Hello, I decided to get serious and got myself a sequencer. Cakewalk Sonar. Nice program indeed, looks really flashy, but I don't know what to do next. How do I get that high quality sound that professionals have? How do I actually turn midifiles into audiofiles (like wav)? I don't suppose all of you hire a complete orchestra for it? I want to get professional and although I know I'm not gonna get thát good quality with my own simple computer, It's always better than sitting here doing nothing. I just need some guidance on what do learn next (on software! Off course I keep composing). Hope you guys can help me any further. -Stenny

I might ask several composers on this board to share some of their MIDI files. I could post up a few that were created in Digital Performer, but still can show how sometimes pieces can be set-up in templates, and how certain composer program pieces.

The best thing you can do is play with the sequencer, learning all of its tools and secrets, and it helps to study digital orchestration/music. You wouldn't have to do it with a book, but investigate the creation of sounds and timbres using digital samples. It is very similiar to acoustic orchestration as that some of the "same rules" apply, but in another sense, there are things you can do within a sequencer to create a bigger sound.

I'd love to see one of those midi's from you yes. Sorry for the late reaction but I'm trying some things with sonar ;).

-Stenny

Quote: Original post by stenny
I decided to get serious and got myself a sequencer. Cakewalk Sonar. Nice program indeed, looks really flashy, but I don't know what to do next. How do I get that high quality sound that professionals have? How do I actually turn midifiles into audiofiles (like wav)? I don't suppose all of you hire a complete orchestra for it?

VST instruments. There are several orchestral VSTs available at varying prices, and at the lower end you may be able to get a free or cheap soundfont and the freeware soundfont player to do what you need.