As I’m “hardware based” soundwise …I use templates to load up genres I need to work in …So if its say radio top 40 … the template loads up hardware synths … roland fantom, yamaha motif and a korg triton, all rack synths … if its edm , it loads up a novation bass station , drum station and an “A” station…(and a virus ti)
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Ah, yes at least that limits your choices…unless you have a Junkie XL studio haha.
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Yes …JunkieXL is way over the top lol … I can’t even imagine how he keeps track of it all …slot of hardware to learn and maintain knowledge on !
I need to get into my studio … I have not set foot in the room since I started the house renovation and that was 17 weeks ago …
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Well, JXL said the last time, that HZ studio is FAR more advanced than his one. What people maybe don’t see or know: As HZ or JXL, they are not an one man band show. They have a lot of people who work with and for them. It’s basically a smaller size company, so they don’t need to do all that work alone. As they say, it’s not physically possible as there is no time for anything else really.
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I am maybe moving from Logic to BitWig. I’ve been trying it and its super cool. The modulation is incredible-you can modulate anything, its like a Synth DAW, also the automation is way faster than in LPX…, it has the clip view Ableton alike, but way better… That is something that I want to do, in a faster way and without having to copy paste, check automations, volumes… this BitWig has it.
LPX is very glitchy, constantly I encounter rare small bugs, nothing terminal, sometimes I just relaunch it and that’s it. UPDATE in LPX regarding the Hidden-Tracks-WorkFlow: Since the last update, I’ve been having strange issues with it… I’ve found that it is a glitch, a bug. IT shouldn’t affect anything when you hide tracks, the should keep playing, well, their are not anymore… only sometimes, intermittent problem. ALSO, if I have a stacking folder or just a folder with tracks, some hidden and some not, where I press H to hide the “hide-able”. all in that folder stops playing, as if they were mute. Maybe it is a new functionality, I couldn’t find it quickly and I don’t want to spend time searching for it… So the Hidden templete, is not working properly as it has in the past.
So, I am getting BitWig (plus it is right now with a 25% off… so there’s a deal)
Merry Christmas to you all! 
I just Got Bitwig… it is better than I expected. Just the cleanness and easiness… the Automation is as I always wished it for. Even having one day really using it, I am faster than with my good old Logic Pro X…
Get Bitwig, you’ll be a faster happier composer 
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Been keeping an eye on Bitwig for a good while (part because I was all about Linux audio a decade or so ago), but I haven’t kept up with it lately. It seems very interesting for EDM and other synth oriented genres, but how does it work for orchestral/cinematic work and the like? (Tempo maps, time signature changes and things like that seem cumbersome or entirely overlooked in some DAWs, for example.)
So far, I’m quite happy with Cubase Pro, as it tends to be very stable (at least in my experience so far), and will do basically anything you might need for any genre - but of course, that also means it’s not particularly streamlined for any particular genre or workflow.
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Sorry for the late respond, I’ve been away.
Well, almost a month of using BitWig and its even better than I expected. It is a super fast workflow. It’s cool that I can use it just as Logic Pro X but also, with the Clip functionality as in Ableton. This Clip functionality is incredibly helpful when composing because you don’t have to deal with the whole project during idea’s hatch… you just deal with a clip at a time and do whatever you want to it and its not destructive (as in any other DAW–well, In LPX you can also… but it is not as easy and straightforward because you have to deal always and in everything with the Time View… thus my mention that you have to deal with the whole project every time)…
I heard that for Orchestra the best are Cubase Pro and Protools… but, Zimmer uses Cubase and has got even in to the core of it with Cubase designers… so I would think you are with the right tool. I use LPX for some orchestral arrangements also, and it is good enough, but its midi editor is old now, needs a facelift urgently.
BitWig is cool for this. I love the functionality that BW has to keep every plugin in its own sandbox, so you will never crash the app, it just crash the particular plugin… but you keep working…
What I miss from LPX is:
-The file size for BitWig is MUCH larger than LPX, there must be a tweak to better this (in LPX this is so easy. )
-File management. I am sure I have to learn a bit more of BW ways to just adjust this…
-I miss some instruments from LPX (mostly Alchemy)… but I have many other very cool synths, so I will get over it…
-Final mix is better in LPX, it is just easier to manage the mixing track view, and you can bulk instruct, habilitate and add setting snd plugins…
-The shortcut to open and close the plugins floating window… BW just doesn’t have it 
If you have the time to, download the Trial version, I believe its worth it.
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Thanks Marco …I’ve been curious about bitwig …I’m licensed on Ableton 10 suite and bigwig certainly has the ableton feel …Bitwig seems to be evolving quite quickly and establishing its space in the world of DAW software…
One thing I’ve done is to save out instruments or even channel strips that you know you are going to use regularly as user in logic - this works for kontakt and kontakt complete as well. Works well for orchestral sections etc. So you have your own ready made library of user instruments and channel strips.
Its kind of a half way house between just starting from scratch and having a template. I have got a template with just buses set up as well which means you can just load up the instruments and strips and just bus them where you want with plugins in place
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Are you talking about actually loading entire channel strips from an another project? I love that feature.
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So on your channel strip there’s a little triangle on the left side next to usually what you have highlighted I think - so if you change your instrument click on the arrow next to the slot I think it turns blue and shifts focus on to library- I think it opens it if the window is closed- down the bottom of library you can save your instrument as you’ve set it up as a user version in the library. So you can do this I think for every slot including the whole strip. Thus you can create your own user presets in the library and just load them up as you would the standard ones. I think it even works for external midi setups etc. One point of note is if you’ve done your own custom patch in a synth - say alchemy it’s worth saving it within the synth as well as it occasionally forgets the patch.
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I am not biased because I was married totally to Logic Pro X. And still, it keeps being THE BEST for recording instruments and voice, and for post production and Mastering…
BitWig: I think is Ableton Evolution… (and was created by Ableton programers… so if you follow the money, I would presume that its from the same owners… but strategically. they created this new DAW…)
It’s the best from Ableton and Logic Pro X together in a light DAW in which everything can be modulated. For creativity and for EDM it is the best by far. My workflow has improved incredibly, and with that, creativity…
Bitwig seems super cool for sound design, would you say? Much like ableton it looks like the workflow is very good for that?
definitively. I would think Bitwig is the best for sound design; you can create a group, inside of it lots of synths, and each synth with its own modulators, but also, each synth with Bitwig modulators, and then the group with another … .and then there’s automation also… and parameters that has never been for modulation, now they are…
So it is cool…
Also, if you have all this and is getting heavy, you put everything in its own sand-box, so the engine and app would never crash… just the plugin… (I have it that way and haven’t experimented a crash)
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really interesting question. i think we all can fall into this trap.
Classically most composers rarely go beyon3 parts, some may vernture up to 4/5 parts for climaxes if it includes rhythmic percussion sections but generally this isnt done by composers of late.
these dayts ive found that with the fall of postminimalism and modernism we are now starting to revert back to the same way of writing. this is one way where our old film composers whom we love (Bernard Hermann, Zimmer, Williams and Bernstein to name a few) excelled… and is possibly one of the main the reasons why their music stands the test of time.
In the book “On the Track”, John Williams is interviewed and states that often he starts with a melody… that melody he says will consume the vast majority of his time until its crafted in such a way that it holds up without any harmonic support. its only then that he says he adds the Chords. this is very counter cultural, as the majority of composers usually start with the harmonic content first and fill in the melody afterwards.
About 4 years ago i started doing this and its revolutionised my technique for melodic theme writing… it also helps to prioritise the most important bit of the piece. If its a melodic track then melody shouldn’t be compromised, if its a trailer track then there shouldn’t be much of a melody, so ostinato should shine, and so on.
try starting with the melody and then add the bass and harmony. After that write sparsely to fill in gaps that link sections, themes and then only strengthen what you already have in octaves or in harmony using counterpoint. if you do have these extra transitional elements i would suggest putting them on a softer palleted instrument so that the melody and bass-line shine over them. often woodwinds and piano are great starting points for this.
Highly recommend either “Berkle school of music film composition” book, and “On the track”. both very very good books and they both include illustration and score references. they really helped me with pulling my ideas back.
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I almost always start with the melody. Not that I plan to it just happens. The exception is when I occasionally start with an ostinato.
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To me is not a definitive pathway, but it is easier to start with the background and chords, so that way, I have an inspiring base and it is super easy to create leading melodies…
I’ve found out that it is more demanding to take a melody and then add the chords and the rest. Nevertheless, this happens, such is the case when I had a tune, riff or melody in my mind, or in the guitar or piano…, or an 8 year old nephew invented a song and wants me to add music -this happened and the result was quite cool,… or a client asks you something “alike” this other song…
Definitively I like that approach Geoffrey comments about John Williams and plant the melody until it supports itself… that I will try possibly this weekend, and its not that I am not really trying to find a way or a method on how to start the creative process and compose, I have my own way and it works each time, but this, I think can render different fruits.
Thanks for all the comments, it is a good reading I enjoy and learn from.
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I think you touch on a good point I tried to touch on. I think the approach is different every time we come to compose… some of the best pieces were more chordal… such as Sàint Seans - aquarium, Chopin - nocturn op9, Mike oldfield - tubular bells and so on. I think it’s important to remember though that these pieces dwell on those strong ideas and don’t try to embellish much else. So when we are inspired with an idea let’s just run with it, sometimes it’s great to add a melody, other times the harmony can speak for itself.
I’m not overly into modern pop music but the other half is. She had mentioned she liked the new Noah Cyrus track called “July”. It starts with very simple but beautifully phrased guitar chords which outline a very generic progression we’ve all herd a million times. Yet actually, the timbre of the piano coupled with the progression and phrasing is more than enough to captivate the listener and I very much enjoyed the song when she shown me.
It just reminds me that even though here we are talking about harmony vs melody… we shouldn’t forget all the other elements which are just as important, and they include;
- Counterpoint
- Timbre
- Rhythm
- pitch
- movement
- texture
Each of these has a role to play and that’s what gives our music its unique edge.
So there’s a challenge in this for us composers, a question we might want to ask ourselves when we approach a track.
Are we inspired by our piece, does it move us?
I think that we should be brutally honest with ourselves about this. If we are then it should lead us to other questions such as Is it portraying what I want it to. If it’s not then why?? Then I think it’s our job as the composer to find out why and make it happen. Possibly quite a deep extension to this thread but this has been sitting on my mind for the past few days. 
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