and downloadable for free at common MP3 platforms like soundclick.com or MP3.de , a full list of MP3 portals to be found here.
This project was very interesting since I came to the question what will happen if I perform and produce with the strict option to only use freeware and free material available on the internet. (Ready made loops of any instrument excluded)
At what quality music can be composed and performed with freeware, companies and private persons developed and generously posted on the internet for free use.
So the song title "Delivered Free" refers to the fact of having worked with freeware only.
The Options:
- The project reflects a working session on a pc, so I cannot say anything about mac conditions.
- The host, which is the software for composing and editing must be free, the instruments, virtual instruments (vsti) in this case, must be free, all plugins for the production (vst plugins here) must be free and any additional material like vocals must be freely available.
- Host specific tools for soundshaping are not allowed, plugins are allowed any host (able to load vst and vsti) can load, so the work is valid and comprehensible for all free hosts.
- The basic option is freeware, not demo-,share-,trial-ware.
- The project must be free of any predefined genre or style, so the workflow and genre follows the inspiration of the freeware in use.
A list of used freeware to be found at the bottom.
My first choice of the host was my registered copy of Samplitude 9 SE, a free giveaway of a German magazine and Magix.
Hosts are a matter of personal taste and what works for me must not work for others.
I like to mention one more host, called REAPER by Cockos Inc. REAPER requires no dongle, has no copy protection, and can be evaluated with full functionality. A non-commercial use currently is at $50.00 USD.
It does not match my option of freeware in total, but can be evaluated freely and without a time nag.
What it makes so unique is the selling concept and support. Cockos comes with the concept to trust people evaluating their program, are going to pay for the copy when it comes to the decision of continuous use. What a turnaround in the music business! A software company do trust musicians and works hand in hand with them, what an offer ...
I hope some companies, developing music software, start to realize people become easily customers by trusting and supporting them ...
The Workflow:
First I had to look around on search engines whats there on the net and downloaded virtual instruments (vsti) of my interest.
After install and playing around with the instruments I had the feeling to go along with some lazy, downtempo, pop-rock song and created the composition and arrangement. Then I came to the conclusion some vocals would feed and complete the song.
So I had a look on the net again if there are some vocals provided for free. My first choice was a female opera voice, singing a phrase of Cleopatra, but somehow some complementary phrases where mising, so I dropped it.
With the help of search engines I came across ccmixter.org and a female blank voice, stored for free use in MP3 format. After cutting the file in some pieces, to be able to set them on different positions in the song, the true magic happened. This was so spooky ...
The vocals matched 100 percent without the need of any correction of pitch or tempo, either of instruments or voice. This was a magic moment and a lucky event.
Later, a few marginal things had to be done, but not much. At a certain vocal passage is an unwanted tonal microphone feedback, but I was not able to find an appropriate freeware to correct this, so I left it as is.
The female vocalist is Kristin Hersh and the blank downloadable vocals are ripped of her song "Around Dusk".
Playing around with the freeware for sound shaping, dynamics etc., I came to an unexpected issue. It was the fact, some instances are pretty outdated and although at a good quality level, they consume much power, so I was not able to use everything I wanted to have for the project and I was forced to implement just the basic needs for a mix.
At the point of looking for freeware plugins for emulating warmth, sub basses and adding mods like chorus,flanger etc., I had to stop because of cpu overload.
To give the freeware mix some sort of pop-rock muscles, I pushed hard the dynamics of the sum. But this is just my interpretation of a pop production and must not be a common practice.
The last step to make the track available on the net was to use a free MP3 converter and my choice was Germanix Transcoder. The program can be installed in German or English and is linked and listed down below.
Please note,
1. it was not on my mind to create a competition on the used freeware, so the question was not "whats the best for ...".
2. the project does not belong to any mix competition
3. the project does not represent my genre, it represents the project itself.
I hope you enjoy the song and feel inspired to pay freeware more attention. A donation here and there to some developers would also be not a bad idea.
List of used software available on the net: (Where I downloaded from, must not be identical with the homepage of the author)
To keep the costs
at a reasonable price,
the `Music for Vipassana Meditation`
can be downloaded exclusively
at the new paypal shop corner
of omkarmusic.com
to the shop
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