The Orchestrator has one great "by product" in that if you load a preset and then look at the zones, you can learn a lot about how good textures stack up. Another benefit is that you can play a chord and have the notes spread over separate instruments on the same midi track. This is more difficult to set up using midi alone.
Dear Guy, Thank you for your great video's. As a woman, in my 50's with no music education what so ever I am learning so much. And...having a blast. So many new worlds yet to discover. Like a kid in a candy store all over again. Wishing you a great weekend! Greetings from the Netherlands,
Guy, I love watching your videos. You put things together so quickly and make it look so easy. I get inspired and it takes me hours to accomplish the same thing. Cheers and thanks for the amazing content!
I'm not confident the orchestrator will damage the realm of 'ground up composers', because their strength is writing specifically for a cause or a director, and any automation diminishes customisation to a certain degree. Though, as you said with the Discovery Channel and the Roland D50, I'm sure it'll pop up because it's quick and effective! I imagine the 'industry' side of the music industry would love the efficiency and care less about the artistic integrity. All that said, every new tool craves a new way to be used, so it might inspire creativity in new ways too. GAH, CONFLICTED! Great review as per, love your videos!
Very good as always. Guy, you crack me up! Thanks for the in-depth review. I did hold on with EW thinking eventually they would bring out something worthwhile :)
I would say that the Orchestrator is fun way to find an inspiration by randomly type in some stuff and sometimes it is really surprising what you get. But all in all you could do that by splitting the midi channels and type in some notes in the piano roll. But I appreciate the Orchestrator for times when I have no idea what to do and then build from that "sketch" up.
Thank you so much for this video. I just downloaded this and understand what you are saying about the Orchestrator, but I see the benefit of it. It can help generate an idea and then I can fine tune it. Your videos are most helpful! Thanks again!!! Jason
The orchestrator is a great tool for new composers and its a lot of fun to play with but it’s not taking anyone’s jobs anytime soon. It’s just another starting point and it’ll separate actual composers from preset composers
I was pretty unimpressed until I looked under the lid and realised how easy it was to design your own patces and THAT is where this things power is. Forget the presets, design your own. Its actually really easy and the end result is going to sound like whats in your head.
@@shayneoneill1506 That does sound useful. Guy didn't go into how to program it, but the idea of being able to plug my own figures into different parts of a score with the Orchestrator, as Guy mentioned, rather than cutting and pasting MIDI, would be great.
Native INstruments have similar thins Action Strings and Actions Strikes Its great starting point. And whats more if you spend time and learn how it is works you earn a gold :)
@@shayneoneill1506 That's what I thought instantly after watching their guide to the orchestrator. Admitted .. it doesn't bring anything new that haven't been done before and I would probably do exactly what musicians have done for the last 4 decades of various brand Arranger keyboards, turn 2-3 arranger tracks off and use the drums and bass and a simple guitar that fits with the track you are doing and then add other stuff later. What it brings is what looks to be an incredible easy interface to both understand and use within minutes to record your own midi tracks. I was one of those that always liked the idea if BiaB (Band in a Box), but found it to be well ... poorly coded and way to cumbersome to figure out and actually use compared to how easy and fast it is to use a hardware Arranger keyboard. It has become better over the last 3 decades but still is extremely cumbersome to use, and the Keyboards actually evolved faster with the ability to record your own arrangements, while BiaB stood still for decades, which I always thought was strange since its only relying on software today so It could be so much more powerful than spending a lot of money on one of the High quality arranger boards. And lets face it. Arranger boards are not a dirty word anymore. There is lots of people today that uses them to do a fast muck up for a demo song and then replace the arranger tracks later when actually doing the recording If Orchestrator supports all EW libraries with pop, vocal, synth etc. It's a much better toy/tool than BiaB for those that either haven't the skills for recording everything from the bottom up or just want to put up a fast idea and see if its that way you are to go or the client/band/Soloist want something else. I think that with how easy it is to see and edit what is going on, creating fast glissando's or other motifs you use often in they key editor of Orchestrator can make your life much easier than having to remember tons of key binds to copy paste and moving stuff in your DAW. And the current price of several of the EW Opus versions is in my eyes an extremely good value for what you get. And you can of cause just forget about the Orchestrator if using it gives you nervous tick's 😊
After much thought, I have bitten the bullet and bought into the composer cloud. I did this based on your review and implied recommendation. So, If I suck it is completely your fault. AND I got it mostly for the orchestrator. I heard what you said about it being a slippery slope and it not being the old or the purist way to compose music. but that is the least of my worries. I am a 68 yr old rock guitarist and I don't have time to learn what you learned in a lifetime of study and practice. But, This is just a means to an end. which is, to lay down orchestrated tracks for me to put my guitar vocals and drums to. I guess the style of music I am trying to emulate would be, TSO, Yngvie playing with Symphony, etc and so on. SO anything that will make my journey easier is much desired. I would like to point out that the editing feature for the score presets are quite easy to tweak using their presets as a base idea. It is nice to have the mechanics of a sound already in the can and adjust as needed. In a sense creating your own sound without the time and inexperience getting in the way and bogging down the workflow. But, I have much respect for your expertise and talent. You make me wish I had learned theory and composition as a younger man, but It is what it is. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching your vids and have learned so much about composing from you that I feel I can accomplish my goals. Thank you very much. You have made me fall in love with music again.
Orchestrator seems like the "homework hand in" special. Its likely to homogenise music even further of course. To me, the benefit would be to listen "in isolation" to some of those constructs and learn why they work, or how they deliver their impact.
The orchestrator allows you to create your own designs, so it is useful to the intermediate composer, the good thing about that is the fact that it saves time loading in all the instruments and finding what works. So you can still create original and unique pieces of music. The lazy people will be the ones who just hold a key down and use the stock samples :P
It's not hard to understand like you might think. "Wolfgang' clearly implies more than one wolf. That means that anyone who's a Wolf "gang" must come in groups of at least 2 if not preferably 3 or more. However 2, being the minimum to form a gang meant they simply could not hire just one to complete the task.
Hi Guy. Thanks for this. Loved hearing your opinion on Orchestrator which I asked about on another of your videos. Having had a chance to play about with it now, I think it's going to be useful in finding that initial creative idea. I find myself playing with the ensemble tab more and literally just playing around in these until I find an idea that I'd like to go with this then going back and doing it the 'old fashioned' way using Spitfire samples instead. :D
Hi guy ofcourse the best music composition content maker in youtube ever. Could you please make a video about finding our sound and our form to execute a unique music ... it will be really blessing for everyone like me ... Thanks at all you are great
On his points regarding orchestrator I get it. I remember when the evolve mutations libraries (and other similar libraries) came out. You started hearing unedited loops from those libraries in tons of shows. But like the evolve libraries the truly creative professionals will find ways to make the patches their own and develop their own sound with it.
The new version of orchestrator lets you export individual MIDI tracks to your daw. From there you can study the scores in notation. A great learning tool, better than importing MIDI scores for study as the extra customisation of articulation and other settings preserved
Thanks for the review, I'm working on my own cgi animation already have Omnisphere and U-HE synths so after your review bought Opus Hollywood I'm getting better results than expected thanks.
Thank you for the reviews and hands on scoring with all of the libraries. The sounds on this one are definitely good. The player seems ok. Usable, in a word. The orchestrator ..... The technology is nifty but when we step back and ask relevant questions, the road and destination don't look quite so pleasant or desirable. I'll stick with "I'm fine to design my own runs. They aren't as tedious as I once surmised" Regarding your alter ego (Guy) - keep this in the videos. It's brilliant if not charming.
I find that the VSL Instruments Pro, singles, which generally have 'midi' included, within the player, can show one what can be done, like, for example, the Basset Horn, but Opus does not really do that, in fact, within a week, I forgot I had it and the the new content. The best thing about PLAY, versus UVI, Kontakt..., is that it has a VST3 version, which means, when not being used, it uses no CPU. Plus I love the WordBuilder.
I just installed Opus about a week ago and it's pretty impressive. It also meant I ended up getting a notice from my ISP that I used up 90% of my data for the month since downloading all the Hollywood Opus VST libraries is 944 Gb :-D Worth it, but you definitely need a fairly decent computer if you don't want to test your patience.
Hi Guy hope you re doing well, regarding the orchestrator i can understand your point of view but from my point of view as a game developer who don't intend to make a career in composition or the music industry it's simply a very great tool in my arsenal. I have train myself on music theory for 2 or 3 years alongside my game development cycle just to be able to do my whole game score and these kind of tools came very handy for me to achieve my vision of how my game score would sound. I am currently finishing my game score thank to these tools and people like you showing on the fly the process of writing music score since i am learning faster visually and audibly then from the theory i have learn so far. I even found the theory to limit our creativity since we are following convention, experimenting is king and if it sound good then go for it!
I put together a title screen theme for a personal game project I am working on. I used only two tracks, each with orchestrator as the instrument. The first is the background score using full orchestra. The second is the melody using a full orchestra ensemble. I wasn't looking to put a lot of time into this pierce, but I still wanted it to sound big. Interestingly enough as I listen to the finished quick and dirty result, I can hear a lot of actual composition potential. eventually, I will revisit this piece and flesh out a full orchestration for each individual instrument, totally replacing the orchestrator tracks. But for now I think it serves its purpose of prototyping a piece of music that works as-is. Orchestrator is a powerful tool and will help me a great deal with gitting a small idea going in a big way and then taking it to the next level as my muse, if cooperative, will begin fleshing out the dynamics. Keep in mind that this piece is just meant to loop constantly on a tityle screen. I give you "The Chronicles of Omero - Main Title" ruclips.net/video/TefGe5X4inI/видео.html
A year later... Really Great Review Video! I was a little worried about the length but you made it fun and interesting all the way though. Thank you! I've been (or at least been trying to) writing music for multiple decades and I'm just getting into scoring orchestration. After weeks of contemplation finally decided to go with EastWest. First due to the cost (budget budget budget! Now I get like 1 less Starbucks each week) and all stuff that is available through the subscription - their library is immense for so little cost! So far I am more than impressed with the Hollywood sounds (and the Symphonic Orchestra is icing on the cake!). As for Composer, I feel like you... "that's like cheating/stealing!!" but, giving credit to some of the commenters, it sounds like it would be a great tool for inspiration when writers block sets in... for me that can be like every 20 minutes or so (LOL), so I'll have to give it a try.
As a wannabe employed person from library music I think I'd prefer building my own orchestra pieces. I'm probably mad if its this easy to do with east west...even if its limited. Then again... it could teach me what instruments make for such impressive sounds.
I'm an experienced composer, but I would still use the orchestrator from time to time. If I get a project, with zero budget, but they want an epic hollywood sound, then I'm not going to manually program everything in. Depending on the budget, you choose your gear, after all you are a business and the client gets what they pay for.
About the orchestrator. I see it as a group of templates to be edited. I sometimes just let it load the instrument choices erase the arpeggios and do my own thing. Though I admit most of the time I do everything from scratch. But the or he traitors is definitely a time saver for loading a bunch of instruments at the same time. Thanks for the video.
Yes I clearly remember both the the Roland D-50 and D-20, the good old days...hehe and that one hit note I think was called Orchestra Hits! LOL good times 😁
The guilty gross feeling you got from the auto-music presets is interesting... because I used to feel that way about ANY sample pack, synth preset, etc. I felt this pressure that I had to program all my synth settings, and not use any sampled instruments, etc. But, where do I stop? Should I not record digitally cause it's too easy? Should I build my own synths? And design my and build my own instruments? Cut down the right tree myself for the wood? AH! It's hard to know where to draw the line sometimes for me. When I have a paid gig where I have X amount of limited time and a particular goal from a client, THAT is when I cut through all this bullshit and just use the tool that makes it work within our decided time available. Hmm
Haven't really played with the Orchestrator yet. But thinking of the scenario where a client has used a temp track, like Batman:Dark Night, and says , give me something like that. I can see Orchestrator giving you a starting recipe to work from. Then you can say "I don't like garlic, I'll change that to root ginger", or "Not beef tomatoes, I'll go with cherry tomatoes"... You can still create a Salsa but it is your unique salsa and not something anyone has tasted before yet still Salsa...
Hello Guy, the orchestrator is only a feature - you do not have to use it. But for the huge majority of people, this is a good place to start, and sound as good as you or Hans Zimmer, with just a few chords. This is simply an extension of arpegiation, which introduced most people to synthesizers in modern music, nothing wrong with saving a lot of time, and getting a few new "sounds". It takes years to learn how to orchestrate properly. Especially for those who do this as a hobby, or just want to try their hands and see, the orchestrator is a most welcome tool. Your mileage may vary. I think its a great idea that would bring many more people into "writing" orchestra based music., and over time having learnt the basics, they can then move on to become like you, or Hans Zimmer - who writes only the theme, and gets a whole bunch of minions and ghost writers to "orchestrate" the score for him, and takes all the credit !!. Orchestrators were always a key part of movie music, and most music, and nothing wrong with having the computer provide some of this for us as a starting point. As I said earlier, the orchestrator is optional - nice to have, the user does not have to rely on this tool.
You said it “it takes years to learn how to orchestrate properly”. That’s what it is. If you write music for a movie and don’t have the orchestration expertise, then you will have to hire a professional. Even John Williams worked with an orchestrator. This tool might be good for fast sketching, but composers should be careful not to overuse is, and sound repetitive/boring, doing same usual superhero movie soundtrack vibe.
@@mathieukmusic8143 that is and odd comment, Guy wrote the superhero type theme, from scratch, and the orcehstrator includes several of styles, not just superhero themes. So in this case Guy went for something he is used to, whereas had he tried the orchestrator more, he would have probably found a preset that inspired him to write something else.
@@TheJonHolstein Hi Jon. I’m not entirely sure what you mean. From what I’ve heard in different videos the orchestrator seems to be used for that typical modern Hollywood style. Orchestration is an art by itself which has infinite possibilities. These kind of tools are good for learning and sketching, but it can also limit the composer to certain habits and narrow the vision of what orchestral music can be.
@@mathieukmusic8143 Guy, the person making this video, made an Orchestrator kind of production, without using the orchestrator. After complaining a bit over the concept of orchestrator. If the issue is getting stuck in making the same kind of music over and over, that is already an issue, for people in the industry, like Guy. Potentially, products like the orchestrator, could come with even more programed themes, that perhaps will break habits of the composer, by giving them a tool, that takes them out of their typical go to tricks. But as it is, Orchestrator, comes with a set of themes, that includes typically go to tricks, of many modern composers, meaning that some composers already write in a similar style to orchestrator patches.
The Orchestrators secret sauce is not the preset patches from factory. It's the ability to program all instruments however you want in the pianoroll. You can use the tool to create 100% original compositions.
Great video as always 👍 and thanks for the walkthrough. Totally see the conflicts but probably great for those breaking in to composing. Personally I’d much rather stick with the ground up approach which provides for greater control over sound and orchestration, and the overall ‘tailored’ approach that makes a score unique and ensures it stands out from the crowd.
Excellent point regarding the orchestrator Guy, Clients won’t want a full generic score like that but I think this could be a really good time saver for composers on a tight schedule to deliver , to drop in the orchestrator midi for a scene or two quickly if asked for that sound ( temp track has something similar ) vs sketching it across multiple instruments and arranging ….I personally use the novation 49 MKII arp in chord mode or sequencer and play the notes to midi for string ostinato 🎸
The same developers worked on both products. I use The Orchestra now and then for inspiration and very quick sketches, but then rely on other libraries for actual programming. Not Opus though, I really don’t like the sounds.
Thank you Guy! now for those of us with a loud subwoofer in our playback system: It would be excellent if you could manage to find a way to completely isolate your mic (or stand) from any sound you make from playing your keyboard, as it stands right now it is a loud 'thump, thump, thump thump..." throughout your video presentation when you play the keyboard. :( Often louder than some of the soft sounds of the orch) otherwise, it's all excellent...
I produce hip hop and I’ve always been hevsikly influenced by orchestra. Sampling and flipping works by all the great composers is a past time. I’ve spent good deals of time learning to write original pieces but this is next level. I see this as a learning tool if nothing else. Also… this is the dopest piece I’ve heard Guy write in his videos.
Just about the Orchestrator - I use Kontakt, Komplete etc. mostly live, in real time. So the ability to incorporate from a, I dunno, fourth keyboard or a split, something like the Orchestrator is absolutely great. Not because I couldn't get that together (probably) but because in real time? Forget it! That alone makes me want to subscribe. And thanks for having the most un-wanky, useful videos anywhere! PS - I'm sure you've got an incredibly powerful system, but it seems loads of people subscribed to East-W, and even with 8 cores and 96GB(!) of RAM can't get the orchestrator to work, especially but not only on a Mac…… I nearly subscribed to the Opus things until I saw that :-(
I see the orchestrator as just another tool that has a few good uses. The Orchestrator is built on the Sonscore The Orchestra 2 Complete engine. I have that and use it to save a bit of time on Ostinatos, as you say, but its not something that can complete a whole track without sounding boring. What Sonsuscore does is allows you to export the midi tracks separately and then getting creative with those exported parts.
Hey Guy, thank you for the review. Orchestrator in Opus is along the same lines as Spitfire Motion. Either way, I think it's fine; of course, the purists will be pure calling it sacrilegious and the Youth will keep carrying on. The reality is that the professionals will know when and how to use this to speed production and those new getting into this world will use it for more ear training. I am quite impressed at the work done thus far however, kinda borders on AI music. Opps another Wasp nest... Haha
Some people seem to think that Orchestrator will replace a human composer for big epic pieces. I don't see it that way. What this means to me is that I can do more work in less time, so I can finish projects quicker without sacrificing the epic scope. The more work I can take on and finish within a specific amount of time, the more effective I can be. And I can spend time between contracts writing orchestrator presets that I can grab for future projects. That's my take on it.
I also feel conflicted about the orchestrator however as someone who has problems composing this tool is awesome. It’s also quite helpful to create videogame music for a game jam for example since you get something cool quickly
Orchestrator is a good tool to do some accompanying background stuff. Maybe you should have shown how you can alter the sound with the mod wheel which makes it much more interesting. The way you use the Orchestrator is that you play the notes with your right hand and use your left hand for the mod wheel. Also you can change volumes, make the Cello as the leading instrument and so on. Unfortunately you have shown only half of what you can do with the orchestrator
I am a hobbyist, I tried Sonuscores TO2 which had a similar feature but with the ability to export the midi, however I am keen to learn how to program these styles myself from scratch. I understand it appeal though, like these endless midi packs, but sometimes just building something yourself from scratch gives you a buzz that no press and forget helping software can do :D
That cupa looks good! Im happy i finally found this video! I am still in love with these libraries, i made a couple hans zimmer covers just to see if the software us powerful enough, and ive been pleasantly surprised! You should do a new review of there newly released Fantasy Orchestra, also they have forbidden planet which are a ton of cool Synth cinematic sounds! Can i repost this video on my channel?
How many times have you had a great composition in your head but didn't have the time to bring it to life? As for me, I'd have a fairly large library of compositions if it weren't for the tedium of punching holes in the paper roll to direct all of the proper nuances to each note. This kind of software is a God send for creativity and saving time. I won't feel guilty at all for directing this software to bring my musical thoughts into reality so I can then punch many fewer holes (and cover up the holes that don't work) until the composition is exactly what I want. Imagine what composers who actually know what they're doing can do with this? (I do not claim to be among them.)
Noob question . I own many of the libraries already, is there a way to use the new engine or do i have to buy opus to use that engine. Am I stuck to using play otherwise?
When You said that line on 18:40 That was Pretty much, One of the selling point for Me to Get it., What i think would be a Wonderful idea if there were departments in EastWest ,OR, websites that have Third Party Orchestrator Presets., Just an Idea that just popped into My head.
How to arrange your sound libraries in terms of what HDD you're using? Do you use SSD or trad. HDD, most likely 7200rpm then? I can't install Opus on my library disk as of now so East West recommend SSD but they're a tad to expensive for this use I think. Thanks for video, sounds stellar!
Wazzup, I need some help ... Some prev. installed libraries, Like Hollywood Strings Gold, don't appear in my Opus Library list. Is there any way to add them? Haven't found any option to choose a file path ...
Haha Guy I'm as conflicted as you are about the orchestrator! Although it does sound good and it is quite impressive, we are going to start hearing it everywhere. Also, one could argue it's going to be easier for anyone to create music, and this might increase competition between composers, as even more and more of them are going to be able to compose for big ensembles. Even if we composers may find that it is not "as good" as what a real composer or orchestrator would do, it may feel "sufficient" for some tv directors/media producer, thus making it harder for good composers to stand out. One could also argue the same about the profession of musician / instrumentalist being slowly killed by all of those sound libraries we enjoy composing with. The orchestrator goes one step further. And I would not be surprised in a few years to find AI driven products that compose complete pieces all by themselves. Although it is fascinating, it is also very scary.
That is how progress works, and worked in many other fields. A tool/machine, gets good enough (in some cases better) than the skilled manual labor. You can't be too bothered by it, as that would be hypocritical, as the whole of the modern world, relies on progress upon progress. There would not even be musical instruments as we know them, had the progress not happened in the past. freeing people up, to do other things. Music, as in hitting rocks, and making sounds with vocal cords, probably existed, so "music" would have been around, but nothing like the music we think of today, with scales and harmonies. Orchestrator, can be expanded with more presets, so, it isn't just one thing. It already offers several of genres. A lot of composers already write almost the same thing over and over, already. If a composer offers something truly unique, they will stand out, the question would be, if there is demand for it.
Please tell me the chords you used in The Orchestra section; it's brilliant!!! And what was the preset? More please! I'm going to subscribe after your vid. To Soundsonline I mean...
Excellent demo Guy. Really liked the orchestral sketch. I would have liked to see what you can do with the orchestrator. But nevertheless, great video!
As someone who purchased several EW libraries back before there was a 'Composer Cloud', I can't say I'm happy about their treatment of long time customers. From their FAQ: "People who purchase any product post-release will also get OPUS... we are going to wait a while before allowing previous PLAY product purchasers to upgrade in order to assist our support team during this major upgrade period. When we do provide that option, it will be a paid upgrade." Looks like the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.
16:41 I teach music for kids in the younger grades and I just LOVE the idea I can bring my laptop and midi keyboard and they could easily play orchestrated music just by learning a couple of chords. In that sense it's amazing!
It would have been really useful if we could take a look at how was the pre-recorded score notated. Just to borrow a few ideas from it "orchestration wise" and use it on a more personal composition.
Hi Guy, absolutely love your videos and courses. As a beginner to composition, I'm finding them all very helpful. I do have a question regarding the use of HW Orchestra Opus Edition though. What do you, or anyone on this channel for that matter, use to save the library. I'm asking as the Opus Strings library is 944Gb on it's own, let alone the brass, woodwind and percussion. Should I get a 2TB SSD drive or a larger external hard drive for this. Any help that anyone can give would be much appreciated. As I said, I'm just a beginner in all this. Thanks
The Orchestrator has one great "by product" in that if you load a preset and then look at the zones, you can learn a lot about how good textures stack up. Another benefit is that you can play a chord and have the notes spread over separate instruments on the same midi track. This is more difficult to set up using midi alone.
True
Dear Guy, Thank you for your great video's. As a woman, in my 50's with no music education what so ever I am learning so much. And...having a blast.
So many new worlds yet to discover. Like a kid in a candy store all over again.
Wishing you a great weekend!
Greetings from the Netherlands,
Hey guy, just wanted to say thank you for the music courses. They are fabulous at a reasonable price!!!
You're very welcome
@@ThinkSpaceEducation What course?
Nice thing about the orchestrator is you can use it to figure out how they got certain sounds, then tweak it to get your own sound
Guy, I love watching your videos. You put things together so quickly and make it look so easy. I get inspired and it takes me hours to accomplish the same thing.
Cheers and thanks for the amazing content!
Grmbl... You made me do it. I am now in the Composer Cloud. Thanks 😃
"I always judge my Trombones by their pianissimo" Would you say pianissimo is your Forte? 🤔
ha ha
:D
Nice.
Ba dum tsss
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I'm not confident the orchestrator will damage the realm of 'ground up composers', because their strength is writing specifically for a cause or a director, and any automation diminishes customisation to a certain degree. Though, as you said with the Discovery Channel and the Roland D50, I'm sure it'll pop up because it's quick and effective! I imagine the 'industry' side of the music industry would love the efficiency and care less about the artistic integrity. All that said, every new tool craves a new way to be used, so it might inspire creativity in new ways too. GAH, CONFLICTED!
Great review as per, love your videos!
Very good as always. Guy, you crack me up! Thanks for the in-depth review. I did hold on with EW thinking eventually they would bring out something worthwhile :)
I would say that the Orchestrator is fun way to find an inspiration by randomly type in some stuff and sometimes it is really surprising what you get. But all in all you could do that by splitting the midi channels and type in some notes in the piano roll. But I appreciate the Orchestrator for times when I have no idea what to do and then build from that "sketch" up.
Thank you so much for this video. I just downloaded this and understand what you are saying about the Orchestrator, but I see the benefit of it. It can help generate an idea and then I can fine tune it. Your videos are most helpful! Thanks again!!! Jason
The orchestrator is a great tool for new composers and its a lot of fun to play with but it’s not taking anyone’s jobs anytime soon. It’s just another starting point and it’ll separate actual composers from preset composers
I was pretty unimpressed until I looked under the lid and realised how easy it was to design your own patces and THAT is where this things power is. Forget the presets, design your own. Its actually really easy and the end result is going to sound like whats in your head.
@@shayneoneill1506 That does sound useful. Guy didn't go into how to program it, but the idea of being able to plug my own figures into different parts of a score with the Orchestrator, as Guy mentioned, rather than cutting and pasting MIDI, would be great.
Native INstruments have similar thins Action Strings and Actions Strikes Its great starting point. And whats more if you spend time and learn how it is works you earn a gold :)
@@shayneoneill1506 That's what I thought instantly after watching their guide to the orchestrator. Admitted .. it doesn't bring anything new that haven't been done before and I would probably do exactly what musicians have done for the last 4 decades of various brand Arranger keyboards, turn 2-3 arranger tracks off and use the drums and bass and a simple guitar that fits with the track you are doing and then add other stuff later.
What it brings is what looks to be an incredible easy interface to both understand and use within minutes to record your own midi tracks.
I was one of those that always liked the idea if BiaB (Band in a Box), but found it to be well ... poorly coded and way to cumbersome to figure out and actually use compared to how easy and fast it is to use a hardware Arranger keyboard. It has become better over the last 3 decades but still is extremely cumbersome to use, and the Keyboards actually evolved faster with the ability to record your own arrangements, while BiaB stood still for decades, which I always thought was strange since its only relying on software today so It could be so much more powerful than spending a lot of money on one of the High quality arranger boards. And lets face it. Arranger boards are not a dirty word anymore. There is lots of people today that uses them to do a fast muck up for a demo song and then replace the arranger tracks later when actually doing the recording
If Orchestrator supports all EW libraries with pop, vocal, synth etc. It's a much better toy/tool than BiaB for those that either haven't the skills for recording everything from the bottom up or just want to put up a fast idea and see if its that way you are to go or the client/band/Soloist want something else.
I think that with how easy it is to see and edit what is going on, creating fast glissando's or other motifs you use often in they key editor of Orchestrator can make your life much easier than having to remember tons of key binds to copy paste and moving stuff in your DAW. And the current price of several of the EW Opus versions is in my eyes an extremely good value for what you get. And you can of cause just forget about the Orchestrator if using it gives you nervous tick's 😊
@@shayneoneill1506 My thoughts exactly
Love your stuff, Guy! Keep on teaching, keep the vids coming. Keeps the passions burning.
This is such a scream! Thank's Guy . You're wonderful!
Awesome! I was waiting for this one to drop! 👏🏼👏🏼
After much thought, I have bitten the bullet and bought into the composer cloud. I did this based on your review and implied recommendation. So, If I suck it is completely your fault. AND I got it mostly for the orchestrator. I heard what you said about it being a slippery slope and it not being the old or the purist way to compose music. but that is the least of my worries. I am a 68 yr old rock guitarist and I don't have time to learn what you learned in a lifetime of study and practice. But, This is just a means to an end. which is, to lay down orchestrated tracks for me to put my guitar vocals and drums to. I guess the style of music I am trying to emulate would be, TSO, Yngvie playing with Symphony, etc and so on. SO anything that will make my journey easier is much desired. I would like to point out that the editing feature for the score presets are quite easy to tweak using their presets as a base idea. It is nice to have the mechanics of a sound already in the can and adjust as needed. In a sense creating your own sound without the time and inexperience getting in the way and bogging down the workflow. But, I have much respect for your expertise and talent. You make me wish I had learned theory and composition as a younger man, but It is what it is. I have thoroughly enjoyed watching your vids and have learned so much about composing from you that I feel I can accomplish my goals. Thank you very much. You have made me fall in love with music again.
Orchestrator seems like the "homework hand in" special. Its likely to homogenise music even further of course. To me, the benefit would be to listen "in isolation" to some of those constructs and learn why they work, or how they deliver their impact.
The orchestrator allows you to create your own designs, so it is useful to the intermediate composer, the good thing about that is the fact that it saves time loading in all the instruments and finding what works. So you can still create original and unique pieces of music. The lazy people will be the ones who just hold a key down and use the stock samples :P
Yeah I think the orchestrator's more for inspiration than anything
It's not hard to understand like you might think. "Wolfgang' clearly implies more than one wolf. That means that anyone who's a Wolf "gang" must come in groups of at least 2 if not preferably 3 or more. However 2, being the minimum to form a gang meant they simply could not hire just one to complete the task.
Hi Guy. Thanks for this. Loved hearing your opinion on Orchestrator which I asked about on another of your videos. Having had a chance to play about with it now, I think it's going to be useful in finding that initial creative idea. I find myself playing with the ensemble tab more and literally just playing around in these until I find an idea that I'd like to go with this then going back and doing it the 'old fashioned' way using Spitfire samples instead. :D
Thank you for the praise :-) Wolfgang
So much better than Play indeed...
“I feel guilty” (Shades down) - so good
Hi guy ofcourse the best music composition content maker in youtube ever.
Could you please make a video about finding our sound and our form to execute a unique music ... it will be really blessing for everyone like me ...
Thanks at all you are great
On his points regarding orchestrator I get it. I remember when the evolve mutations libraries (and other similar libraries) came out. You started hearing unedited loops from those libraries in tons of shows. But like the evolve libraries the truly creative professionals will find ways to make the patches their own and develop their own sound with it.
The new version of orchestrator lets you export individual MIDI tracks to your daw. From there you can study the scores in notation. A great learning tool, better than importing MIDI scores for study as the extra customisation of articulation and other settings preserved
Your videos are so entertaining to watch. Such a positive attitude!
must be cool to have Guy as a father or grandpa.
Thanks for the review, I'm working on my own cgi animation already have Omnisphere and U-HE synths so after your review bought Opus Hollywood I'm getting better results than expected thanks.
6:56 I thought you were going for “Speak Softly Love” from The Godfather there
5:29 When you're trying to find your keys but you're already holding them.
hahaha
Thank you for the reviews and hands on scoring with all of the libraries.
The sounds on this one are definitely good. The player seems ok. Usable, in a word.
The orchestrator .....
The technology is nifty but when we step back and ask relevant questions, the road and destination don't look quite so pleasant or desirable.
I'll stick with "I'm fine to design my own runs. They aren't as tedious as I once surmised"
Regarding your alter ego (Guy) - keep this in the videos. It's brilliant if not charming.
I find that the VSL Instruments Pro, singles, which generally have 'midi' included, within the player, can show one what can be done, like, for example, the Basset Horn, but Opus does not really do that, in fact, within a week, I forgot I had it and the the new content. The best thing about PLAY, versus UVI, Kontakt..., is that it has a VST3 version, which means, when not being used, it uses no CPU. Plus I love the WordBuilder.
I just installed Opus about a week ago and it's pretty impressive. It also meant I ended up getting a notice from my ISP that I used up 90% of my data for the month since downloading all the Hollywood Opus VST libraries is 944 Gb :-D Worth it, but you definitely need a fairly decent computer if you don't want to test your patience.
And I know I could have just downloaded specific instruments as I needed them, but I have no self control.
@@peterpike 😂 I fully understand. I was forced back into EW per not cancelling my subscription so Opus is a great surprise addition to the software 🤞🏾
Curious about your DL speeds. I purchased and getting crazy slow dl speeds. Avg. 1.5 MB. Should finish in 8 days lol
Something to listen to for my morning commute 😁
Hi Guy hope you re doing well, regarding the orchestrator i can understand your point of view but from my point of view as a game developer who don't intend to make a career in composition or the music industry it's simply a very great tool in my arsenal. I have train myself on music theory for 2 or 3 years alongside my game development cycle just to be able to do my whole game score and these kind of tools came very handy for me to achieve my vision of how my game score would sound. I am currently finishing my game score thank to these tools and people like you showing on the fly the process of writing music score since i am learning faster visually and audibly then from the theory i have learn so far. I even found the theory to limit our creativity since we are following convention, experimenting is king and if it sound good then go for it!
I put together a title screen theme for a personal game project I am working on. I used only two tracks, each with orchestrator as the instrument. The first is the background score using full orchestra. The second is the melody using a full orchestra ensemble.
I wasn't looking to put a lot of time into this pierce, but I still wanted it to sound big. Interestingly enough as I listen to the finished quick and dirty result, I can hear a lot of actual composition potential. eventually, I will revisit this piece and flesh out a full orchestration for each individual instrument, totally replacing the orchestrator tracks. But for now I think it serves its purpose of prototyping a piece of music that works as-is.
Orchestrator is a powerful tool and will help me a great deal with gitting a small idea going in a big way and then taking it to the next level as my muse, if cooperative, will begin fleshing out the dynamics.
Keep in mind that this piece is just meant to loop constantly on a tityle screen. I give you "The Chronicles of Omero - Main Title"
ruclips.net/video/TefGe5X4inI/видео.html
Top Mister and Maestro Michelmore new subscriber from Paris - France.Tony
A year later... Really Great Review Video! I was a little worried about the length but you made it fun and interesting all the way though. Thank you! I've been (or at least been trying to) writing music for multiple decades and I'm just getting into scoring orchestration. After weeks of contemplation finally decided to go with EastWest. First due to the cost (budget budget budget! Now I get like 1 less Starbucks each week) and all stuff that is available through the subscription - their library is immense for so little cost! So far I am more than impressed with the Hollywood sounds (and the Symphonic Orchestra is icing on the cake!). As for Composer, I feel like you... "that's like cheating/stealing!!" but, giving credit to some of the commenters, it sounds like it would be a great tool for inspiration when writers block sets in... for me that can be like every 20 minutes or so (LOL), so I'll have to give it a try.
I waited for this video since the release!!
As a wannabe employed person from library music I think I'd prefer building my own orchestra pieces. I'm probably mad if its this easy to do with east west...even if its limited. Then again... it could teach me what instruments make for such impressive sounds.
Thats what I've been doing. Using it to create my patches and seeing what things work and what doesnt.
Be aware that the Orchestrator is only a bonus you CAN use but it's not a must. The Orchestrator is not the Opus core!
I'm an experienced composer, but I would still use the orchestrator from time to time.
If I get a project, with zero budget, but they want an epic hollywood sound, then I'm not going to manually program everything in.
Depending on the budget, you choose your gear, after all you are a business and the client gets what they pay for.
D50 Digital Native Dance that takes me back. 😂. great review of Opus Guy thanks
About the orchestrator. I see it as a group of templates to be edited. I sometimes just let it load the instrument choices erase the arpeggios and do my own thing. Though I admit most of the time I do everything from scratch. But the or he traitors is definitely a time saver for loading a bunch of instruments at the same time. Thanks for the video.
Fantastic to see your process
Yes I clearly remember both the the Roland D-50 and D-20, the good old days...hehe and that one hit note I think was called Orchestra Hits! LOL good times 😁
They were also on the jv1080
The guilty gross feeling you got from the auto-music presets is interesting... because I used to feel that way about ANY sample pack, synth preset, etc. I felt this pressure that I had to program all my synth settings, and not use any sampled instruments, etc. But, where do I stop? Should I not record digitally cause it's too easy? Should I build my own synths? And design my and build my own instruments? Cut down the right tree myself for the wood? AH!
It's hard to know where to draw the line sometimes for me. When I have a paid gig where I have X amount of limited time and a particular goal from a client, THAT is when I cut through all this bullshit and just use the tool that makes it work within our decided time available. Hmm
Haven't really played with the Orchestrator yet. But thinking of the scenario where a client has used a temp track, like Batman:Dark Night, and says , give me something like that. I can see Orchestrator giving you a starting recipe to work from. Then you can say "I don't like garlic, I'll change that to root ginger", or "Not beef tomatoes, I'll go with cherry tomatoes"... You can still create a Salsa but it is your unique salsa and not something anyone has tasted before yet still Salsa...
Love your enthusiasm like always😀
Hello Guy, the orchestrator is only a feature - you do not have to use it. But for the huge majority of people, this is a good place to start, and sound as good as you or Hans Zimmer, with just a few chords. This is simply an extension of arpegiation, which introduced most people to synthesizers in modern music, nothing wrong with saving a lot of time, and getting a few new "sounds". It takes years to learn how to orchestrate properly.
Especially for those who do this as a hobby, or just want to try their hands and see, the orchestrator is a most welcome tool. Your mileage may vary.
I think its a great idea that would bring many more people into "writing" orchestra based music., and over time having learnt the basics, they can then move on to become like you, or Hans Zimmer - who writes only the theme, and gets a whole bunch of minions and ghost writers to "orchestrate" the score for him, and takes all the credit !!.
Orchestrators were always a key part of movie music, and most music, and nothing wrong with having the computer provide some of this for us as a starting point. As I said earlier, the orchestrator is optional - nice to have, the user does not have to rely on this tool.
You said it “it takes years to learn how to orchestrate properly”. That’s what it is. If you write music for a movie and don’t have the orchestration expertise, then you will have to hire a professional. Even John Williams worked with an orchestrator.
This tool might be good for fast sketching, but composers should be careful not to overuse is, and sound repetitive/boring, doing same usual superhero movie soundtrack vibe.
@@mathieukmusic8143 that is and odd comment, Guy wrote the superhero type theme, from scratch, and the orcehstrator includes several of styles, not just superhero themes. So in this case Guy went for something he is used to, whereas had he tried the orchestrator more, he would have probably found a preset that inspired him to write something else.
@@TheJonHolstein Hi Jon. I’m not entirely sure what you mean. From what I’ve heard in different videos the orchestrator seems to be used for that typical modern Hollywood style.
Orchestration is an art by itself which has infinite possibilities. These kind of tools are good for learning and sketching, but it can also limit the composer to certain habits and narrow the vision of what orchestral music can be.
@@mathieukmusic8143 Guy, the person making this video, made an Orchestrator kind of production, without using the orchestrator. After complaining a bit over the concept of orchestrator. If the issue is getting stuck in making the same kind of music over and over, that is already an issue, for people in the industry, like Guy. Potentially, products like the orchestrator, could come with even more programed themes, that perhaps will break habits of the composer, by giving them a tool, that takes them out of their typical go to tricks. But as it is, Orchestrator, comes with a set of themes, that includes typically go to tricks, of many modern composers, meaning that some composers already write in a similar style to orchestrator patches.
3:30 I Love the music, the kick, guitare, brass … all is just effective - perfect ! ;-) …
like everything else. Thanks for your work !!!!!
The Orchestrators secret sauce is not the preset patches from factory. It's the ability to program all instruments however you want in the pianoroll. You can use the tool to create 100% original compositions.
Great video as always 👍 and thanks for the walkthrough. Totally see the conflicts but probably great for those breaking in to composing. Personally I’d much rather stick with the ground up approach which provides for greater control over sound and orchestration, and the overall ‘tailored’ approach that makes a score unique and ensures it stands out from the crowd.
Thanks so much for this review, Guy!
Walking talking holding a camera and a cup of tea at once ... I bet you could also make some music along with that😂
There's an idea
I just read when guy was saying so😱
Really inspiring thanks
Excellent point regarding the orchestrator Guy, Clients won’t want a full generic score like that but I think this could be a really good time saver for composers on a tight schedule to deliver , to drop in the orchestrator midi for a scene or two quickly if asked for that sound ( temp track has something similar ) vs sketching it across multiple instruments and arranging ….I personally use the novation 49 MKII arp in chord mode or sequencer and play the notes to midi for string ostinato 🎸
The orchestrator is similar to "The Orchestra Complete 2" by Sonuscore.
The same developers worked on both products. I use The Orchestra now and then for inspiration and very quick sketches, but then rely on other libraries for actual programming. Not Opus though, I really don’t like the sounds.
It`s great! About your talking method!!! I like you very much! Although this is the first time to see your content! Thanks a lot !
Hahaha!!! I came here for the humour!!
Amazon by presentation as always.
Great review!!
18:57 hey! I feel old now😃 thank you 👴
I bought a D10 a few years ago, which also has the native dance patch.
Thank you Guy! now for those of us with a loud subwoofer in our playback system:
It would be excellent if you could manage to find a way to completely isolate your mic (or stand) from any sound you make from playing your keyboard, as it stands right now it is a loud 'thump, thump, thump thump..." throughout your video presentation when you play the keyboard. :( Often louder than some of the soft sounds of the orch)
otherwise, it's all excellent...
April 30, 20121!. Wow, you did it and went to the future and back, great move Guy !!!
I produce hip hop and I’ve always been hevsikly influenced by orchestra. Sampling and flipping works by all the great composers is a past time. I’ve spent good deals of time learning to write original pieces but this is next level. I see this as a learning tool if nothing else. Also… this is the dopest piece I’ve heard Guy write in his videos.
Just about the Orchestrator - I use Kontakt, Komplete etc. mostly live, in real time. So the ability to incorporate from a, I dunno, fourth keyboard or a split, something like the Orchestrator is absolutely great. Not because I couldn't get that together (probably) but because in real time? Forget it! That alone makes me want to subscribe. And thanks for having the most un-wanky, useful videos anywhere! PS - I'm sure you've got an incredibly powerful system, but it seems loads of people subscribed to East-W, and even with 8 cores and 96GB(!) of RAM can't get the orchestrator to work, especially but not only on a Mac…… I nearly subscribed to the Opus things until I saw that :-(
I see the orchestrator as just another tool that has a few good uses. The Orchestrator is built on the Sonscore The Orchestra 2 Complete engine. I have that and use it to save a bit of time on Ostinatos, as you say, but its not something that can complete a whole track without sounding boring. What Sonsuscore does is allows you to export the midi tracks separately and then getting creative with those exported parts.
Midi export demo ruclips.net/video/zfSUWygrPR0/видео.html
Hey Guy, thank you for the review. Orchestrator in Opus is along the same lines as Spitfire Motion. Either way, I think it's fine; of course, the purists will be pure calling it sacrilegious and the Youth will keep carrying on. The reality is that the professionals will know when and how to use this to speed production and those new getting into this world will use it for more ear training. I am quite impressed at the work done thus far however, kinda borders on AI music. Opps another Wasp nest... Haha
Great review. Loving Opus Edition.
Some people seem to think that Orchestrator will replace a human composer for big epic pieces. I don't see it that way. What this means to me is that I can do more work in less time, so I can finish projects quicker without sacrificing the epic scope. The more work I can take on and finish within a specific amount of time, the more effective I can be. And I can spend time between contracts writing orchestrator presets that I can grab for future projects.
That's my take on it.
This made me go and look at their subscription options.... now to wait and see if I become a bona fida student and can use the educational discount :)
True!
I also feel conflicted about the orchestrator however as someone who has problems composing this tool is awesome. It’s also quite helpful to create videogame music for a game jam for example since you get something cool quickly
Great video edition. Congratulations 👏
Always a gent. Great review.
Orchestrator is a good tool to do some accompanying background stuff.
Maybe you should have shown how you can alter the sound with the mod wheel which makes it much more interesting.
The way you use the Orchestrator is that you play the notes with your right hand and use your left hand for the mod wheel. Also you can change volumes, make the Cello as the leading instrument and so on. Unfortunately you have shown only half of what you can do with the orchestrator
I am a hobbyist, I tried Sonuscores TO2 which had a similar feature but with the ability to export the midi, however I am keen to learn how to program these styles myself from scratch. I understand it appeal though, like these endless midi packs, but sometimes just building something yourself from scratch gives you a buzz that no press and forget helping software can do :D
This man is a composing genius!
Waited so long for this review
That cupa looks good! Im happy i finally found this video! I am still in love with these libraries, i made a couple hans zimmer covers just to see if the software us powerful enough, and ive been pleasantly surprised!
You should do a new review of there newly released Fantasy Orchestra, also they have forbidden planet which are a ton of cool Synth cinematic sounds!
Can i repost this video on my channel?
How many times have you had a great composition in your head but didn't have the time to bring it to life? As for me, I'd have a fairly large library of compositions if it weren't for the tedium of punching holes in the paper roll to direct all of the proper nuances to each note. This kind of software is a God send for creativity and saving time. I won't feel guilty at all for directing this software to bring my musical thoughts into reality so I can then punch many fewer holes (and cover up the holes that don't work) until the composition is exactly what I want.
Imagine what composers who actually know what they're doing can do with this? (I do not claim to be among them.)
I do really miss the headset microphones! 😅
Finally the big companies making some sense!
Nice! Thanks, Guy!
Noob question . I own many of the libraries already, is there a way to use the new engine or do i have to buy opus to use that engine. Am I stuck to using play otherwise?
Great video we need more
When You said that line on 18:40 That was Pretty much, One of the selling point for Me to Get it., What i think would be a Wonderful idea if there were departments in EastWest ,OR, websites that have Third Party Orchestrator Presets., Just an Idea that just popped into My head.
You were also "in" Venice Beach, quite out of the way from downtown Los Angeles hahaha.
That intro lol.
I can't anything but love you Guy.
Anyways, this seems to not be based upon Kontakt, which is a HUGE plus for me.
How to arrange your sound libraries in terms of what HDD you're using? Do you use SSD or trad. HDD, most likely 7200rpm then? I can't install Opus on my library disk as of now so East West recommend SSD but they're a tad to expensive for this use I think. Thanks for video, sounds stellar!
Wazzup, I need some help ... Some prev. installed libraries, Like
Hollywood Strings Gold, don't appear in my Opus Library list. Is there
any way to add them? Haven't found any option to choose a file path ...
Haha Guy I'm as conflicted as you are about the orchestrator! Although it does sound good and it is quite impressive, we are going to start hearing it everywhere.
Also, one could argue it's going to be easier for anyone to create music, and this might increase competition between composers, as even more and more of them are going to be able to compose for big ensembles.
Even if we composers may find that it is not "as good" as what a real composer or orchestrator would do, it may feel "sufficient" for some tv directors/media producer, thus making it harder for good composers to stand out.
One could also argue the same about the profession of musician / instrumentalist being slowly killed by all of those sound libraries we enjoy composing with. The orchestrator goes one step further.
And I would not be surprised in a few years to find AI driven products that compose complete pieces all by themselves. Although it is fascinating, it is also very scary.
That is how progress works, and worked in many other fields. A tool/machine, gets good enough (in some cases better) than the skilled manual labor. You can't be too bothered by it, as that would be hypocritical, as the whole of the modern world, relies on progress upon progress. There would not even be musical instruments as we know them, had the progress not happened in the past. freeing people up, to do other things. Music, as in hitting rocks, and making sounds with vocal cords, probably existed, so "music" would have been around, but nothing like the music we think of today, with scales and harmonies.
Orchestrator, can be expanded with more presets, so, it isn't just one thing. It already offers several of genres. A lot of composers already write almost the same thing over and over, already.
If a composer offers something truly unique, they will stand out, the question would be, if there is demand for it.
Please tell me the chords you used in The Orchestra section; it's brilliant!!! And what was the preset? More please! I'm going to subscribe after your vid. To Soundsonline I mean...
when he's playing there's a keyboard image that shows what keys he's playing
Excellent demo Guy. Really liked the orchestral sketch. I would have liked to see what you can do with the orchestrator. But nevertheless, great video!
As someone who purchased several EW libraries back before there was a 'Composer Cloud', I can't say I'm happy about their treatment of long time customers. From their FAQ:
"People who purchase any product post-release will also get OPUS... we are going to wait a while before allowing previous PLAY product purchasers to upgrade in order to assist our support team during this major upgrade period. When we do provide that option, it will be a paid upgrade."
Looks like the first shall be last, and the last shall be first.
16:41 I teach music for kids in the younger grades and I just LOVE the idea I can bring my laptop and midi keyboard and they could easily play orchestrated music just by learning a couple of chords. In that sense it's amazing!
It would have been really useful if we could take a look at how was the pre-recorded score notated. Just to borrow a few ideas from it "orchestration wise" and use it on a more personal composition.
You are an absolute gem.
I'm 2 days late! No! I have played around with this though, very glad to see your review!
eaww and your sunglasses would have looked so cool in LA. I still like your music though, I'm saying that without sunglasses too.
Best intro ever!!
the best new feature for me, is the ability to purge articulations that you aren't using. I have 64 GB in my Mac, but this thing is a beast...
Yes purge is much better than on play
Hi Guy, absolutely love your videos and courses. As a beginner to composition, I'm finding them all very helpful. I do have a question regarding the use of HW Orchestra Opus Edition though. What do you, or anyone on this channel for that matter, use to save the library. I'm asking as the Opus Strings library is 944Gb on it's own, let alone the brass, woodwind and percussion. Should I get a 2TB SSD drive or a larger external hard drive for this. Any help that anyone can give would be much appreciated. As I said, I'm just a beginner in all this. Thanks