Nov 13, 2019 | Composition, Daily Film Scoring Bits
Minor Ninths The minor ninth is considered the “last dissonant interval”, even more than a minor second. Therefore it should be handled with care in any chord voicing (including minor ninths + octave(s)). The inherent dissonance in this interval will often...
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...
Jul 19, 2019 | Daily Film Scoring Bits, Orchestration
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 quite a strong overtone of the root (=usually the bass note) anyway, it will be present in...
Jul 12, 2019 | Daily Film Scoring Bits, Orchestration
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 orchestra balance. Not only does the instrument by itself but also its number, the dynamic,...
