yhlee: Alto clef and whole note (middle C). (Default)
yhlee ([personal profile] yhlee) wrote2025-09-14 05:25 am
Entry tags:

sampled orchestral mockups + music production: part 1: brief demo of engraving software + playback

(cross-posted to [community profile] communal_creators)

Earlier:
- part 0: preliminaries (includes partial glossary of terms)



I know there are a lot of people who haaaaaate being forced to sit through video but since audio playback is inherent to the enterprise...This is under a minute, promise.

This is a brief demonstration of the opening of one of my compositions partially engraved (~sheet music typesetting) in Dorico. The two industry-standard engraving apps in media composition scoring are Dorico and Sibelius; Finale used to be a third but was sunsetted to much consternation.

If you come from classical music (especially classical orchestral music), you may be ??? about the score formatting. This is because scores for session orchestra and concert/classical orchestra have different formatting! (See part 0: preliminaries for more detail as to why). Differences for session orchestra you see here include:

- Score is in C (NOT a transposing score for the conductor - nota bene, transposing is "allowed" for octaves), but we won't have e.g. horn in F or trumpet in Bb. Read more... )

As for playback:

- Guess what, Dorico and Sibelius at the level of orchestral scores are spendy. :]

- I'm using NotePerformer, which is the standard higher-quality playback engine, especially if you don't have time to mock it up in the DAW (or you're an art/concert composer for whom a mockup is not part of your workflow). But that's also money (~$130 USD).

NotePerformer is pretty credible with a lot of orchestral instruments. You still have to massage its output. For example, in Sibelius [not shown] you can set playback to molto espressivo (LOTS OF FEELING) vs. senza espressivo (NO FEELINGS EVER!!!) (etc). My experience is that particular instruments can be less "real"-sounding and the "vocalists" (both SATB choir and associated "solo" voices) are absolutely terrible, as in "my vacuum cleaner sings more credibly than this" terrible.

Aside: There are some good vocal VST libraries for specific use cases. I hate that I am often able to straight-up identify "Oh yeah, XYZ floating ethereal ~Celtic Twilight vibes soprano 'ahhh' ululation in this trailer/score/whatever was $SPECIFIC_VST_LIBRARY" because, apparently, I have no life; but this is not unusual in this field.

I know at least one full-time composer/orchestrator/musician who straight-up bounces NotePerformer output and then processes that in the DAW (reverb etc) and, you know, this person makes a living doing this. So that's one route one can take.

Why, you ask, can't we just export this score-stuff into a DAW with all the fancy (...spendy) VST instruments and "paste in" nicer/more individualized instruments? Dorico (and Sibelius) do in fact export to MIDI and MusicXML. [1] This is a very reasonable question that will be the topic of the next walkthrough (part 2), mainly because it's a surprisingly (annoying) complicated topic as to why this is rarely straightforward. (Let me tell you all about negative track delay...)

[1] Missed these glossary items earlier! brief explanations of MIDI and MusicXML )

Happy to answer questions, although I have no idea if anyone else finds this interesting. :p
musesfool: sara ramirez applying lipstick (pull on your pout)
i did it all for the robins ([personal profile] musesfool) wrote2025-09-13 07:40 pm

thunder's rolling down this track

A couple weeks ago, I finally realized I was never going to go to someone else to get my hair cut, so with some encouragement from my sister, this morning, I did an extensive detangling (both before and after washing) and then trimmed about 3" off the bottom myself. Is it even? Probably not, but it was in long layers, so I don't think it really matters. It will eventually even out as it grows and I trim it. Mostly what matters is that after 3 years, the old ends have been trimmed away. And now that I know I can do it, I will try to keep up with it on a more timely basis. At least, I don't think I'll let another 3 years go by. *wry*

*

The Mets did not get no-hit last night but they did lose, and then lost again today despite leading for 7.5 innings. *hands* There is something very wrong with this team, but who can say what? Sigh.

*
yhlee: Alto clef and whole note (middle C). (Default)
yhlee ([personal profile] yhlee) wrote2025-09-13 01:04 pm
Entry tags:

not good spinning demo: EEW 6.1



Dreaming Robots' Electric Eel Wheel 6.1 e-spinner with some sacrificial Rambouillet/Gotland wool blend. Sorry about the mess; too hot to go outside with this. I don't claim this is good spinning, just a brief demonstration of Getting The E-Spinner To Do A Thing.
musesfool: a baseball and bat on the grass (the crack of ash on horsehide)
i did it all for the robins ([personal profile] musesfool) wrote2025-09-12 04:56 pm

despite all my rage i am still just a rat in a cage

Friday sundries:

= Wow, have I really not posted since Sunday? This week was pretty busy at work and I guess my Elementary rewatch, plus reading a very very long Batfamily time travel story (still in progress *sobs*), and also watching the Mets' downward spiral, left me uninspired.

= I didn't watch them blow a lead last night and lose, because it's so disheartening - there is like no sense that they can hold a lead or come back if they are losing. I'm only planning to watch tonight to see if they get no-hit by Jacob deGrom on his first return to Citi Field as a Texas Ranger. #the existential futility of being a mets fan <- my tag is too long for DW but it is accurate

= I did make it through week one of our family survivor football league - my niece decided on doing a survivor league this year since it is much less work for everyone than a fantasy league. In it, each week, everyone picks one team to win, and either you win and move on, or you lose and are out, though we are doing it with 2 strikes, so you can lose twice before you are out. And you can only pick each team once, so you can't, like, ride the Packers or whoever to victory every week. My strategy is basically to pick whoever is playing the New Orleans Saints, since they are predicted to be the worst team in the league this year. I made it through last week, anyway. *g*

= Usually I have my groceries delivered on Friday afternoon but somehow in my infinite wisdom last night while I was updating the order, I rescheduled it for Sunday afternoon. And then I was in a meeting from 8:30 am - 11 am this morning, so it was too late to move it back to today when I discovered what I'd done. So I left it where it was and will just order pizza for dinner tonight and then have it breakfast and lunch tomorrow as well!

= Anyway, the world is a vampire. Uh, trash fire. But there will be pizza and baseball and probably sleeping in tomorrow. Hopefully it is cool enough to leave the AC off tonight - it was for most of the week, but then last night was not. And since I had to be up an hour earlier than usual (see above re: 8:30 am meeting), I didn't want to spend precious time tossing and turning because I was too hot to sleep.

*
settiai: (Jaal -- settiai)
Lynn | Settiai ([personal profile] settiai) wrote2025-09-12 04:05 pm

Video Games

D&D is cancelled tonight so that the DM can drug herself into a stupor and try to get more than 3-4 hours of sleep for once. As for me, I think that I'm going to take a short nap for the next hour or so and then settle in to play video games all night.

I'm leaning towards playing more of that Mass Effect: Andromeda playthrough that I started last weekend, although I may switch over to Baldur's Gate 3 or Dragon Age: The Veilguard for at least a while. We'll just have to see what my brain seems most interested in tonight.
yhlee: Alto clef and whole note (middle C). (Default)
yhlee ([personal profile] yhlee) wrote2025-09-12 08:32 am
Entry tags:

not-good spinning: demo of spinning silk on a treadle wheel



Ashford Traveller (single treadle although you can see that, Scotch tension). Spinning mulberry (bombyx) silk from combed top.
settiai: (Cogsworth/Lumiere -- vegetas)
Lynn | Settiai ([personal profile] settiai) wrote2025-09-11 08:52 pm

Hotel Life

Hey, there was a positive for once today!

Me: Here's my money to cover another another week in the hotel.
Hotel Manager: Thank you. Would you like a brand new 43" TV to replace the 13-year-old 32" TV that you currently have?
Me: ... so is this a trick question?

But, yeah, they apparently are updating some of the televisions in the hotel, and the manager likes me enough that I'm near the front of the list. Which means I got a brand new TV in my suite today!
settiai: (D&D -- settiai)
Lynn | Settiai ([personal profile] settiai) wrote2025-09-11 10:40 am
Entry tags:

Aurendor D&D

My poor cleric, Siân, has had a really bad couple of weeks in-game. Over the course of the last not even a full two weeks, she has:

- woken up from being held captive by mind-controlling plants for a week
- found herself in a prison camp in the middle of a warzone
- watched a friend die while trying to escape said prison camp
- failed to resurrect said friend
- watched the resurrection fail again when someone else attempted a higher level spell
- found out that her family has been accused of treason and placed under arrest
- found out that a bunch of powerful nobles want to make her father emperor
- saw the instant destruction of an entire town via a weapon of mass destruction
- watched the friend who died come back to life separate from his still-dead corpse
- given up the very last gift her deceased mother ever gave her
- had a bunch of ancient knowledge magically dumped in her head
- had her right arm chopped off
- found out that her father named her his legitimate daughter due to obvious coercion
- had her right arm unexpected regrown by way of alchemy
- almost been killed by malfunctioning golems
- almost watched her entire group be killed by a shadowspawn beholder
- been publicly seen with magic users in an empire where magic is illegal
- been involved in a very bloody battle
- joined a pirate fleet
- found out that the empire-wide newspaper has been smearing her name
- almost been killed by assassins
- found out an assassins' guild with a reputation for never quitting has been hired to kill her
- been involved in another very bloody battle
- found out that she's one of the most wanted people in the entire empire
- almost been killed by lightning
- almost drowned
- died instantly from a magical trap while in a shadow plane surrounded by enemies

Considering the circumstances of her death, I'm honestly not sure what's going to happen. Resurrection may or may not be on the table, especially considering the rest of the group is about to go into a pretty massive bit of combat without a healer.

Next week, I'm planning on basically just being off camera the entire night unless something very unexpected happens. I'll figure out future plans after I see what happens in-game over the next, uh, 60 seconds or so.

They do technically at least have access to an item that will let them cast unlimited Gentle Repose, but said item is on their ship which is currently shrunk and inside a bottle. Plus said item is being used on the dead body of the group member who came back to life by other means and therefore has both a mostly-alive body and a corpse sitting on the ship, so... yeah.

(Don't ask. Trust me.)
yhlee: Alto clef and whole note (middle C). (Default)
yhlee ([personal profile] yhlee) wrote2025-09-11 05:21 am

spinning WIP

Or: if your goal is threadweight/cobweb, why silk fiber is not quite as profligate an expense as you might think:



The white is mulberry bombyx silk; the tawny stuff was my briefly foraying into eri silk. This is for personal use/enjoyment (needle lace) so it's fine that I'm wandering off like this. This is several hours of admittedly inefficient spinning, since I take frequent breaks so there's a very start-stop nature to it, but because the spin is so fine, this bobbin is...not very full.



This is what I have REMAINING in 2 oz. of mulberry silk combed top (about $25 USD). It exploded out of the package (typical) and also, it barely looks like I've even used any of it. As it stands, I suspect I'm going to be spinning this combed top for the next 30,000 years. :)

That said, silk is my absolute favorite to spin and I prefer spinning threadweight, so this is not a hardship.
lady_ragnell: (Default)
lady_ragnell ([personal profile] lady_ragnell) wrote2025-09-10 11:29 pm
Entry tags:

2025 Books, Post 9

I was doing quite well for myself and then a. I got stranded in the middle of a book I was enjoying for some stupid reason and b. got hit by a busy patch. Slightly under a month this time, anyway, and the books were largely enjoyable ones!

Very chatty this evening apparently! )

Okay! Lots to say about a lot of those, apparently that's what comes of writing late in the evening after a long day!

settiai: (Siân -- settiai)
Lynn | Settiai ([personal profile] settiai) wrote2025-09-11 12:00 am
Entry tags:

Aurendor D&D: Summary for 9/10 Game

In tonight's game, the rest under a cut for those who don't care. )

And that's where we left off.
yhlee: a fox with the label FOX YOU! (fox you!)
yhlee ([personal profile] yhlee) wrote2025-09-10 09:38 pm

Ex Tenebris TTRPG on Kickstarter! (I'm writing a scenario for this)

Ex Tenebris: a gothic space opera TTRPG [Kickstarter, already funded!].

Beyond the dark emptiness of space, beyond dreaming, lies the Tenebrium. Only you can unearth its mysteries, defeat the twisted horrors that lurk there, and keep humanity from becoming prey.

In Ex Tenebris, you play a ragtag team of investigators, protecting the Republic of Stars from terrifying supernatural threats. You will face sorcerers and cults, dark technology from lost civilisations and the slobbering terrors lurking in the nightmare realm of the Tenebrium.

Ex Tenebris is a complete TTRPG containing all the rules, setting and scenarios that you need to embark on adventures amongst the stars.

[...]

Ex Tenebris takes inspiration from the grotesque imagery of the Aliens movies, the existential dread of Event Horizon, the mysticism of Dune, the dark gothic setting of Warhammer 40,000, and the weird science/magic fusion of Ninefox Gambit.


- Josh Fox, lead designer & writer
- Becky Annison, writer
- Juan Ochoa, illustrator
- Nathan D. Paoletta, layout and graphic design
- Andriy Lukin, logo design
- Jog Brogzin, cartographer
- Chirag Asnani, writer
- Sarah Doom, writer
- Eleanor Hingley, writer
- Kieron Gillen, writer
- Yoon Ha Lee, writer (howdy!)
- Tejas Oza, writer
- Galen Pejeau, writer
yhlee: Alto clef and whole note (middle C). (Default)
yhlee ([personal profile] yhlee) wrote2025-09-10 04:49 pm

alpaca adventures, cont'd



Test spin of small experimental alpaca floof batch.

For lagniappe, the completed smol woven object made from my handspun that's headed to [personal profile] eller, mostly wool/silk/angelina blends (both colorways). :3

settiai: (Pumpkin -- funkthat)
Lynn | Settiai ([personal profile] settiai) wrote2025-09-10 04:00 pm

One step at a time...

Autumn starts in about a week-and-a-half, and the first day of fall is on a Monday this year. Which, you know, kinda bodes well for new beginnings in my mind since it's the first of the work week at least. And, considering how things have been going so far in September, I feel like I really need a set point for a fresh start.

So, you know, Mabon works fairly well for that.

Things have been pretty chaotic in my life the last year or two for a variety of reasons, and I think that I'm going to force myself to set up a strict daily schedule to start following again come September 22. I won't stick to it forever, but I've found in the past that the structure really does help me even if it's just for a month or so to get me back in the habit.

Now I just have to force myself to start thinking about a set schedule that will work for me while still having some flexibility for when things don't go quite as planned...
cesy: "Cesy" - An old-fashioned quill and ink (Default)
Cesy ([personal profile] cesy) wrote2025-09-10 05:45 pm
Entry tags:

I <3 fandom

I really appreciate when authors of longer fics occasionally put a note in the author's notes at the end of a chapter saying it's a good break point if you're binge-reading. Because yes, sometimes I do find it hard to stop, and it helps to have the author say that the next few chapters are intense and flow closely and you might prefer to pause before them rather than in the middle of them.
settiai: (Critical Role -- settiai)
Lynn | Settiai ([personal profile] settiai) wrote2025-09-09 10:40 pm

Critical Role: To-Watch List

I've fallen behind on watching Critical Role's various specials and miniseries since they went on their CR3-to-CR4 hiatus, mostly because they've been releasing them on Beacon and then eventually showing them on their Thursday stream. That's made it hard for me to convince my brain to keep up with things, because I need a set schedule to follow every week that I'm watching alongside other people, so... yeah.

This is part of why I have trouble watching a lot of streaming shows (it was a problem with Rings of Power especially but there have been lots of others that I just never got around to watching at all), because for my brain there's a difference between "watching live with everyone else" like with more traditional shows and "watching it when I have the time because once it drops everyone's watching it at different times so it's pointless to watch it immediately."

Anyway, I really want to force myself to get caught up in the lead-up to CR4 starting - if only to get myself used to watching their long episodes again - so I'm going to list out the various specials that I still need to properly watch. And then I'm going to try to set aside the time to watch them over the next few weeks. If I can manage it, I may also try to make a few posts about them as I watch them, but watching them in the first place is my priority.

If I have time, I'll also try to watch Age of Umbra, which I started but had to drop because of stuff going on with work and IRL at the time. It's lower on the list, though, so we'll see if I manage it. And, hey, if a miracle happens then maybe I'll even find the time to watch some other miniseries they've had going further back that I never found the time to watch.

But, yeah. We'll see how it goes? Live Shows are the "must watch" part of the list. Everything else is just gravy.

List under the cut. )
rivkat: Dean reading (dean reading)
rivkat ([personal profile] rivkat) wrote2025-09-09 07:17 pm

Nonfiction

Sara E. Wolf, Teaching Copyright: Practical Lesson Ideas and Instructional Resources: for non-legal educators who teach about (c) )

How Republics Die: Creeping Authoritarianism in Ancient Rome and Beyond, ed. Frederik Juliaan Vervaet et al.: democratic decay: how does it work? )

Michelle Carr, Nightmare Obscura: A Dream Engineer’s Guide Through the Sleeping Mind: I took a ton of notes )
Noah Feldman, To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and the Jewish People: Interesting )
Ko-Lin Chin, Counterfeited in China: The Operations of Illicit Businesses: also interesting )

Adam Becker, More Everything Forever: AI Overlords, Space Empires, and Silicon Valley's Crusade to Control the Fate of Humanity: depressingly interesting )

Shoshana Walter, Rehab: An American Scandal: oh look more depressing )
yhlee: Alto clef and whole note (middle C). (Default)
yhlee ([personal profile] yhlee) wrote2025-09-09 02:42 pm
Entry tags:

processing alpaca floof, cont'd





I used hand carders after washing, then drying outside. It's extremely fluffy (and probably de facto blended with catten floof). I've never spun alpaca before, so that's next!
yhlee: Alto clef and whole note (middle C). (Default)
yhlee ([personal profile] yhlee) wrote2025-09-09 09:50 am

further adventures in handspun + weaving

Wrapping up this tiny DIY loom + handspun (the yarns and the silk thread) for [personal profile] eller. :) Mainly bobbin-end leftovers from plying yarns that went to their furever homes. :)



marianas: (Default)
marianas ([personal profile] marianas) wrote2025-09-08 05:23 pm
Entry tags:

state of the me(dia) - aug

a little late, oops

READING
📖 Mr Collins in Love by Lee Welch - holy shit I loved this. it seems like it wouldn't work: a short novel in which Pride & Prejudice's Mr Collins is the romantic lead. but it does work. brilliantly. it is more a character study than a romance (but I *love* the romance) and it makes the probably smart choice to not show on page any of the scenes from P&P because we don't need them. just a wonderful lovely book.
📖 A Hymn to Dionysus by Natasha Pulley - it's the Natasha Pulley problem again: I get so swept up in how much I love her sentences, then come down from the book high and end up not sure if I even liked the book at all bc I'm remembering all the things that didn't quite work for me that my brain just slid right over while I was in it. I loved this for 3/4ths of the time I was reading it, thought it ended wrong (it deserved a tragic ending - I would have found it so much more emotionally satisfying), and now I don't think I liked it? Will continue to read everything she writes though, because the experience while I'm in it is like nothing else. (this sounds like drugs)
💻 a brief spin through the Captain Haddock/Tintin tag on ao3 for Reasons

WATCHING
📺 still on Apothecary Diaries, which remains very good

PLAYING
🎮 Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney - a retroactive liveblog of me playing the first case:
  • wtf wtf wtf
  • I love Apollo's thinking face
  • confident dirtbag Phoenix is so good
  • “grape juice” sure…
  • Phoenix did the point from a different angle!!!
  • that kid is definitely older than seven 🧐

🀄️ Mahjong Soul - extremely hooked on online mahjong. have managed to avoid spending any real dollars but have been engaging with the gatcha parts and have pulled 3 new characters. they added a mahjong balatro-like this month, which was very fun.

.