orchestration

In a composition of mine, I'd like the French horns to play a descending glissando spanning a major 2nd. I know some glissandi on horn are achieved by adjusting the position of the hand in the bell, but the passage is to be hand-stopped the whole way through, so that method wouldn't be possible...

I was always unhappy with my mixes. For the last week I tried to only play bass parts under C3 (C5 for FL Users) and everything else above C5. My mixes sound much cleaner. I'm also analysing the music played on the radio and I would say that they aren't doing anything below C3 aswell. Could this...

Hey all, Seriously looking in to getting a iPad Pro 12.9 , with a view to start using Staffpad, or any other hand writing apps that work well. I have read a lot of posts on here about people using Staffpad, and most seem to rave about it , while a few others struggle to get to grips with it...

Hey friends! In today's video, let's take a look at Josh Groban's rendition of 'She', a beautiful song from his newest album 'Harmony'. Please enjoy!

Hey everyone, I just wrapped up a livestream on Disney style orchestration on my YouTube channel! So much fun!! Feel free to check it out here, all timestamps included! Thanks.

Hey friends! In today's video, let's discuss the importance of the first impression, and how to take your listener on a journey right from the onset of your piece. Enjoy!

Hey friends, I'm so proud to share with you that my newest online course Songwriting for Animation is now available! This course will take you into the world of the classic Disney hits, such as Beauty and the Beast, A Whole New World, Part of Your World, etc, and help you to elevate your...

I don't have hundreds of songs and tracks licensed for TV, movies, or games. Heck, I don't even have a single major placement. However, I'm blessed to be able to write the music I truly enjoy writing, and help others with their musical endeavours in any capacity. I grew up listening to Disney...

Hey friends! In today's video, I'm pleased to bring on fellow composer and YouTuber Joshua Sohn! As many of you have asked questions about percussion writing, arranging, and orchestration, I thought it only appropriate that we do a dedicated video on percussion by someone who specializes in...

Hi, I hope everyone is doing well :) I've got another video here for you. I've had a few requests lately to create a video that focuses on string writing/ arranging, without presuming any knowledge of music theory from the viewer. It was tough, but I think I've got something together that may...

Hey, Maybe I am in the minority here, but I find the more Keyswitches an orchestral patch has, the more it takes me out of the moment - requires more editting. I wish I was able to whizz over the Keyswitches as I play in parts, but at best I can usually learn 2 or 3 and end up doing the...

Hi friends! In today's video, let's take a look at 5 unique ways that you can use the orchestra to create the feel of Christmas. This is one of my favourite Christmas arrangements, so I hope these devices give you an insight into how this particular arrangement was put together. Enjoy!

Hey everyone ! I thought about bumping the entry discussions topic, but starting a new thread in this section seems cleaner. I wanted to give a try to making a score video, something I rather enjoy and might keep doing on a regular basis with past and future work ! I decided to start off with...

Hey, I see a lot of praise for the VSL Synchron Strings Pro on here, but not much talk - about the Polyphonic legato feature in the tutti patch - Which would be of great interest to me, as there are few Ensemble String Libraries that do this, even less convincing. So those with VSL , can you...

Greetings everyone, I am new to this forum and posted in the wrong discussion channel. I thank you for taking the time to read this post and appreciate any input you may have. I like Ludwig Göransson music in Mandalorian and new movie Tenet; I also like scores like Bear McCreary in the show...

Greetings, I am new to orchestration and this forum. Thank you for taking the time to read this. I like the sound of modern/hybrid orchestration similar to style of Ludwig Gorannson in Mandalorian and Tenet movie which to my understanding is orchestral composition combined with synthesizers...

Greetings everyone, I thank you for taking the time to read this post and appreciate any input you may have. I like Ludwig Göransson music in Mandalorian () and new movie Tenet; I also like scores like Bear McCreary in the show "See" on Apple TV . If I am going for these hybrid/experiemental...

Out now! To help you get the most out of all those Black Friday libraries you just bought. (And feel less guilty about having bought them). Get your recipes at orchestrationrecipes.com Whoosh For composers who want ideas fast, 5 minute videos condense recipes into essentials. You’ll hear a...

Hi everyone, My musical education, like most people I imagine, has taught me to put accidentals symbols beside trills to indicate whether the player has to play a whole step or a half-step. But I've always sort of struggled with this as key signatures, transpositions and transposing instruments...

So I'm in an orchestration class, and so far, no women composers have appeared in our repertoire study. Surely in this collection of knowledgeable folk some of you have some suggestions? Although it's an orchestration class, we also listen to works for small ensembles as a way to learn about...

Hi, Firstly , I realise that a lot of extremely talented composers only use 16GB or less Ram on a modest system and produce incredible results. Those lucky enough to have a much more powerful setup , what would be the core libraries you would have to use for production music if you only had a...

Hi , I know there is a lot of post about best WW library overall etc , but I wanted some input from people that have used VST Woodwind libraries for smaller, chamber sized Quartets or Quintets (ignoring the French horn for now). Most libraries do come with Soloists , which will obviously make...

Hi friends! I’m so excited today to begin a new iteration of my breakdown series, broken down into 3 parts (music theory and composition, orchestration, and mixing). We’ll be taking a look into my newest Disney-style piece Tranquility. Today’s video is the 1st part, where we’ll explore the...

At the loudest part in your compositions, do you Programm the complete orchestra playing fff or do you keep the lower stuff softer and the higher instruments louder ? And is it true that orchestral instruments should be played softer in order to sound better/fuller ? If you play brass softer...

Hi all! I'm a professional orchestrator working from London UK and though it would be cool to share a video breaking down the process of going from mockup to score to studio session in Budapest: There are also some extra long in-depth videos where I do a fly-on-the-wall video of the entire...

Hey everyone! In today’s video, let’s dive into the soundtrack of Super Mario Galaxy 2, and sees what it offers over its predecessor. Please enjoy!

Hey All, i am not sure if this forum is the best place to ask, but i am looking for some one 2 one Orchestration / Composing lessons, looking at creating realistic mock ups in various styles, for media (especially shorter pieces >5 mins ) . Is there anyone on here that offers such a service...

Hey everyone! In today's video, I'm so excited to share a deep dive into one of my favourite soundtracks. We'll explore the music theory & orchestration behind 7 of these pieces, and I really hope you enjoy. Please let me know your thoughts! :)

The responsiveness of SWAM AUDIO is just phenomenal. I wanted to do a demo that showcased that exactly. The moment I heard the SWAM Flute, I couldn't help but think about this piece. "Hagrid's friendly bird" from Harry Potter and the prisoner of Azkaban, Composed by "John Williams". However, I...

I'm talking about Cinematic and Trailer Music. Synthetic Basses work well in combination with Basses and Cello in Octaves. Low Brass Patches always mud up my mix. Do you have any tipps on how to orchestrate the low end of a track ? And how do you handle the following chords. I'm talking about...

Hi everyone, I wanted to experiment with the various 'colours' within an orchestra, from growling bassoons to sugarcoated French horns. Wouldn't dare to call this an actual composition, but it taught me a great deal about orchestration and how to work with VSTs. (That said, I think the...

Hi friends! Today, let's take a slightly different path and examine how to write in a chorale style for woodwinds and brass. With so many colours at our disposal, what's a good way to approach this? Let's dive in.

Hi everyone! I hope you're well. I wanted to share with you a concept that not enough people talk about, and it really can make or break an orchestral arrangement: the harmonic series. I think many people have a natural ear for what sounds muddy or clear in an arrangement, but hopefully this...

Sorry if a similar question has been posed recently . I am just studying various types of modulation , and it got me thinking about how songs or pieces of music use them and how powerful it can be. So on that basis , what are your favourite modulations and from what songs / pieces of music ...

Hi everyone! Just sharing something that i've been working on during this quarantine/lockdown period. I've been completely in love with music of Henri Dutilleux for a couple of years now and I've been wanting to do an orchestration of one of his Piano Preludes for ages, as an exercise to...

To preface, this subject falls somewhere between sample libraries, notation, and orchestration. I've recently come to my senses and realized that there are many aleatoric FX, etc. that bread and butter sample libraries don't typically come with. To clarify, I'm speaking not of pre-recorded...

Hi! This thread is about an orchestration series on YouTube, I started a few months ago. In each episode I'm breaking down 10 variations of the same melody using different orchestrations and harmonic devices. I hope you'll enjoy it and find it useful. I will keep adding the new episodes below...

20 Free Videos on Film Composition and Orchestration from Ludwin Music I'm posting a new series of video classes on Beginning and Advanced Orchestration, Modern Harmony, Examining The Rite of Spring, Film Music Seminar, Developing Variation, and Writing for Strings...

20 Free Videos on Film Composition and Orchestration from Ludwin Music I'm posting a new series of video classes on Beginning and Advanced Orchestration, Modern Harmony, Examining The Rite of Spring, Film Music Seminar, Developing Variation, and Writing for Strings. This links has 20 short...

Composer friends! You're free on Saturday at 11am Pacific Time, right? (It's not like we're allowed to go anywhere!) We at the Academy of Scoring Arts had an event planned with master orchestrator Thomas Goss, which due to obvious viral circumstances, had to be adjusted. Well, we are going to...

Hi composer, I'm looking for some advice on composition in terms of coming up with sections and ideas for motifs and themes. I have now been composing music for about 4 months and feel quite confident in music theory with my 10+ years of playing multiple instruments and in bands but writing...

I finally got to try the reins of orchestrating using the (much discussed) BBCSO library, integrating with some snippets of real solo violin and piano. The piece for solo piano and violin was written by Dalibor Vačkář, renown Czech composer. Dalibor wrote the piece for a family friend at the...

Any tipps on that? How do harp runs work in the real world? What about strings and woodwinds? How fast can runs be played realistically? Which notes do I need to hit (scale / chromatic)? Any advice is welcome.

How do you layer different articuations? Recently I´ve been noticing that some tracks have all parts of strings section (1st, 2nd violins etc etc...) playing the spiccato but at the same time they are playing the long patches. Maybe I´m wrong and just can´t hear it properly, but I´ll attach to...

I have tried producing a full blown big drums & overdriven guitars Hard Rock track with a fairly complete brass and string section. Here is the end product: Is there anything that sounds out of place or needs reworking in this version? Any general pointers as to how to make such a genre sound...

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Hi everyone! To celebrate my 100th video on my channel, I wanted to debut my new series 'ScoreTalk' with a classic John Williams tune. Please enjoy!!

Hello there, I had the fortunate opportunity to write and orchestrate a piece for a friend's final Bachelor exam who studies church music and conducting. As a VI composer this was a great opportunity to test my theoretical orchestration-ability for the first time and I'd like to share with you...

I know the basics of music theory, i.e (reading notation, time signatures, etc). But I have never worked with an orchestral track before. To put it in context, I am an aspiring film composer. I want to learn how an orchestra works, but have no clue where to even begin. I have a hard time...