Comments on my LotR piece (newbie) / general newbie questions

[Sijmen]

Hi,

Personal introduction

A year ago I started working on the piece 'In Dreams' from Lord of the Rings on the piano, after two years of piano lessons. It went fairly well and now I can play the piece, albeit a somewhat simplified version of it, on the piano.

Now I'd like to get myself to the next level and so something bigger on the computer. I've done some small thingies (not requesting any comments on these):

Spicks and Specks (1 MB) - tried to mimick original sound as close as possible
Titanic - My Heart Will Go On (1.5 MB) - tried to make a realistic fluit
Pachelbel in C (1.1 MB) - first semi-orchestral sounding thing

Again: not requesting any comments on those, altough you are of course free too.

The real stuff

Now, I'd like to create an orchestral version of the piece 'In Dreams' mentioned above. I've put together something but am not quite happy with the sound, so I'd like to get a few suggestions if possible.

In Dreams (W.I.P., 1.4 MB)

Technical:

• Using GarageBand '05 without Jam Packs
• Hardware equipment: a basic M-Audio Keystation 49e + sustain pedal
• Budget: about € 40 if needed

Some specific questions:

1. It doesn't sound like a real orchestra. How to improve that?
2. Would there maybe be a pre-written orchestral arrangement available somewhere with the different parts written out? I've only got two hands of piano now and the rest is improvising.
3. Are there any freely availably software instruments for GarageBand? Of not, for Logic Express? Is the latter worth the investment?

Thanks for any help or other feedback. If there's something wrong with the post contents or its format, please say so nicely

 

[scottlinux]

Get the symphony orchestra jam pack. That is your best bet at this point.

Otherwise, you will have to spend quite a bit of money for samples. And an external drive to put them on. And Logic Pro, or Cubase. And a powerful enough machine with lots of ram to play them back. TV/Film composers have probably $10,000+ invested in samples alone; and probably at least $5,000 just in their Powermac.

Check out the mp3 demos here:

http://www.vsl.co.at/

 

[scottlinux]

I should add that their are soundfonts out there on the web for free. Logic Express and Logic can use soundfonts. Try to find these:

Titanic soundfont
Cadenza soundfont
mustheory2 soundfont

They have orchestral instrument sounds that are probably comparable to a $200 General Midi keyboard sounds. With the right EQ and reverb they can be useful.