at times, but I think it plays a big part in honing my skills in playing the keyboard in just the right way to get the performance sound I am aiming for.  It has definitely given me a great respect for the musicians in orchestras and the great skill they possess.

 Thanks Paul and it's nice to meet you.

John Minardi

Hello Jasen,

Thanks for your post.  You made me have a good laugh about VSL becoming my mistress !  I think that's whats happening !

I want to thank you much for your advice about using more articulation techniques and for listening to the compositions.  For most of my life, I have played in rock bands but I had a secret admiration for orchcestral music.  In fact, I listened to classical much more than rock songs.  My main instrument was drums and I also play piano, bass, guitar and percussion instruments.  I was composing and recording songs for these instruments but, now at 62, I got a little bored with the same old sounds.  

The VSL has been a great way to create the compositions I have in mind.  When I listen to the compositions, I can hear how cautious I have been about not letting loose as you say.  I'm recording one right now that I think will remedy that situation.  I never did take the time that I should have to learn music composition and arrangement techniques.  I have great respect for many of the composers on this forum.

Thanks Jasen and it's nice to meet you.

John Minardi

Hello Guy,

My name is John Minardi. Just finished listening to The Clown's Waltz.  Wonderful sound and I love the slight tempo changes. So much feeling in this piece.

I am new to VSL and in fact new to composing orcestral music.  I will not want to mislead you so I want to say that I am not formally trained in music composition, but I love the kind of piece you have created here.  You are obviously having a fulfilling time with the VSL.  I am a retired electronics technician and have always loved the movie and television scores and many classical compositions.

Here is a link to some of the compositions I have recorded with my recently purchased VSL software.  Still learning alot.

http://www.broadjam.com/songs/johnminardi/composition-4-strings-adagio?utm_campaign=website&utm_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email

Take care,

John Minardi

Hi Dave,

It's nice to meet you and thank you for your post.  You're right; I do need to give myself some time to feel comfortable with this.  I am truly my worst critic.

I have sampled some of your compositions.  They are wonderful! Was it all done with the VSL?  

Thanks again Dave and take care.

John M.