# "Orchestration 1: From Sketch To Orchestra" Lite Course sale



## Feral State (Jun 25, 2019)

I am thinking on taking this course ¿Anyone can recommend it?
https://orchestrationcourse.com/course3dd2487iuw?gclid=CjwKCAjwxrzoBRBBEiwAbtX1n3UwMsouzeEiYfEWRAhoEA00HAYz8f2qstYScddLhPj-AOPkfkgkIhoClvMQAvD_BwE


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## damcry (Jul 3, 2019)

This is supposed to be a Lite version of the course available at cinematiccomposing.com , however I cant find anywhere the comparison/differences between these 2 courses ...

Anyone ?


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## dzilizzi (Jul 3, 2019)

It is kind of interesting. I'd be interested to know if anyone had taken it. I've had mixed results from courses like this. Usually I get bored and never finish them.


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## bryla (Jul 3, 2019)

I'm a bit sceptic when I see a course like this with a teacher who has 46 credits on IMDb and only two of those involve an orchestra.


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## 5Lives (Jul 3, 2019)

They state they have a 30 day refund policy and 100% satisfaction guaranteed, but it is anything but that if you read the refund policy. You can not even look at more than 30% of the course material and you have to convince them you didn't learn anything (by sending them your completed assignments). They then decide if they agree with you or not and whether to refund you.


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## 5Lives (Jul 4, 2019)

I ended up signing up along with a couple of the add-on packages. Will write here how I find it.


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## ed buller (Jul 5, 2019)

i'd avoid it

best

ed


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## MartinH. (Jul 5, 2019)

dzilizzi said:


> I've had mixed results from courses like this. Usually I get bored and never finish them.



It's just not the same without the wiskey-fuelled rants, right?


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## 5Lives (Jul 5, 2019)

Edit: New thoughts below in new post

So here are my thoughts - they've definitely put in the effort in terms of aggregating material. Can't fault them for that. However, a lot of the course is instrument history and information that you will find elsewhere (many other orchestration courses out there seem to include this too - Thinkspace, Berklee, etc). There's mostly text-based content, very little video content apart from some score excerpts with various aspects highlighted (the melody is in the first violins, etc) with minimal voiceovers. In fact, in general, the course is extremely light on actual orchestration information - section blends, voicing examples / choices, why certain orchestration is preferred over other choices, etc. I ended up paying extra for the film score style examples and those are interesting, but once again, pretty light on actual information in my opinion. It's more of a "here's what they did" vs. a "here's why they did it" type of thing. I prefer having at least some of the latter and to see some more practical application (like orchestrating an original piece or something).

Also, the assignments seem mostly like extremely tedious busy work - transpose this line for all of these instruments like Clarinet in Bb, etc. While that may be good practice for some, as a DAW-based composer / hobbyist, that is not how I want to spend my free time. I couldn't check out the full course because of their refund policy limiting you to 30% of material (not sure if I went over that or not), but anyway, I've requested a refund personally. I still prefer Evenant's approach to teaching things though I may also check out Don Bodin's course here, which seems like more practical and hands on application https://slrworkshops.teachable.com/p/a-foundation-for-mastering-virtual-orchestration


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## MartinH. (Jul 6, 2019)

5Lives said:


> So here are my thoughts - they've definitely put in the effort in terms of aggregating material. Can't fault them for that. However, a lot of the course is instrument history and information that you will find elsewhere (many other orchestration courses out there seem to include this too - Thinkspace, Berklee, etc). There's mostly text-based content, very little video content apart from some score excerpts with various aspects highlighted (the melody is in the first violins, etc) with minimal voiceovers. In fact, in general, the course is extremely light on actual orchestration information - section blends, voicing examples / choices, why certain orchestration is preferred over other choices, etc. I ended up paying extra for the film score style examples and those are interesting, but once again, pretty light on actual information in my opinion. It's more of a "here's what they did" vs. a "here's why they did it" type of thing. I prefer having at least some of the latter and to see some more practical application (like orchestrating an original piece or something).
> 
> Also, the assignments seem mostly like extremely tedious busy work - transpose this line for all of these instruments like Clarinet in Bb, etc. While that may be good practice for some, as a DAW-based composer / hobbyist, that is not how I want to spend my free time. I couldn't check out the full course because of their refund policy limiting you to 30% of material (not sure if I went over that or not), but anyway, I've requested a refund personally. I still prefer Evenant's approach to teaching things though I may also check out Don Bodin's course here, which seems like more practical and hands on application https://slrworkshops.teachable.com/p/a-foundation-for-mastering-virtual-orchestration



Thanks for the review, sounds like I would have refunded it as well. 

Did you check out this youtube channel yet? 
https://www.youtube.com/user/OrchestrationOnline/videos


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## 5Lives (Jul 6, 2019)

MartinH. said:


> Thanks for the review, sounds like I would have refunded it as well.
> 
> Did you check out this youtube channel yet?
> https://www.youtube.com/user/OrchestrationOnline/videos



I haven't - thanks for sharing! Will check it out. Seems like he did the MacProVideo orchestration videos (which also are primarily about instrument ranges, techniques, etc. it seems). Wish there were more courses for the MIDI / DAW-based composers of today. I will never work with a real orchestra I imagine so while it is interesting to understand how a real violin works and what it can do, I'm more interested to learn about color combinations, layering, voicing, etc.


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## 5Lives (Jul 8, 2019)

So, maybe I spoke too soon. They also do live score study walkthroughs on their Facebook group and I must say, that is exactly what I was hoping for. They go into instrument combinations, voicing, etc. Really hyper valuable - wish they had made those resources more apparent to new students within their site as it is easily the best part of the course IMO.


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## SoNowWhat? (Jul 17, 2019)

5Lives said:


> They state they have a 30 day refund policy and 100% satisfaction guaranteed, but it is anything but that if you read the refund policy. You can not even look at more than 30% of the course material and you have to convince them you didn't learn anything (by sending them your completed assignments). They then decide if they agree with you or not and whether to refund you.


So I take it the 100% satisfaction has to be theirs?

Thank you for the useful comments on your experience.


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## Sjoerd Visser (Jul 17, 2019)

Just don't feel like you have to be in a hurry to make a decision. Their "Flash sale" comes back about every other week.
Also the reason I have not tried out this course. Their content seems to be fine, but the ultra-aggresive marketing strategy makes me want to stay far away.


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## ChrisSiuMusic (Jul 17, 2019)

I'd love to know everyone's thoughts on what makes an ideal course for the virtual orchestral composer? For me, it would be an over-the-shoulder approach to seeing their workflow, decision making, and how they go about systematically adding elements from piano/guitar sketch to full orchestra. Anything else?


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## NoamL (Jul 17, 2019)

5Lives said:


> However, a lot of the course is instrument history and information that you will find elsewhere (many other orchestration courses out there seem to include this too - Thinkspace, Berklee, etc)



This seems to be the case for every online orchestration course. Look at the Orchestral Tools youtube series, they got David Newman to narrate and 90% of it is 101 instrumentation knowledge!


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## robgb (Jul 17, 2019)

bryla said:


> I'm a bit sceptic when I see a course like this with a teacher who has 46 credits on IMDb and only two of those involve an orchestra.


If you listen to his mockups, they're quite good.


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## 5Lives (Jul 18, 2019)

ChrisSiuMusic said:


> I'd love to know everyone's thoughts on what makes an ideal course for the virtual orchestral composer? For me, it would be an over-the-shoulder approach to seeing their workflow, decision making, and how they go about systematically adding elements from piano/guitar sketch to full orchestra. Anything else?



This is what I find valuable along with discussions of pros / cons of different instrument combinations. This is why I like the Evenant course and also, Mike Verta’s Orchestration 3 (if you can follow along with his style).

The score walkthroughs from this course are really nicely done - very helpful I’d say!


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## 5Lives (Jul 18, 2019)

SoNowWhat? said:


> So I take it the 100% satisfaction has to be theirs?
> 
> Thank you for the useful comments on your experience.



Well they never got back to me after 2 emails about the refund, but then I discovered their score walkthroughs so retracted my request. Who knows if they would’ve even responded though.


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## jonathanparham (Jul 18, 2019)

ChrisSiuMusic said:


> For me, it would be an over-the-shoulder approach to seeing their workflow, decision making, and how they go about systematically adding elements from piano/guitar sketch to full orchestra. Anything else?


It's being revamped but Alain walks through this with orchestration 1 in scoreclub. He has three videos at the end of that course where he talks and sketches his choices


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## MarcusMaximus (Jul 20, 2019)

jonathanparham said:


> It's being revamped but Alain walks through this with orchestration 1 in scoreclub. He has three videos at the end of that course where he talks and sketches his choices


I would absolutely concur with this. I studied privately with Alain for a number of years and he is the very best. Sign up to Scoreclub, you won't find better. In fact he's doing a deal at the moment on subscriptions. Please note: although I'm an ex-student, I have no affiliation, just admiration!

ScoreClub


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## Melph (Jul 25, 2019)

I posted this thread today about another one of their courses. I will be completely upfront and state i have not taken one of their courses They may be very good and people may learn allot. I'm always sceptical of a company that values its product $400 MORE than the sale price.

https://vi-control.net/community/threads/trailer-music-mastery-course-any-good.75151/


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## robgb (Jul 27, 2019)

The mockups I spoke of. I would think you could learn quite a bit from this guy, but what do I know?









Marc Jovani


Listen to Marc Jovani | SoundCloud is an audio platform that lets you listen to what you love and share the sounds you create.




soundcloud.com


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## rawl47 (Sep 15, 2019)

So, looking at the "*Orchestration : from Sketch to Orchestra*" Power course on sale for $ 157. Sale is good until September 17th. Should I pull the trigger or is there another online Orch. class I should be looking at for this price?

Thanks
Rawl


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## Melph (Sep 16, 2019)

Well.....their sales, as already pointed out, come around every other week. I also strongly disapprove of their sales banner on the hone page which shows who have purchased the product in past x days.....i registered an interest (more on that later) with my email address, but now it flashes up my name and location as a VERIFIED purchase....i have not purchased it. So the question is, how many others also have not purchased it but being shown as verified purchases? Very misleading.

Once registered (that's how they have my details), it soon became apparent that to benefit fully, you had to purchase other modules, so sale price is just a starting point, not an end price.

When the sale finishes, you will be informed that you are put on a waiting list and if someone drops of the course, you may get another opportunity to purchase at the sale price. Now, guess what? "Someone" dropped off the course and i was given another chance....umm.

Look, the material and course may be ok, but when right up front a company is using misleading marketing, i personally don't trust them, but that's just my opinion.

There are other courses, thinkspace springs to mind.


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## rawl47 (Sep 16, 2019)

Melph,

Thank you for your response.



Melph said:


> Well.....their sales, as already pointed out, come around every other week. I also strongly disapprove of their sales banner on the hone page which shows who have purchased the product in past x days.....i registered an interest (more on that later) with my email address, but now it flashes up my name and location as a VERIFIED purchase....i have not purchased it. So the question is, how many others also have not purchased it but being shown as verified purchases? Very misleading.
> 
> Once registered (that's how they have my details), it soon became apparent that to benefit fully, you had to purchase other modules, so sale price is just a starting point, not an end price.
> 
> When the sale finishes, you will be informed that you are put on a waiting list and if someone drops of the course, you may get another opportunity to purchase at the sale price. Now, guess what? "Someone" dropped off the course and i was given another chance....umm.



I hear you. I am more used to dealing with folks like Udemy and Groove3 which don't seem to be like this.



Melph said:


> Look, the material and course may be ok, but when right up front a company is using misleading marketing, i personally don't trust them, but that's just my opinion.
> 
> There are other courses, thinkspace springs to mind.



I will check them out. I will say that I was relatively impressed with Marc Jovani's MIDI mockup recordings. So, my impression is that he has some chops. 

The issue is whether this advertised course bundle (the "Power" not the Lite") really offers enough insight and instruction to be of value. If the "Power" bundle which supposedly has everything the "Pro" bundle has minus the review of your submitted compositions is decent than it may be worth $ 157 US. 

I am off to check out Thinkspace Springs. Thank you again for responding!

Thanks,
Rawl


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