# A very wise investment



## ed buller (Oct 14, 2016)

https://scoreclub.net/course/orchestrating-the-line/

really good

e


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## Mike Fox (Oct 14, 2016)

Have you been taking these classes? They look interesting.


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## ed buller (Oct 14, 2016)

they are fantastic. Very highly recommended 

e


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## Maestro1972 (Oct 14, 2016)

I second that they are fantastic and very easy to follow.


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## desert (Oct 14, 2016)

is there a demo video of what we can expect (for free)


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## JohnRosso (Oct 14, 2016)

Looks promising


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## synergy543 (Oct 14, 2016)

Signed up (just skimmed through contents so far). This is good! I would buy this for just the very first video (which emphasizes the importance of notating articulations and expressions). Absolute gold!

If you're serious about your craft, get this.

Disclaimer - No affiliation with Alain other than great respect for his inspiration, teaching ability and method of realization.


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## jjmmuir (Oct 15, 2016)

Yes, looks interesting. I was trying to find out more about Mike Verta's courses...but I think his website is still down? Thanks for the link. I think it's important to always be a learner, so I'll definitely go for one of these.


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## Kaufmanmoon (Oct 15, 2016)

I noticed he mentioned you need a good understanding of orchestration before taking the course.


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## Kaufmanmoon (Oct 15, 2016)

jjmmuir said:


> Yes, looks interesting. I was trying to find out more about Mike Verta's courses...but I think his website is still down? Thanks for the link. I think it's important to always be a learner, so I'll definitely go for one of these.



Mike's is back up and working now. http://mikeverta.com/product-category/masterclasses/


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## tack (Oct 15, 2016)

I picked up Orchestrating the Line given the sale price. So far I'm really enjoying his teaching style. A nice complement to Mike Verta's courses actually: Mike will just braindump an epic volume of random golden nuggets interspersed with the occasional highly entertaining whisky-fueled rant, while Alain's courses are more structured and pedagogical.

Does anyone know what tablet/software/technology @alainmayrand is using for handwriting his notation?


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## ed buller (Oct 15, 2016)

Kaufmanmoon said:


> I noticed he mentioned you need a good understanding of orchestration before taking the course.


really ? I don't think so. Actually the real boon of this course is how to flesh out a melody ( single line ) so it CAN be orchestrated. Just the sort of information that books on orchestration DON"T have. They always deal with the instruments in detail. Their tonal characteristics, tessitura, idiomatic writing etc , and orchestrating chords and in the better books , textures and tricks. Whereas this course is really much more about turning an idea "Line" ,into a fully fleshed out orchestrated section.. I really think it's vital. 

e


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## Sebastianmu (Oct 15, 2016)

tack said:


> A nice complement to Mike Verta's courses actually: Mike will just braindump an epic volume of random golden nuggets interspersed with the occasional highly entertaining whisky-fueled rant, while Alain's courses are more structured and pedagogical.


I second that. Justifies the difference in the pricing, imo.


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## alainmayrand (Oct 15, 2016)

desert said:


> is there a demo video of what we can expect (for free)





ed buller said:


> https://scoreclub.net/course/orchestrating-the-line/
> 
> really good
> 
> e



Thanks for that Ed! 

Alain


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## alainmayrand (Oct 15, 2016)

desert said:


> is there a demo video of what we can expect (for free)



When you sign up for the newsletter you do get free access to two free lessons from previous courses. 

I will look into putting something up there from "Orchestrating the Line" as well, in the meantime that should give you good idea of the teaching style.

There is also a walkthrough on YouTube of another ScoreClub course. Maybe that helps.

Thanks!

Alain


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## Assa (Oct 16, 2016)

tack said:


> Does anyone know what tablet/software/technology @alainmayrand is using for handwriting his notation?



If I remember correctly he said somewhere that he uses a wacom tablet + photoshop (But really not sure if that's correct or I'm mixing something up)

Edit: Just saw that he already answered the question in the other thread.


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## Maximvs (Oct 16, 2016)

Alain's Score Club courses are real gems and his teaching style and approach is very unique and effective... putting in the time to learn from this master is well worth the effort.

Cheers, Max


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## ZeroZero (Oct 16, 2016)

How have you guys found this course. I play piano and lots of other instruments, have played in all scenarios, don't need modal harmony lessons, wondering what this course does and how it does it - there seems to be no example just text. Does it use DAW and MIDI video?


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## Assa (Oct 16, 2016)

Btw (in case you didn't know), Alain does also offer the scores for Silk Boy and No Letting Go:

http://alainmayrand.com/index.php/shop/


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## JohnG (Oct 16, 2016)

if ed says they are good, I bet they are golden. He is already very knowledgeable.


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## Guy Bacos (Oct 16, 2016)

JohnG said:


> if ed says they are good, I bet they are golden. He is already very knowledgeable.



If John quotes ed about this being really good, must be really, really good!


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## ed buller (Oct 16, 2016)

JohnG said:


> if ed says they are good, I bet they are golden. He is already very knowledgeable.



Ha !....another one fooled 

e


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## jemu999 (Oct 16, 2016)

ZeroZero said:


> How have you guys found this course. I play piano and lots of other instruments, have played in all scenarios, don't need modal harmony lessons, wondering what this course does and how it does it - there seems to be no example just text. Does it use DAW and MIDI video?



Most of the videos in this course use notational scoring. There are no _DAW_ or _MIDI _Videos. You do hear midi mockups of each "Orchestrated Line". The videos go through a methodical and planned, step-by-step, way of orchestrating a melodic "line" through traditional notational scoring in short form, with the groundwork set for expanding to full orchestration. I found the videos very intuitive and informative, especially since I generally score direct to DAW, this served as a great reminder of the benefits of notational scoring.

IMO, I think you definitely need some music theory background. 

In all, I was _very_ satisfied with course and immediately became interested in the other courses. I do however feel that, _for me_, the price is a bit steep. Perhaps an option to get discounts for multiple courses, or something of the sort, will become available in the future.


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## alainmayrand (Oct 18, 2016)

desert said:


> is there a demo video of what we can expect (for free)



Hello,

I took some time the last few days after I saw your post to do a walk-through of the course. You'll see some video there and me talking about how things are structured etc...

You can see the video on the course page: https://scoreclub.net/course/orchestrating-the-line/

Or directly on YouTube


If you haven't done so already, by signing up to the ScoreClub newsletter (you will only get info about new courses, that's it) you get access to a private password-protected page where you can see full lessons for free.

That will give you a clear idea of the teaching style and approach. And I'll see if there is something from "Orchestrating the Line" I can post on the private page as well.

Thank you!

Alain


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## alainmayrand (Oct 19, 2016)

jemu999 said:


> Most of the videos in this course use notational scoring. There are no _DAW_ or _MIDI _Videos. You do hear midi mockups of each "Orchestrated Line". The videos go through a methodical and planned, step-by-step, way of orchestrating a melodic "line" through traditional notational scoring in short form, with the groundwork set for expanding to full orchestration. I found the videos very intuitive and informative, especially since I generally score direct to DAW, this served as a great reminder of the benefits of notational scoring.
> 
> IMO, I think you definitely need some music theory background.
> 
> In all, I was _very_ satisfied with course and immediately became interested in the other courses. I do however feel that, _for me_, the price is a bit steep. Perhaps an option to get discounts for multiple courses, or something of the sort, will become available in the future.



Thank you for that!

Yes, discount on multiple course purchases will be implemented very soon! Thank you!

Very good description of the course btw, can I borrow that? 

Alain


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## Assa (Oct 19, 2016)

Hopefully all the positive feedback encourages you to work on the next courses very soon!  I'll by them for sure!


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## Sebastianmu (Oct 19, 2016)

Alain, 
I bought the course because I really enjoyed watching the little Starwars scorestudy bits you did last year. As others pointed out, I found the way you write the short-hand score to be very instructive, and very, very helpful! The course overall helped me to get a better grip on some of the things I do intuitively, and I think it's gonna speed up my writing process quite a bit. Thanks a lot!
Something I would be interested in (maybe for a future course?) is the question: how do you coordinate different lines in a passage, where the other voices are _more _then just accenting or thickening or decorating the main voice? I'm also interested in the thoughts that you have regarding the background and middle-ground of orchestrations and your approach of 'filling' them..

Cheers (&thanks again!),
Sebastian


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## alainmayrand (Oct 19, 2016)

Hi Se


Sebastianmu said:


> Alain,
> I bought the course because I really enjoyed watching the little Starwars scorestudy bits you did last year. As others pointed out, I found the way you write the short-hand score to be very instructive, and very, very helpful! The course overall helped me to get a better grip on some of the things I do intuitively, and I think it's gonna speed up my writing process quite a bit. Thanks a lot!
> Something I would be interested in (maybe for a future course?) is the question: how do you coordinate different lines in a passage, where the other voices are _more _then just accenting or thickening or decorating the main voice? I'm also interested in the thoughts that you have regarding the background and middle-ground of orchestrations and your approach of 'filling' them..
> 
> ...



Thank you Sebastian, that is great to hear!

"Orchestrating the Line" is the first in a planned series of courses on orchestration and arranging. This first course dealing with the main concepts and foreground layer, or focal point. 

I originally wanted to do all other layers and concepts in the same course but it just go too big! It was 20 pages of bullet points! The last thing I want to do is throw information at the scree... you know?

So, the next lessons planned will deal with other layers of an orchestration, things like accompaniment, counter lines, textural and gestural writing, and how this all works in what I call the "3D scoring" stage. 

And I know what you mean about intuition: I codified this process for myself because sometimes my intuition would serve me well and other times I'd be stuck staring at the blank page. I wanted to be able to write at the level I aimed for consistently, with control and understanding, regardless of deadlines.

Thanks again Sebastian!

Alain


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## Sebastianmu (Oct 19, 2016)

alainmayrand said:


> "Orchestrating the Line" is the first in a planned series of courses


I was secretely hoping for that!  Looking forward to the other ones.


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## jemu999 (Oct 20, 2016)

alainmayrand said:


> Thank you for that!
> 
> Yes, discount on multiple course purchases will be implemented very soon! Thank you!
> 
> ...


Of course! Please let me know when you have the multiple course discount.


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## alainmayrand (Oct 22, 2016)

jemu999 said:


> Of course! Please let me know when you have the multiple course discount.



I will. I'll announce that here and on the newsletter.

Thanks!


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## desert (Oct 23, 2016)

alainmayrand said:


> Hello,
> 
> I took some time the last few days after I saw your post to do a walk-through of the course. You'll see some video there and me talking about how things are structured etc...
> 
> ...



Thanks for the video Alain! From the start I can tell you're a great teacher! These courses are definitely on my to do list for the future (just bought BBrass so I've gotta save up a bit more to purchase these courses).


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## alainmayrand (Oct 25, 2016)

desert said:


> Thanks for the video Alain! From the start I can tell you're a great teacher! These courses are definitely on my to do list for the future (just bought BBrass so I've gotta save up a bit more to purchase these courses).



Thank you!

Berlin Brass looks pretty great!

Alain


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