An advanced course from Benjamin Botkin on how to write and mockup gorgeous, expressive string ensemble music with virtual instruments.
It can be really hard to get a full, lush, flowing string sound with sample libraries, despite the glut of solid string libraries out there.
Even though this is something I'm pretty good at and have a good reputation in the industry for, I've recently been a little unsatisfied with the own string writing/producing. I sometimes skimp on my strings, and just do the simplest thing that gets the job done. Sometimes this is fine. And sometimes this is necessary, but it's ultimately unsatisfying to me. For something that is the beating heart of the orchestra and responsible for so much it its emotional impact, strings needs to be a strength for us composers, not something we shy away from!
LEARNING STRING WRITING FROM THE GREATS
I decided that creating a handful of mockups of iconic and legendary full string passages from all-time music greats (Mahler, Elgar, Vaugh-Williams, Ravel) would be super beneficial exercise to me. As I've begun this process, I've been surprised by a number of the things I have learned, and it occurred to me that some of you might be interested in coming along for that journey.
My hope if that this course helps you to up your string writing and production massively.
MY APPROACH IN THIS COURSE
This course is the third in my Bringing Virtual Orchestra Music to Life series. My intention is for this course to be even more focused on process and application that the first two volumes, and is an even deeper and more specific dive than those courses are. Concepts that are touched on like layering, voicing, and phrasing, will be extensively covered. In a way, this volume is also like a "SUPER MIDI STUDY PACK", as you will additionally get access to the MIDI and project files for the classic pieces I am mocking up. (In addition, I also demonstrate some pieces of my own that I do not have the rights to share the MIDI for).
But it's not just a "mockup" course. I also get into the compositional and arrangement side of writing for strings. Voicing, part writing/voice leading, and all that lovely jazz (Ok, it's not jazz, but forgive me the idiom). As a composer living the VST era composer, you need to be armed with both skillsets.
Ralph Vaughan-Williams' Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis - mocked up with a bunch of different string libraries. This is one of the iconic string passages I'm teaching from.
This course contains 36 in-depth lessons and clocks in at over 8 hours of video instruction. The course has essentially four sections:
Section 1 is all about introductory concepts that the following content will assume.
Section 2 is ALL ABOUT THE NOTES. Composition. Arrangement. Part Writing. Voicing.
In Section 3 I detail how I created the four featured mockups in detail (Elgar's Nimrod, Vaughan-Williams' Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis, Ravel's Daphne et Chloe, and Mahler's 5th). Also included are MIDI and AUDIO STEMS from the mockups so you can reference them for your own learning. Cubase users will get some additional benefit out of the Cubase Project Files.
Section 4 is a collection of bonus lessons and closing material.
Another of the mockups I will be dissecting later in the course. TOOLS USED: I'm primarily using a combination of Cinematic Studio Strings and Performance Samples' Vista, with a couple of misc complimentary elements from Orchestral Tools Benjamin Wallfisch Strings and Performance Samples' Pacific and Pacific Solo Strings to aid my layering goals. At the end I took a little creative/arranging liberty and added some inner voicings with choir (Orchestral Tools Tallinn) and Brass (Metropolis Ark 5), as well as adding a high solo violin and an ultra low string bass line to broaden the arrangement.
Also using a fair amount of Trackspacer from Wavesfactory to help with the library blending/layering as well as some PRO-R reverb from FabFilter and SPACES from EastWest Sounds.
Who is this course best suited for?
Intermediate-to-advanced vst users. People who are moderately comfortable in their DAW of choice, and probably already have multiple string libraries but have struggled to get everything they want out of them. "Intermediate" is intentionally vague. If you're not sure if you qualify as a "beginner" or "intermediate", then you'll probably get a lot out of it. Heck, straight up beginners can probably get a lot out of it too, but I would recommend they start with one of my other courses first.
Do I need the same strings libraries you have to get value out of the course?
Not necessarily. I am using several different string libraries in the mockups in this course. Several by Performance Samples. Cinematic Studio Strings. Several by Orchestral Tools. Soaring Strings by Musical sampling. Other ends and odds. I am doing a lot of layering and library blending. It is unlikely that anyone will have the exact same slate of libraries that I have, so you will have to apply the principles of the course to the tools that you have. And that's really where the learning happens.
That said, when it comes to creating flowing, lyrical strings, not all string libraries are created equal. In my past volumes, I have stressed that legato isn't everything and isn't needed in every circumstance, but for this kind of work, good string section legatos are essential.
Do I need to go through the previous 2 volumes to get the most out of this course?
I want this one to stand on its own somewhat. But it does exist as a logical application of many things I covered in VOls 1 and 2, so I created a "RECAP/GLOSSARY" lesson that gives a quick overview of the essential concepts from those volumes that I will be presupposing in this material. I think that will be sufficient for most users, but I DO think that the previous volumes set this one up really nicely.