The No. 1 Beginner Mistake | Orchestral Programming Tips

The No. 1 Beginner Mistake | Orchestral Programming Tips

0:00 overcomplicating things
1:44 writing some music
4:24 mic selections
9:45 exaggerated eq
12:19 don't pan
14:36 overdo compression
15:27 using too much reverb

[ZachHeyde]

Man, such a useful and important video you've made here. I remember how heartbreaking it'd feel years ago when I'd be mixing for hours on end, disable the plugins I'd been tweaking to compare to the original, and realize to my dismay that I made everything sound WORSE. Hoping you save some other composers from the same fate 🥲

[AaronAsherRandall]

😂 I love that you actually ended up with an awesome custom sound. I totally get the point though.

[pseudomino]

I’m guilty of every single one of those errors, specially in my first pieces. Fortunately, I noticed the end result was worse than the unmixed versions, so sometimes I discarded the changes I made. I really needed this video.

[raymondspagnuolo]

The EQ tips were very helpful. Thanks for posting.

[carminepastore]

Great video! Direct and right to the point. An old guy like me needs this type of info. Thanks again!!

[jenssieckmann]

Thanks Mattia, this is a great video. Besides these "technical" overcomplications I would like to know some of the beginner mistakes regarding composition and arrangement, e.g. adding too many layers, not separating voices enough and so on.

[maciej]

Thank you so much for this tutorial. It is stunning. The topics you are mentioned are fundamental to start (in my opinion).
My conclusion from this tutorial is:
1. Simplicity
2. Listen first to be able to play/create later.

[RtFactor]

Well done, thank you for showing us this.

[guatemala]

Awesome! Thank you so much.
I found you through Zach Heyde and am so glad I did 😁.
Thanks again.
K

[BLiViON]

Thank you for this. This is useful for people like me who came from EDM production to scoring. In EDM, crazy sound engineering is the rage. Coming to orchestral scoring where simplicity is often better, it's a bigger transition between the two styles than I appreciated at first. Definitely agree with these tips.

[gonzalozubillaga]

This is both Hilarious and great intel! Thank you.

[Vitericus]

Thanks for this Mattia. I have to say, as I'm mostly self taught, a problem I run into is that when I go and take some online courses, read books or just talk to other composers, everyone has their own idea of, "do this EQ, add this compression, add these reverbs, " etc. Even one guy I know said he does nothing at all for EQ, because the sample libraries are good enough quality. BUT, no matter which instructor's method I follow (or doing nothing at all) I never, ever get the same results. I know that orchestration is the #1 key for a clear and balanced sound, but even with some of the highest quality libraries, I still don't get anywhere near the same results. My best sounding stuff always come from writing a full score in Dorico and using the cheap Noteperformer playback.

P.S. Thanks for the 20th Century Orchestration course! Very much enjoying it as that's my main style of writing. Very informative.

[dbo]

That was actually great, and the part where you were just messing with the mics willy nilly was hilarious. What do you think of the mono mic for a vintage 40s-50s sound? Thanks for the tips!

[DJDavis]

Hey i was the one who asked about what level should you be at in terms of piano playing to start writing. I would say I'm in between beginner and Intermediate. That's just me saying that though

[alisafarpour]

I've got a big confusion with opening the VSTs. Did you load the BBC orchestra VST for every track from the start or you just channeled the first VST to different tracks?

[ammy]

Hey Mattia, wonderful video. Thank you for those tips. They will certainly help me and a lot of people go a long way.

I just bought BBCSO Core in the Winter Sale and I see that upgrading to Pro is 330$. I do have hard drive space considerations and also I work with 32GB RAM. I've seen you mention that you use the Mix 1 on BBCSO Pro most of the times, which also happens to be the one mix available in Core. So, what advantages do you see having Pro. If you could make that purchase again, would you go for Core instead? Or do you do find yourself using the additional extras Pro offers a lot?

[dfizzbom]

Great video. I think you've covered the other challenge in other videos but a big one for me that I still struggle with is arrangement. Just like the abundance processors to change the sounds, there's also the abundance of sounds themselves. I constantly struggle to just simplify my arrangements for better sonic clarity. I think to myself, is there a reason to layer four string libraries? Is an ensemble patch of winds sustains helping or hurting? Is the percussion too busy? Would my virtual percussionists look like circus acrobats with all they're doing? Is redundant part writing for the different orchestra sections creating a mess? Have I forgotten that I already HAVE that part written on another track! And here's the easiest one to screw up of all- with all the excitement of finishing writing you just render it off and consider it done. You never take the time to mix the piece properly. Often times it's then that you find sloppy midi writing, redundant parts, insane amounts of bass, poor balance, etc. I'm not really a beginner and yet I often times get it wrong. I don't think I've ever gotten it perfectly right yet. I guess that keeps me chasing it- a good thing.

[ViktorKajtazaj]

Hello Matttia Chiappa:) Is it allowed to send you music for a review?

[envrie]

I really don’t agree with the first one. I use the BBCSO and my mix would sound like trash if I didn’t eq on all of the instruments and put compression on some of the parts. Really odd that you think there’s no need to eq sample libraries. Idk, am I crazy. I really don’t think so lol. Because when I listen to the BBCSO strings it sounds much more realistic sounding when I raise the high end. It makes the bow impact on the string stand out much more. Obviously use eq in moderation but I strongly believe that raising the high frequencies on these instruments is vital for making each orchestral a section sound separated and lively. I definitely agree on the room mics tip though. Unless you’re doing a hybrid orchestral production, in that case, do whatever you want.

[ZooDinghy]

I tried the high-pass suggestion some time ago to get rid rid of the low frequency rumble. Suddenly, everything sounded empty and thin. It was so frustrating.