7 Tips for REALISTIC Midi Strings

[@MarkHimley]

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[@BrianMegilligan]

This is very helpful. Thank you. I was just working on some strings last night trying to figure out how to solve some of these issues and this video popped up at the top of my list this morning!

[@jacksolleguitar]

Your negative delay tip was just what I was looking for! Thank you 🙏 I was dragging all the MIDI notes manually and still ended up off timing after days of editing. Golden Tip 🥳

[@MarkHimley]

I know the feeling all too well! I’m glad I could help :) Negative delay was one of the biggest game changers for me. Not being able to get orchestral libraries to play in time was one of my biggest struggles and it prevented me from really going all in. I would always get so frustrated and like you said, even after tons of editing and dragging midi notes I’d go back and stuff would still not be in time, or I’d be overthinking it so much I wasn’t sure what was and wasn’t in time anymore haha 😅

[@elijahgrajkowski2505]

Thanks, Mark, for these tips. I mostly use a separate instance for each instrument, rather than the ensemble patches, as well. Another thing to try is to connect or sustain any common tones between chords instead of re-attacking them. This helps to make it sound even smoother, but it would also depend on the context as to whether that will sound appropriate.

[@MarkHimley]

Very good point, Elijah!

[@b00ts4ndc4ts]

Thanks brother, best lesson I have watched on this subject and helped me out .

[@MarkHimley]

That’s a huge compliment, thanks! Glad it was helpful!

[@cleo.creator]

why did you stop posting and I can say you took hours to create this video so here I am appreciating your creativity! Cannot wait for more! I can see the day you will make it big! Cheers and see you new friend!

[@YoPaulieMusic]

Great video Mark. Excellent tips, can't stress enough how important automation of volume and expression are.

[@MarkHimley]

Thanks, Paul!

[@Interstellore]

This video is absolute 🔥please continue making videos!

[@MarkHimley]

Thanks! I have tons more planned, just gotta find the time to make them.

[@GabrielBelloMusic]

Great video, was already doing everything except expression automation

[@MarkHimley]

Sounds like you were already on the right path, automating expression will help a ton though! Thanks for taking the time to comment.

[@sam_emil1]

great work mark thank you

[@ВиталийЧудаев-ь6п]

Thank you for the wonderful lesson. Everything is said to the point, and without unnecessary words.

[@MarkHimley]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@acreguy3156]

Excellent video, Mark. Thanks. Love your putty cat!!

[@MarkHimley]

Thanks for watching!

[@johncfoster7949]

A very well-done video! Thank you.

[@MarkHimley]

@@johncfoster7949 thanks for the kind words!

[@kevinmarquez5929]

Thank You so much, this video has help me alot, I am glad that I came across with your content, I just started in this world of creat music 🎶.

[@MarkHimley]

Glad it helped!! Thanks for commenting

[@timbranniganmusic3458]

Thank you for the great video. I got a lot out of it.

[@MarkHimley]

Glad to hear it, you're very welcome! Thanks for taking the time to comment

[@shadowmaniac78]

I find this video very insightful and I really appreciate the approach. One thing that I find confusing about voice leading is that I understand that it makes strings sound more natural but I find that sometimes, including in your example, it somewhat changes the identity of the chord progression. In the "bad strings", the last chord with the Aflat going into G, it gives a sense (at least to me) of a triumphant vibe, whereas the voice leading turns it into a melodramatic vibe. Would you add another instrument to retain that energy or would it better to progress from the initial chord upwards towards the last one?

[@MarkHimley]

Thank you for taking the time to comment! You make a very, very good point. It is one that I actually agree with. The way I look at voice leading is sort of the same way I look at music theory. I see it as a tool that you can use and lean on to your benefit, but not one that should control you or box you in. I think understanding voice leading is very helpful, as is understanding music theory, but you should feel free to "break the rules" if it serves the piece of music you are creating. I agree that changing the voicing of the chords can totally change the mood. You should always serve the music first in my opinion. In this video I was more so focusing on the technique of voice leading as a tool you can use for more natural and smooth string writing (instead of having notes jump all over the place). It wasn't meant to be a hard and solid rule to follow for creativity. To answer your question directly - do whatever sounds best and best serves the music you're making. Either option you presented could work just fine. There are no true rules, only guidelines and suggestions. Hope that helps and makes sense!

[@adowilke]

Can you please make a video showing the settings of your reverbs and delays? Thanks!

[@MarkHimley]

Added it to the list! Do you mean just the reverb settings for this specific video and these examples? Or my reverb and delay settings in general that I use in my template? Just want to make sure it's a valuable video and answers your question(s) appropriately. Feel free to elaborate if there's more questions and such that you have :)

[@MarkHimley]

if you look at 10:32 - 10:41 you can see the exact settings I used for the 2 reverbs in this video

[@adowilke]

@@MarkHimley Sorry for not asking the question clearly. I meant the general setting.

[@owenchaim610]

excellent tutorial!

[@MarkHimley]

Hey thanks, Owen!

[@FrankBell]

Whats the advantage of bussing the verb vs slapping it in the summed stack?

[@MarkHimley]

There are a few. One of the biggest is to save CPU. Let's say you want the same reverb on all your orchestral instruments, for example if you're using a scoring stage reverb. Instead of having to load that reverb on all of them, or all of the stacks, you can simply send them all to that one reverb bus. This is the same if you're using any other delays/reverbs that many tracks are using and sharing. Another big reason is that it's much easier to control the dry/wet balance and it often sounds a bit more realistic. To my ears - it's much easier to achieve the sound of "putting something in a physical space/place" with using reverb sends. If I'm really wanting the sound of the reverb though, like really washing something out or using the reverb super heavily, I'll just go ahead and put it right on the track or stack. More simply - if I'm just looking to use reverb to achieve a realistic sound, I'll use a send. If I'm using the reverb more as an effect and for a specific vibe/sound, I'll often use it as in insert on the track. Hope that helps! As with anything - do what sounds best and gets you closest to what you're trying to achieve.

[@FrankBell]

@@MarkHimley makes sense! Thanks for the speedy reply brother! Hope you’re having a great weekend!

[@MarkHimley]

@@FrankBell My pleasure, you're welcome! I am indeed; hope you're having a great weekend also!

[@karayuschij]

As far as the delay is concerned, I find it unacceptable that at the price these libraries cost, the delay is not corrected by the producers of these libraries when they are created!

[@MarkHimley]

Totally understand the frustration! That's a common complaint, however it is a flawed one. I hope I can properly explain it and help alleviate your frustration. It might be worth watching other videos on negative delay and how orchestral libraries are sampled and scripted. The reason for the delay is that you want the notes, depending on the articulation, to sort of ease into the full velocity. If you recorded top level orchestral players to a metronome, and then zoomed in on their performance inside Logic, you would see that for most of their articulations they are actually starting their notes *ahead* of the beat. This is natural. A violin bow, for example, is not like a synth in its attack timing. When you bow a note, it doesn't instantly start at full velocity. You ease into it, and that has to be in the sample. If they just cut off the beginning attack, and started the sample at full velocity so it played perfectly in time with no adjustments, it would sound very fake and non-human. Yes, it would be "easier" to use, but it would be an inferior product and sound very fake and digital. Think even when you strum a guitar chord, or play a piano chord. All of those notes aren't hitting exactly at the same time. They sort of have a flam effect (the notes are staggered in their attack and transients). As a musician you naturally account for this and adjust your timing to play "in time". The beginning of your attack might be ahead of the beat super slightly, but the accent where you hit full velocity will be on beat. Hope that makes sense. These companies actually put a TON of time into getting that negative delay perfectly, and they document it accordingly. The point of this is so that for example when you add -60ms to your negative delay, it's taking into account that 60ms of attack time to get to the full velocity. This allows for the most authentic and natural sounding samples possible. Hope that makes sense!

[@sunnyflutemusic]

@@MarkHimleyWau, thank you so much for explaining this 🙏🏻🎶🌸

[@jarfullofgravity]

Do you have anything about short staccato, sharp midi strings or how to use the articulation menu in GarageBand or Logic?

[@MarkHimley]

I do not yet, but will add it to the list

[@Young.Supernovas]

Isn't this also the chord progression from a halo 3 theme? EDIT: It certainly sounds similar: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l3aXlmNtYtt-h6M Maybe that's where Marty O'Donnell was drawing from.

[@joeldavidpalmer]

Thank you!

[@MarkHimley]

My pleasure, you’re welcome!

[@nickycigarella805]

Trying to get brass to sound right is the worst, i swear i have less hair

[@MarkHimley]

Haha totally know that feeling!

[@ButeSound]

Add some real brass over the top of fake brass. Works to fool the ear that it's all real. Learn or drag an ok player off the street.

[@roli369]

Fucking Thank You!!!

[@MarkHimley]

You're welcome!

[@Tyrannocaster]

I find writing for strings in a DAW so frustrating that I have just stopped doing it. They never sound real to me, and it takes an immense amount of time. I'd rather use obviously "wrong" synths and change the kind of music to fit what I'm capable of doing. I love real strings, but I just abhor digital ones.

[@MarkHimley]

Totally get this. It deterred me for a long time too and honestly is a huge part of the reason I don’t make more orchestral music. A LOT of the time goes to midi editing and all the digital stuff.. I wish I had the funds to just hire real players every time.

[@Fiveash-Art]

Yep.. just use obvious synths. Nothing to try and fool the listener.. They've made some serious strides when it comes to emulating orchestral sounds, but it ain't there yet. Drums and bass sounds have gotten there ... guitars, and layered chordal type instruments still sound fake.

[@Tyrannocaster]

@@Fiveash-Art You got that right. I'm a guitar player, and the guitars are still laughable; even the strings are better, lol.

[@MarkHimley]

I don't know that anyone would prefer to use orchestral sample libraries over the real thing, but most people (myself included) can't afford to hire and record real players every single time. I would much rather use real players, no question. But I can't afford it. Sample libraries bridge that gap for those of us who want to still make orchestral music. Usually I prefer to make hybrid orchestral music so I can blend in obvious synthesized sounds and such.

[@Fiveash-Art]

@@MarkHimley Not criticizing .. I've heard a lot of programmed orchestration where I'm hard pressed to tell. It's why a lot of television and video game developers employ this method for the scores all the time. People who know what they're doing with them I say yeah man. Keep working that stuff. People who don't .. like myself.. I'd rather got to obvious sounding synths because it feels less contrived. The technology is getting exponentially better all the time and I'd bet they'll even have guitar emulations that sound real in a few years from now.

[@mattwesthead3708]

Bob Ross 😅

[@MarkHimley]

Not sure why you commented Bob Ross, but I'm a fan!

[@alexismacias3567]

Halo 3🥹

[@MarkHimley]

Did something in the video sound similar? I haven’t listened to those soundtracks in years, but I used to LOVE them growing up!

[@alexismacias3567]

@@MarkHimleyat 0:20 sec. Sounds similar to halo 3 main menu theme bro! Very very close

[@MarkHimley]

@@alexismacias3567 oh very cool! I’ll have to go back and listen. That example from this video was based on “Nuvole Bianche” by Ludovico Einaudi

[@norakat]

"Getting orchestral samples to sound good is something we all struggle with.. working with sample libraries is a completely different skillset.." - Tip #2 "Use realistic sounding samples" duuuh 🤦‍♂

[@MarkHimley]

I understand the criticism and it’s a fair point, but I stand by what I said and showed in this video. I’ve heard plenty of tracks where people can’t figure out why their orchestral music doesn’t sound good and it sometimes it is that simple - they’re using horrible sounding samples. At least as a starting point, it’s important. None of the other tips matter really if your samples sound like a Casio keyboard. Thanks for your time and feedback.

[@MrAflac_1]

It doesnt matter how good your samples or vst are, if you dont know how orchestra strings work, you’ll always have a terrible sounding strings part

[@wesleycurryii3341]

Informative....but....sometimes you go on and on and on about things that are not needed.

[@MarkHimley]

Thanks for the feedback, Wesley. Can you give me and example or two please? My goal is to make these videos as valuable as possible

[@TheFatPriest]

@@MarkHimley As a complete beginner with DAWs I didn't find anything not needed in this video. It was encouraging, and has given me things I can do to get more out of the DAW I use than I have so far been able to. I have been cursing 8Dio, even with their massive 90%+ discount. Now I can take a step forward. If someone doesn't need 7 tips to achieve realism why are they watching what is clearly meant as something for someone who does need them? Experienced and insightful people could perhaps be more judicious in how they spend their time online.