# Free (beginner) masterclass: realistic orchestral mockups



## gh0stwrit3r (Aug 28, 2019)

I've made a short orchestral music track called Show Opener. In this FREE masterclass I will share with you the midi-mockup, projectfiles and the orchestral template so you can rebuild it in your own DAW while following me along during the weekly videos.



*Important Note about the Masterclass:*

I think it is important to share with you my thoughts about the masterclass and its components. Cause I want to give you max value.

So I’m going to break it up in multiple videos … hopefully not to long … and zoom in on certain elements, details and things the pros won’t tell and show you. Starting with the basics and the fundamentals and slowly go to the more advanced topics and eventually discuss the mixing and mastering.

I will upload a video each Thursday. So you will get a fresh video each week. With this weekly pace I want to give you enough time to work with the project files and apply the things that I show you in my videos. Or challenge you to experiment with it.

It also gives you time to comment and ask me questions if needed. Maybe you want me to spend some more time on a certain topic after watching the video, for example.

Now I have to say, this masterclass shows you how I write orchestral music for film and video. How I create realistic orchestral mockups. But that doesn’t mean that this is the only way to do it. Let’s be honest. There are so many ways that lead to Rome. Right?

So don’t see this Masterclass as the absolute truth or the way you should do your orchestral composing thing. No! Just use it as an inspiration, a thought about how you could write orchestral music for film. A sort of guidance.


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## gh0stwrit3r (Sep 5, 2019)

The responses were overwhelming last week. A lot of people contacted me through social media and direct messages that they would be interested. So I decided to start this masterclass. Today the first video of many.

Fee free to join. In this first video you can pick up the project files and prepare yourself for the upcoming videos.


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## gh0stwrit3r (Sep 12, 2019)

After a great start of the FREE masterclass ‘How to create a realistic orchestral mockup’, the responses last week were massive! Lots of people joined, downloaded the project files and follow me along during the upcoming weeks while we rebuild my original composition Show Opener.

Today I released a new weekly video of this masterclass (always on Thursday) and made a new project file available to download. We’re building up an orchestral template first.

If you haven’t joined yet, feel free to do. You’re welcome to participate!



Cya next week!


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## gh0stwrit3r (Sep 19, 2019)

The third video of the masterclass is live! In this one I talk about balancing your orchestral instruments. And you can download the updated project files. 



If you have any questions or feedback, I would love to hear from you!


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## gh0stwrit3r (Sep 26, 2019)

Week 4 is live! This time a video about EQ-ing (clean up orchestral instruments). And of course an updated project file in which I share my EQ settings. Next week I'll cover delay to get a tight sounding orchestra.


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## gh0stwrit3r (Oct 3, 2019)

We’re already at week number 5! This video is about 'How to get a tight sounding orchestra'. A topic that many of you were waiting for. Cause when you do this right, you will be able to get that PRO orchestral sound that we all want. Just by simply using the delay functionality in your DAW to get that spot on timing of all your orchestral instruments.
Next week I’ll cover the microphone settings and how to get a good sounding microphone balance.


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## gh0stwrit3r (Oct 10, 2019)

In this video we get a little bit personal. The microphone balance (settings) is a matter of taste. Some people like the big stage sound with lush strings and ambience. While others love the intimate much more dryer sound of a small room. In my opinion there's no wrong or right, it's a matter of what fits your composition the best.

You can download the project file of this week here: http://bit.ly/33fqhiN

Earlier I shared my project files (midi mockup etc.) with you all. If you haven't downloaded them yet, here is the direct link: http://bit.ly/show-opener-gh0stwrit3r-music


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## gh0stwrit3r (Oct 17, 2019)

A good orchestral composition with bad orchestration choices will never give you the great result you had in mind. So you need to learn some basic skills of orchestration. That means you have to read some stuff - I highly recommend the book of Rimsky Korsakov (Principles of Orchestration), analyse film scores and learn to transcribe.

In this video - week 7 already! - I'll address my orchestration choices in the orchestral composition of Show Opener (the music track that we rebuild in this Masterclass) which hopefully are worthy to you.



If you're interested in more orchestration videos for beginners, I made a couple already:

*introduction: *


*Conrad Pope, MCB and Brass:*


*Instruments of the orchestra - can you recognize them: *


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## gh0stwrit3r (Oct 24, 2019)

With todays video we start a new chapter of the FREE masterclass Realistic Orchestral Mockups: Mixing!

I will discuss my philosophy on the concept of mixing, exporting midi and importing audio and three plugins that I almost always use on my master bus: Voxengo Span, iZotope Insight and iZotope Ozone Imager.


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## gh0stwrit3r (Oct 31, 2019)

How to mix strings in a realistic orchestral mockup? That is the question that I'll answer in this video. I'll show you my workflow, the plugins that I use and why and how I use them. Hopefully this will give you some guidance when mixing your own orchestral mockups.

This is already video number 9 of the FREE masterclass How to create realistic orchestral mockups for film!


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## gh0stwrit3r (Nov 7, 2019)

How to mix woodwinds, brass, percussion and the piano and harp in a realistic orchestral mockup? That is the question that I'll answer in this video. I'll show you my workflow, the plugins that I use and why and how I use them. Hopefully this will give you some guidance when mixing your own orchestral mockups.

And if you haven’t done already, the projectiles (midi mockup, libraries list etc) are still available for download. So you can rebuild the music track ‘Show Opener’ yourself!


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## gh0stwrit3r (Nov 14, 2019)

How do you actually know that all the adjustments that you did during mixing, made the track sound better? We need some objectivity on this matter, cause we can't always trust our ears. The brain is a complex psychological thing which can trick us. We need to protect ourselves 

In this video I show you two simple tricks to get that little bit more objectivity in our mixes. We're gonna use two kinds of reference tracks for that.


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## gh0stwrit3r (Nov 21, 2019)

After watching this video you'll be able to finalise your version of the orchestral music track Show Opener. And I'm really curious about your version! Share it with me before the 1st of December through Google Drive or Dropbox and I'll add it to the showcase I will create. So we can all listen to the different versions! How cool is that


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## 5Lives (Nov 22, 2019)

Just subscribed to your channel - thank you for sharing your knowledge.


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