could you tell us who else? It looks like an amazing way to work!!

Hey Mark thanks for watching! Just looked up Divisimate and all I can say is OOOOOOHH

@@vincecomposer I love Divisimate, I think it is really powerful when it comes to playing in orchestrated lines. It works with normal sample libraries, but works especially well with performance based one like Aaron Ventures Infinite Series and potentially Sample modeling (thought I haven't yet seen any one is it with that yet). If you do end up using it, please do a video on it as I think more people need to know about it 🙂

@@Markrspooner Hey Mark, the divisimate video is up! Thank you for pointing me to the app, its going to be very useful 🙌

@@vincecomposer fantastic, I’m glad you like Divisimate

Thanks Marshall! FYI I currently use this one www.tecontrol.se/products/usb-midi-breath-bite-controller-2 which includes bite, tilt and nod sensitivity in addition to breath. The bite I find especially useful to trigger vibrato like in this video (i'm using the mod wheel for vib speed) kzfaq.info/get/bejne/fsmmg8SqxKeZgas.html Happy composing!

Thanks for the heads up! I actually purchased both a little while after shooting this. Great libraries :)

I second that "thanks for the heads up" remark. The "sketch" mode (turning off legato transitions) is very useful for getting down both melodic and polyphonic ideas. Thanks.

I haven't used any libraries by the company 'Performance Samples' specifically but if you mean more generally libraries like Infinite series, Sample Modelling etc (which I think are sometimes referred to as performance samples) - then yes, I've been playing with them extensively since making this video. I think they're a great way to stay in the flow of writing music, specifically the early stages of capturing what's in your imagination. Then I'd tend to bring in other samples (or musicians!) to finish the job. Thanks for watching and glad you found it useful!

Well spotted! Active ones, bought them online from Studio Care maybe 7 or so years back.

Hi Neil thanks for the question, there are two basic approaches I take - #1 If the sketch is very close to what I want or its complicated, I tend to copy all the midi over to the different instruments and then delete what I don't need. In Logic use Shift - Up arrow to select only the top notes of a chord in the piano roll and shift-down for the bottom notes. You can also use Shift- I to invert the selection. #2 Another approach I use is simply start from scratch - performing each part (not worrying about it being exactly the same - just the most important ideas) using the sketch as a map and playing in the lines by ear. I prioritise writing singable lines. When working this way I often find that I require fewer voices to get the idea across than are in the original sketch - the arrangement tends to be more economical. Generally I find that not rushing this step is key to making a good arrangement (even though it can feel tedious at times).Hope this helps!

@@vincecomposer Thanks for your reply. Yes, those would be the two possible approaches. Each has its particular problems, though. In the first approach, I find I have to do a lot of tweaking or even replaying of parts to match to idiosyncrasies of the new instrument (touch sensitivity, articulation subtleties, etc.). So in the end, I end up transitioning to the second approach. And the problem with the second approach is that I end up playing the game of "beat the sketch"! If I really like the sound of the rough sketch, I sometimes end up doing multiple takes to try and imitate it or surpass it. Your finally comment is perhaps the most significant. When I record a rough sketch track, I am usually playing two handed chords, so the individual parts are not necessarily melodic or interesting, So when I break it down into separate tracks, I can concentrate less on the harmonic structure and more on the flow of each part (dare I say counterpoint?). Interesting discussion.

Agreed. Intuiting the degree to which the sketch is representative of your final vision is a key part of the composing process I think. Sometimes my sketch ends up being almost identical to the piece (especially if its a piano track) - other times its really just the beginning of a much longer journey...