Daily Film scoring bits
Welcome to the Daily Film Scoring Bits. On this page I post little tips, tricks and advices about film scoring in general but also more specific topics like orchestration, composition, working relationships, business advices etc.
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Handling Dissonances
Dissonances need to be written very carefully. While many inexperienced composers write in the way that they just add “random” notes to a sound in order…
Ignoring Hit Points in Favor of the Bigger Arc
In some situations, it might be the better choice to musically ignore hit points that you normally would score in favor of a higher dramatic purpose…
The Relevance of Your IMDb Page
In the film world, your IMDb page is quite important to showcase your references. This platform has been the standard in the industry for several years…
Ten Seconds per Texture
The ear/brain needs about ten seconds to adjust to and digest a new musical texture so changing orchestration colours roughly in that tempo is…
Natural Phrasing of Brass Sustains
Orchestral Brass players will always execute a natural decrescendo on sustained notes unless otherwise indicated by special dynamics. Many sample…
Major 7th Chords in Film Scoring
Major7 chords (e.g. Cmaj7) are a bit tricky to handle and should be written with care. They are often used as tonic chords, however function very nicely…
Cue Naming Discipline
It is incredibly important to have a strong discipline regarding naming, sorting and organizing versions of music cues. Sometimes you need…
Work Routines for Film Composers
Even though the job of a freelance composer is very unpredictable, developing a daily work routine will help you to work more efficiently. Irregular…
Problematic Woodwind Unisons
Intonation on woodwind instruments is sometimes quite trickier and way more problematic than samples might make you believe. There are few…
Film Scores and Dolby Atmos
Recent years have shown the rise of so called “immersive audio formats” such as Dolby Atmos, Auro3D and DTS:X. While all formats have different technical…
The Right Way of Finding Ideas
There is no wrong or right way to compose music. Essentially, what works best for you to get ideas is the right way. Many people feel like cheating…
Artistically Ambitous Film Scoring
While ambitous film scoring is definitely something that can be very attractive and thought provoking, especially young composers tend to push…
Contract Negotiations in the Age of Social Media
With references being much more important than university degrees in the media world, and with social media becoming more and more…
Practice Working With Limitations
As a learning orchestrator and composer you should practice a lot to work with limits, especially if you want to eventually work with real musicians…