My feelings on instruments - Acoustic vs digital.

So I've been thinking a lot about music from a writing and composing point of view.

I write music for films, games, and bands. Just last week I start work with SONY to get 3 - 4 songs done for a side scroller game. When I was given the demo of the game and the art work, I sat down an did the normal thing and write words that expresses the game.

Earthy, dark, suspenseful, logical, dangerous, mysterious, ext.

After this point I take the words that best fit, and start the make the connections from the expression the words make into music with the same feeling.

I stop in the mid point of writing the music and thought about all the 'tools' I use.

My writing program (Logic 9) has the ability to make endless types of sounds or instruments. From you norms like guitar cello piano (and they don't sound have bad), to even crazy out of this world instruments. I have made a cello with glass strings that are stuck like a hammer on a piano, it is F$%^*#G sick!

I write every note for the songs in piano, and then I just convert them to what ever instrument I want.

THAT is what has captivated me for the last week. The thought of how the sound of a note changes from one instrument to another, I never thought about it before.

A note played on a cello is going to have a vary different sound from the same note played on a organ, piano or guitar.

and WHY IS THAT? I asked.

Lots of reason, and I bet they change from person to person.

If you think about it, its a really interesting thing explorer.

Me I think every instrument has its own texture or sound, and when used properly they can put a vary powerful expression in your music. So times you only need one. Robert Johnson had his voice and his guitar, AudioSlave has 4, Andrew Bird has one instrument layer over its self 4 or 6 times and its amazing!

SO what do you think? Is there a point to having all these different instruments? or do you only need one?

Sounds are composed of 3 things

Timber
Pitch
Amplitude

Timber is what you point out,and,to my point of view,the more the better ;) lets not limitate music! take a look at this video.



It was done using samples from ppl uploading their videos to youtube.

4, duration, come on ;)


Yeah that is the start of arranging for more then one instrument, That and how the "physics" of each workout. Like what can play continuous notes and what can't (still don't get why the guitar is still the main lead most of the time).

An open E string on a "perfectly" tuned guitar will sound like a perfectly tuned open E string if it keeps vibrating for 1 second or 10 seconds,the decay time depends on various factors,factors from the string vibration itself to the space where it is being listened,humidity,temperature,etc etc

A french horn will sound just like a french horn in every audible time and space setting,thats why i did not include duration,this to my point of view of course.

The video example is a mixture of "acoustic" sound recordings,manipulated in a digital enviroment,the best of both worlds!

no duration is short or long, like 2 sec or 5 sec or 5 hours.

there are four parts to a sound

The second part was for the op