The Oxen

I was about to set this Thomas Hardy poem when I installed a new sound card. After a week and a half trying to get it to work so I could, what I had in mind was pretty well gone. Since it was a Christmas song, the urge to do it was pretty well gone, too. However, if put it off for 10 or 11 months, everything would be gone. So I did this draft, to be taken up, perhaps, for next Christmas.

For the most part, it is not what I was imagining on the day I started the sound card adventure, other than the vocal line and the piano. So for now, it might be best to select the piano/voice part and mute the rest.

all best,
mgj

<center><table border=1><tr><td>The Oxen
The Oxen.not (221.0 k)</td></tr></table></center>

Hello M.G.,

It's good that you got this down on (virtual) paper.

I see how you tried using the line drawing feature to created the extended lyric dashes that cross multiple. That's an awkward work-around. Your signs of struggle have encouraged me to bump up the priority for fixing this lyric dash (melisma) problem ASAP.

Cheers
-- Mark

Howdy MG,

Any chance that this has had the opportunity to ferment in the mind of the creator for a final draft for this year? It sounds promising...

ttfn,
Sherry

Hi Sherry,

Yes, it has fermented and I have done some things, mostly with tempo and instrumentation. I have also reduced the melismatic character of the words-music match, giving the melody for those notes to instruments. It could probably be finished quite quickly. But since the words and the story they tell are really key here, I haven't done so. Kind of waiting for text to speech in music, I suppose, to make a recording. The score I finish first, and print, will probably be the voice/piano version.

all best,
mgj

Thanks to Sherry (see above) I opened this piece again, made a couple of changes I had thought about months ago, then kept working. The result is that I finished the version for voice and small orchestra. That is enclosed.

<center><table border=1><tr><td>Oxen 2007
The_Oxen-2007 Orecestral Version.not (187.9 k)</td></tr></table></center>

I have used the My_Own soundfont collection, except for the flute (hagi flute) and voice (Real Voice). The latter is by far the best voice soundfont I've found.

Howdy MG,

I'm glad I asked This is absolutely lovely!

The only problem I had was initially I was using a GM soundfont to listen to it, and the solo flute was set to "guitar fret noise". Sounded a bit odd. After I changed the instrument to a flute, it was grand

If I might say without providing a deep analysis, this music "feels" like Thomas Hardy to me. It's a bit of a chill damp day here, and the music was soothing and warming, like a nice fire-side glass with friends I like the poem, and you've captured the atmosphere incredibly well.

Thanks for sharing this with us. I'm going to add it to my official Christmas music list

ttfn,
Sherry

Hi MG
This is a very nice and warming X-mas song (after changing the "fret noise" to flute of course )although not having the Hagi flute and Real Voice soundfonts (I listende with the Merlin Vienna sf.).
Could you tell me where to get the Hagi flute and the Real Voices soundfonts ?Like Sherry,I have put your song on my X-mas song list,after rendering to Wav.
Keep the nice work flowing !
Cheers
Djim
BTW, what new soundcard do you have now ?

Hi Djim,

I have the same old sound card, Audigy 2 ZS, with two hardware synths, only one of which will work without crashing the computer.

The Merlin Vienna SF works well. I used My_Own because it has Real Voice substituted for Synth Voice. You can find My_Own on the same page you downloaded Merlin Vienna from, just a few items on down the list.

http://midi-contest.com/

The only problem I've found with My_Own is that the timpani has D3 (European D2, I think) as the low note. Strange, since the other collections go to the lowest A.

You can get Real Voice separately, as well as the Hagi Flute, at

http://www.sf2midi.com/

Just do a search for "flute" and "voice" or "vocal," then page through the lists.

I just downloaded the Merlin Creative collection and played with it in the Vienna editor. It is the smallest of the soundfont collections at Midi-contest, but it sounds as if it might be good.

Glad you like "Oxen." The Real Voice does make a difference. She has a really nice voice.

all best,
mgj

Hi Sherry,

The guitar fret noise preset is where I added the Hagi Flute to the My_Own collection. I forgot about that, so thank you for reminding me. You are probably getting the Synth Voice instead of Real Voice. You might use Choir Ahhs, instead. That's closer to Real Voice, and does make a difference.

all best,
mgj

Hi MG
Thanks for the information.I already have My_ Own sf2,so I just had to copy the Real Voice to the Merlin Vienna.It really does make a difference
The Hagi flute has been "sold out " I am afraid .You downloaded the last sf2 I guess.Never mind,I will look for it on other sites.
Cheers
Djim

Hi Djim,

This is not where I got the Hagi flute soundfont, but I think it's the same thing.

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:3TeJOmh6RcYJ:www.hammersound.com/cgi-bin/soundlink.pl%3Faction%3Dview_category%26category%3 DPipe%26ListStart%3D0%26ListLength%3D15+hagi+flute &amp;hl=en&amp;ct=clnk&amp;cd=2&amp;gl=us&amp;clie nt=firefox-a

There are several other interesting woodwind instruments on this page, which I am going to try out later.

Actually the flute in the My_Own collection sounds nearly as good in "The Oxen."

all best,
mgj

Hi MG
Muito obrigado for the most usefull tips.I alredy visited Hammersound with it´s huge array of woodwind instruments,worth checking out quite a few of them.
Fortunately Sherry sent me the Hagi flute she had in" in stock",even offered me a DVD full of soundfonts,which I would gladly receive ( Hi Sherry,are you listening in ?),a fine distraction and excuse for not excercising my chops.
Thanks again both of you
Cheers
Djim

Howdy,

Djim, if you'll let me know (private email is fine) what your mailing address is, I can send you a disc.

I know from personal experience, and just knowing the transitory nature of some websites, that sometimes a soundfont that is listed somewhere will be lost.

I do have a pretty large collection (I've been collecting and trying them out for years, since I found out about them ), and am glad to share when I can. I'll add the disclaimer that I only send ones that I've found for free, and the creators of those fonts have expressly offered them for free distribution. I only have one soundfont that I know of which is not freely distributable, and I don't include that in the disc. Also, I'll need to know if you want CD or DVD. Either is fine by me.

ttfn,
Sherry

Hi Sherry
How nice of you .A CD or DVD ( with collect delivery ) would be fine to:
D.Tio
Relva do Fundo
Gestosa Fundeira
3280-101 Castanheira de Pera
Portugal
Thanks and cheers
Djim