Earlier this year (which is almost at an end. =-o), I mentioned that I might compose a short tune using only two of the free/shareware VSTi’s that I downloaded about that time. Well, since I had real compositions to work on, I eventually got around to doing so.

Listen below to the short work that I created using FreeAlpha and Freehand. All of the tracks, except the “drums” were recorded using the aforementioned synths’ presets. I tried tweaking both synths to get a single percussive sound that would work across the keyboard, but in the interest of time, created the “drum” track using E-Phonic’s Drumatic 3.

I’m sure that any and all of these plug-ins offer a large variety of timbres with a bit of tweaking. For those of you that use VSTi’s, you might want to checkout these three and see what they can do for your compositions. If you like them, please consider a donation to the authors.

Having now upgraded to Sonar 6 Producer Edition (naturally, just before the release of Sonar 7), I am seriously considering a computer upgrade. Of course, I want the most bang for the buck, but the less time that I have to fiddle with it, the better. In years past, I would have gladly built my own system - but now that I am older, I try to use my time more judiciously. I’ll leave the PC building to those who do far more of it than me.

In short, I’m considering a system with a dual-core processor (Intel or AMD), 2GB of RAM, an 80GB drive for the OS, a 320GB drive for audio, and a 320GB drive for samples and SoundFonts.

Below I’ve added some links to the systems that I am considering (in no particular order). If you have any opinions concerning these systems or the makers (especially based upon experience) - or even other product suggestions - I welcome your comments.

ProAudio Solutions’ Studio PC Pro Core 2 Duo Intel Processor - Ego System WamiRack 192X w/Free Samplitude 6 Master; Sony Acid Pro 4

Musical Computers’ Core 2 Duo DAW System

Sonica’s HUSH-LR Workstation

ADK’s Core 2

Sweetwater’s Creation Station Tower+

Rain’s Element

It’s obvious from the infrequency of my posts that blogging is not high on my list of priorities. :[

Due to my frugal and curious nature, I sometimes go searching the Web for free soundware. Recently, I downloaded a bunch of free VST instruments and effects. Now I’m going through them bit by bit to see which ones I like, those that I don’t, and those I will never hear because they lock up my PC. >:[

As a composer of a wide spectrum of genre, I’m open to just about anything, so its fun to see what others are contributing to the music making community either to promote a commercial product or to demonstrate their latest SynthEdit creation.

Pretending to be organized, I’m starting with the A’s and working down the list alphabetically. Tonight I’ve been playing with two that show some potential: LinPlug’s FreeAlpha 3.0.1, and Angular Momentum’s Freehand 1.0.

FreeAlpha has some nice synth bass presets which would serve quite well in Drum ‘n’ Bass electronica compositions. I’ve tried tweaking the easy to use interface a bit, but sometimes don’t get the result I expect based upon my experience in subtractive synthesis. I’m pretty sure that operator ignorance of the synth is to blame. Time for me to read the docs.

AM’s Freehand features a sexy (I’ve always been a sucker for the high-tech infrared look), intuitive interface that lets you draw the waveform for any of its 3 oscillators. Add fairly flexible source and destination modulation, stereo chorus and stereo delay, and you’ve got a cool little soft synth. I’m also pleased with how relatively few CPU cycles it consumes on my 2.4 GHz P4.

Just for additional kicks, I think that I’ll try to put together a short track using just these two synths. Be cool.

Yesterday, I had the privilege of seeing The Ultimate Gift. This film definitely held my interest. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed it (Sorry, all of you nit-picking critics. I’m a composer, not a director).

After a long list of orchestrator credits, this film garners another composer credit for Mark McKenzie, doctor of Music Composition from USC. I confess that I was so taken with the storyline, that I didn’t consciously pay attention to the score – however, to me that’s sufficient evidence that the music really complemented the picture, since I’m usually keenly aware of scores that don’t work.

On my way home from the film, I got to thinking (as I have often done) that each driver on the freeway has a life story. More specifically, they each have dreams and struggles. Perhaps that life of anyone could make a good screenplay. I think what most of us enjoy most about the human dramas is that we see things in the characters that we can identify with. I would venture to guess that one of the greatest needs that we all have is to know that we are not alone.

One of the many things I came away from the film with is thinking that I’m probably too often preoccupied with my own dreams and struggles to appreciate and encourage others in their own dreams and struggles. May G-d help me to invest myself in others a bit more often.

OK, I might as well throw in my nickel’s worth of opinion concering Audio Impressions’ DVZtechnology. After viewing the video demo on their home page, I pretty much have to say, “Wow!”

For weeks, I ‘ve been telling myself that I am going to write a CAL routine to take a string track in SONAR, and split it into multiple tracks, based on note durations. The resulting tracks, of course would be assigned to samples of various string articulations (staccato, spiccato, marcato, legato, etc) - all in an attempt to speed the process of approximating more realistic string parts. Even doing this manually, the transitions tend to sound, well, just like what they are: quick switching between samples. Granted, it can be smoothed with judicious use of reverb, but it would be way so cool to be able to just play a line and have it sound realistic from the get-go - without having to do so much manipulation afterward.

Obviously, I’ve not been alone in this desire, as Chris Stone (who’s been scoring about as long as I’ve been alive) and the team at Audio Impressions seem to have made the dream come true. Now the question is, do I have to sell a few limbs and and a kidney to afford it?

Having finally upgraded to SONAR 6.0 (ProTools is just a status symbol) last month, I was really pleased to learn of this anouncement made at Winter NAMM:

Cakewalk® Releases Free SONAR 6.2 Update

Looks like some some really cool improvements for a “point” release. What really caught my eye was

New ACT Presets: SONAR 6.2 adds dedicated ACT support for popular hardware controllers including Alesis Photon 25, E-MU Xboard25, Edirol PCR 300/500/800 Series (further enhanced, see below), Korg KONTROL49, M-Audio Axiom 49, Phat.Boy

I’m very curious to see what the Axiom 49 presets will do for my Axiom 61 (same controller with one more octave of keys) setup. The price is definitely right.

Okay, a bit late on this, but I thought I should post a review of the score of the recent big screen rendition of Charlotte’s Web. As a media publicist and reviewer, my wife often gets invited to pre-release screenings, and, some weeks ago, I tagged along for this one, also.

Listening to Danny Elfman’s score to Charlotte’s Web, you’d never guess that this was the same guy of Oingo Boingo fame, years ago. Indeed, Elfman has made quite a scoring career for himself with music credits for superhero movies Batman, Spiderman, and the hulk, as well a long list of other movie and TV dramas and comedies.

While Charlotte’s Web (the 2006 film) itself received mixed reviews and lackluster box office success, I thought that the score was worked quite well. For me, the apex of film and music in this production was during Charlotte’s long good-bye at the fair (if that was a spoiler for you, then I greive for your literature-free childhood).

A little late on this post (like, what else is new?), but last weekend I had the pleasure of seeing the Sony-distributed film Facing the Giants. Okay, so maybe the actors may not be nominated for an Oscar (you’d expect else from a volunteer cast?), but for an indie film with a $100K budget, the movie rocks! Whether or not you are inclined to Christianity, it’s a feel-good, inspirational film that speaks to the values of hard work and determination.

The feel-good quality is amply aided by the score, courtesy of Mark Willard (who gets the screen credit, but IMDB also lists writer/director/producer/star for music credits). Now, I’ve been able to ascertain (not that I’ve tried very hard) whether or not the score composition was also gratis, but I think that it was as good as many other films with a 7-figure budget. Maybe I can get my publicist/podcasting wife to arrange an interview with Mr. Willard to get the low-down on his tools of choice, etc.

If you haven’t seen or heard the film yet, go out and do so while it’s still in theaters.