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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Real Musicians and Rhythmic Complexity
One of the most common reasons for slowdowns in recording sessions with real musicians are (unnecessarily) tricky rhythms. As a composer/…
Practicing Small Emotions
A good exercise to gain a big vocabulary for film scoring is to practice “small emotions”. It is quite easy to go for the full sad or the super happy…
Moral Concerns as Composer
Many artists are at least once in their career in the situation where they might become instrumentalized for ideas or beliefs they personally…
“Bells up” on French Horns
For French Horns there is quite often seen in score sheets a request to put the “Bells up” which is supposed to give them some extra volume and…
Influence of Recording Stage Size
If you have a choice between several recording venues, you should make a wise decision, which kind of sound your music needs. The advantage of…
Melodic Target Notes
Melodic target notes of a phrase should be avoided for as long as possible before reaching that target. For example, if your melodic phrase has a…
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…
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…
“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…
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…
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…
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…
Musical Studies in the Internet Age
There has probably never been a more accessible base of knowledge available for learning composers before than in today’s times…
Musicians’ Feedback
No book or course on orchestration can actually replace the invaluable lesson you can learn by talking to and/or observing musicians…