Ryan didn't even realize that didgeridoo was a joke.

I hope his "composer" is getting paid by the hour, and keeping track of every phone call and conversation. He could retire before Ryan gets his film finished.

Ryan does seem to be making progress. After years of starting every post with "Oh, OK..." he is now sometimes starting with "Oh well..." That shows a spark of creativity ... maybe there is hope after all.

Yeah I realized the didgeridoo was most likely a joke, so I jokingly said back it's not for me.

So NOT a bass flute at all then Ryan. The sound at 38 seconds fits really well, and is really common in the basic packages that most composers have, and if your composer has logic, he certainly already has it, but it is not in the menus as a bass flute! If you give him that clip, and mention the flutey sound at 38, he will know what you mean. That sound is available as a preset in at least three of my instruments. Your lack of musical experience has had us on a wild goose chase for dozens of posts. Joking aside, many packages do digeredoos quite badly, and some present the basic sound as something that is tuned. These can then be played normally, which can sound great, but really is a totally new instrument, because real ones cannot play melodies, sampled ones can.

PS a Native American bass flute is not a bass flute. Strictly speaking a Native American flute is note even a flute, it’s more akin to a recorder. The differences between musical instruments are quite important. Scottish bagpipes and Gaelic pipes are different, cellos and double basses are tuned differently, so open strings sound different, and double basses come in different sizes as in a jazz double bass is smaller than an orchestral double bass, so sound different too.

So NOT a bass flute at all then Ryan. The sound at 38 seconds fits really well, and is really common in the basic packages that most composers have, and if your composer has logic, he certainly already has it, but it is not in the menus as a bass flute! If you give him that clip, and mention the flutey sound at 38, he will know what you mean. That sound is available as a preset in at least three of my instruments. Your lack of musical experience has had us on a wild goose chase for dozens of posts. Joking aside, many packages do digeredoos quite badly, and some present the basic sound as something that is tuned. These can then be played normally, which can sound great, but really is a totally new instrument, because real ones cannot play melodies, sampled ones can.

PS a Native American bass flute is not a bass flute. Strictly speaking a Native American flute is note even a flute, it’s more akin to a recorder. The differences between musical instruments are quite important. Scottish bagpipes and Gaelic pipes are different, cellos and double basses are tuned differently, so open strings sound different, and double basses come in different sizes as in a jazz double bass is smaller than an orchestral double bass, so sound different too.

Oh okay. Well even if a native American bass flute is not flute, it still has a sound similar to some flutes, which is why I was searching flutes. When you say a native American flute is more like a recorder, what type of recording device do you mean?

As for cellos being differently tuned, I gave the composer examples of the the cello sounds I wanted more so.

Ryan - try to keep up. A recorder is a flute family musical instrument. The type where airflow is diverted by a sharp edge.

I did not say a native American flute is not a flute, its a different type of flute. Forget everything I have said - I thought you understood music to a level where we could be accurate. Clearly we can't. A cello playing low does not sound like a double bass playing high. A bass flute (a real orchestral one) does not sound like an orchestral flute playing low, and a bass range wooden flute from America does not sound like one from Africa when American or Africans play them differently.

Do you have the vocabulary to communicate effectively with your composer about music? Saying cello - means nothing at all really, other than a low string instrument.

When you say a native American flute is more like a recorder, what type of recording device do you mean?
wow

Anyone else get the feeling Ryan throws around terms or talks about higher level concepts to make it sound like he either knows more than he does or that project is more professional than it really is? Does this composer exist or is this like when someone says their "friend" has a problem but it's really them.

Ryan do you ever listen to what we are saying? The particular instruments are not important. You get everything backwards. The director job is to film the movie and then communicate to the composer the story and mood he wants the music to convey. You might suggest to him you would like a grand orchestral score like Ennio Morricone but you wouldn't hand pick instrument that you copied from scenes of other movies.

It's clear you don't have any background in music stop with this crazy copy paste method of yours.

When you say a native American flute is more like a recorder, what type of recording device do you mean?

wow

Anyone else get the feeling Ryan throws around terms or talks about higher level concepts to make it sound like he either knows more than he does or that project is more professional than it really is? Does this composer exist or is this like when someone says their "friend" has a problem but it's really them.

I have long had the feeling that Ryan is a precocious 5th grade kid, who has read everything he can get his hands on, but actually doesn't have a clue what the words mean. Now he's here, starting these absurd threads, trying to fool everyone into thinking he's an adult. And apparently he's succeeding, because he keeps getting replies.

I have long wondered why people DO keep replying, especially the long detailed posts that must have taken at least 5-10 minutes each to formulate. Some have mentioned its something to do to kill time while waiting for a render etc., but over time, I found that even as a waste of time, it was a waste of time, and so mostly only pop in with a short quip now and again, rest of the time just sit back with my popcorn and watch.

I think it's a sort of quest. Ryan has such a thick skin, nothing we say sinks in, but there is a glimmer of hope, and above all, he's mega keen. So many forum members see his name and run a mile, while all Ryan topics now have a resident panel to answer his questions, without annoying everyone else, who just don't even read them any more.

I know he's going to ignore everything before I post, but there is a tiny, small, teeny-weeny chance something will sink in. The trouble with this one is it is not just technical skills, or background knowledge - you cannot fake musicianship. Blagging music never works. Once you are outside your comfort zone, you sink rapidly.

When I was a teacher, the really good students just needed a gentle nudge and basic skills input then they were off. That's not that rewarding. Being around when the Eureka moment happens is quite exciting and there is always the possibility Ryan will suddenly get it. Not happened yet, but we'll keep going.It's also nice to have the small regular group who seem to work together rather well. Just think if we were all in the same place - we'd make a brilliant team on a project. Ryan could make the coffee.

Certainly this thread on instruments has involved more discussion on the subject than I had with an actual composer and that includes him asking me to come and listen to a particular Yamaha piano to get my feelings on its tone.

It's far too early for this type of detailed discussions on a film that hasn't yet gone into production.

Oh okay, I don't think I have a thick skin to the point where I throw everything out. I have used a lot of advice on here and it's been very helpful to me. It was pointed out that I should scrap the harmonica for example, so I decided to scrap it.

wow

Anyone else get the feeling Ryan throws around terms or talks about higher level concepts to make it sound like he either knows more than he does or that project is more professional than it really is? Does this composer exist or is this like when someone says their "friend" has a problem but it's really them.

Ryan do you ever listen to what we are saying? The particular instruments are not important. You get everything backwards. The director job is to film the movie and then communicate to the composer the story and mood he wants the music to convey. You might suggest to him you would like a grand orchestral score like Ennio Morricone but you wouldn't hand pick instrument that you copied from scenes of other movies.

It's clear you don't have any background in music stop with this crazy copy paste method of yours.

Well for past projects I wouldn't tell the composer what instruments to use. But if I did this, the music didn't come out to what I wanted. For example on project I did before, the composer made the music so the harp was mostly the predominant instrument and the harp was playing a lot through it. But I didn't feel the harp worked at all, for the tone and feeling I was going for. It's how you play the instrument you say, but I still didn't think the sound worked, even though it was being played to my footage.

So how do I not copy and paste, but at the same time, not have the composer use sounds, I don't think will work? Can't I just say to a composer, I like the flute or piano here, and do to something like that, without it being copying and pasting, because they can still use similar sounds, but make it their own?


Ryan - try to keep up. A recorder is a flute family musical instrument. The type where airflow is diverted by a sharp edge.

I did not say a native American flute is not a flute, its a different type of flute. Forget everything I have said - I thought you understood music to a level where we could be accurate. Clearly we can't. A cello playing low does not sound like a double bass playing high. A bass flute (a real orchestral one) does not sound like an orchestral flute playing low, and a bass range wooden flute from America does not sound like one from Africa when American or Africans play them differently.

Do you have the vocabulary to communicate effectively with your composer about music? Saying cello - means nothing at all really, other than a low string instrument.

When I show composers my example tracks of what I am looking for, cello or flute for example is in those tracks. So if I tell the composer, I like the way that instrument is being played here, he knows what I want it to sound like based on those tracks therefore, doesn't he?

I can't just not give the composer example tracks because when I did this before in past projects, the music didn't come out as to what I was thinking at all. So I feel I need to give them some sort of a steer but is there a way to get what I am looking for, without copying and pasting?

Plus I worked with the composer on two projects before and gave him example tracks, and no one who watched the movie said that it was copied and pasted from past soundtracks, so I thought it was different enough therefore. As for me not knowing what a recorder flute is, it never came up with the composer when we were going over flutes to use. If the composer recommends flutes to me that are the closest one to get that sound, he didn't mention a recorder flute, so I didn't know about it. He said it was a bass native American flute, but did not mention to look for a recorder type flute specifically to use. But thank you very much for point it out!

So in order for me to understand what flutes count as recorders, would a xiao or shakuhachi for example, be recorder flutes? But I could just ask the composer that if he cannnot get the flute in the example track to just get the closest sounding one he can get that would sound good in that kind of context of the example track?

Why don't you use google to find out these pieces of information/ The internet is great for finding out this type of stuff, rather than asking other people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recorder_(musical_instrument)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakuhachi

Sorry yes, I looked it up. A xiao is a recorder but a shakuhachi is not.

Well I could ask the composer if a recorder would be better instead. However, a lot of the lower sounding ones, sound like clarinets and I don't really like that. But none of these recorders so seem to have specific names. They are just called recorders a lot of the time.

No they are not Ryan. A recorder, orchestral flute and a clarinet are all very different instruments and produce their sound by different processes. A clarinet is NEVER, EVER called a recorder - don't be silly. A recorder is a generic term for a flute that has an air splitting edge in the airstream. An orchestral flute is like blowing across a beer bottle and a clarinet has a reed - all different.

PS, an Xiao is a flute, not a recorder. If you do research, probably best to do it a little more er, accurately before you produce conclusions for your rule book. It's in the whistle family, if it helps. It's also very ancient - going back to the Middle Ages.

History lesson aside, the evolution of musical instruments has taken place in parallel so your Native American flute has cousins in Asia, Europe and Africa, to name just a few.

The sound of instruments is based on their mode of operation, so a Japanese flute sounds similar in tone to your Native American one - BUT - the notes they can actually play are quite different. They drill holes in the bore and they block them, or not, with fingers. Where the holes go, and how many give the characteristic cultural location - NOT the method they produce the actual note.

Oh okay thanks, I understand the physical difference now. Thanks. But a recorder sounds a clarinet to me, in terms of sound, when I hear it though. They are different but have a similar sound, and not sure if I want a recorder if it sounds like a clarinet.

I will try to look for some that do not, but so far a lot of them do, when I just play recorder solos.

Clarinets do NOT sound like recorders Ryan.

https://youtu.be/VCvz7uflMIU
This is a recorder.
https://youtu.be/dFaH1KFmLyI
This is a clarinet.

The recorders we learnt to play at school sounded nothing like a Clarinet, if they did, people might have been more enthusiastic about plating them.

The first video is not available in my country. Well I'm just going by what I here. For example, here is a recorder video I found:

Reveuse Bass Solo Recorder - YouTube

Isn't this a clarinet in this video music here at 0:02 into the video:

The Puzzle - YouTube

I thought it was a clarinet. But to me the recorder sounds like the instrument in the second video. They dound exactly alike, but quite similar to me.

That's a bass recorder, which a lot larger than an ordinary recorder or a clarinet

Sure it's larger, but I was just comparing sounds, not sizes. The reason why I was listening to the larger recorders, is because I am trying to find one in the similar range I want, since I will want a low sounding one. It sounds similar to a clarinet to me, and I was just pointing out, how I am not a fan of that clarinet like sound.

You seem to carry a lot of musical baggage.

Here's an interesting talk on the evolution of the early clarinet during Mozart's time.

Introducing Mozart's Clarinet - YouTube

Oh okay, that's interesting. Well I don't think I would want the recorder, because I feel it sounds like a clarinet, which was not what I was going for, but it might sound good in the context of the piece, depending on what the composer can do with it. If not though, I could just ask the composer to keep the piece as written but swap out that instrument for another one that sounds different, if that's best.

a recorder sounds a clarinet to me, in terms of sound,

A recorder is closer to a clarinet than it is to a drum. But it certainly doesn't sound the same ... there is a significant difference ... huge.

How odd, I guess one can not develop a keen sense of hearing, and ability to identify musical instruments, simply from reading and talking about it. Who woulda thunk it? I'll bet the "composer" is going batshit from his conversations with Ryan.

Oh okay, well I guess I am just not as big of a fan of the recorder so far then, as it is not quite the sound I am looking for.

I know the type of sound I am going for compared to movie scores I have heard before, and I have the sound in my head, just not sure on the best instrument to produce that sound. I thought the bass flute might be the closest, but if a recorder is better, perhaps there are some that sound closer to what I want then, I can keep looking.

So when you hear these recorders here, they don't sound similar to a clarinet at all you don't think?

Bach Minuet bass recorder BWV1007 - YouTube
Reveuse Bass Solo Recorder - YouTube

A recorder is closer to a clarinet than it is to a drum. But it certainly doesn't sound the same ... there is a significant difference ... huge.

How odd, I guess one can not develop a keen sense of hearing, and ability to identify musical instruments, simply from reading and talking about it. Who woulda thunk it? I'll bet the "composer" is going batshit from his conversations with Ryan.

call me an optimist but I like to think its like those pop culture sites that post a 5000-word article in 10 500-word “articles”, one each day. In other words, hopefully our boy’s only talked with this composer once or twice and we simply get a different slice of these few meetings every time it’s brought up.

Right - here is me playing (badly, because I had 5 mins) flute, as quetly as I could, clarinet low, and a treble recorder, not the usual descant. Can you hear the difference? Random noodling and reverb - that's it.

Oh no audio link was posted, if you meant to post one?

Yes sorry - Every time I tried, my browser crashed - I'm back on the MacBook - try here.
www.eastanglianradio.com/ryan1.mp3

Oh all good thank you very much for posting that for me! So the recorder starts at about 0:24 then? yes that recorder sounds different compared to the ones I have been listening to. What kind of recorder is that or what is the name of that type?

The clue is the name "bass" recorder, which the recorder you've been listening to.

Oh okay. The YouTube videos I linked before have bass recorders but they sound more clarinet like for some reason. Is it because they're being played in the lower notes?

Were you playing the higher notes more so?

Here's video on the clarinet

https://philharmonia.co.uk/resources/instruments/clarinet/

Oh thank you. Well maybe the bass recorder is not the right sound I am looking for perhaps. I know I want a low woodwind sound, that you would get from blowing air through a woodwind. But maybe the bass recorder would work in the context of the music I have in mind, if it was being played in that fashion.

The one I played was in it's lower range - and it's a treble (sometimes called alto) There's a picture here of treble, tenor and bass - the bass looking like a bassoon, with a crook.

https://usercontent.village.co/b0a8ded6-a39a-40db-a9f5-f7e4aa4dfa87-image.jpg

Bass recorders really do not sound like reed instruments. The important thing is that in one of your clips, it wasn't a real instrument at all, but a synthesised sound, but does it matter? I really don't think so. I have three saxophones - soprano, alto and tenor. I'd like a baritone but can't afford one. They all sound different to me, but sometimes in movies you will see somebody playing a tenor, but hear an alto. Car experts notice when a car in a movie is a V8, but we hear a V6. My friend the aviation buff can spot the wrong engines in war films.

When we have sound for movies, the critical thing is it fits. If it's supposed to be haunting - if it is, it worked. Often sounds are contrived and artificial. I really don't think that telling a composer that you have a cello in your head works, if your idea of a cello is different from mine. You can't hear the difference between flute and reed. That's fine, lots of people can't, but that means your judgement is a bit flawed. A bit like a colour blind person picking fabrics and paint colours.

Do you know anyone who has a bass recorder? I don't?

Oh okay thanks. Yeah I am not an expert on the categories of instruments such as recorder, reed instruments, etc. I was just picking based on sounds I felt would go with the tone and feeling of what I wanted, while played in that fashion of course.

I actually thought that the bass native American flute was a synthesizer at first, but the composer told me it was a bass native American flute. But if he is incorrect and it's a synthesizer, than we can use that then.

However, since I want the flute to go into overblowing in certain parts. Can a synthesizer, synthesize overblowing? I'm assuming it can't because you never hear a synthesizer overblowing in any musical pieces that I am aware of, unless there are any?

Of course they can! Well, to be fair, some can if they are designed to do it, but you are still confused. Synthesis or sampling is now often a bit of both - and the samples are edited so maybe you hear the first bit of sample 20394 crossfaded into 21928, and then when your hand comes off the key, it ends with the 25341 full stop!

Who actually cares? You are trying to categorise things. You have no idea if you have even heard a synthesised sound, and not noticed. Maybe try to treat it like Foley - you see the bird, you hear the wings flap. The flaps might well be somebody in the Foley studio with old fashioned leather motorcycle gloves. It doesn't matter.

Here's a project of mine that originally had images - this is the soundtrack, and the voice is a couple of hundred phrases joined up, with other parts synthesised. Is it real? No idea - sounds real.
Then there is the second one - try this one, real, sampled or synthesised? Synthesis does not have to sound like Jean Michel Jarre

https://youtu.be/SdwHQymp6AU


https://youtu.be/mfbpTmBkwRU

Of course they can! Well, to be fair, some can if they are designed to do it, but you are still confused. Synthesis or sampling is now often a bit of both - and the samples are edited so maybe you hear the first bit of sample 20394 crossfaded into 21928, and then when your hand comes off the key, it ends with the 25341 full stop!

Who actually cares? You are trying to categorise things. You have no idea if you have even heard a synthesised sound, and not noticed. Maybe try to treat it like Foley - you see the bird, you hear the wings flap. The flaps might well be somebody in the Foley studio with old fashioned leather motorcycle gloves. It doesn't matter.

Here's a project of mine that originally had images - this is the soundtrack, and the voice is a couple of hundred phrases joined up, with other parts synthesised. Is it real? No idea - sounds real.
Then there is the second one - try this one, real, sampled or synthesised? Synthesis does not have to sound like Jean Michel Jarre

https://youtu.be/SdwHQymp6AU


https://youtu.be/mfbpTmBkwRU

Oh okay thanks. Well I would guess that the first one is real, and the second one is sampled, is that right?

When you said that one of the clips I provided, the instrument was actually synthesized, do you mean the flute at 0:38 in this clip:

The Replacement Killers soundtrack part 3 - YouTube

When you say synthesized, do you mean it's sampled, or done on a synth completely?

You are STILL missing the entire point - you clearly don;lt understand synthesis vs sampling, and the fact that hardware synthesisers are largely gathering dust as they are inside computers, alongside samplers. The sound at 38 seconds is layered, effects treated and evolutionary - so probably generated as programming number XXX in ZZZ instrument inside a computer. It could be a prophet from the 80s on a stock patch, or a if recorded today, one of a thousand different sound sources. It does not matter how it was generated, but it certainly doesn't sound like a real instrument with a microphone, that's for certain.In those clips, the classical piano was synthesised NO samples used at all in it's construction - it's called a virtually modelled sound - as in, it's synthesised. The less realistic flute is actually a sample. The voices in the other were real voices, but the singers sang every note, and every phrase in ways that could be chopped up and reconstructed, but there is another similar one where the words are synthesised, and I cannot tell the difference.

Your replacement killers track was produced in 98, so almost certainly synth based, because samplers were not that advanced back then.

Oh okay. I thought that the difference between synthesis and sampling, is that synthesis is made from a synthesizer, and sampling is recordings of the notes of the real instrument. That is what the composer said anyway, but is that wrong, if I don't understand?

Synthesis is the creation of a sound from (in an analogue device) combining different waveforms. The synthesiser can be hardware with oscillators, filters and modulators, but nowadays this can be done in software with more repeatability and stability. However, they can also generate sound by frequency modulation which is more complex and difficult to predict. The latest form of synthesis looks at the original sound and recreates it mathematically. Imagine a piano. a string, or multiple strings under tension that get thumped by a felt covered hammer. There are also dampers to stop it ringing, operated by the pedals. The notes made up of two or three will also be slightly detuned from each other. The strings are in a metal frame that has an associated soundboard, which all add or subtract from the fundamental tone, which changes as the strings are hit from gently to very loud, and the amount of overtones changes. Each note will generate sympathetic resonances in some of the other strings, but not in others. So a clever bit of software can itemise every single one of the individual parameters and mimic them from the ground up - no samples of a piano at all, but the maths and the physics is known, so the software can produce the sound. It means that if you can itemise and measure the difference between a Steinway and a Bechstein, you can mimic it, and the good ones are approved by these firms as very accurate reproductions. You can do this with almost any instrument.

Sampling is based on multiple recordings. The very first Mellotrons had recordings of every note a single instrument, or entire orchestral section can play. They sounded good as accompaniment, but didn't convince people it was a real orchestra. Nowadays, the producer will sample individual or sections with every conceivable type of playing - so if you use a violin as example, it will be in all note lengths from staccato through to legato - and if you go from one note to another with no gap, the software will seamlessly go from one note to another sample note seamlessly and realistically. If you leave a gap, there will be a new triggering with initial attack which sounds different. Each note might have initial velocity, note velocity, pitch expression and modulation parameters, plus perhaps 6-15 different sounds. Many also have multiple mic positions. So you can choose a close mic perspective, to a very distant one. Some have advanced mic techniques available like Decca Trees with outriggers - so a string library might be 5-15 gigabytes of samples.

Now it gets complicated. Some sample libraries create new instruments by taking sounds and playing them in ways that are impossible. A harp, or piano cannot do pitch bend, but a sampler could do these things. Pianos play their note and decay, but you could have a sample that grows in volume. This becomes synthesis in a way - creating something impossible in real life. Other samplers combine multiple samples to create an entirely new sound that has never existed in real life, so is that sampling, or is it synthesis?

You're thinking in terms that existed 20 years ago, not today. Hence me keep saying it doesn't matter.

The essential features of these things has remained the same. Filters to lop off top and bottom, and filters that change as you play, like wah-wah pedals, plus modulation where you use one sound to modulate another. If you take a flute sound, which is usually based on sine waves, you can add other sounds to it and these can become very dense and thick, which is what that sample clip you picked seems to be - a rich, flute based evolving - BIG - sound. If the flute was real or synthesised is impossible to determine, but that sound is 'flutey' - clearly not brassy, or stringy.

One of the very common sounds in standalone keyboards are these pad type sounds - which again, depending on the keyboard might have their origins in a real sound, or might be totally synthetic.

I'll say it again - watch the spitfire videos and watch guy michelmore. If you took the time to learn, these things would be much easier for you too manage. One of my favourite instruments is very simple - it just combines two different sounds into new ones, you pick two sounds and the software blends them creating a totally new sound.

Now it gets complicated. Some sample libraries create new instruments by taking sounds and playing them in ways that are impossible. A harp, or piano cannot do pitch bend, but a sampler could do these things. Pianos play their note and decay, but you could have a sample that grows in volume. This becomes synthesis in a way - creating something impossible in real life. Other samplers combine multiple samples to create an entirely new sound that has never existed in real life, so is that sampling, or is it synthesis?


I am guessing in that case it would be synthesis but would I be correct?

Well is there any reason to use the old fashioned synthesis nowadays, since every instrument can be sampled, it seems? There are times I want a synthesized sound in the score, but is that just old technology now, and there is no reason to have it?

When it comes to a being able to play samples of an instrument in an unnatural way, I was actually thinking of asking the composer to do that with a tuba. I want a tuba, but played much faster, like a bass guitar. It may so good for what I am looking for, but I will have to see.

As for the flute like sound I want, I think I will have to use sampling in order to that overblowing sound, unless this can be done with synthesis? Or is synthesis a thing of the past, and new sampling technology, just makes synthesis unnecessary?

No Ryan, you’ve still not understood.

There is no point trying to explain further. You simply do not have enough basic music knowledge to provide the framework needed to understand.

THE METHOD OF PRODUCTION IS UNIMPORTANT

If your synthesiser has a noise control, turn it up and flute gets breathy, in fact far more than a real one if you want.

Tubas and bass guitars. They can both play fast, it depends on the skill of the player. Tubas playing fast can sound like farts. As in funny, and make people laugh? Why do you think bass guitars play fast and tubas play slowly? No idea where you get these crazy ideas from?

None of this is your concern. You are way, way out of your depth. Give your composer your clips as guides and leave them alone. You are trying to have a serious conversation in a foreign language you only have a tiny amount of vocabulary for.

Each note will generate sympathetic resonances in some of the other strings
This is one thing missing from at least the less expensive electronic pianos that I've heard, and it takes away a great deal of richness from the sound.

e.g. on an actual piano, if I slowly and gently depress C4, G4, C5, E5, to lift the dampers without making the hammers strike the strings, and I then strike a loud staccato note on C3, I will hear sustained resonance on the four higher notes. If I depress the sustain pedal and then strike a staccato C3, I will hear a lot of resonance from a lot of strings. The inexpensive electronic pianos (or combo keyboards) that I've tried do not do this. Hopefully some of the "really good" electronics do have the resonance. At what make / model / price would I be likely to find that feature?

Oh well the composer said that if I were to try to synthesize a flute it would not sound natural enough, and I need real flute samples to get a more natural sound, if he is correct.

I just thought that with the technology a tuba could play fast without the farting sounds, because you are overlaying the samples closer together as oppose to actually blowing into a tuba fast, making the farting sounds.

Maybe fast tuba would be appropriate considering what has transpired here for the past two years.

Ba-dump ch!

Well it's just directors are allowed to tell colorists, what kind of color they want, and they are allowed to tell DP, what focal lengths they want, so is it really out of line to tell a composer what musical sounds you want?

What this thread has revealed how little you know of this subject. You're trying to identify the instruments from movie sound tracks you want to copy then ask your composer use the same sound/instrument. I don't know how your composer puts up with you.

But why is it wrong to ask the composer to use the same instrument, or something close to, since that will likely get the same sound I am looking for. Instead of asking the composer to use the same instrument, should I ask him to get me that same sound as whatever instrument that is, instead?

It's become obvious that you can't identify one instrument from another, don't understand differences between sampling, synthesizing, etc. So when you use these terms to communicate with the composer, you are just going to create a lot of misdirection and confusion.

Don't pretend you know things you don't know, by using terms you don't understand. At best that will just waste time; at worst it will piss people off. Doing those things will not gain anyone's respect; probably the opposite.

If you want to micro-manage the music, I think you might be better to give the composer a sample clip and say "I'd like it to sound like this." Period. Let the composer, with his (hopefully) experienced musician's ear, determine what instrument it is, how the sound was produced, etc.