"Give it a little wiggle". Invaluable advice and an important habit.

It’s so refreshing to hear a composer/musician talk openly about not having the ability to read or write music. There are a lot of discussions regarding how important that knowledge is with purists damning those of us who - and in my case consciously - haven’t learnt to read or write. But what is abundantly obvious - especially in the case of Mr Henson - is that music is in the head and with the help of technology it’s extremely easy to transport those ideas into something tangibly audible. I have found that some - not all - trained composers find it difficult to move away - break the rules - of what becomes a musical straight jacket. In the end I’ve found it’s not always about what you have learnt and rules but what you do with with the ability you have... Johnny ‘one note’ Guitar Watson anyone:) Your tutorials are always informs,interesting and down to earth... I really appreciate your honesty:)

I love this video. Christian, I’m a beginner embarking on a midlife career pivot, yet even I can see that you are truly a gift to the community.

This is one of my favorite videos on this channel. Helps explains how to write better as a composer, second time watching this and I learned more than the first time watching.

Thnak you so much for sharing this important information : EXPRESSION is essential in music , not only notes, not only choice of instruments . Music is emotion in motion.

I knew there was a secret to this! No words to express how grateful I am with you Christian. Thanks for this and all the amazing sounds you and your team create!

I play by ear, and new to recording, so the creation and emotional structure of an orchestral piece in Logic is most appreciated. A really enlightening tutorial Christian - thank you!

It feels as if you are teaching information and technique taught in top music universities, this is very valuable. As a musician and composer who is not attending a music school, this is very encouraging.

Thanks for the free masterclass. Abbey Road One is now my starting go to library. The other thing I found is that I can have many instances of Abbey Road One running at once and my computer never stutters one bit. I love it.

With those controls you can make your music breathing or even holding a breath. Another words, you can bring more life to your creations. Thanks, Christian. Very valuable tutorial!

This is the best explanation of orchestral programming I have seen/heard to date (and I'm 2 years late). Considering the tingling sensation I feel in my head right now, I believe there will be a marked improvement in how my strings sound. Thank you Christian 👏

Valuable - one of the best videos with real value. Well done Christian Henson. Thanks

This tutorial was truly amazing. Thank you for sharing your knowledge in such a clear and concise way. Really helpful.

Awesome tips, Christian, thanks - love the part by part expression/dynamic control!

Great tutorial and flawless presentation, as always. Thank you for all the great stuff!

Fantastic tutorial on this subject! It was so needed and so well done. Thanks!

Always love Spitfire's tutorial, Thank you for making this useful content.

Making it easier is one thing. Understanding it, is another. Thank you again for BBC OS 💫

Christian, you’re amazing. You’re one of the great writers AND programmers. Thanks for this.

The best orchestral tutorial on the web - and I have seen them all . Fundamental techniques one absolutely MUST use to sound authentic

These 30 minutes went by in a flash. EXCELLENT tutorial. Thanks !!

Thanks so much, Christian. As always I learn more from you in 30 minutes than I could in a lifetime of study (I haven't even tried Abby Road yet but I'm glad I bought it).

Hi Christian! I recently upgraded my MIDI controller to a Novation LaunchKey 25 Mk3. It's lovely. One of the things I love most-mod and pitch wheels! I've been watching your videos for two years, seeing what you can do with your expression controls, and wishing I could do the same on my humble LaunchKey Mk2, but alas. Now, though! 😎⚡️ A few nights ago I was playing with my LABS Choir in Ableton, but with the Mk3, with the mod wheel, etc-and OMG! What a difference it made. I was so happy, @Christian. Thank you for all your inspiration! :)

Very enlightening! A somewhat comprehensive approach to modulation - many thanks!

Exactly what I needed to know, thank you for taking the time to educate 🙏🏾

Dude is a BEAST. I'll try this, it seems like it's wayyyy easier than drawing in automation on everything.

Brilliant and simple tutorial and very easy to understand. After 33 years of music (mostly heavy metal) I am finally getting into writing classical style music and using expressive automation. Why did I not notice this type of music more when I was so young a foolish I will never know. Cheers.

Thank you very much for this guide. I'm just starting my journey in music composition and am suffering from the states of mind you describe such as wondering how I will be able to play the notes and operate the faders at the same time (now I know its ok to do it separately). I love how you describe how the instruments sound (e.g. chocolatey) instead of sticking to technical terms. This makes it easier to understand as a beginner.

Best tutorial on the topic I’ve seen. Thank you!

I have been looking for a tutorial on this subject for some time. Thanks so much, greatly appreciated and well done.

This is really useful. I recently got feedback that my string section lacked expressive quality. So here I am. That was brilliant Christian!

😊👍👍👍👍👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻thank You so much, Christian. Most illuminating and You are such a great teacher!

This was fabulous! Thanks Christian!

Thank you Christian!

Thanks for your time and your easy explanation. I really like how you make it clear that the important thing is to feel how those instruments would work, to put your feeling as if you were playing them. And it doesn't matter so much whether it's a high-end or low-end controller, what matters is the warmth of your intention. And if we don't always have the Pencil. I loved your explanation. Thanks a lot. We listen to each other in this Sound Universe.

Thank you for being such a great teacher!

Best tutorial on orchestral programming i've seen ever! Thank you

Thank you! Amazing tutorial

Amazing as always... The reason you show all technic with so much passion and honesty..

SO much easier programming the expressions afterwards!! I am a two handed player, so this is perfect!! Thank you!!!

simply amazing how simply you are able to explain orchestral concepts. I get it now

Very helpful. I'm getting more out of Abbey Road One Orchestral Foundation thanks to your programming tips. Thanks Christian.

Beautifully explained, inspiring. Validating my musical illiteracy! Thank you.

On a side note, including the Logic sessions (and MIDI, for users of other DAWs) as you guys are seeming to do more often nowadays, is great. It would be _awesome_ to have these available for the walkthrough and in action videos for each product!

Today I bought my copy of Abbey Road One! Truly amazing. This video helps a lot on how to get the max out of it. Thanks!

More than one gain stage. Now that is a superb point! Thanks Christian.

I was just looking for a clean example of sound shaping with the mod wheel and expression tools found in orchestral librairies. Ended up with much more. Thank you for the small tips throughout the video, especially the hand drawing pencil. ✍

Great insight thank you again for LABS.. just fantastic

What is it they say, "it's not what you are doing wrong... it is what you are not doing." I learned all kinds of things here I'm not doing. Great video.

It was thanks to SA that I started using expression control and wow did it change my whole approach and outlook to composing. I always love these insights in your videos and your libraries have revolutionised my creative approaches. Thanks Christian and thanks Spitfire 😁🎵

Brilliant Christian!! Thank you!!

Wonderful! Thank You for such amazing insight!!!

Thanks Christian !!! Greatly appreciate this video.

Great info! I've written for more than a few small orchestras (under 20 performers) and have no formal training, but self study and great videos like this are why some of us are blessed to be able to do these sort of things without the formal training. :)

Great story behind at the beginning and obviously awesome valuable informations!

Thank you very much to show us many paths of writing music and using all tools to be more human. Great video. 🙏

Thank you so much for making this!

Fantastic Video! Thanks for sharing these amazing tips.

I love your videos, and this one was particularly useful. Thanks!

Great video thank you for posting!

Thank you Christian for a fantastic tutorial. Was finally able to program my old SL mk II (no more automap) and CC expression and dynamics to the faders. Wanted to know more about controlling this while playing, and you showed me that here! Looking forward to play with Originals Choir with this in my arsenal!

This is superb!!!! Thanks so much for posting.

Brilliant! I wish I had watched something like this long ago.

Thanks Christian! just what i was looking for.

Very instructive video: "You're the man"!!! Thanks for doing it and sharing the knowledge. Thanks!

Thanks for the trick with two faders! Brilliant one!

Hands down I learn more from this channel than most of the other musician channels put together. Fantastic work as always!

Thank you for this brilliant tutorial!

This is pure gold.

Very useful information. Thanks very much, Christian! I’ll try this out in Abbey Road One, BBCSO Pro and even on non-orchestral sounds.

When he was doing the cellos and the basses, everytime System of a Down would pop in my head! Great video!

thank you, exactly what i was looking for!

Thank you so much!

This is a Master Class. It's a bummer that the MIDI files are not available. Thank you, Christian!

Thanks that was very helpful and answered some questions I had about expression.

Very useful advice, well delivered. Thank you!

Absolutely great tutorial. Can't wait to learn more about music so that I can try to do this

Billiant Christian. How to add emotion and feeling to the music we make. A professional presentation, a great host and the reason I changed from EastWest to Spitfire Audio. Keep up the good work.

First thanx a lot for your tutorials Christian, they are really helpful! Speaking about realism in orchestra programming, you forget to mention one thing which I think is really important: when programming horns , woods and choirs we have to think about the necessity to BREATH like real musicians do. A horn player will never be capable to play a 8 bars long without breathing.. So we have to think about it ;-) Doing that, I noticed that it gives more realism to the score. All the best! (Yvan from France)

Best training I have seen on creating music on the computer

Fantastic tutorial, thank you!

Thank you so much I am so happy to learn about that wiggling thing with the modulating wheel . I was doing the same thing with my keyboard and I thought maybe something was wrong with my keyboard. I am new with all that stuff I just bought a keyboard last may and I am making music with BBC symphony orchestra. Now I know there is nothing wrong with my keyboard. Thank you so much for all the other tricks very useful

Wonderful course

The wiggle! Thank you! I always wondered why I had that problem sometimes.

Awesome video. Thank you!

Great video thanks so much

Inspiring, Christian. Thank you 🙏🏻

Amazing tutorial, I've learned a lot from just this single video! That unintentional "Aerials" Bass/Cello intro, from System of a Down at 16:22 was actually a glitch in the matrix.

This is very clear explanation thank you wel Christian.

Terrific tutorial - thank you

Eye opener... brilliant - thanks for this....

A BIG thank you for this tutorial.

So, not gonna lie, I spent my entire night last night scouring your guy's tutorials looking at how you all use expression. Literally right now I'm practicing using cc controls the very second I saw this.

Best tutorial I have seen on Orchestral Programming. It is not as scary as it seems!

Awesome info!! Thank you so much!

Really great. Gonna share this with the Cue Tube community as it'll help them a lot I think. Thanks for your generosity to the community.

Great tutorial and definitely a must watch. Confirmation on what some of us were thinking. A few notable companies have tried these techniques( i won't say the names here) but it is clear to me the quality of the samples are truly first class.

Fantastic video that's cleared up a lot of confusion I had (and also answers a large part of "why upgrade from BBC SO Discover?").

great tutorial and info!

Thanks again Christian!