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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Arpeggios on Brass Instruments
While fast chord arpeggios are great and no problem to play on strings and woodwinds, they can become very difficult on brass instruments. It is quite…
Breakdown Charts
When you’re recording your music live, so-called breakdown charts are very helpful. Basically, this chart lists every cue that needs to be recorded with…
Finding Your Own Voice as a Composer
As a composer, you’re very often confronted with conversations about “finding your own voice” and “your piece sounds like composer xyz” and some young…
Main Title Sequences
Main title sequences have become quite rare these days but when you have the chance to score one, use it effectively. On a main title, you can set the…
Starting a Career as Film or Game Composer
There is no standard way to find an entrance into the film/game scoring world. The essential thing to understand is, that it is a highly individual way…
True Legato and Portamento Sample Overuse
One of the most overused things in midi mockups are true legato and even worse: portamento patches. With everybody using these patches overly extensively…
Overdubbing Small Line-Ups
Overdubbing the same instruments to create a bigger and more epic sound only works to a certain extent. While it is possible to overdub a quite large…
Dominant7 and Tritone Substitution
The reason why dominant7 chords create the feeling of wanting to resolve results from the inherent structure of the chord, specifically the tritone…
Adding Odd Bars for Hit Points
It is a common and well known way to hit hit-points that don’t lay on the downbeat of a bar by inserting one odd meter bar in order to make it fit…
Negotiating Payment Structure
On projects that take quite a long time (like several months), you should make sure to negotiate payments in installments. Even though the prospect of…
Triple Dynamics
The dynamic range of orchestra musicians spans more or less between pp and ff. Triple dynamics, even though used quite regularly especially by…
Video Frame Rate and Codec Issues
Unfortunately, problems with video frame rates and codecs are not that uncommon and can become quite desastrous in the film world when not detected…
Rhythmical Surprises
Some actions in a movie are supposed to have a surprise or even shocking effect to the audience. This does not only apply for obvious jump scares in the…
Music Theory vs. Your Ear
The mass of rules, possibilities and concepts in music theory can be overwhelming or even intimidating for your own writing. However don’t give music…