Orchestral Composition in Bits and Pieces

Ah, the wonders of technology. In the realm of music composition, more specifically film score composition, methods have rapidly changed in the last ten years. There was a time when the average composer wrote his scores (yes, wrote on paper), sitting next to a piano, “hearing” every part in his head. The only “preview” of the composition was, again, in his head. Does the string build sound right in the 16th measure? Well, try it on the piano. The piano was his every instrument. “Ok, the right hand is the violin section; left hand is the brass. No, wait, left hand is the contrabass.” Then he played it, rendering the sound of the real instruments in his mind’s ear.

Fortunately, with the wealth of sample libraries available now, we can immediately listen to what we compose, in stunning reality. A sample library is a software collection of recorded sounds, samples, of each note of an instrument. For example, most standard orchestral libraries contain a violin section. The samples will include recordings of each and every individual note on the instrument – and every one is recorded using different articulations such as legato, staccato, spiccato, portamento, etc. The library is “played” using a software program, and a digital keyboard connected a computer. An specific instrument is loaded into the program interface, and when a note is played on the piano, that note is triggered in the software program. What’s more, most of these libraries can be utilized with scoring software, such as Sibelius, to instantly play music scores that have been written on the computer.

Unfortunately, many individuals such as law students (i.e. myself), do not have the financial resources to purchase a sample library. Despite my law-student-in-debt status, what I have managed to do is to collect several “free versions” of the most popular sample libraries. Each of these limited versions contain a few instruments, and are demos that are supposed to convince you to purchase the full product. I have used several of these versions to begin orchestrating many of the pieces I have written over the years. For an amateur composer such as myself, the results are quite exhilarating.

Here is an example:

The Servanthood of Prosecution

I can recall plenty of memorable instances from my experience prosecuting as an extern this past summer. One of the first things I remember being told was that a career in prosecution is a career of service. What I do not remember was taking that as seriously as I now realize I should have.

First, we hear statements like that all the time. “I’m not here for the money.” “We work for you!” To some extent, I believe that I, like many others, am somewhat desensitized to the true meaning of career of service. And second, when I envision a “service” career, I see someone working for the Red Cross, or someone volunteering at a food kitchen – someone who, every day, sees the direct and positive results of their work. I didn’t, though, fully realize the fact that a true servant often must avoid the tendency to focus on results.

My eyes were opened to this fact during one of my recent cases. The case involved an alleged assault, both verbal and physical, in a local store. The citizen obtained warrants were taken out by two sisters, who both claimed to have been followed into the store by a woman, and then verbally confronted by the woman.

The alleged assault had its basis in the testimony of the sisters that the woman had “come at” them, thereby placing them in imminent fear of bodily harm. It is worth noting that these individuals all had history – the long-term animosity was apparent from the disgust that each side had for the other.

Initially bothersome to me was the fact that the sisters’ testimony was not quite parallel. But, I did feel that, based on what they had told me, that I could, in ethical confidence, make a case. Now, the ultimate blow came when the defense attorney showed me the security footage from the camera in the store. What the footage showed was, well, nothing. The incidence that my witnesses, or victims, claimed occurred simply did not.

In short, my outlook of success in the case went from nominally decent to quite terrible. Upon taking the stand, my witnesses contradicted each other, lied, and generally made fools of themselves. Not only was this discouraging as a “prosecutor-in-training,” but as a student who wanted to see justice done – a goal that is all too easy to equivocate with winning a case. And, ultimately, I felt embarrassed, arguing the case to the judge – after all, I felt that, to be successful, I had to win the case.

This forced a change in my perspective of prosecuting – effective, ethical, public servant-oriented prosecuting is not necessarily outcome-based. By revealing that there, in fact, had been no injustice committed in my case, I did serve the community. By revealing two troublemakers, who were willing to take out charges based solely on a bad relationship, I was functioning as a public servant – and therefore, being effective as a prosecutor! The prosecutor’s goal should not be to win every case, but to seek justice – justice that may in fact dictate losing a case. In the end, my experience prosecuting as an extern has changed my view of precisely how prosecuting is indeed a career of servant-hood.

Microsoft: in need of some combination therapy?

Ever since it debuted, I’ve been a big fan of Windows Live Mesh.  Having my files constantly synchronized in the cloud offers great peace of mind, not to mention the convenience of being able to access my desktop remotely.  Microsoft is currently in the process of transitioning from Live Mesh to the new LiveSync, which will be included in the upcoming Wave 4 of the Live Essentials pack.

My first impression was that this would be great – I was exhilarated at the thought of having my documents synchronized to folders on my SkyDrive and being able to edit them in WebApps – the stability of constant backup and the ability to work in the cloud from any location.

Alas, Microsoft doesn’t seem to think that way…at least not yet.  Currently, there are 2GB of file storage available for use in LiveSync – 3GB less than what was available using Mesh.  When connected to the internet, the folders are not only kept constantly synchronized between your computer and the cloud, but can be kept in sync with numerous other devices or computers.  However, the 2GB of files stored in your SkyDrive space by LiveSync cannot be viewed or accessed in the cloud.  The only way to view or access documents in the cloud is to upload them (individually) to the standard SkyDrive storage area.

In other words, the average user is presented with a dichotomy: store files individually on Skydrive where they can be edited in the cloud or locally, or use LiveSync to synchronize entire folders of documents, but with the inability to edit or view them in the cloud.  Now, Microsoft’s most recent child was brilliant – I love Windows 7.  In fact, I would say that Windows 7 is great enough for me to forgive Microsoft for releasing Vista (and for waiting so long to get around to it).  But here’s a problem that would seem to be quite easy to remedy: give LiveSync users the ability to implement WebApps to view and edit their synced documents … in the cloud.