Well, regarding copy/paste: it's great for composing, but not for production. I separate the two so I compose in Finale, and then I play that into my DAW, where I do not copy and paste once in the DAW or you end up with a very unnatural sounding orchestra.
Here's an idea of what I was able to do with EW Symphonic Choirs. Keep in mind that I had to overdubb all the parts with my own singing 3-4 times per part to get it to be legato and have clear words:
There's a great community of composers using virtual instruments called vi-control.net. Definitely worth joining, but there are some big name professionals on there like Hans Zimmer, so best to do more reading and listening before posting. ;)
This, unfortunately, isn't the best medium to talk, but I'm on The Writer's Block on Discord if you want to chat :)
:O:O:O WOW! Wow wow wow. Do you have an education or training in music? This is composition and execution beyond my ability. Haha! May I ask how long you've been practicing?
I'll check out the vi-control community and look into Finale, and I'll look for you on Discord. Thanks for sharing that piece! It's not just impressive from an analytical perspective, it was truly a pleasure to listen to.
Thank you!! I've studied piano since I was 5, and always loved listening to Beethoven and Shostakovich symphonies. I studied composition in college and then continued studying privately with my comp teacher from college. My biggest issue is that I'm very slow at it. Maybe this year I'll work to get some more pieces completed. ;)
Ahh your education and experience is very apparent. There is a kind of maturity and vision in the sound that seems, to me, unmistakable. I have no training in music and I feel like my brain doesn't put music together in a way that might result in what you have created in the oratorio. I can comprehend it from the perspective of an audience member and it communicates to me, but when it comes time to compose, my stuff just doesn't sound like that. I'm really very happy to have heard it and I do hope that you complete some more :)
I highly recommend that you do lots of listening of the music you want to create. If you wish to do movie scoring, for example, then learn how to read music and study scores of great classical composers as well as scores of John Williams and other film composers.
It's never too late! The craft of composing is a skill that you develop, it's not something that anyone is born with - even Mozart had many teachers and studied composition :)
I think that is very sound advice. I hadn't considered it, but I suppose that learning to read music would be necessary to study composition. :D I am really interested in composing for films and games (and also stock audio), but I have been focusing my attention on practice (of Cubase and EW software mostly) in the form of rewriting an old metal album I contributed to as epic symphonic metal. So I've been listening to lots of heavy metal in that spectrum (stuff like Mechina, Blind Guardian, Brymir, Dimmu Borgir).
It's very interesting what computers have afforded independent musicians, but there is so much to learn. Not just composition, but also production and performance. It is, without a single doubt, a lifelong pursuit. :)
You inspired me to go work on some stuff and I hate it/don't hate it! ? I guess? I dunno? Lol. I'll share it once it's more developed :)