Hit Point Intensity

Hit Point Intensity The intensity of hitting an action or a certain moment in a music cue is a quite delicate matter. Inexperienced composers tend to over-accent such moments most of the time. Minor actions sound like highly dramatic moments and even while the mood of...

Sending Out More Than One Cue

Sending Out More Than One Cue If you’re working on a film score or a project that involves writing more than one cue, it might generally be a good idea to send out small batches of several cues to get feedback rather than sending out each cue one by one. If you...

“Simile” Mark in Film Scoring

“Simile” Mark in Film Scoring When you’re writing a score sheet, especially when for a film score, rather prefer to use the word “simile” or “sim.” (meaning “in the same way”) where you can instead of articulating/marking everything. This has a massively...

Mixing Volume

Mixing Volume Always mix your music at the approximate volume it will be in the movie later. The human ear has a different perception of balance depending on the volume of music. Especially the bass register is very sensitive in this matter. You tend to need way more...

Structuring Ostinatos

Structuring Ostinatos Ostinatos play a big role in current film scoring and while the principle of how they work is pretty clear, many learning composers struggle with their use. Due to their repetative character, ostinatos can become quite annoying and start feeling...

Vague Client Feedback

Vague Client Feedback One of the most annoying things when scoring a film is getting inconclusive and vague feedback from your client. If you are not sure why your customer doesn’t like a particular cue even after he/she has given feedback on it, keep asking...