When I watched Oliver Stone’s film Platoon long ago, this left a strong impression on me as it played in the background. I later learned that it was also used at Kennedy’s funeral. That event itself was such a shock to me that I wasn’t even aware of the funeral march being played.
As I’ve been working on MIDI piano performances, my music advisor has always pointed out one crucial thing:
"Keep the movement of the main theme in mind and maintain a proper balance between the soprano, alto, tenor, and bass!"
To train myself in this, I decided to try sequencing MIDI for strings. I wanted to study the balance between different instrument timbres by working on a slow piece.
One key challenge in MIDI string programming is how to express the subtle tonal changes within a single note. This requires mastering Expression, so I took on this project as an opportunity to study that as well.
I found that sequencing strings feels quite different from doing piano. When working with piano, I feel as though I’m playing it myself, but with strings, it’s more like I’m conducting—controlling each section independently. It’s a fascinating experience.
Listening to it now, I notice some issues—imbalanced sections, slightly rough attacks, and other small details—so I plan to make gradual adjustments.
First, I made some slight balance adjustments. (2020/09/23)
Title: Samuel Barber Adagio for Strings
Strings sound source: Audibro LA Scoring Strings 2.5
Audio file format: mp3