And now for something completely different...some film scores! (Page 1 of 2)

Mac running Logic Pro. I have a slave PC running Windows 7 with all sorts of VI's...LASS 2, CineBrass, etc. Lots of fun stuff. I tried the Cubase trial a little while ago so I may be switching over to that soon (Logic pisses me off to no end), but it runs much better on a PC than a Mac, and moving my whole rig over would be quite a clusterfuck. We'll see.

Edit: Also, I just realized that (I presume) Holden gave me the subtitle of The Harbinger of Doom. I'm ok with this.

Last edited by Alex (2013-05-23 21:24:45)

1) You don't have to be anything or anyone to create something or worth. As Mr. al Guhl says: "Your training is nothing. The will is everything."

2) If you don't have time work, listen. Find some great classical works that have inspired the great film composers and go from there. Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, Holt's The Planets Suite, etc. Blast it, soak it up, and write when you can.

I give private lessons in composition, harmony, production, etc, so if that interests you I'd love to help you out. You're already clearly on your way--Reaper is awesomely powerful and is quickly becoming a contender in the DAW game. EWQL stuff is incredible (I've got Gold--amazing woodwinds). Reason rocks as well.

Any place I could hear your stuff?

Frozen Glory: Nice! Nice riff, great guitar tone, pretty good mix overall (though at the end during the big cymbal hits it becomes obvious that your master compression is a bit heavy). The only real criticism I have is that I want to hear more action in the strings. You've started off with this really high-energy riff--why stagnate the energy with the sustained strings? The strings are a great idea--especially considering the subject matter--but if they were staccato, faster, and provided more than simply following the guitar's lead (i.e. adding a melody--bringing them to the forefront of what's going on, rather than just another texture), this track would really benefit from it. Try thinking outside of the "4 bars -> repeat -> something else but still similar -> repeat" sort of form. Instead, always sit back and listen while you're writing as if you were an audience member. When would they get bored? Why are they getting bored? Writing and arranging are all about that. Manipulate the audience's attention span via keeping the energy of the track up and keeping them guessing, and baby, you got yourself a stew.

Tour de France: Since it's a cover there isn't much to say in regards to writing, but the mix is a bit less clear than the last one. Consider taking the drums down a bit--the cymbals and hi hats are fighting with the guitar. And try cutting around 300hz on your master output to help open up both the low and high end. I could go in to more detail in regards to mixing if you'd like, but I don't know your current knowledge level.

Overall, nicely done. A couple tweaks and you're there. I can't wait to hear your newest piece!

Absolutely! I'd be happy to take a look.

Writing is damn hard. I mean--before I arrived at Berklee, I was an instrumentalist only. Something clicked when I stepped foot in Boston, but it was still nearly 3 years before I finished a piece of music. And another year before I wrote something that I liked. And I was writing just about everyday over those 4 years.

I have an entire 3TB hard drive full of unfinished pieces of music, scraps of ideas...and another (physical) filing cabinet full of others. Probably hundreds or even thousands, just sitting there. Whether those ideas amount to anything--whether they're even touched at all--isn't the point. The point is that you simply write, write, write, and maybe one day you'll write something that truly fulfills you.

Trust me--it's impossible to run out of ideas. The whole "4 bars" thing is just temporary. It's a wall that you have to work through, but you can work through it. It generally stems not from a lack of ideas, but from loving your original 4 bar "chunk" of music too much--deviating from it can be a fearful act. In my case, at least; it took me a long time to realize this.

On top of all that, production is very difficult. A complete different world from writing, but in this age the two must and do inform each other. Sometimes I envy Beethoven for not having to deal with computers, mixing, etc, but then I realize that I'm being silly--what could he have done if he had complete and immediate control over his music? If he had a synthesizer?

So, keep cracking at all that as well. The internet is full of tons of great mixing tips, EQ and compression tutorials, etc.

Anyways, looking forward to the track!

Alex, you've really inspired me to keep going. You've hit the nail on the head with loving the 4 bar "chunk" of music and being afraid to branch out from there. That's me in a nutshell.

I'd like to think that eventually I'll break through that wall.

I'll let you know when I have something up. I really appreciate you taking the time.

Btw, I had a second listen to the soundtracks episode. That episode is so stupidly my bag it wasn't even funny. I was geeking out the whole time. What you guys were doing with adding the lower end counterpoint to the Tron theme: bad. fuckin'. ass.

Teague, we're gonna need another one of those, m'kay?

I didn't give you that title, but man, I wish I had.

That one's on me, actually. The four-hour episodes (Abyss, Titanic, Watchmen, LOTR's, and this) all need special treatment to get WAYDM-ified. I'll do that one now.

(Holden Hill is not a dick.)

I don't know what to believe any more.

This is my kinda thread.

I'd love another (17 or so) podcasts talking about scoring and soundtracks.  it's obviously harder to do, but it might be interesting to cover an entire movie and breakdown the scoring and how it evolves and changes over the film....when themes repeat and how it relates to the action on screen.

@Shackman:
Brilliant idea. Let's start with something dead easy. How about Return of the King? That'd be a piece of cake, right Alex?

It would also get problematic from a copyright standpoint. Unless it's considered educational. Is that a thing? If something's being analysed for educational purposes it's okay to use?

Because if it is, I'd eschew the audience needing to do the pause and rewind stuff and just do it on the show.

Fun Fact: WAYDM DID talk about LOTR all damn day.