How composers make your indie game sound big and orchestral (without a big orchestra) -

[@MatthijsDierckx]

Find me on LinkedIN www.linkedin.com/in/dierckx/ or Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/4EWOLD8ujMhScdEQvl6Pwf or Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/matthijsd.bsky.social

[@prodfaithh]

Respect for sharing this and actually replying on peoples comments its kinda rare nowadays keep up the good work

[@matvii_orchestra]

Fire. I’m still working on making music like Final Fantasy or Nier series. I knew that tips, but still helpful.

[@repulsive1908]

Amazing!

[@taliiaferro]

amazing stuff man - will definitely be taking a lot of inspiration from you and might take a look at your book too once it releases!

[@jsfotografie]

great work :) and that bulgarian solo singer sounds amazing :) well done :)

[@GaelPucci]

Sounds Epic! I was wondering, what VST did you use for the solo voice ? Solo from Audio Imperia maybe ?

[@MatthijsDierckx]

@@GaelPucci It's two, indeed the one from Audio Imperia (ao in Jaeger), the one in the third example is the Bulgarian vocal in EastWest Quantum Leap Voices of Passion.

[@GaelPucci]

@@MatthijsDierckx sounds great, I’m going to check on Eastwest, never tried their librairies. Thanks!

[@alleyway3215]

@@GaelPucci You won't regret it. East West is my go-to for fast and powerful samples.

[@bornbrewedmusic9786]

@@MatthijsDierckx check out the Zero g stuff really great sounding stuff and its pretty cheap.

[@MuradBeybalaev]

How to make music sound good: 1. Write the music good. Also, it's definitionally indistinct from a chiptune. Don't undersell capability of such a broad concept.

[@MMMercia]

The only true difference is the use of realistic, high-quality (often quite expensive too!) virtual instruments. Half of the comments are just asking which specific ones are used.

[@MuradBeybalaev]

@MMMercia There are plenty of chiptunes produced with quality instruments. You can load Yasunori Mitsuda's universally acclaimed work into a DAV and rearrange it if you export it correctly from a PS1 disc…

[@hichewies]

nice background track. as a composer, i never got the swing of composing music that wasn't the main focus, or music that couldn't immediately grab attention, as it always seemed too repetitive. from what i'm seeing here, it requires an entirely different workflow, which i don't follow as it always leads to a lot of repetitiveness.

[@MatthijsDierckx]

Interesting points. But basically ANY style and workflow can be used for music for games or movies.

[@Maplefoxx-vl2ew]

if anyone wants to learn to write like this get Orchestration Recipes courses.. i have looked for 3 years for ways to learn this sort of thing.. by far this is the best what i just mentioned. they are on youtube and it's not very expensive. it's the best course i ever found. better than going to a paid school

[@jsfotografie]

would you mind sharing which solo vocal library you used? cant find a bulgarina solo hehe :D

[@MatthijsDierckx]

It is the Bulgarian vocal in EastWest Quantum Leap Voices of Passion.

[@jsfotografie]

@@MatthijsDierckx awesome thx a lot :)

[@carand1na]

Great touch to add one real singer to the choir! it really brings the whole piece to another level

[@wietzejohanneskrikke1910]

That's a sampled voice as well.

[@taqiyeddine-mahdi741]

​Can you give me this library name please !!​@@wietzejohanneskrikke1910

[@martinh7279]

1:59 it says "Lucifer"

[@ishagshafeeg]

Really interesting. Thanks

[@Marunius]

Noo way, this is virtual?! And you can choose the words?

[@MatthijsDierckx]

In some cases you can choose/build the words (some of the East West libs have that option). It is pretty laborious. Mostly you can choose several syllables. In other cases you have short phrases, but you decide the pitch. In short: yes, it's all virtual, and it depends on the library how much control you have.

[@Marunius]

@@MatthijsDierckx Huge thanks for the answer, very insightful!!

[@potatochipappi]

How can I record my voice and turn it into midis? Or create different strings with my own vocals.

[@MatthijsDierckx]

Oh, I never used something like that. I think you're looking for something like this: vochlea.com/products/dubler2

[@Pianitara]

What Vst for strings you are using here?

[@MatthijsDierckx]

I think this was Audiobro LASS 2.5. Pretty sure.

[@Bxu021]

O_O What vst is that... the vocals though....

[@MatthijsDierckx]

CHORUS for the choirs, Audio Imperia Jaeger for one of the solo vocals, East West Voices of Pasion for the Bulgarian vocal.

[@squaredude2]

its so nice that youre sharing this with people. if you are an indie developer and need free versions of the same quality shown here, here are some choices. they are mostly quite limited in some ways but they are still good for being free. The Free Orchestra 1/2 Project Sam BBC Symphony Orchestra Orchestral Tools Layers / Their other free libraries. Labs The Orchestra Elements

[@MatthijsDierckx]

Great suggestions, I would indeed recommend the BBC free edition as well. I have not come across free libraries for choirs, any suggestion in that area?

[@squaredude2]

@MatthijsDierckx Labs has a pretty decent choir. There's not alot of professional quality free choir vsts, hopefully in the future there will be!

[@rpgrecords]

Sounds like a destiny track!

[@prod_jay2132]

Which libraries did you use for all the instruments?

[@MatthijsDierckx]

LASS 2.5 for the strings, CHORUS for the choirs, BBC Symphony Orchestra for the brass, Audio Imperia Jaeger for one of the solo vocals, East West Voices of Pasion for the Bulgarian vocal.

[@margantsovka6318]

What vst he uses for choir?

[@MatthijsDierckx]

@@margantsovka6318 Chorus from Audio Imperia.

[@potatochipappi]

Wonderful but How to write orchestra ?

[@MatthijsDierckx]

Well, that would be a slightly longer video... There are many tutorials on this. Basically you want to start learning how to write for strings, then brass and wood and percussion, and then how to combine it. At least, that's sort of how I learned it myself.

[@Sayaka_saeki]

Hey are you using manual draw for dynamic? Not using modwheel

[@MatthijsDierckx]

@@Sayaka_saeki Actually, yes. Sort of something I've gotten used to after realizing I always ended up deleting my manual mod wheel input. (It's not particularly efficiënt, I know, but allows for even more control)

[@Sayaka_saeki]

With your long experience, do you think it is better modwheel or manual? I'm still learning how to control orchestra music 😊

[@MatthijsDierckx]

@@Sayaka_saeki If you can, learn it do with modwheel, it saves time! :)

[@FireF1y644]

"No real voices" while literally playing the recording of real voices, lol

[@MatthijsDierckx]

@@FireF1y644 Those are VSTs, virtual instruments. I wish we had the budget for real choirs. The Costs are based on recordings, but in the end they are actually synthesized. Maybe I'll put ghe first part of the talk on later, that goes into explaining the virtual instruments I use.

[@FireF1y644]

@MatthijsDierckx I know that these are samples, but samples ARE real recordings, even AI-generated and wave modeling stuff is made from real recordings. There is no way to escape it (as of now)

[@MatthijsDierckx]

Well, I do agree, but you stated 'a recording of real voices', I feel that that is a bit of stretch. Then there would be no difference between actually recording a choir or just using VSTs. I'd still prefer real choirs, of course.

[@jerrychoong918]

No real voices means you don't have to record with a mic and a bunch of people when you compose it as you don't have the time and money to hire a full choir and wait for their schedule free. VSTs and samples are recorded with real instruments/voices and that is just common sense, other than that would be synths. You got the wrong point.

[@ronniekitchens6502]

🤦🏾‍♂️smh buddy. He said no real voices.he clearly meant he is just using samples. If it was actual real people recorded itd sound completely different. Yes the samples are recorded in person but they do not compare to actually recording a piece live

[@landorepicmusic]

Very nice but the reverb is far to much to my taste.

[@MatthijsDierckx]

Yeah, I can see that. Partly it's the hall, partly it's just too much reverb, especially on some of the short string bits.

[@alexadamcsak5046]

What is your goal with this? Why do you want to imitate real people choir and orchestra with a daw? Dont you like people? If you making music on computer: make a computer music with it..i think..

[@MatthijsDierckx]

Sorry, but that's quite literally in the description: this is an option for game developers who do not have a large budget, but still want an epic orchestral soundtrack. You can discuss matters of taste, but this is a valid option for lots of smaller studios.

[@alexadamcsak5046]

@@MatthijsDierckx ok, so replace people with just a few midi notes because you dont have a budget..i see. same than unreal engine 5 versus real life..

[@alexadamcsak5046]

@@MatthijsDierckx Sorry; i was just a Joker.

[@raztube90]

So bad big doesn’t mean epic Or layering One instrument if the game is good also can make it big or better harmony or better music = BIG

[@MatthijsDierckx]

@@raztube90 In this context big means a big sound. I've written really intimate music when a game needed that. It's neither worse nor better, just different. This talk was solely to explain to game developers that IF they want, they can have a soundtrack (or theme) that sounds big and epic without breaking the bank.