I have now finished my first s
 

I have now finished my first symphony - at least from the viewpoint of notation files. What I now need to do is export to a Cubase to make a VST mock up.

When that's done, I'm going to export the files as XML to Sibelius - which is necessary (no offence, I'm sure you understand) to produce a really professional score and parts

So my order of work is piano sketch - notation composer - cubase - sibelius.

At every stage I'm making small changes

Here is the note file for movement 3<center><table border=1><tr><td>http://www.notation.com/discus/icons/mime_zip.gifmovement 3
movement 3.20.zip (0.4 k)</td></tr></table></center>

Howdy Adrian, Oh bother - o
 

Howdy Adrian,

Oh bother - once again my multi-tabbing multi-tasking got me http://www.notation.com/discus/clipart/sad.gif

I wanted to take a listen, but the file that is uploaded here is only a shortcut. Is it possible we could get the real file? I've listened to the first and second movements, and I'd love to hear the whole thing. I'm listening to the second movement right now http://www.notation.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif

Sorry for the belated follow up...

ttfn,
Sherry

Thanks so much for listening.
 

Thanks so much for listening.

yes, it's taken a lot of work, but it's been a labour of love.

Writing a symphony has been a lifetime ambition, but it's only now that I feel I can give it a go.

Sorry about posting a shortcut !

I hope this works.

I would love to know what you think of my finale. It has to be exciting to contrast with the rest of the symphony. I tried to do this by mixing 6/8 and 3/4 in rondo form.<center><table border=1><tr><td>http://www.notation.com/discus/icons...hment_icon.gifmovement 3
movement 3.20.zip (467.5 k)</td></tr></table></center>

Howdy Adrian, I've got
 

Howdy Adrian,

I've got to hear this through your instruments! My GM soundfont is good, but after hearing your other mp3 versions, I'm sure that it doesn't do it justice. I briefly tried mocking it up in my GPO. That was really nice, but since I don't have your vision for the dynamics, I'm sure I didn't capture the entire feeling (GPO gives a lot of fine controls, but also requires that one use them properly http://www.notation.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif ). But it was certainly good enough to let me know that your finale wraps up a swirlish delight of tempo, rhythm (I love the triplets against the straight cellos), and voicing that is delightful. I can easily imagine sitting in a concert hall and happily listening to this performed by an orchestra http://www.notation.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif

I'm not sure what all you may need to do in Cubase to finish the mockup, but you can use File/Export to export a MusicXML file directly from Composer so that you can finely polish your score in Sibelius (yes, it shines as a score-engraving program!)

You briefly mentioned your work of order above. Do you do your "piano sketch" straight into Composer and flesh it out there? I'd love to hear more about your process, as your three movements show a lot of complex weaving of many elements to achieve the overall effect.

Great stuff! And congratulations on achieving one of your musical goals in completing your first symphony http://www.notation.com/discus/clipart/happy.gif

ttfn,
Sherry

thanks so much for listening i
 

thanks so much for listening in such detail.

Yes, no amount of sound font work will be as good as proper samples played through a sequencer, just as no sequencer will be as good as a real orchestra CD, and no CD as good as a live concert. BUT we have to work with a "vision" of the end product using whatever tools we have.

I will post my proper mock-up when it's finished - where I use cubase and East West Gold Play. East West have just improved their Play sample engine, and I've heard it can perform really well, even with 2 gig of Ram.

And to answer your question, the most important stage is the piano sketches. Until I'm 100% happy with these, I won't even touch the computer.

Before I orchestrate each movement in Notation composer I download a load of midi files from the websites you recommend, like the classical midi archive, to copy the techniques of the greats (or at least I try to). I think long and hard about what section of the orchestra will play what part.

I then do two things- I send a midi export in the direction of Cubase and use East West VSTs to make a mock up.

I also send an XML file to Sibelius to polish up the score. What sets Sibelius apart from its rivals for printing music is the fact that the parts are all continually made. You just click on a part to see it in progress. There is no "extract part" command. Also, when a part has a few bars' rest, it puts in the thick horizontal line with the number of bars' rest above it - it doesn't just leave blank bars.

We've been discussing on music forums a program that could combine midi commands with notation (like yours) and also be a sequencer like cubase, and also print parts to a top professional standard - but until that happens, I need all 3 programs; it's a necessity rather than a luxury. In the future, I think there will be a program like this, as all this "exporting" doesn't seem at all efficient.

You will be pleased to know that I still find Notation Composer the most intuitive and easy to use, and will always start my orchestration on it.