To deep into the music?

[Ted W]

1st year doing this. I am, have been working on Little Drummer Boy by Manheim Steamroller. I have broken it down to 10 different instruments, and sit for what seams like forever listening over and over again, trying to plot each of those sounds into the sequence. I used the tapper, the beat wizard, this is just a finer attention to the sound.........Do you guys do this? Taking forever?

[The Pest]

Welcome to the wonderful world of sequencing.
For each minute of music look forward to at lest 2 hours of programming.

[Don]

Everyone is going to have their own style of sequencing, and what they deem to be important in a sequence.

That said, in my opinion, just a little to much attention to detail there.

[Richard Hamilton]

Welcome Ted,
Yup, there is a lot of the same stuff going on as what you are doing. And when Pest says at least 2 hours of sequencing (not programming to me) for each minute, then he really means it. Depending on the number of channels that you are squencing, the complexity of the music, the effect you want to achieve, and the tempo, you could spend 20 or more hours per minute.

LOR clearly is not meant for people who want instant gratification. Users need to love doing this as a hobby.

[The Pest]

I have started sequencing now so that hopefully next year I can a show. I am starting out with 64 channels but by the time I'm done I may have 128+

[scubado]

The Pest wrote:

I have started sequencing now so that hopefully next year I can a show. I am starting out with 64 channels but by the time I'm done I may have 128+

You may want to consider stopping the sequencing for next year until you decide what you plan to have for elements and channels. Programming for 64 and then reprogramming for 128 channels will waste a lot of work. If you know you're going to 128 channels, start sequencing for 128. Work out your plan and do your best to stick with it, making changes later can suck. Just my humble opinion.
You can still get a show done for this year, even if its just an animation show. Slow transitions of colors will look great too.

[LORi P]

Ted Workman wrote:

1st year doing this. I am, have been working on Little Drummer Boy by Manheim Steamroller.  I have broken it down to 10 different instruments, and sit for what seams like forever listening over and over again, trying to plot each of those sounds into the sequence. I used the tapper, the beat wizard, this is just a finer attention to the sound.........Do you guys do this? Taking forever?

Sounds vaguegly familiar. Sleigh Ride by the Boston Pops took forever for the same reason. I had to back off a little, or I would have never finished.

[George Simmons]

LORi P wrote:

Ted Workman wrote:

1st year doing this. I am, have been working on Little Drummer Boy by Manheim Steamroller. I have broken it down to 10 different instruments, and sit for what seams like forever listening over and over again, trying to plot each of those sounds into the sequence. I used the tapper, the beat wizard, this is just a finer attention to the sound.........Do you guys do this? Taking forever?

Sounds vaguegly familiar. Sleigh Ride by the Boston Pops took forever for the same reason. I had to back off a little, or I would have never finished.

The attention to detail from you both is something I find admirable. I predict that you'll both be quite satisfied with your efforts the first time you light it all up and stand back to watch.

I also predict that your audience, however large or small, will be quite pleased - even with the song that you think sucks the worst. The creator knows when something isn't perfect - the audience hardly ever notices. They're too busy watching the other 98% that IS exactly how you want it.

[Jason Burge]

George Simmons wrote:

The attention to detail from you both is something I find admirable. I predict that you'll both be quite satisfied with your efforts the first time you light it all up and stand back to watch.

I also predict that your audience, however large or small, will be quite pleased - even with the song that you think sucks the worst. The creator knows when something isn't perfect - the audience hardly ever notices. They're too busy watching the other 98% that IS exactly how you want it.

Very true George. I can stand there and point out all of my mistakes, but nobody else would even notice them.

[ace_master]

I'm a bit of a video/audiophile... so I get caught up paying attention to those fine instrument details as well... so much so that I have marked the tones used for a certain instrument and dedicated certain trees to each tone... I don't do it so much anymore, because as others suggest, everyone who watches your show will simply be amazed at the flashing lights to the basic beats in the song.
Do whatever you have the time and patience for.

[jstorms]

I typically will break the song into a few elements. I have bogus channels setup for the following:
1 - Scratch
2 - Background
2 - Foreground
2 - Vocals

For any given song I typically populate about half to 3/4 of these. Any more than that and you are basically creating a beat box. Some things the user just isn't going to hear over the radio, too much detail and you can take away from the feeling of the music. Some of the sequences I did in the spring were too focused on the music breakdown and now I'm going back and fixing them.

[Dan C]

George you make a good point. I'm a perfectionist, and when I see something that isn't quite right, I have to fix it. But for most people, they would never even notice something is out of place. But sometimes you have to say enough is enough, and roll with it. Usually that happens the first night of the show.