Chris Hurn

I say you get something like Cakewalk. Not only is it really easy to use, it's completely fine in the professional environment. Check out SONAR at cakewalk.com. Or even "Home studio" is great - and you could always upgrade later if you felt the need to do so. Sequencing is just one of those things you have to get used to, and you may as well get used to it in an environment like that - once you know one, you pretty much know them all. EDIT: Oh, and NZ represent! haha. -Chris

Hey all. Okay so I tried out Sibelius' video function for the first time...but unfortunately, the minute I load a video, Sibelius (4) goes really..slow...Like, it's really sluggish when inputting notes etc. It's not normally like this, without the video. I'm on XP, 2.53GHZ with 1GB of RAM, etc, there shouldn't be a problem. Any ideas? -Chris

Lovely work! This I seem to see a lot at this forum...why is film music not serious? And film music has been in concert too, many times. -Chris

Damn straight! Lol :shifty: -Chris

Thanks.. The mp3 is what the MIDI is based on (something I wrote) - it shows how the vocal part is supposed to be done though. ;) -Chris

Hey guys. Here is the MIDI file for a piece I wrote for my school orchestra called "Dust". It was played earlier in the year, but I have just finished making some revisions for senior prizegiving...There's a lot of articulations, cym. rolls etc. that you won't be able to hear (marked in the score, not emulated in the MIDI file, so use your immagination. The 'piano' instrument at the beginning is a solo voice (female). Based on a piece I wrote and put on my website a while back (also has a sample of what the voice would sound like, though with me singing): http://chrishurn.com/Dust.mp3 (Remember this isn't the same as the MIDI, but you get an idea of the 'feel' etc - I suggest you check it out!) Attatched is the MIDI. Cheers. -Chris School_2006.MID

Rough mix...still in the works but let me know what you guys think! Two spears, One Heart EDIT: maybe this should be moved to the film/game forum. Cheers!! -Chris

Thanks for noticing that, you're right. :happy: I may have mucked the MIDI channels up, but the soprano singer is the one thats at the very beginning, and comes in later after 1:28. So far she could be heard over the orchestra easily since it's playing quiet in those sections, but she will have a mic. I'm going to ask a friend of mine who sings in the choir I'm in at school to do it, she is a fantastic soprano. Thanks everyone, I really appreciate your comments. I'll be sure to post another version when it's more complete, and defneately keep you updated about the performance. A few glisses, rolls etc. have not been added (including all the cymbal rolls etc.) because I'm just going to notate them in later, but I will make a mp3 mockup of this piece a bit later on. (I almost always write using samples, but in this case I have decided just to write with general midi and do a mockup later). -Chris

I'm writing this for my high schools orchestra to play for a music festival thing, it also features a solo soprano part (still working on it, use your imagination). Please have a look at it and let me know what you think so far. Any advice, crits, comments etc. would be greatly appreciated. Just started this yesterday, heaps of work to go, but I want to get some early feedback. MIDI attatched. -Chris MusicFestivalSib.mid

I believe it can be developed, to an extend. For example, I don't have PERFECT pitch, but 90% of the time I'm less than a semi tone off. This will improve, and it has done, due to the fact that I sing all the time, play and write music a lot. There's a difference between having pure perfect pitch, and working out quickly in your head the pitches, in relation to a note you can more or less "work out". I'm not going to go as far as saying a strict yes or no to the question. Because simply, I don't know, and I don't care. -Chris

Wow, that's sad. To restrict yourself to one genre, at your age, which is what? 13/14? Geez. We live in 2006 now. Classical music isn't the only genre available. Since you like Mozart... Let's just say if Mozart was around today, he wouldn't be making baroque music. He'd be making music appropriate to the time. Also, length wise...what is wrong with it? It's not too short. So a piece isn't "major" unless it's 15 minutes long? Come on. This is a very interesting piece, Monkeysinfezzes. :( -Chris

J. Lee Graham, Thanks a lot! Yeah, film is where I want to be. I'm a 16 (nearly 17) year old student living in New Zealand. I've started writing music for short films - I have a very exciting boxing independant film coming up soon. I am just about to upload a slightly new version, fixed a few legato issues, added a few things etc. ( Can anyone hear the 'recording floor noise' I added over this track?) Cheers! -Chris

Click here Comments/crits greatly appreciated. -Chris

Whoa. Hans Zimmer doesn't ALWAYS layer his music with synth, and actually, most film composers don't do their own orchestration, David. Just MIDI/sheet sketches. Even John Williams does an 8-line sketch (which is more than Hans Zimmer does). I'd like you to imagine writing a film score with extreme pressure. Now let's see how well you orchestrate or write. You can critisize Hans Zimmer all you like, but at the end of the day he's making far more money than us, he's famous, and he writes good music - especially considering the tough deadlines. As for the topic of computers - it is really sad to hear that some people would rather just use a computer. That's a lonley thing. It's a GREAT feeling to have your music played by an orchestra...you don't get that feeling when you're sitting in a dark room at home. Yes it's fine when you can't have an orchestra (I love garritan and other sampling technology), but if I had the choice, I'd drop samples today. -Chris

Thanks for noticing that, cavatina. The idea was to keep it rather dramatic, but on the subtle side, without overstating. Also I tried to add a hint of energy, without actually going all-out. Thanks! -Chris