In the last part of this article, I was explaining how I think that the change in the way how film music is being created has influenced the music itself.
The fact that film scores are more "produced" than "written" nowadays has tremendous implications on the music itself. In many cases this has lead to an obsession with sound. Many film scores nowadays don't go through the step of "properly recording" them a...
2020-11-20 08:50:28 +0000 UTC View PostA big factor that helps us to recognize instrumental colours is in fact not only the mixture of the harmonics of the sustaining sound but at least to an equal part its dynamic envelope, particularly the attack of the sound. As attack time, we usually mean he time it takes until the air in the tube or the string string etc. has reached a continous vibration. But with acoustic instruments that phase itself has such a distinct sound that it is part of the individual quality of an instrument.&nbs...
2020-11-18 08:49:23 +0000 UTC View Post
Welcome to the final part of the composition walkthrough for GAZING AT THE NIGHT SKY. Today, we focus on the last section with the sentimental string ending.
As usual, Score, Audio and Midi attached at the bottom of the post.
The previous parts of this composition walkthrough are available here.
After the calm brass chorale that we had a look a...
2020-11-16 09:07:17 +0000 UTC View PostOne of the many nerdy obsessions that I have with music is to not only understand how instruments sound but also why they sound the way they do. I'm fascinated by the reasons why certain instruments are constructed or shaped the way they are and what that has to do with their sound.
The interesting fact is that acoustic instruments are so complex in their work principle with an insane amount of variables that take an influence that it is mostly impossible to simulate its construction in...
2020-11-13 08:39:36 +0000 UTC View PostThe art of writing music for a visual medium and the obvious emotional influence that music can have on the audience has always been subject to exploitation in morally problematic ways.
Since the beginning of film more than 100 years ago, music has been an integral part of delivering messages and emotionally manipulating the audience in all sorts of propaganda. The enormous power that music can have in shaping how we feel about certain images on screen makes it an ideal vehicle to...
2020-11-11 08:26:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Welcome to the next part of this composition walkthrough. The previous parts of this series are available here.
In this part we will cover the beginning of the Cue M3 - Car Chase.
As usual, we will work with score reductions, the full score, Midi and Audio File of the entire score are attached at the bottom of the post.
Here's today's sequence without music:
The concept of associating a theme with a character in a movie is probably one of the strongest and also most well known properties of film music. In fact, this scoring approach has become so well known that it almost feels like the default for film music. It seems like each relevant character or situation or maybe even location in the movie should be associated with a theme as all these iconic film scores we know and admire have done.
A common problem with learning film composers is th...
2020-11-06 08:55:17 +0000 UTC View PostAs I wrote in my last post in this series, when notating for scoring sessions, the highest priority should be to be as easily readable for the musicians. Over time notation conventions for scoring sessions, or sight reading sessions in general, have developed their own sets of rules that are usually expected at a scoring stage.
Having said that, it's not that a session will be a complete disaster if you...
2020-11-04 08:42:15 +0000 UTC View Post
I got a few messages from some of you guys who said that they often are overwhelmed by the Multitrack Sessions that I make available here not really knowing what to do with these many tracks. And I can totally understand that opening up such a large amount of tracks can feel quite overwhelming.
To make things easier, today I chose a track from my most recent score for A FATHER'S JOB, which was recorded with a relatively small ensemble effectively also reducing the number of microphone s...
2020-11-02 09:05:53 +0000 UTC View PostAnother month is coming to an end and I'd like to give you a little informal update about what is going on with this Patreon site.
Unfortunately, Europe is currently seeing a large second wave of Corona which causes many things to become increasingly difficult due to restrictions and lockdowns. However, other than in spring, recordings all over the continent are still taking place, usually with stricter hygienic concepts. I recorded with Budapest a few days ago and will be recording wit...
2020-10-31 14:35:10 +0000 UTC View PostEvery few weeks, on any of the online communities for media composers there pops up a discussion that essentially boils down to "John Williams vs. Hans Zimmer" with both sides argueing for the approach, craftmanship and execution of musical ideas by their preferred composer.
And depending on perspective, both sides are correct. But just reducing this seemingly endless conflict to these two sides is too short sighted and effectively this "battle" is just a symptom of a way larger develop...
2020-10-30 08:33:07 +0000 UTC View Post
A few days ago, my score for A FATHER'S JOB was released on all streaming platforms. Spotify was so nice to put it into their Editorial Playlist "Classical New Releases" so it's currently getting a lot of plays which is great.
Exclusively for my patrons, you get to download the entire score including an unreleased (short) Bonus Track as well as the Score Sheet for the entire score in the order that we recorded it.
All the files are available below!
2020-10-28 08:51:53 +0000 UTC View Post
Today, we're going to have a deeper look at the Brass Chorale part in GAZING AT THE NIGHT SKY.
As usual, Score, Audio and Midi attached at the bottom of the post.
The previous parts of this composition walkthrough are available here.
We need to approach this part a bit differently as usual, so a short score as in previous parts is rather unprac...
2020-10-26 08:56:41 +0000 UTC View Post
I spent my Saturday afternoon nerding out with Nate and Drew Garcia about film, filmmusic and the movie HERO we did together in 2017. It was a lot of fun and became quite philosphical at times.
2020-10-25 16:06:55 +0000 UTC View PostIf you are relatively new here, you will probably not know that I have a quite long history of teaching music online. For many years I have been giving private lessons over Skype to students from all around the world and have written a "Daily Filmscoring Bit" on my personal web site for more than 10 years before making the move to Patreon in early 2020.
So teaching music in one way or the other has always been a part of my professional life.
It started out as a pure financia...
2020-10-23 07:48:41 +0000 UTC View PostOne of the biggest problems that I see quite a lot with learning composers and orchestrators is the lack of registral control in voicings. This whole subject touches heavily on orchestration already and requires a deep understanding of the properties of each instrument but mastering it will result in considerably better sounding orchestral voicings.
To read the previous parts of this ongoing tutorial series click 2020-10-21 07:43:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Welcome to the next part of this composition walkthrough. The previous parts of this series are available here.
In this part we will cover the second half of the Cue M2 Let's Roll.
As usual, we will work with score reductions, the full score, Midi and Audio File of the entire score are attached at the bottom of the post.
Here's the sequence without music:
As I mentioned already a few weeks ago, I recored a score for a short film in July with a very specific line-up and seating.
This score will release on all streaming platforms on October 22nd.
However, you as my patrons get an early access to the release. I will continue posting score sheets and more details about the score in following posts.
2020-10-16 08:38:40 +0000 UTC View PostAfter all preparations for a successful scoring session are done and everything is set, it is time to record.
All other parts of this ongoing series is available here.
The exact procedure of the beginning of a first session of a project varies slightly depending on where you record but the general first steps are always identical. It is quite common to perso...
2020-10-16 08:25:39 +0000 UTC View PostWelcome to this brand new tutorial series! In this multi part tutorial, I will focus on the notation side of things and while this might not be of interest for a few of you (who see their work in virtual orchestration only), it might still be worth reading through them as there might be some information that might be useful for your own work in creating realistic mockups.
Having said that, there is no single right way or standard that is applicable in every situation. In fact, knowing w...
2020-10-14 07:59:20 +0000 UTC View PostIt's time for another entire multitrack session from a orchestral recording. We're continueing with the score from Pastry Party that I recorded in 2015 in Prague.
In an earlier post, I talked extensively about the recording setup.
This cue continues in the light hearted swing feeling as most of the others do with a few french inspired textures such as an accordion.
Looking back at...
2020-10-12 08:02:29 +0000 UTC View PostBeing self employed or freelance very often means to be a one man show in every regard, Only very few composers can or want to afford having one or more permanent assistant(s) and even if you can, certain "non-composing tasks" will always land on your table.
It is essential to realize that you need to plan in "communication and organisation" into your daily schedule. At a certain point of professionalism or level of workload, you simply can't ignore the amount of time these things take ...
2020-10-09 07:51:49 +0000 UTC View Post
In July and August, I had the pleasure to write the score for the very ambitioned short film "A Father's Job" which we were lucky enough to record in Prague in a phase of relative low Corona cases.
Here's the trailer for the movie:
The story is about a family in Germany during World War 2 that suffers from the psychological implications and consequences of being torn apart due to ...
2020-10-07 08:36:16 +0000 UTC View Post
After the more low energy B section, we return back to the A theme of the piece, effectively following a quite common ABA structure for the first half of the piece.
You can read the other parts of this walkthrough here.
As usual, the complete recording, score sheet and midi file are attached below while we're working with short scores in the article ...
2020-10-05 08:24:52 +0000 UTC View PostAfter having a look at click tracks and session preparations in the previous parts of this series, it is time to finally get to the scoring stage and record. Depending on the size and budget of the project, the numbers of how many people are in the recording booth varies.
If you as a composer don't also conduct, you will basically be the center of attention in the...
2020-10-02 08:18:59 +0000 UTC View PostIn a post a while ago, I spoke about symmetric scales which have specific properties that cause them to behave quite differently to "regular" diatonic scales but more importantly give them a very distinct sound and lack of "rootedness" in any specific tonality.
The most commonly used symmetric scale is probably the whole-half/half-whole/octatonic/diminished scale. While it is possible to cons...
2020-10-01 09:02:40 +0000 UTC View PostWith September coming to an end, it is once again time to do a wrap-up of the last few weeks and the coming weeks and months.
As you hopefully have noticed, I announced the first ORCHESTRA DISCOVERY SESSION a few weeks ago which will take place in the first half of 2021. We also had a poll about the line-up and the result is pretty clear. We're going to record a woodwind quintet (1 Flute, 1 O...
2020-09-30 08:00:49 +0000 UTC View PostJust as a little service post, if you want to be eligible to apply for the first ORCHESTRA DISCOVERY SESSION to be held in the first half of 2021, you should make sure that you have completed 3 consecutive payment cycles of the $12 or higher tier and 6 consecutive payment cycles of the $5 tier by December 2020. The payment cycle starts for everybody at the first of each month, so if you for instance j...
2020-09-28 16:04:29 +0000 UTC View Post
As discussed in the last part of this series about my score for the short film HERO, this cue generally has a more light hearted and playful attitude than the last cue that we had a look at, as of course we now arrive in the world of the children.
As usual, we will work with score reductions, the full score, Midi and Audio File of the entire score are attached at the bott...
2020-09-28 07:57:59 +0000 UTC View PostWhen writing music, in certain situations it might be benefitial to work your way through it backwards rather than forward. What I mean by that is that it is generally easier to set yourself a musical target, like a key signature or a climax chord or any other specific point that you want to reach in the music and take this as a base to work your way backwards to plausibly lead there.
This strategy is particularly helpful in rather complex situations or lengthy development passages. Par...
2020-09-25 08:03:55 +0000 UTC View Post