Within Reach (Orchestral Essentials, Solo, Berlin Orchestra Inspire, Dolce, Pianoteq, Omnisphere)

DavidEnglish

This is a music track that I improvised on two MIDI keyboards connected to Bitwig Studio on a desktop PC. There the MIDI was routed to Orchestral Essentials and Solo for the singing voices, Berlin Orchestra Inspire for the cello, Dolce for the basses, Pianoteq for the piano, and Omnisphere, ZebraHZ, and Alchemy for the other instruments.

After bringing the audio recording into Vegas Pro, I applied the Lurssen Mastering Console plug-in to the audio mix.

It's titled Within Reach.

McD

Man your sonic landscape is so gorgeous and the videos make it an extra special experience.

Svetlovska

I love the stately richness and calm, meditational feel of this. A sense of beautiful restraint.

JanKun

Very beautiful soundscape as usual. Agreeing with @McD, the video is gorgeous. Would be curious to know a bit about your process for your videos.

DavidEnglish

Thanks, @McD, @Svetlovska , and @JanKun. Much appreciated.

@JanKun, for the visuals, I tend to use Astrofox, Magic, and other PC-based visualizers as a starting point. Then I transform them with various video FX plugins within Vegas Pro.

I often lean heavily on Vegas Pro’s Mirror and Swirl video FX plugins to make the graphics more symmetrical and dynamic. The video plugins can be adjusted while previewing the music and visuals, so you can experiment in real-time to find the video FX settings that best match the music.

I’ve gotten better results using visuals that were not generated from the music track. I try to find independent visuals that are close enough in tone and pace, and then use the video effects to make them more abstract or structurally interesting.

Since my music has tended to be melodically simple on the surface, but more complex in its evolving textures, I try to achieve the same thing with the visuals. Ideally, the music and visuals should stand on their own, just as a classic silent film and an accompanying orchestration might be able to stand on their own.

JanKun

Thank you for the break down of your pieces that's very interesting. Alas I am working exclusively on iOS, so all those great softwares are out of my playground...

GeoTony

All the other posters have stolen my words 🙏

DavidEnglish

Thanks, @GeoTony. Much appreciated.

Luxthor

@DavidEnglish said:

I’ve gotten better results using visuals that were not generated from the music track. I try to find independent visuals that are close enough in tone and pace, and then use the video effects to make them more abstract or structurally interesting.

Since my music has tended to be melodically simple on the surface, but more complex in its evolving textures, I try to achieve the same thing with the visuals. Ideally, the music and visuals should stand on their own, just as a classic silent film and an accompanying orchestration might be able to stand on their own.

This song's theme reminded me of John Berkey's vision, so I watched his gallery while listening. Resulted in a marvelous experience. Teleports you right there, in the middle of nowhere, left alone in all that infinite space, free for anything. Thank you for sharing, fantastic work! 🤩

DavidEnglish

Thanks, @Luxthor. I'll check out John Berkey's gallery. Sounds like a kindred spirit.