Orchestr/a/ FAQ 30 June

Orchestr/a/ FAQ: Everything you've never wanted to know [Updated 30 June 2017]


~I wanna join!
http://jibunwooo.com/ is our usual residence. We're there when there's not a thread up, so work can be done off-board. Mark your bookmarks/botnet browsers.

-Do you guys need [insert instrument]?
Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: We usually have a need for certain instruments (As of 30 June: All High Woodwinds (Flute/Pic/Oboe), Trumpet, All Strings, Large Orchestral Percussion, French Horn) but all are welcome: all instruments of all skill levels (we have semipros and people that literally started playing a week ago).  Piano, brass, woodwinds, strings, kazoo, percussion, thigh slapping, whatever. (Vocalists: Why not? We're not /a/ sings, though; a part will usually consist of 'ahs' and the occasional 'YOOOO' rather than lyrics.)

-I think I can play, what do I do?
Check the sidebar - a full repository of the songs we're doing and the instruments still needed is listed. [Still a little buggy but Shift+F5 will update the list accordingly: Please check the subpad by clicking on the song to make sure that the list is accurate for now.]
Then do this:
-Download the part [or learn the part by listening to a reference track, whatever is specified]
-Record the part [in chunks or in full, your choice]
-Upload to a file hosting service, and post a link to the download with your handle attached to it [you can be Anon254768, we don't care - but we need it to identify people if they need to do retakes or whatnot]

-What program should I use to record?
You can record right on mixtape.moe! This is great for single, full takes. But for everything else, any DAW Program will do - Audacity is probably the easiest and most straightforward option from this point. Logic, Reaper, Pro Tools, whatever; if you got em, use em - but save files as 44.1 kHz WAV/FLAC files. No MP4/3/RMVs.

-What do you guys use to record?
Usually people use their laptop/smartphone mics. This works for a lot of instruments. Dedicated microphones are recommended but not required. Electric Guitars, Basses, etc: direct input will probably work the best (and some cab input if you're savvy but don't bother otherwise). Drumset players - we've had surprising moderate success with using a smartphone to record overheads in a pinch should you lack the setup. An overhead mic will also be ok.
***The most important thing is to record in a quiet place. Usually we can balance your sound but it's way harder when there's extraneous noise.***

-Where should I upload?
Currently - MediaFire and Mega are viable options.
***DON'T USE TEMP FILE HOSTING SERVICES - This includes pomf clones, since they come and go, making old recordings inaccessible. ALSO NOT VOCAROO/CLYP.IT/WHATEVER. They reduce the quality of the file for streaming.


Specific Questions************************************************************************
-I wanna pick up [instrument] again but I have no idea how to do it!/I'm bad at [instrument]
Kind of off-topic, but nonetheless a question we get frequently - there are tons of videos on YouTube and the internet about how to get started. It's kind of easy to develop a bad habit on certain instruments (WIND INSTRUMENTS) at first without someone that knows what they're doing telling you otherwise. Feel free to ask on our chat - we have most instruments covered. A few of us are well-seasoned instrumentfags.

-My instrument isn't listed in the subpad/sidebar for a song. Can I still play this song?
We're pretty flexible - just because a part is written out or a piece is scored a certain way doesn't mean we can't modify it. Let us know what you want to play in what piece, and our arrangers will try to accommodate you. Sometimes we'll want certain instruments on certain parts, hence why the arrangements are how they are - but feel free to pester whoever arranged it. YOu can check who did the arrangement in the appropriate subpad.

-How do I know if my part needs to be rerecorded?
The mixer and/or arranger will tell you if it does, but as long your part isn't completely fucked it'll be used. If there's a couple of mistakes in a recording, sometimes you don't have to re-do the whole thing, and you can just rerecord the "chunk" the mistake is in - our mixers will handle the rest.

-You should do [insert song]!
Arrange it yourself, or see if someone will take you up on it. We do things as we please, so if you really want something arranged, maybe it's time to learn to use some sort of notation software. [Sibelius, Finale, MuseScore for Freefags]

-I made an arrangement. Where do I put it?
Let us know and we'll add it - the site's going through some changes at the moment so things are messy. We'll put it up for you. Make sure your arrangement has:
Full Score (PDF)
Parts (PDF)
MIDI Render (MIDI)
Any Audio references you wanna include

-Are you guys associated with /a/ sings?/You guys should do something with /a/ sings!
They're a different entity than us. Also, we tried once, but the timing in terms of scheduling just didn't work out. If they come to us we'll reconsider.

-RZANet isn't working/It takes a long time to connect to the pad/It disconnected me and is stalled at loading/etc
There's probably a TON of people on right now [usually when we have a thread active.] Wait it out, refresh, whatever. We have other venues in which to keep ourselves in contact with each other (inquire within). Leave a note on the main pad if you run into a serious bug (a pad won't load, something's not working right, etc).

-When is the next album?
Season 3 just came out! Check out the pad or the Youtube channel for download links.
June 30th. Every year, baby.
We release on a yearly schedule, releasing at the beginning of July. However, we always upload stuff to your YouTube channel as it gets finished - through the album will always have some improvements over the individual YouTube videos. Consider downloading it for your autistic fueled pleasure.

-This sucks.
m2t