Sep 9, 2019 | Daily Film Scoring Bits, Orchestration
The Role of the Triangle While there are many jokes about the triangle and its players, it can have a fantastic effect in an orchestration. Apart from the single hits that are very often used as comedy moments or for pointillistic highlights, especially the roll on...
Sep 3, 2019 | Daily Film Scoring Bits, Film Scoring
Scoring Intensity It might be very tricky sometimes to find the right level of “musical intensity” on a cue. With inexperienced composers you sometimes get the feeling that the music is too distracting and active (e.g. on dialogue sequences) or too weak on more active...
Aug 30, 2019 | Daily Film Scoring Bits, Orchestration
Balance of the Harp In a real orchestral tutti, there’s hardly any chance for the harp to be heard. The only thing that might have a chance to cut through are quite strong and expansive glissandos, but any figuration etc. gets lost already in a mezzoforte tutti. Most...
Aug 1, 2019 | Daily Film Scoring Bits, Technical
Orchestral Intransparency It is in the nature of orchestral music to not be able to hear every instrument clearly in the mix. Some instruments like woodwinds even regularly “drown” in tuttis and their only purpose is to add to the ensemble sound. This is actually a...
Jan 16, 2019 | Composition, Daily Film Scoring Bits
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, complex/simple etc. can feel very exciting and lively. However, there are two things to keep in mind:...
