Daily Film scoring bits
Welcome to the Daily Film Scoring Bits. On this page I post on a more or less daily basis little tips, tricks and advices about film scoring in general but also more specific topics like orchestration, composition, working relationships, business advices etc.
Use the search bar on the right to find specific topics or click on the tags to filter posts by specific topics.
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Melody Notes as Chord Extensions
When harmonizing melodies, it can sound musically more interesting to place key notes of the melody higher up in the chord structure (like 7th...
Dialogue Scoring
Avoid anything that draws too much attention on itself when you’re scoring dialogue. This applies especially for instrumental solos but also for...
The “Lucky Punch” Project
A career as a media composer is incredibly unlikely to launch like a rocket out of nowhere. And yet there are many composers who (secretly) wait...
Three Part Divisi in Two Violin Sections
In a situation where you want to spread out three voices over both violin sections, usually the better choice is to divide the second violins into two...
Safety Takes
Whenever you record live instruments, no matter if it is just a soloist or a whole orchestra, always go for “safety takes” if time allows. Those are...
Complementary Rhythm
A very common musical concept to keep music interesting is to use complementary rhythm. This means, when for example your main melody...
Doubling Strong Emotions with Music
Strong emotions that are portrayed visually in the movie (e.g. someone crying desperately) feel rather awkward when they get doubled by the...
Stay In Touch With Clients
Taking care of your important business contacts and keeping the contact alive is a very important thing to do. This is especially important when you...
Chord Voicings Without Fifth
When constructing chords, try the difference of leaving out the perfect fifth of the chord and having it in. Due to the fact that the fifth will be...
Remote Music Mixing
Being present on the music mix is obviously the best situation but sometimes due to budget or location issues, it is not possible to be there. Unless...
Chance as Creative Force
In composition, chance can be a strong creative force. Accidentally hitting a few interesting notes on the keyboard or stumbling across an inspiring...
Narrative Links Beyond Themes
Themes are not the only thing that can be used to identify characters/locations/situations musically. In fact, using too many themes especially on a...
Price Dumping Between Composers
Learn to say no. The entertainment business unfortunately is a field where price dumping is everyday’s business. Unfortunately, even among...
Limits of Balancing Rules
Balancing out orchestral “forces” is a lifelong learning process as there are dozens of factors involved that have influence on how sections in the...
