Kenny Seymour and Tim Kashani discuss why film composers use both sampled and live instruments. Kashani prioritizes recording strings and French horn live for their emotional nuance, but relies on samples for mock-ups before funding is secured. Budget constraints force composers to choose strategically which instruments deserve real players.
And there is, of course, a big debate: sampling versus live. And you seem to have been able to find an area in between that you're very comfortable with.
I love live. I mean, if you— if I have my choice, live first, all the way. The thing is, with— especially in film music, with a lot of the package deals that are coming, you can't afford to have a big, you know, 60-piece orchestra because the budgets just don't allow it. And with the advancements in technology, the days of when the director would only hear the score at the dub stage is— those are pretty much only for the AAA list composers. So you have to kind of be able to come up with something that sounds realistic and present a mock-up, a representation of what the score will sound like prior to any type of money coming for it.
When you look at the whole palette of instruments to choose from, which are the ones that you just feel I really need that one live.
Strings. I'll start with strings, then I'll go to French horn. I mean, I can end up going through the entire—
No, that's fine.
What about the strings? There have been a lot of advancements in sample libraries for strings. However, there are certain nuances and certain emotional characteristics. A lot of the articulations, they can be had, but there's just something when you hear a violin or a cello. And the show I've arranged currently, we have a cello, and there's just a certain nuance and a certain feeling that's put into a live cello. It's the reverberation from the body of the instrument to the surrounding area. It's just, it's everything involved. Now when it's something that's just a cello line or something that's in a commercial or if it's in, you know, something that's not going to be out in front, then it's a little bit more passable. But I just, I guess I'm old school.
But you're old school in a new world. In a new world, and I mean, do whatever is necessary.
