Definition
Virtual orchestration (mockup) is the realization of an orchestral score with sample libraries (Kontakt and dedicated players) inside the DAW. It is the standard for film demos and for many final productions (trailers, games, orchestral pop). A good mockup requires the same rules as real orchestration plus specific MIDI technique.
The libraries
- Spitfire Audio: BBC Symphony Orchestra (also in the free Discover version), Albion, LABS (free).
- Cinematic Studio Series (Cinematic Studio Strings, Brass, Woodwinds).
- Orchestral Tools (Berlin Series), Vienna Symphonic Library, EastWest (Hollywood Orchestra), 8Dio, Native Instruments (Symphony Series).
Each library offers microphone positions (close, tree/decca, ambient/outriggers) and separate articulations.
The template
- One track (or channel) per section and articulation (e.g. Violins I Long, Violins I Short, Violins I Pizz), or one track per section with keyswitches.
- Score order: woodwinds, brass, percussion, harp/keyboards, choir, strings.
- In FL Studio: one channel per instrument in the Channel Rack, each routed to a Mixer track grouped by family (Strings, Winds, Brass, Percussion buses) and then to an Orchestra bus.
Essential MIDI controllers
- CC1 (modulation): dynamics on sustained sounds (crossfade between pp–ff layers). It is the most important control: it must be drawn or played for every phrase.
- CC11 (expression): volume within the dynamic, for fine crescendos and diminuendos.
- CC21 / CC2 (in many libraries): vibrato.
- CC64: sustain (piano, harp).
- Velocity: dynamics of short sounds (spiccato, staccato, pizzicato) and, in legatos, often the speed of the transition.
In the FL Studio piano roll they are drawn as automation events on the channel or with the “Event editor”; with a MIDI keyboard with faders they are recorded in real time.
The sample latency problem
Many long articulations have a slow attack: the “moment the note is heard” arrives tens or hundreds of ms after the start of the sample. A documented example: in the expressive legato of Cinematic Studio Strings, transitions have delays of about −333 ms (low velocity, slow legato), −250 ms (medium) and −100 ms (high). Solutions:
- shift the notes of that track earlier (negative track offset, or moving the notes);
- split articulations onto different tracks with different offsets;
- in FL Studio, if you can't apply a negative delay per channel, move the notes earlier in the piano roll, or delay all the other tracks by the same amount.
Realism
- Breathing of the winds: insert rests.
- Dynamics always in motion: no long note at a fixed CC1.
- Real divisi: a chord on a single violin patch sounds like “16 violins per note”; better to use divisi patches or lower the volumes.
- Humanization: small variations in timing (±5–15 ms) and velocity; don't quantize everything rigidly.
- Real registers: respect the ranges (see the sheets for each family); many libraries sample beyond practical limits.
- Mixed articulations: don't use only legato and staccato; spiccato, marcato, sordino and tremolo add richness.
Mixing the mockup
- A single space: use consistent microphone positions and a shared reverb (hall with 2–3 s decay and 20–40 ms pre-delay) on everything; if the libraries come from different halls, use a close mic and add reverb.
- Stage panning: violins I left, violins II right or center-left, violas center-right, cellos right, basses right at the back; woodwinds center, horns left at the back, trumpets center-right, trombones and tuba right. Many libraries are already positioned.
- EQ: cut unnecessary lows on the high sections, control 200–400 Hz in the tuttis.
- Loudness: leave dynamics alone; the orchestral mockup lives on the contrast between pp and ff.
Practice exercise
Create a template with BBC Symphony Orchestra Discover or Spitfire LABS: 5 string sections (long and short), horns, trumpets, trombones, flutes, timpani. Realize 16 bars of a theme in D minor, drawing the CC1 for each long phrase and correcting the legato delay. Export one version with a fixed CC and one with a drawn CC and compare them.
Links
Strings: Ranges, String Techniques, Orchestral Doublings and Blends, Reductions, String Arranging in Pop, Space in the Mix: Reverb and Delay.