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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Emotional Manipulation
Remember that music has the power to manipulate emotionally and therefore alter the perception and eventually opinion of the audience. Very often this…
Being Available All the Time
The feeling of needing to be available for customers all the time and at any hour can be really health damaging. The fear of missing a…
Interpretation Discrepancy of Articulations
For a learning orchestrator, score sheet studies on classical works might become quite confusing considering the notation. Quite often, the performances…
Limits of Orchestral Mixing
Be realistic about what is achievable in a professional mix and what not. Especially on orchestra recordings where the whole orchestra has been…
Musical Contrasts
Musical contrasts can be a great device to write exciting music. Music that puts contrasts next to each other like soft/loud, low/high, solo/tutti,…
Musical Logic of Hit Points
Whenever you score a sequence that includes hit-points that need to sync up with the video, many inexperienced film composers go the way of…
Financial Security While Being Self-Employed
One of the most frightening things in being self employed, especially at the beginning, is the mostly complete unpredictability about your stream…
Circular Breathing
Circular breathing is a technique used by woodwind and brass players to create a theoretically endless stream of air being able to play theoretically…
Key Switches vs. Many Tracks
The majority of sample libraries nowadays rely on so-called key switches. By triggering a (usually very low) note outside of the range of…
V-I Cadences and Extensions
Final V-I cadences in important form sections (e.g. like the end of your main theme) can start to sound quite pedestrian and boring especially when…
Scoring Perspective
There are usually several perspectives from which you could score a certain scene. Usually, you have the character’s perspective, the audience’s perspective…
Be Easy to Work With
Clients most of the time value a lot how easy it is to work with, sometimes even more than your musical expertise. It is one of the biggest nightmares…
Notes Near the Range Limits of Instruments
For practically every woodwind and brass instrument, there is the general rule that the closer to the limits of the range you get, the less controlled…
Samples vs. Real Musicians
Real musicians don’t work like samples which brings advantages and disadvantages. Musicians are people with a musical understanding…