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! ! Table Of Content !
Table Of Content !
2!
Introduction !
4!
Composition!
6!
Melody Writing!
6!
A Comparison Of Two Melodies!
7!
Using Motifs To Write A Melody!
7!
Making A Song Section!
14!
Melody Summary!
16!
Harmony!
17!
Harmony examples!
18!
Form!
20!
Bonus Chapters: !
23!
Making Your Compositions More Interesting: Contrast And Growth!
23!
How To Beat Writer’s Block !
26!
Orchestration! Tone Color And Emotion!
29! 29!
The Four Families:!
31!
Strings!
31!
The Instruments:!
Brass! The Instruments!
Woodwinds!
34!
36! 38!
40!
Some basics:!
41!
Percussion!
44!
Some basics:!
44!
Common orchestration mistakes and how to avoid them!
47!
Quick Orchestration Templates!
48!
Arranging Your Composition!
49!
Production!
54!
Mixing !
56!
Levels !
57!
Panning !
58!
EQ!
59!
Compression!
60!
Reverb!
62!
Mastering!
64!
Going Back To The Mix!
64!
Louder Is Not Always Better!
65!
EQ!
65!
Compressor!
65!
Reverb!
65!
Limiter!
66!
Stereo Enhancing!
66!
Mixdown!
66!
The Next Steps!
67!
Bonus Chapters:!
68!
Useful Links!
78
!
! Introduction !
! !
!
«If something happened where I couldn't write music anymore, it would kill me. It's not just a job. It's not just a hobby. It's why I get up in the morning.»! - Hans Zimmer http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/hans_zimmer.html#Y5vZiY5i7tHsaw3Q.99!
The orchestra is a wonderful ensemble. It is huge and diverse, being able to express every emotion imaginable. Epic battle themes, sad mellow love melodies, aggressive action cues or uplifting adventure scores. It has brought people to tears and laughter in concert halls, and accompanied you through your favorite movie moments. We have all been moved by the wonderful sound from an orchestra sometime. !
!
Orchestral music as we know it has been around for over 500 years, with big composers like Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. Today you may hear the sound of an orchestra in almost every major motion picture, composed by names like Hans Zimmer and James Horner. Orchestral composing has previously been an art for geniuses, who scribbled down their compositions with pen and paper. Today, technology has given us notation softwares, digital audio workstations and sample libraries. Therefore, almost anybody with basic musical knowledge and a little money can start creating their orchestral compositions. !
!
Orchestration is the study of writing or arranging music for an orchestra. In this book I will use the term «orchestration» for arranging music, and composition for writing. Orchestration a very sought-after skill. Hiring an orchestrator is really expensive, and even just a little general knowledge about the art will enhance the quality of your compositions noticeably. Even though the everyman can get the equipment to record orchestral music, the art of composing and orchestrating is still advanced, and needs to be practiced. Without proper knowledge about arranging for the orchestra, one may encounter a lot of problems. The music might not be able to be played by a real orchestra, the mix may sound cluttered, and everything might just sound unnatural and lifeless. Learning through trial and error is good, but can be very discouraging and hard at times. !
!
How do I know? Well, I have been there. I ordered my first orchestral library when I was 16, and had no clue what the heck I was doing. I had been playing music for 12 years, could read sheet music, and had been composing music for 4 years. I had been playing in bands, recording music, and been in contact with several record labels. Still, my orchestral music sounded like utter garbage. Why? I suppose it was the lack of knowledge about orchestration. I then went the hard road of trial and error for several months, until I started studying Orchestration for Film and TV, at «Berklee Online». A year after, I was able to compose my first orchestral piece with a complete notated score, ready to be played by an orchestra. It was an incredible feeling that I will never forget.!
!
Today I am composing music for a company called C21FX in Hollywood, films, TV and games, and what I have learned the past years have been totally invaluable for my work. Quite often, I am approached by people needing tips on how to compose music, how to write for the orchestra, and where to begin to become a composer. This book is dedicated to all of you guys. It will take you through all the basics you need to know to get started. From brainstorming your musical ideas, to composing your piece, arranging it for an orchestra, and producing it with today’s digital technology. !
!
Remember, there is no shortcut to becoming a good composer. However, I hope this book will help you avoid doing all the big mistakes I have done while developing as a composer the past years. With this book, I want to help you compose a piece from beginning to end, with my tips and techniques. I have included sound and video examples for the lessons, where I apply the techniques for you to see. I will take you through the development of an entire composition made by me, from beginning to end, while explaining what I have done so you can do the same. Yet, remember that there is no formula to composing. There is no right or wrong as long as it sounds good. My only goal is to help you compose better music quicker, and have a LOT of fun doing it! I hope you enjoy this book, and please feel free to contact me for questions!!
!
! ! All best, Arn Andersson
!
Composition!
! !
Melody Writing! «Writing a tune is like sculpting. You get four or five notes, you take one out and move one around, and you do a bit more and eventually, as the sculptor says: ‘In that rock there is a statue, we have to go find it.» -John Williams http://www.classicfm.com/discover/film-music/best-quotes-film-composer/john-williams-filmcomposer-quotes/
! !
Ever heard a totally mind blowing track on the radio? What was stuck in your mind after listening to it? The beautiful hi-hat sound? The really expensive guitar recorded through a 20,000$ amp? Most times, I would guess it was an amazing melody. The melody is probably the most important and characteristic element in a musical piece. It gives the song personality, and makes it different from the rest. You have probably heard of «4 chord songs», hit songs which all are based on the same chord progression. What is the one main element that makes those hit songs different from each other, giving them their own character? Well, usually the melody.!
!
In my experience, if the melody is weak, the whole song will suffer. I have heard music that is amazingly recorded and produced by extremely talented musicians, but there was just something lacking… Something really important, that eventually made me turn off the song all together. Looking back now, I realize that those songs lacked a strong and memorable melody. I have listened to a lot of music during my life, and composed a whole lot of tracks myself. That way I have experienced the power of well written
melodies, and the destructive powers of bad ones. During the past years, I have frequently asked myself: What are the characteristics of a great melody? What is it that makes certain melodies so memorable? How can you really engage and touch the listener with an amazing melody? !
!
I do not claim to have the final answer to this question, the absolute truth. However, after studying a lot of melodies in works by both great classical composers as well as in hit songs and film scores, I have found a few elements they usually have in common. Simple elements and techniques you can apply to your melodies to make them stand out, making your melodies get stuck in the head of your listener for days. Elements that do not just apply to single genres, but all music in general. Those tips will be revealed in detail here. I hope this book will help you write some amazing melodies, and help you improve as a songwriter and composer! !
!
A Comparison Of Two Melodies
! Let’s just start out by having a listen to two different melodies. ! ! Melody 1: Melody 2:!
!
Listen to them a few times. Which one do you like most? Which one do you consider to be the «best» melody? I guess most of you will answer the first one. But why?! Try to sing both of the melodies. Which one is easiest to remember after just one listen? Again, I guess the first one. I actually composed that melody in under a minute, only using the techniques and tips I am going to present in this first chapter. Now, let me show you how I did it, and how you can start writing great and memorable melodies instantly too! !
! ! Using Motifs To Write A Melody !
Let’s begin by looking at the use of motifs, important building blocks in creating a great melody and composition. A motif is a short characteristic fragment of music, possessing a lot of the identity of the piece. Motifs create themes or phrases of music which then again creates a part of a song (verse,
chorus etc), which together creates a whole song. I think the best example of a motif in use is Beethoven’s 5th symphony, with the four really characteristic notes, later known as the motif of fate. Take 30 seconds and listen to the beginning of it, and notice how the motif is presented, and later developed through the next bars of music. It is actually used 13 times during only 19 bars, and the entire first movement is built upon it!!
!
Let’s have a quick look at the example. There are 4 notes, G-G-G-Eb. It is that simple. However, it is probably one of the most important motifs in the history of classical music. Beethoven stated that the motif was fate knocking at the door. !
!
Why should you use motifs in your compositions? If you listen to a lot of great music throughout time, a lot of the songs are built upon a motif. The motifs are quite powerful, because it gives the piece character and identity. When using them throughout a piece, you maintain a characteristic quality, while still developing the composition. It will have a feeling of unity and connection. ! Using motifs is also a great way to get out of the writers block. It may be really hard to just come up with a melodic phrase on the go, especially if you are on a tight schedule. With using a small motif to begin with, you might quickly get ideas and get going. !
!
Now, let’s move over to actually composing a motif. To get the most out of this tutorial, I encourage you to have pen and paper ready, or any other way to notate your ideas. As you have seen in Beethoven’s example, the motif may be ridiculously simple, and still create a masterpiece. Therefore, don’t necessarily try too hard to create the most advanced motif ever, but try to stay simple. Less is more. !
!
I have a few methods of coming up with motifs, that I will briefly explain here. Let’s say you have a specific theme in your head, that you want to compose around. Maybe you are even composing for a film or game. Take that word, pay attention to how it is natural to say the word out loud, listen to how it sounds. Then try to transfer this to music. You can also listen to the sound of birds, people talking, or almost anything else! Remember that the key to a
good motif lies in the simplicity, so there is no need to be overly creative. If you are starting out, you may just stick to the key of C major or A minor, as I will do in this course. !
! ! For this exercise, I made up a motif in about 10 seconds: It is in a 3/4 time signature in C major, with a duration of 2 bars. Your motif may also be one bar long, in another key, simpler, slower, faster, it is totally up to you. !
!
Exercise 1: Compose A Motif! Beginner: Compose a simple motif, as I have done above. Intermediate: Compose 3 motifs, and pick the one you like the most. Advanced: Set a timer to 30 seconds and compose 3 motifs before the time runs out. For an additional challenge, choose a key you are not too familiar with (Like maybe Ab, F# or Bminor). Choose the one you like the most. !
! Now that the motif is composed, it is time to develop it into a melodic phrase. The freedom is endless, but I am going to show you a method that a lot of popular songs and pieces use, that you may start out with. My guitar teacher at high school taught me a method of improvising blues during one of our classes. If you just play random notes in a pentatonic (blues) scale, it will become nonsense and confusing to the listener. If you just repeat the same
short bending motif again and again for an entire solo (Like the beginning of Johnny B Goode), you will bore the listener to death. The following method is a way to maintain a structure while playing, while still engaging the listener and making it interesting. A perfect balance between familiar and new, between repetition and contrast. He called it «presentation, repetition, variation and destruction.» What it basically means, is this: - First you present a motif once. - Second, you repeat the motif. - Then, you use a slight variation of your main motif. - At last, you present something completely new to end the phrase. This is my result. Not with me yet? Well, just relax and let me explain a little better.!
Listen:!
!
Take a look at the picture above. Here I have used my motif, and developed it using the technique I just presented to you. Presentation, repetition, variation, destruction. What you may notice, is that I have changed the order a little. Here it is Presentation, variation, repetition and destruction. You can move around the four elements how you want, so experiment with different structures. Now, let me explain how I have used the technique: Bar 1is simply the motif I created in the last exercise. The 2nd one is quite similar, but the ending is a little different (variation). Instead of going up, then down - it is going down, then up. The point of the variation is to create something that is familiar (similar to the main motif), but still fresh enough to be interesting. Here the rhythm is the same, but the notes are changed for the ending.!
!
Afterwards in bar 3, I have just repeated my motif. As you see, there is a small alteration to the ending, as I have added two 1/8 notes. This is an example of how you can break these rules freely, as long as you follow the main structure. It is not a completely similar repetition of the main motif, but close enough. For the destruction part, you can use your imagination to create a fitting ending to your phrase. It does not have to be related to your motif at all, the idea here is to bring in something completely fresh. There are no rules, but try to make it feel natural. This should round off your phrase in a smooth way. ! As I just mentioned, feel free to experiment with the order of the 4 elements (Presentation, repetition, variation, destruction, or PRVD). I have changed it here to «Presentation, variation, repetition, destruction (PVRD)». You may also use «Presentation, variation, destruction, repetition (PVDR)». Heck, you can even start with the «destruction»! Experiment, and find what’s best for your motif. A lot of songs use this «formula», like even Justin Bieber’s «Baby» at the chorus. First the theme «baby, baby, baby ooh» is presented, then varied the second time by altering the last note. After that it is repeated, before it is «destroyed» by adding an ending to the chorus. If you listen to a lot of popular and classical music, you might realize that this kind of structure is really common.!
!
Let’s just have a quick look at another example using motifs in the same way. If you are familiar with epic orchestral trailer music, I bet you have heard of Two Steps From Hell. We are going to have a quick look at the motif used in the main theme of their most popular track, Heart Of Courage:!
This motif is simply made out of one rest three notes playing the beginning of the A minor scale, A, B, C. Here you can see the entire theme:!
Take a few seconds, and just look at how the motif is used to compose this theme. Do you see how the motif’s rhythm is repeated 3 times, with just a minor alteration in pitch from time to time? In the last bar, the motif is «destroyed» by something completely new (but that still is not too far away from the motif, resulting in a feeling of unity), consisting of four notes playing a scale in a downwards motion. This is another great example of how a ridiculously simple motif can result in a extremely successful and popular theme. !
!
Another tip I have for writing melodies, is creating a clear «top point», a climax for your melody. As a main rule, your melody should not just go up and down randomly, without any clear direction. Let me try to explain by looking at the phrase I made out of the motif in last exercise.! !
My presentation motif is moving in an upwards direction. Afterwards, the variation is moving downwards, as a small contrast. Then the repetition is moving the phrase upwards again, until suddenly, we reach the highest note. It is a C, an octave over the beginning note of the phrase, creating a climax to the melody. Do you see where it is placed? It is not in the beginning, not in the middle. It is more towards the end, taking the listener on a short journey before we reach the top. Afterwards, the destruction part is taking the listener safe back to the beginning note, ending the phrase where we started.!
! Let us go back to the «Heart Of Courage Example for a moment, and have a look at the top point in the melody.! !
Do you see any similarities to the way I have used my motif above? Here you see that the melody is reaching the climax at the first note in the last measure. This is an F, the highest pitch in the entire theme, functioning as a top point. When writing a melody, try to create such a top point, a climax to capture the attention of the listener. I find this easy to do in the destruction part, as you have the freedom to do whatever you wish there. Use your imagination, experiment and find the solution that works best for you! Remember, there is no right or wrong when it comes to composing. The tips I am giving you here are only guidelines, and a starting point for further exploration on your own. This is one of a million ways of composing. Never use this as an ultimate manual, but mix it with your creativity, and you might get some great results! !
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Exercise 2: Write A Melody! Beginner: Write a melody with your motif using PRVD or PVRD. ! Intermediate: Write a 3 melodies using 3 variations of the PRVD order. ! Advanced: Break all the rules. Find a new structure using your motif, and try to get a sweet balance between repetition and contrast. Expert: Improvise a melody on your instrument (or sing) using your motif and the PRVD technique (or a variation of it). Don’t stop and think, play/sing from beginning to end. When you come up with something great, write that down. !
! !
! !
Making A Song Section!
«The
writing gets done away from the keyboard and away from the studio in my head, in solitude. And then I come in and hopefully have something, then I wrestle with sounds and picture all day long. But the ideas usually come from a more obscure place, like a conversation with a director, a still somebody shows you, or whatever.»! - Hans Zimmer http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/hans_zimmer.html#Y5vZiY5i7tHsaw3Q.99! !
Okay, so now you have a musical phrase ready, consisting of the beautiful motif you just created. This is your melody, your «main theme». Congratulations! You are one step closer to finishing your piece! The next step now, is to expand on that phrase, and create an entire song section. This might be the opening of an orchestral piece, verse of a song or whatever else you want.
What a lot of great music does, is dividing phrases into question and answer roles. I am going to show you a quick way to use your main theme to create an entire song section, using question and answer roles. To understand this, some basic music theoretical knowledge is recommended. I am going to explain the basics here. Those of you with theoretical knowledge might as well skip this.
! ! It is best to sit by the piano or guitar to fully understand this. Take an instrument of your choice, and play the C major scale (C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C).
Play from C to B, and stop. Do you feel how the B really wants to go to C? Because of this, the 7th step on the major scale (B in this case), is called the leading tone. Listen to it a few times. Now, let’s look at the three main chords in the key of C Major. !
! ! !
The most important chords in C major, are those on the 1st, 4th and 5th step. Those are called the Tonic, Sub-Dominant and Dominant chords. In this case it is C Major, F Major and G Major. If you are able, play them a few times and listen closely. Do you recognize anything while playing the G chord? Do you feel that it leads back to C Major again? Now, take a look at the three notes making up the G major. Do you recognize anything? If you look closely, you can see that the B is the third in the G Major, the most characteristic note in a chord. As we experienced, this note leads back to C. Therefore, G Major has a tension that will be released by resolving to the chord of C Major. Now, let us use this tension to our advantage! !
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Remember me talking about question and answering roles? Take a look at my song section, made up using my main theme:!
!
Listen:!
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I have repeated the theme two times. The first time it has a questioning function, and the last time an answering one. Do you see which chord I have used in the ending of the first phrase? G Major (G,B,D), with the melody landing on the D. As I just said, this creates a tension that needs to be resolved. This tension has a questioning function, needing an «answer». Therefore I have landed on the note C, the root note of C Major (C,E,G) in the last phrase. This is resolving the previous tension, and creating an «answer» to end the phrase. This technique is used in everything from Mozart’s music, to popular music today. To do this yourself, try to land on the dominant chord in the first phrase. Make the melody rest on one of the notes in this chord, here G,B or D. In the second, answering phrase, land on one of the notes in the tonic chord, C major (C,E,G). Experiment until you are satisfied.!
! ! Melody Summary! !
Now we have looked at how to use motifs to create interesting and memorable themes. We have also looked at how you can enhance the impact of that theme by creating a climax or top point for your melody. Both those techniques are very effective, and used by a ton of huge songwriters and composers around the world. From Beethoven, to Justin Bieber, to Thomas Bergersen and Two Steps From Hell, motifs play an important role in the impact of their melodies. We have also briefly looked at how you can use your theme to create two phrases as building blocks for a song section. This is done through giving them roles as questions and answers, a technique used in various genres throughout history. !
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All these tips and techniques can be applied to your melodies, to make them stand out to your listener. And a melody that stands out, will make your composition or song stand out and be memorable to your fans. However, I can’t stress enough that these are only guidelines, one of MANY techniques and ways to write melodies. There is no right or wrong way, only the way that works best for you. Try to apply the information of this book to your melodies, and experiment with it. Use your creativity, don’t be too bound to rules and formulas. I hope the information presented in this chapter will help you improve as a melody writer. Good luck crafting your melodies!!
! ! ! !
! !
Harmony!
«If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music.» - Gustav Mahler http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/gustavmahl106859.html#27xmg4yfZZG7C7Kp.99!
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Now we almost have our entire main theme ready. Most likely though, you want some kind of harmonic foundation under your melody. The choice of chords is crucial to which emotional reaction you will get from the listener. «What should I create first, the melody or harmony?» you may ask. The answer is simply: It doesn’t matter, it is totally up to you. You may choose to start with a chord progression (a sequence of chords), or with a melody when you are composing a piece. The only reason I started with the melody, is that I find it easier to put chords to a great melody, than to make a great melody out of a sequence of chords. If you have time, try both!!
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Now, which chords should you choose? We have two main «genders» of chords. Major and minor. Major chords usually sounds happy, joyful and uplifting, while the minor chords usually are more sad and melancholic. Since you have already written your melody, I suppose you have a more or less clear picture of the emotion you are going for. The first thing to look at, is if the melody is in a major or minor key. !
! ! !
If it is in C major, experiment with the chords C,F and G. See where it is natural to put those in your melody. ! If you are a beginner, you might find it easier to set chords to an existing melody if you have the chords and melody written down. Look at your melody, and then look at the notes that make up the different chords. If we look at the
first three notes in my motif above, you can see that they match two of the notes in the C major chord (look at the «chords» picture on this page). However, the three next notes are are F,G and A.!
If you look at the chords above, you can see that neither F or A are in the C or G chord. However, they are both in the F chord. Therefore, it is a good choice to choose C for the first three notes, and F for the last three. For the ending note I went for C (even though I could use G too). !
However, there are more than three chords in the C major scale. You may also use D minor, E minor and A minor. Let’s look at them for a minute.! The D minor chord may be used as a substitute for the F major. Do you see that they share 2/3 of the same notes? The same goes for A minor, acting as a substitute for C major, and Em for G major. Every major chord has a minor substitute two steps below. Play around with those chords, find out where they might fit in your melody. Remember that the minor chords have a sadder quality, so switching out the F major with the D minor might dramatically change the mood in your melody. All of the chords have their own quality and sound, so you should experiment to find out what’s the best solution for your composition!!
! !
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Harmony examples
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Here I have taken my motif, and used a variety of chords to show you how dramatically the harmony changes the emotional content of a melody. !
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C - F C!
! C - Dm Em! ! Am - G/B C! ! C - Bb C! ! Gsus4 - Dm/F Abmaj7 ! ! ! Exercise 3: Write A Chord Progression ! ! Beginner: Write a chord progression for your melody, using tonic, subdominant and dominant chords. These are C, F and G in C major. !
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Intermediate: Write a chord progression using the chords above, but include chords like II and VI. These are Dm and Am in C major. !
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Advanced: Write 2 or 3 different chord progressions for your melody. In the first, use only T S and D. On the second, use additional chords like those above. Listen to the emotional difference. ! Expert: Use chords other than the main ones. Use the lowered 2nd step chord (bII), lowered 6th, and 7th step chord (bVI and bVII). These are Db, Ab and Bb in C major. Make 3 different chord progressions, and notice how the emotion in the melody shifts.!
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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Form!
"A creative artist works on his next composition because he was not satisfied with his previous one.» - Dmitri Shostakovich http://www.classicfm.com/discover/music/inspiring-composer-quotes/dmitri-shostakovich/!
! !
Now that you have your entire main theme ready, it is time to develop it into a whole musical piece. Here, I am going to give you a few simple tricks to create a simple but interesting form for a 2-4 minute piece. As I mentioned earlier, repeating your main theme 4 times, will not really engage the listener. The same goes for never repeating the theme, and instead just adding a completely new section each time. This would most likely confuse the listener. As always, we need to find a proper balance between contrast and repetition. If we look at classical and popular music, there are a few song structures that are quite popular, and for a reason. I am going to show you a few of them here, which you then can apply to your compositions. !
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We will call your main theme A, so if you were to repeat it several times like a hymn or traditional song, your form would be: AAAA. This is called strophic form, where the same melody is the same each verse, but the lyrics are different. Creating an instrumental piece in this form might be challenging, because it can easily turn out too repetitive and boring. It depends a lot on your arranging skills, to be honest. Ever listened to Hans Zimmer’s «Time» from Inception? There, the same theme is repeated over and over, just with differences in orchestration. Yet it is one of my favorite pieces by him. Go and listen to it, and see how he evolves the same theme, while still keeping it engaging. Actually, one of my most popular pieces «Annihilation» is written in the same way. Anyways, I am going to focus on an easier way to structure your piece, called the AABA form. !
! ! !
Take a look at the picture above. This is a simple, but highly effective way to structure your piece. It is mainly consisting of different versions of your main theme, as well as a contrasting secondary theme. Also here, we may use the Presentation, Repetition, Variation, Destruction terms. Let me explain this: The A part is your main melody. This is the introduction of your main theme, which you created in the last exercise. How would you start your piece? Full orchestra playing with all its power, including choir and percussion + el guitars? Probably not. A quite safe way to start, is beginning simple, and not too powerful. The next section can be a repetition of your main theme, but with a bigger ensemble or switching out the melody instrument for instance. This creates a sense of growth, and keeps the piece interesting. Now, for the third part, it is really important that we keep the listener interested. What can we do?
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The easiest way is to use contrast. Create something new and fresh for the ears of your listener, a contrasting theme. If your main melody consists of long notes, you may use short notes here. If the main theme is happy, you might create a darker B-part. Try to create a clear contrast, while maintaining the main emotion and character of your piece (See bonus chapter «Making Your Compositions More Interesting»). I also like to back off on the loudness in this part, to make the impact of the climax even bigger. I will come back to some basic arranging tips for this in a few minutes. The main job for the contrasting part, is to build up anticipation to the last song section. !
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In the last part, you will create the climax, and most likely include the full orchestra. By using a smaller ensemble in the B part, the impact here will be even bigger. To enhance it even more, you might transpose it from say, C to D Major to give it a lift. If your main theme is in minor, you might try to have the ending in major. Just experiment on how to enlarge the effect of the last section. After the climax, you can choose to end with a «BOOM», or to create some kind of ending. This is up to you. Just use your creativity, and come up with an epic way to structure your piece! Remember that this is just one of a million ways to structure your music. The only reason I chose this one, is
because it almost always works effectively. Simply as that. If you are just starting out, beginning with a structure like this may be very effective, and it can help you explore more advanced structures later since you now have a starting point.
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Congratulations! Now you are basically finished composing your piece. Be proud of yourself and give yourself a pat on the back! The next thing we are going to have a look at, is to arrange your entire composition for the orchestra. See you in the next chapter! !
! !
Exercise 4: Structure Your Composition! Beginner: Use the AABA form, as I do in my piece. !
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Intermediate: Try to use the AAAA form. To pull this off, you will have to focus greatly on orchestration to make a sense of growth and change. Listen to Hans Zimmer’s «Time» for inspiration. !
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Advanced: Use a totally different form. Experiment with forms like ABACADA or ABCBA, or make a whole new form yourself. Use the tips from the following bonus chapter «Making Your Compositions More Interesting: Contrast And Growth» to help you on the way. !
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Bonus Chapters: ! Making Your Compositions More Interesting: Contrast And Growth"
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Repetition and variation is a key to a great composition. However, too much of either one may also ruin a track. Repeating a single section 10 times will most likely become boring. On the other hand, 10 different sections will not be much better. However, if you create a fine balance between repetition and variation, you can keep your listeners engaged and interested for a long time. Two keywords for this is contrast and growth. If you repeat a section once, don’t make it completely similar to the first presentation. Add a new instrument, change the chords a little, make it “grow”. This way you can repeat material without having it sound boring. Contrast is when you introduce something that is radically different from the material you have just used. It is more of a sudden change. Balancing these, and implementing them cleverly in your compositions will make your music stand out, so read on.! In this post we are going to have a look at my composition “Hope”, which was originally an assignment for my composition class, receiving the highest grade possible. We are going to analyze my usage of contrast, and see how you can implement these tricks to lift your compositions to a new level.!
! Listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIvJuAJcMh8! !
First of all, the track is composed in AABA-form. There are first two presentations of the main theme (AA), then a new contrasting theme (B), before the main theme is again used (A). When using the same theme 3 times, it is easy to end up making the whole track sound boring and repetitive. To prevent this from happening, using contrast is a good idea. But just creating totally different song sections will sound like… 3 different song sections put after each other. We want it to still sound like one continued piece, but still use contrast to separate the song sections and make them interesting. Therefore we need a balance between contrast and growth. I am going to show you a few different ways of doing this, just as I have done here in my track “Hope”.!
! A:! In the first part of the track, a main theme is presented in the strings. It is a theme made up of long notes, played with legato (notes are tied together, not played separately). The theme is also played in the middle range of the strings, resulting in a rather full and warm sound. There is a piano part going on throughout the whole piece. If we look away from that, there are two main layers of the song. The chords/bass, and the melody.!
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A:! In the next A part, the same theme is used. However, some instruments are added to get a sense of growth. Choirs and woodwinds are added to the main melody, an octave higher than the previous section. In addition 2 horns are playing a short motif in between the string phrases, adding a third independent layer (again, growth). The rest of the horns have joined the harmonic instruments, playing chords. The tuba has joined the bass, so the whole orchestra is balanced between the different parts (melody, chords, bass). By adding more instruments in a new octave ,and a new layer to the original theme, we get a sense of growth and a slight sense of contrast. Let’s move on to the next part.!
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B:! Now, this is the most contrasting section, starting at 1.18. One of the first things we realize by listening to this theme, is that the note values are very short. There are a lot of short staccato notes playing , instead of the long tied together, slow legato notes from the main theme. Varying note lengths between sections is a VERY effective tool to create separation and contrast. The whole section is actually just half the length of the main theme.What else do we notice? Well, the instruments are playing in a higher register, resulting in a lighter feel. We have also gone from almost the entire orchestra, to just a few strings, oboes and piano, reducing the instrumentation drastically. Creating variations in the dynamics is a very effective way to add contrast, and keep the song section interesting.!
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The next thing I want you to notice, is all the independent layers. In the foreground, you can hear the violins playing a pattern. In the background you can hear the bass playing the root notes. In between them, some oboes are playing a new pattern consisting of two notes. It’s hard to hear, but there are also some clarinets and violas playing a rhythmical pattern consisting of chords. If we include the piano voice, we end up with a total of 5 independent layers. So in this song section I have used contrast by changing note lengths, using another register, cutting the section length in half, using dynamic
changes and adding more layers. The last thing I want you to pay attention to, is the flute melody at the end of the section, at 1.27. This is the main theme, making this very contrasting section sound connected to the first two sections.!
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A:! This is the climax. It is the exact same theme as before, but certain steps have been taken to make it stand out and not end up repetitive. First of all, now the entire orchestra is used, including percussion. This will result in this section being the loudest part of the composition. Because the previous part (B) has been the least loudest, the effect will be even bigger. Second, the theme is transposed a whole step up, lifting the whole feeling of the song section. Modulating to a new, higher key is a very effective way of enhancing the effect of a climax in your compositions. This is a very well known songwriting trick used by a lot of the pro’s around the world. You will most likely notice the string pattern from the B-part. I have kept this playing during the climax, sort of to tie the different parts of the composition together. This will create a sense of all the parts being linked to each other, while still being different enough to remain interesting. This is the balance you want to achieve.!
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Now, we have looked at how I have used contrast and growth in my composition. Let’s sum it up: Growth is a gradual change over time, while contrast is a more immediate and distinct change. Too much of either one of them might end up sounding boring or unnatural. If one theme is just growing and growing slowly for 5 minutes, chances are it might end up repetitive and boring. If you use say 3 song sections that are TOTALLY different from one another, it won’t sound like a continuing song, but rather 3 short songs. As mentioned, balance is key. You want to make your themes grow throughout a piece, while still introducing enough new elements and contrasts to keep it interesting for the listener. So what are some simple, yet effective things you can do to create growth and contrasts in your compositions?!
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Changing note values (As I have done between the second A and B, from long to short)! Sudden changes in dynamics (from the second A to B, and from B to A)! Adding more instruments (Between two first A parts, creates growth)! Changing Section Lengths (B is half the length of A)! Adding more layers (more independent voices)! Transposing (transposing up will lift the theme significantly)! Reusing themes (Main theme in flutes on the B part, string pattern from B part used in the climax. This does tie the composition together as a whole)!
I hope you can use some of these tips to enhance the quality of your compositions, and keeping the listener engaged throughout the entire track!!
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Leonard Bernstein: "To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.»!
! ! How To Beat Writer’s Block !
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One of the hardest things when you are a composer, is staring down at a blank piece of paper. Ever felt that you just cannot come up with a good melody when you want to? That you just cannot seem to get inspired, and struggle with starting a new composition? Then you have experienced the infamous writer’s block. In this article I will give you a few tips on how to beat the writer’s block, and be able to create compositions out of thin air, anytime.!
! 1. Start With A Title! !
“Living’ On A Prayer” and “Dead Or Alive” are both songs that were written based on a title, Bon Jovi has admitted. If you have a strong and interesting title, the rest of the song may pretty much come by itself. While that is true, just coming up with a great title might not be that easy. Try to find inspiration in movies, poems or books. By switching out one word in a nice phrase, you might end up with a very clever and inspiring title that will get you going with composing your next track. I have use this way of writing a lots of times. The phrases I start with might or might not be the final song titles, as the piece tends to create itself while I am composing, and might therefore end up a whole other place than when I first started. However, the phrase I start out with always kickstarts the composing process and gives me a direction to follow while writing the track.!
! 2. Write Using A Secondary Instrument! !
I am a multi-instrumentalist, among others playing violin, piano and guitar. I have to admit, that most of my compositions are written on the piano. However, if I try to write something on the guitar, the outcome might be totally different. The same goes for composing on the violin. I have been composing on the piano for so long, that I often find myself walking in circles, getting
back to the same chord progressions or melody structures. I then find it very useful to write using either the guitar or violin. Using a new instrument usually makes me feel inspired, and makes me think in a new way, resulting in compositions that are fresh and different. So if you are a guitarist, lay down your guitar and sit down by the piano. If you are a pianist, try to just sing your melodies or use a guitar. Try to turn to a secondary instrument, and you will often find yourself writing in a whole different way.!
! 3. Choose A Well Known Chord Progression! !
It might be hard to just come up with a great melody out of thin air. Therefore, starting with a strong and common chord progression can be a good start. A great progression might get you inspired enough to come up with some great melodies to go with it. I have written some of my most successful pieces this way. You can either sit down by your instrument and find a chord progression that you like, or you can do a quick search for “Power Chord Progressions” online. Power progressions are chord progressions that have been used to write hits for decades. Find a progression that moves you, and your next composition might almost write itself.!
! 4. Make It A Habit To Compose A Lot! !
Composing and songwriting is an art that requires practice. To get better at writing songs, you have to write more songs. Therefore, get used to sitting down and just WRITE. I sometimes just sit down by the piano or guitar, and compose something quickly in 2 minutes. It may be a short motif, a melody, or just a chord progression. I don’t really pay too much attention to every detail of what I am doing, but I use it as a practice to be able to just compose out of thin air during a limited timespan. Some of it is crappy, but a lot of it is really good, and makes the foundations of quite a lot of my compositions. I ALWAYS record my quick sessions on my phone recorder. Then I can visit the ideas later, and make a composition out of it. I think over 80% of my most popular themes were written this way, by just playing the first theme that comes to mind, and later working on the details. No matter how you choose to exercise, be sure to just write a lot of music. That is the only true way to become a better composer.!
! 5. Go Back To Old Ideas! !
As I said, I always record my ideas. Even if it is just a small snippet, it might become handy later. If you feel that you cannot come up with a good idea for a new track, try to revisit your older drafts. If you have recorded your ideas
like I do, go back and see if something there inspires you. I have several times been browsing through my records months back in time, and found some gems I have made some really good tracks out of. Therefore, be sure to go back in time and check out what you have done in the past, you might find something useful.!
! 6. Take A Break! !
If nothing works, and you still feel frustrated, hopeless and want to give up, there is only one thing to do. Just take a break. Get away from your studio/ working desk, and go for a walk. Go see a movie, travel a bit, or just do something else you enjoy. Take a break until you feel inspired and motivated again. Composing music should be fun and fulfilling, not something that makes you feel bad. If such a lack of motivation strikes, just take a break and do something you enjoy. I promise you that the motivation to compose suddenly will come back stronger than ever before, and you will be able to compose some great tunes. I hope these tips will help those of you who are staring at a blank piece of paper (or an empty project in the studio), to just get started!!
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Orchestration! ! «To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts - such is the duty of the artist» -Robert Schumann!
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http://www.classicfm.com/discover/music/inspiring-composer-quotes/robert-schumann/!
By now, you are most likely fairly close to finishing composing your piece. What’s remaining now, is the actual orchestral arrangement. The way you orchestrate your piece has a HUGE impact on how the music will turn out. Will your theme be played by a soft solo flute? A loud trumpet? An entire string section? !
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Tone Color And Emotion This brings us to the question: Which emotional response are you seeking from your listener? Is your main theme heroic and big? Sad and small? Dark and brutal? Romantic and warm? Think about this for a moment, and decide which emotional response you want. Maybe the composition should start out sad and hopeful, and evolve into a huge romantic ending? If so, write that down and keep it in mind while arranging. !
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Every single instrument has it’s own tone color. The flute is round and warm, the oboe is more nasal and bright, cellos are warm and full, and trumpets are bright and brassy. The tone color of an instrument changes depending on
which register the player is playing in. The lower register of the cello for instance, is dark, warm and round, while the upper register is brighter and sharper. Therefore it is important with some general knowledge about the orchestral instruments while arranging. We are going to look more at the different tone colors and instruments in the «Families» chapter, coming next. For now, just be aware that the tone color has a huge impact on the sound of your composition. !
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When doubling two instruments, you should double by tone color, not by range. If you have a flute melody that is too quiet, and want to add a trumpet just to bring it more to the front, the result might be quite bad. The two instruments are playing in the same range, but have two completely different tone colors. The result is often a feeling that the two instruments are fighting for space in the mix. What you want to achieve through doubling instruments, is to make them blend together and create a single, enhanced sound. !
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When doubling instruments, ask yourself: «What do I want to achieve?». If you want your flute melody to be more warm, full and round, you should probably group it with a clarinet. Think of the sound color as visual colors, in terms of what you want to achieve. Try to «paint» a picture with the tone colors. Do you want a more brassy tone to the oboe? Double it with a muted trumpet. Want a more full and rich sound? Double it with the bassoon in octaves. Just as when you are blending visual colors, decide what you want to achieve with the blend. If you want to make your red color more violet, add some blue. Now, let us have a look at the four families of the orchestra. !
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The Four Families:! Strings!
The string family is versatile, and can play almost anything. From staccato lines in epic music, to warm, big love themes. What one must remember, is that the string section isn’t a keyboard. You can’t just load up a string patch, play your keyboard, and expect it to sound like an actual string section. A string section may consist of 60 different players, each with their own instrument. These may together play 5 individual lines, so just playing chords on your keyboard with a string patch will sound like… ehh… chords on a keyboard! Therefore, to get a natural and beautiful sounding string part in your composition, some basic knowledge is required. Check out my article on 4 part writing HERE. Let’s get started by looking at the ranges of the different instruments. The string section consists of violins (usually divided in 1st and 2nd violins), violas, cellos and contrabasses (also called double basses). It is quite important to be aware of the limitations to the ranges of the instruments. This is to place your melodies in the best ranges of the instruments, and avoiding writing parts that the instruments cannot actually play. !
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Here you can see the ranges of each instrument in the string section. Be aware of these while arranging. Now, let us have a look at some important characteristics of the string section.
! They can play any note imaginable within their range. This is because they have no frets, or defined keys like on a guitar or piano. The notes are defined by where the musician places their fingers, so they are able to play notes that are between the usual steps, as well as slide between notes. ! They can play continuously, without the need to breathe between lines. String players don’t need to breathe, as they play using a bow, and can play long melodic lines without needing to take a break. ! They can play fast scales and runs. A good string player can play very fast runs and scales, as well as arpeggiated chords. ! They can play several notes simultaneously, through double stops or triple stops, where the player plays two or three strings at the same time. ! Their tone color is usually more dark and warm in the lower range, but thinner, brighter and more brilliant in their higher ranges. ! This will have a huge impact on how your melody will turn out. If it is played in the lower register, it will sound warmer and more gloomy. If you place it in a higher register, it will sound lighter and more brilliant. The higher you go, the more thin, brittle and penetrating the string sound will get. !
They are able to play a lot of different articulations, like legato, staccato, marcato, etc. Get familiar with the different articulations of the string family, and learn how to use them effectively. Let’s have a look at the most common ones here: Pizzicato: The player plucks the string with their finger.! Arco: The player uses their bow. Written after the end of a pizzicato passage. ! Legato: Several notes connected with a single bow stroke. Has a flowing and smooth feeling.! Staccato: Short notes with space between them. ! Marcato: Accentuated! Glissando: A slide from one note to another.! Con Sordino: With a mute. Player puts a mute on the bridge, more mellow and warm sound.! Check out this site for a more complete list of articulations. http://beststudentviolins.com/terms.html! Be aware of the double bass/contrabass, as it is a transposing instrument. It is notated an octave higher than it sounds. This means that the double bass sounds an octave lower than what’s written in the picture above. !
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The Instruments:!
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The Violin: The violin is the smallest and highest pitched instrument of the string family. There can be up to 30 violins in an orchestra, which is more than any other instrument in the ensemble. The four strings are tuned in GDAE. Some good blends: Strings in octaves, woodwinds. Pizzicato with harp."
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The Viola: The bigger brother of the violin. Has a darker timbre compared to the violins brighter quality. Tuned in CGDA, a fifth lower than his little brother. Some good blends: Strings in octaves, Pizzicato with harp. !
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The Cello: The tenor and bass instrument of the violin family. Has an even lower range than the viola, able to produce a full and rich sound. ! Some good blends: Strings in octaves, Pizzicato with harp, oboe, clarinet and bassoon, horn. "
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The Double Bass: is actually not a part of the violin family (violin, viola and cello). It’s timbre is dark, powerful, broad and dull, and it is able to play in a very low register due to it’s huge size. It has the bass role of the orchestra. Some good blends: Strings, harp, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, tuba, timpani. "
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! Harp: The harp is one of the oldest and most widespread instruments in the world. It is played by plucking strings that are attached to a wooden frame and soundbox. A harp player is both able to play melodic lines and chords on the instrument. It is a diatonic instrument, and uses foot pedals to alter pitches (making a C a C# or Cb for instance). Therefore a chromatic scale is almost impossible to play on the harp. Its sound is gentle, clear, mellow and flowing. !
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In a large orchestra, the string section will usually look like this: Violin 1: 16 Violin 2: 14 Viola: 12 Cellos: 10 Doublle Basses: 8 Harp: 1
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Brass!
You have probably heard the heroic theme of Indiana Jones, the brass melody from Jurassic Park, or the main theme of Star Wars. The brass family is a very important part of orchestral music, and very commonly used in film scores. Brass melodies are heroic and epic, and their chords are powerful and huge. The brass section has an unbelievable power in their sound. However, there is a lot of things that brass players can do, and just as many things they cannot do. To be able to write brass melodies and arrangements that will sound great, it is important to learn the basics of the family. !
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Brass ranges:!
! ! The sound in brass instruments are created and controlled by the vibration of the players lips. The pitch is determined by the frequency of these vibrations. Loose lips and low air flow will produce a low pitch, due to the low frequency of the vibration of the lip. The more tension on the lips, the more air pressure is needed to get them to vibrate. Try this yourself, blow air
through your mouth to make your lips vibrate. Now tense your lips more and more, and feel how you must use more force and air to make them vibrate, and feel how this produces a higher pitched sound. This is what changes the pitch, together with the valves of the brass instruments. What this basically means is that more and more force is needed to play higher and higher pitches. This again usually makes the sound louder and louder the higher the pitch gets. Because of this, a brass player is rarely able to play the low notes super loud, and can not play the highest notes super quiet. !
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Super-fast runs are harder to play on a brass instrument. Because a brass player needs to adjust lip vibrations through air pressure, and finger placements on valves, really fast runs might be quite hard to play. This is especially true for the trombone, where the player needs to move his whole arm to change the pitch of his instrument. Runs are easier on strings and woodwinds, so if you have composed a fantastic and fast run, consider giving it to a flute or violin instead of the horn or trombone. Remember this while writing a brass melody. A super-fast trombone melody will be hard, or impossible to play, and sound just unnatural to the listener. !
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The tone color changes with the pitch." The lower ranges of brass instruments are quite dark, and have a raw quality. Their middle ranges are clearer, have a full tone, while their upper registers are loud, hard, sharp and are able to cut through anything in the orchestra.!
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They cannot play chords Brass instruments are only able to play one note at a time on their instrument. "
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Brass doubling" There is one instrument that is quite different from the others in the brass family. The trumpets and trombones have a cylindrical bored mouthpiece, giving them a more penetrating and bright tone color. The french horn however, has a conical bored mouthpiece, giving it a more mellow and full tone color. This is important to be aware of. Remember that I told you not to group by range, but by tone color? This means that you should not necessarily group the horn with the trombone, but rather with other instruments with a more mellow and warm tone. Very common instruments to double the horn with, are woodwinds and the cello. !
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Humans need to breathe: While writing brass parts and melodies, remember that a human being cannot hold their breath for an unlimited amount of time. Especially not while using all the air playing an instrument!
This means that you should not have a continuous melody in the brass instruments for too long. Remember to put in small breaks for the player to breathe! Not only is it then able to be played by a real musician, but it sounds a lot more natural and human to the listener. !
! Common Articulations! !
Brass instruments can play common articulations like legato, marcato and staccato, but they have some unique ones like flutter tonguing (a rolled r sound while playing) or double/triple tonguing. !
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Trumpets and horns are transposing instruments. This means that if a Bb trumpet player is told to play a C, the outcome would be a Bb. If an F horn player plays a C, guess what it would sound like? Yeah, an F. Here you can see how this is notated for brass instruments. !
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The Instruments!
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The Trumpet: has a bright, powerful and brilliant sound quality. It is the smallest member of the brass family, and it’s characteristic sound makes it perfect for heroic and powerful themes. It is dark and round in it’s lower register, fuller in it’s middle register and more penetrating in it’s higher range. Usually tuned in C of Bb. Some good blends: Trombone, oboe, viola. "
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The Horn: Has a full, clear and round quality to it. The lowest notes are very mellow and work very well for calm passages. The middle register is more full, and works very well for heroic themes. The upper register is intense and bright, but still very round compared to the other brass instrument.! Some good blends: Woodwinds, strings, cello in unison. "
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The Trombone: has a sound that remains homogenous for the entire range, unlike instruments like the clarinet and bassoon. The lower register is very dark and threatening when played loud, and has a «warning» feeling to it. Played softly, the low register is more mysterious. The middle and higher register is more heroic, brilliant and mighty, and has the characteristic brass sound. Some good blends: Trumpet, Tuba."
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The Tuba: is the biggest and lowest pitched brass instrument in the orchestra. The lowest notes can only be played very softly, but project very well. The middle register is very full and soft sounding, and also the most used. ! Some good blends: Trombone, Double Bass. Bassoon + Contrabassoon. "
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In a large orchestra, the brass section will usually look like this: Horns: 4-8 Trumpets: 3-6 Trombones: 3-6 (1-2 are bass trombones) Tuba: 1 or 2
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Woodwinds!
The woodwind family is a beautiful section of the orchestra, but sadly often overlooked. Today’s epic music tend to focus on huge staccato strings, chanting choirs and heroic brass melodies. Therefore, their little brothers in the woodwinds section are often forgotten by the composers. However, knowing to write for woodwinds is important, and may give your compositions a whole new touch. Listen to «Buckbeak’s Flight» by John Williams, and skip to 1.20. Notice how the woodwind runs in the background are giving a whole new life to the music. Woodwinds can also be used to present themes in solo instruments, doubling other instruments, or playing harmonic material.! Woodwind Ranges!
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! Some basics:! ! There are two kinds of woodwinds instruments: Flutes and reed instruments. The reed instruments are divided in two, the single reeds and double reeds. The clarinet is a single reed instrument, while the oboes and bassoons are double reed instruments. They provide quite different tone colors. The flutes and single reeds are more warm and round, while the double reeds are more nasal and bright. !
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Woodwinds are able to play fast scales and runs: In contrast to brass instruments, woodwinds can easily play faster runs and arpeggiated chords. In fact, this is a very usual way to use the woodwinds, as in the «Buckbeak’s Flight» example. !
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They cannot play chords Woodwind instruments are only able to play one note at a time. However they can play arpeggios effectively, which is chords played quickly, one note at a time. !
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Transposing Instruments! The Bb Clarinet and the English Horn are transposing instruments in the woodwind section. !
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Woodwind players need to breathe too: As with the brass section, woodwind players need to breathe while playing. Therefore it is important to create small breaks for the players, both within a phrase, and between phrases.!
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Piccolo: The piccolo is the highest pitched instrument in the woodwind family, and in the entire orchestra. It has a very penetrating and shrill quality when played loud, yet a soft and sweet tone when played softly. Good for huge tutti statements, but should be used sparingly, as it is very tiresome to listen to for the ears. Good blends: Doubling other woodwinds in octaves! !
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Flute: The flute is an edge-tone instrument. It has a rich and full tone in it’s middle range, and a more brilliant and penetrating higher register. Can both be used effectively as a solo instrument, as well as for doubling other instruments of the orchestra. Good blends: Doubling violins (very common), oboe and clarinet.!
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Oboe: The oboe is a double reed woodwind instrument, with a nasal and bright tone color. The expressive middle register is often used both for sad, melancholic themes as well as joyful melodies. !It has a very characteristic quality, both good for solo melodies, as well as for doubling other orchestral instruments. Good blends: Flute for a more mellow sound, clarinets for a fuller quality, or bassoons for a more powerful and deep sound. Both oboe and bassoons are double reed instruments, and therefore sound very good when played together.!
! ! ! Clarinet:! The clarinet is a single reed instrument, and has a mellow, warm and expressive tone color. Very effective for playing smooth and expressive legato passages. The lower register is dark, warm and melancholic when played solo. The upper register is most commonly used, and sounds very compact and bright. It is quite similar to the human voice, and can effectively express both desperation, love, joy and mourning. Good blends: Woodwinds, horn, and cello. Adds depth and warmth to other instruments when combined. ! ! Bassoon: The bassoon is a tenor and bass instrument, with a double reed mouthpiece like the oboe. Though the two instruments are similar, the bassoon is not as penetrating and sharp as its little brother. The differences between the registers of the instruments are very clear and pronounced, one of the true characteristics of the bassoon. The lower register is often used as a bass foundation, and is quite thick and heavy. Usage of the middle register is very common, often playing mysterious, emotional and melancholic melodies. The upper register sounds very compressed, yet lyrical and soft. Good blends: Woodwinds, horn, low brass and low strings. Adds a more powerful and mellow touch to other instruments when doubled. Takes some of the metallic edge off the brass instruments. !
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In a large orchestra, the woodwind section will usually look like this: Flutes: 2-4 Oboes: 2-4 Clarinets: 2-4 Bassoons: 2-4
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Percussion!
The percussion family is a very large and powerful family of the orchestra, and includes all instruments making a sound when hit, shaken or scraped. They keep the rhythm of the music, add color and are able to lift the entire orchestra with it’s huge bearing power. !
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There are two kinds of percussion instruments: Pitched percussion and non pitched percussion. The first category includes instruments that make a musical pitch when hit, like a timpani, glockenspiel or piano. The latter does not have a definite pitch, like a snare drum or triangle. !
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Percussionists need to be very skilled: It is a lot harder than it seems to be able to hit the right place with the exact right power at the right time. If a string player plays a note 10ms too late, nobody would notice. However, if the same thing happens to the timpani player, it would be a disaster. Percussionists have to be extremely focused and accurate all the time, something that makes it a very challenging task. !
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Percussionists usually play several instruments: A percussionist usually switches between several different percussion instruments during a single piece of music. !
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The Instruments !
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Timpani:! The timpani is a big bowl-looking drum, and the loudest instrument in the entire orchestra. It is a pitched instrument, and the player changes the notes by stretching/loosening the drum heads with a foot pedal. The Timpani is very central to the orchestral percussion, since it both can play rhythm, melody and harmony. Usually 4 different timpani of different size are used. A timpanist must be very skilled, and therefore usually requires a specialized player. It can be used as a background instrument when played very lightly, but can project over the entire ensemble when played in forte. The sound has a very deep, mellow, and booming quality. !
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Cymbals:! The cymbals can be played by either striking one plate against the other, or being struck with a stick/mallet. The loud sound is usually used to accentuate musical climaxes, and it’s sound can rise above the entire orchestra. It is very effective when used sparingly. !
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Snare Drum:! The snare drum is the smallest of the cylindrical drums, and is extremely common in all western music styles. It is also a very important part of the orchestral percussion family. Due to it’s small size, the sound is very bright, sharp and penetrating. !
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Bass Drum:! The bass drum is also an important instrument in both western popular music and orchestral works. It is very effective for marking the rhythm, and covers the bass register of the percussion section. Is has a huge range, from subtle to super loud, and most often only one bass drum is required. The sound is quite dark, full, mighty and thunderous. !
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! ! ! ! Gongs:! The gong is a hanging huge round metal plate with a knob in the center. It has a definite pitch, and adds an exotic flavor to the music. It has a very full sounding and round tone, and gongs of different sizes can be used to play entire melodies. !
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Celesta:! The celesta is an instrument that was invented during the 19th century. It is played as a piano, but has a percussive, yet heavenly sound. A famous usage of this instrument is Prologue and Hedwig’s theme from the Harry Potter series. The celesta parts are usually very quick and lively and requires a very skilled player. !
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Piano:! The piano is a well known instrument, very often used in Jazz and Classical music. It is played with a keyboard, and can both be used for harmonies as well as melodies (or both at the same time). It is very often also used as a composition tool because of it’s diversity. !
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Common orchestration mistakes and how to avoid them!
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As I mentioned earlier, the orchestra is a wonderful ensemble, able to express every emotion imaginable. However, to getting the most out of it requires quite a bit of knowledge and experience. Today, composers with the right digital tools may write huge orchestral music, and make it sound quite good. This music is created and written with and for virtual instruments. Problems may therefore arise if one is seeking to have the music played by a real orchestra, and find that the score is impossible to play by real musicians. Badly orchestrated music may also clutter the mix, and make things sound quite unrealistic and machine-made. This chapter is about the basics of orchestration, common mistakes and how to avoid them. With these tips, your composing will be smoother, the mix more balanced and the music more realistic. !
! 1.Now knowing the limitations of the orchestra! !
The orchestra is huge, containing a lot of different instruments, split into 5 main groups. Musically, the orchestra is able to do almost anything. However, it has its limits, and they are important to be aware of. Woodwind players need to breathe between phrases, brass players cannot play quietly in their upper register, and string players can most certainly not play a C13 on their instrument. If you are serious about composing orchestral music, you should get a fair overview of the general playing ranges of the different instruments, where they sound best, and what they can actually play and do. I will go into detail about all these ranges and limitations in my Introduction to Orchestration course. !
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2. Not being aware of the difference between virtual and real instruments.!
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When people compose for virtual instruments, they usually load a patch, and start playing. This patch may be staccato samples, or longer sustained notes. It is therefore common that as one composes, one composes just for that sample. That means that you will have the entire string part played in staccato for example. A real violinist may however be able to switch between playing staccato, legato, sustained notes, runs, trills and pizzicato in a blink of an eye. Music for real orchestras is therefore often more diverse when it comes to playing techniques. If you want to create a pumping trailer music track, staying with the staccato samples is just fine. But if you want to create dynamic orchestral music, load up different kind of samples, write for the real instrument and not for your sampler. !
! 3. Grouping instruments by range, not tone color.! ! One of the first things I ever learnt during my orchestration studies at Berklee Online, was NOT to group instruments by playing range. Just because a piccolo, flute and a trumpet all may play in a high pitch, doesn’t mean they will sound good together. This applies BOTH to those who write for VST plugins, and those who seek to write for a real performance. When you group instruments, decide which tone color you are aiming for. For a warmer deeper flute sound, double it with a clarinet. If you want a fuller more brassy sound to your cello melody, double it with the french horn. Harp and pizzicato strings are nice to group together for warm, lush harmonic material. Grouped with the flute for a melody, you will have a nice and warm tone color. !
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These are three of, what I consider to be, the most important things to be aware of while writing for the orchestra. Orchestration is a very complicated art, but with these steps, you are indeed on the right path! ! For a more in depth introduction to orchestration, check out my course here: There I will take you through the basics of orchestrating music, from piano sketch to finished score. !
! Quick Orchestration Templates! !
These are some usual ways of orchestrating material, that you can use to get quickly started. ! Big Orchestral Statement:! Melody: Strings in octaves, doubled by flute. Countermelody: Horns and cello in unison. Harmony: Brass, Double Bass, Low Woodwinds, Choirs!
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Intimate String Theme: Melody: Violin 1 and 2 Countermelody: Oboe/Clarinet Harmony: Viola, Cello, Contrabass, Harp!
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Solo Statement: Melody: Solo instrument (Flute, Oboe, Violin etc) Harmony: Pizzicato Strings, Harp/Piano. !
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Arranging Your Composition!
Okay, now we have been briefly looking at a lot of theory. We have made a strong theme, put chords to it, and turned it into a full composition. Then we have been looking briefly at the instruments of the orchestra, your toolbox when arranging. It’s time to start working on the actual arrangement. !
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By now, you actually have a lot of your work done already. After finishing your song structure, you have most likely been thinking of the dynamics of your track. For example a more calm introduction, then a build and a drop before the climax like I have chosen. If you have been thinking about the emotion you want to express, you have most likely started thinking about a fitting melody instrument after reading about the four families. This is a very good starting point. Now I will show you how I usually start out when arranging my compositions. !
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The first thing I do, is to get a blank piece of paper and a pencil. On that, I draw a timeline, displaying the composition from beginning to end. Next, I divide that timeline into song sections - in this case 4 (AABA form). Vertically, I create 4 rows, one for melody, one for countermelody, harmony and «other». Here I will fill in which instruments are playing what for each part in the composition. !
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! ! ! This is an example of how this may be done roughly. I also write in the dynamics of the song, colored in black. By writing this down, I find it much easier to choose the right instruments and arrange the composition properly. !
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I usually start out by arranging the main theme, the core of the entire song. Some places you might want lively runs in the woodwinds, driving percussion, or other details. This is however something I find so much easier to do when all the main ingredients are sorted out. Therefore, I encourage you to start with arranging your melody and harmony. I often start doing this with either the climax or the beginning. This is because I find those sections the easiest ones to picture how I want, and they are therefore good starting points. !
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A good place to start, is by picking your melody instrument. This choice depends on the section you have chosen, because you will most likely vary your melody instrument(s) throughout the piece. Maybe you will start out with a soft flute melody in the beginning, then evolve to a bigger string melody, then a solo piano melody in the contrasting part, before using the entire brass family in the ending climax. Varying your instrumentation will help you gain that perfect balance between contrast and similarity. Let me give you some tips on how to do this effectively, here using the AABA form. !
! This is one possibility:! !
A: Start small. You may use a solo instrument for the melody (flute, oboe, clarinet, violin, horn etc), with a smaller accompanying ensemble doing the harmony. Harp and pizzicato strings, piano and soft sustained strings works very well for this. !
! A: Expand on the existing instrumentation and create a sense of growth. If you used a solo instrument, double it with say, the first violin section. If you used a solo horn, you might include 4 horns, or you can double it with the cellos. Remember to expand the harmony section too, so the two elements always remain balanced. If you have used strings in the first part, you may double them with some soft brass chords, or use the woodwinds. You can also introduce a counter melody in this part (more on that later). I like to rather «build» than to «change» in this part, as we want the listener to follow us all the way. Too much change too early in the song might be confusing, so you might want to focus on expanding on the main theme instead of changing it drastically during the two first presentations. !
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B: Now is the time for change. By now your main theme should be fairly big and powerful. If you have used a big string ensemble playing a theme with long notes, it is a good idea to choose an instrumentation that is smaller, and has a different tone color. Maybe you want to use pizzicato strings and woodwinds, with an oboe playing the melody. Maybe a solo piano, or using pitched percussion like xylophone, celesta or glockenspiel. A small instrumentation here will make the climax seem even bigger. !
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A: End big. Here you can use the entire orchestra. Maybe you want 6 horns playing the melody, doubled by the cellos. Maybe you want the strings and flutes playing the melody, doubling each other across 3 octaves. Remember to keep the harmony section just as powerful. The brass family is actually able to do the harmony all on it’s own, and still be heard through the entire orchestra. !
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Now, decide on a melody instrument for each section of the orchestra. Then, choose an appropriate ensemble for the harmony. Write your choices on the piece of paper we made earlier. If you are using another form than AABA, the principles remains the same. Try to get a good balance between contrast and growth. Use orchestration to highlight changes in your composition. When you have done that, we have the foundation for our entire track ready. It is time to fill in the gaps, and add some interesting details. !
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Now that the main job is done, let’s add in some additional details. The opening is actually best left quite simple. This is so the theme can be presented clearly to the listener, without any other distracting elements. However, on the second section (repetition) I would like to add in a countermelody to expand on the first statement. !
Writing A Good Countermelody:!
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Rhythm: Make the countermelody move while the main melody rests. The best way to separate the two layers from each other, is to give them space. When the main theme is active, let the countermelody rest. When the main theme is resting, give life to the countermelody. ! Tone Color: Give the new layer a new tone color. If the melody uses the full and warm color of flutes and violins, you may give the new element a more bright and nasal tone by using the oboe and bassoon. Or if you have a heroic horn theme, you can use the strings to create a contrasting countermelody. There are tons of opportunities here. !
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Here is an example from my composition: !
As you see, the melody and countermelody are separated in several ways. First, the counter melody is one octave higher than the main melody. Second, you can see that one is moving melodically while the other is resting. !
! It sounds like this: ! ! I have also added some more details to the track:! !
Woodwinds: Woodwinds are great for runs, adding life and excitement to your music. I have done this at the climax. ! Choir: I have also added a female choir, singing a rhythm using the harmonic material. Percussion: I have used percussion to add more drive, rhythm and energy to the ending part. Listen:
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There are no rules for adding details like this, use your imagination and experiment until you are satisfied! !
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Writing Down The Arrangement !
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By now, you are actually close to finishing the entire arrangement. Some of you may want to write down the entire arrangement voice for voice, but it’s not really necessary. Because of the great paper you have made earlier in this chapter, you know which instrument is playing/not playing where. To begin with, this is really all you need. You know which instrument is playing the main melody during the opening, you know which instruments are taking care of the harmony during the contrasting section. If you start recording those things you have written down, you will soon see your composition starts to fall into place. And if you feel that you want to add more, but don’t really know what yet, don’t worry. You can easily do this during the recording stage, adding small details and voices as you see fit. !
! Chord voicing: ! !
If you are going to arrange chords for strings, choirs, brass or woodwinds, it is important to have proper chord voicing and use good 4 part writing. For those of you who are new to those terms, there are bonus chapters at the end of this book, explaining those concepts, as well as tips about writing one and two layered music.!
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Exercise 5: Orchestrating Your Composition! Beginner: Use one or more of the templates in this chapter to orchestrate your main melody. !
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Intermediate: Put together an ensemble yourself. Decide upon a melody instrument, and match it with other instruments of similar tone color and bearing power. !
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Advanced: Write down 3 different arrangements of your main theme. You could use the template for one if you wish. Explore different emotions, and go for the one you like the most. !
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Production! ! «Here's something I probably shouldn't be saying: I never listen to my soundtrack albums because I can't stand it. It's just stereo. When I write, I write in surround. My life is in surround.»! - Hans Zimmer http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/hans_zimmer.html#Y5vZiY5i7tHsaw3Q.99!
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Recording!
Now that you have composed and arranged your entire composition, it is time to start making it into real sound. In this chapter we will record your track, and make it ready for the mixing and mastering stage. For more in depth information on building templates, choosing libraries, and speeding up your workflow, stay updated on my coming «Technology In Music» course. I will notify you when it’s out!!
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After arranging your song, you roughly know which instruments and articulations you will need. The first thing you should do, is to open up your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), and start an empty project (if you don’t have a template set up). Now, start to add your instruments, one by one. If you want a layout that is similar to an orchestral score, I recommend that you start with adding the woodwinds (flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons), and move over to brass (horns, trumpets, trombones, tuba), further to pitched percussion, percussion, choirs etc, before you end with the string section (Violin 1 and 2, Viola, Cello and Contrabass). That way your DAW will look very clean and tidy. !
! Next, start naming all your tracks properly. If you have a flute staccato patch, name it something like «Flute Stacc». If you have a cello legato patch, you may name it «Cello leg». It takes a few extra minutes, but will save you a ton of time every time you spend your day looking for your 2nd violin sordino patch among the 100 tracks. After all names are set, color code your tracks. I use a red color on all string tracks, yellow on all brass, dark blue on woodwinds +++. Choose the colors you like, these will help you navigate in your project much faster. When this is done, let’s start recording!!
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Recording Your Project!
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Recording your project is actually quite easy when you have already arranged your track. The hardest part is usually looking at an empty DAW screen, having no clue where you should start. This problem is fixed by arranging your track in advance, like we did earlier. !
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When I start recording, I usually either start with the main melody or the harmonic part. Then I fill out everything in between, but this is totally up to you. It all comes down to our own opinions and ways of working. Sometimes I start with the opening theme, sometimes the ending. No matter what you choose, you can start wherever you want, as you already have written down what each instrument will play. So now, choose an instrument and record it. This is your starting point. Now, start to expand on this until all the main parts are done. Then, start to fill in the details. Have a look at the video of this chapter for how this can be done.!
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Done? Great! You are getting really close to finishing your track! Now, go back and edit mistakes, do some polishing and finish it up for the mixing stage. !
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Mixing ! ! Mixing sampled orchestras might seem like a very hard task. It might indeed be quite intimidating to sit there, staring at 60-100 different tracks in your DAW. In this chapter we will try to break down the mixing stage into a few very important steps, that will help you create the best mix possible. The biggest problem with mixing sampled orchestras is that it is possible for them to do things a real orchestra never could have done. Like letting the a single flute play chords, letting a violin play in the low cello range etc. The orchestra has been developed over hundreds of years, being constantly changed for optimal sound balance. The orchestra is created so a good arrangement will sound great and perfectly balanced when performed. So if you arrange something a real orchestra couldn’t have done, the resulting mix will often sound unnatural and weird. Which is why I say this before you start mixing:!
! It’s all in the arrangement! ! !
Pay attention to your orchestration. Spend a good amount of time making your arrangement as perfect as possible. If you arrangement is great, the mix will automatically sound a lot better. If your arrangement is bad, you will encounter some huge problems in the mix. Therefore, don’t be tempted to think «Screw it, I’ll fix it in the mix» when you are arranging. Make sure your arrangement is as good as it can before moving on the the final stages. Done? Okay, we are ready to start mixing! After reading the basics of the mixing terms, head over to the video and see how I apply everything to my mix. !
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! Levels
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The mixing process already started when you recorded the first tracks of your project. Already then you were probably adjusting the volume faders, so the instruments matched each other and sounded balanced. And that is essentially what mixing is about: balance. Balance between the instruments, and between the frequency ranges. Later in the project you probably added even more tracks, and balanced the volume further so the mix sounded good. Maybe you even added some effects like reverb, eq and compression to get the results you wanted. Now, you might be quite satisfied with the result, and decide to bounce the mix to a wav file and finish it after reading this chapter. My advice is: Don’t. Take a moment and read through this tip, which I first got from the well known epic music producer Ivan Torrent, and later from producers who have worked for Whitney Houston, Rolling Stones etc.!
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As I mentioned, we are almost always mixing while we are recording and editing our music. In the end we might therefore end up being quite biased. After working on a track for a long time, we sometimes feel that the current mix is the only way that particular track could be done. However, there can be a lot of problems in the mix that we are so used to hearing, that we simply don’t recognize them. Therefore I encourage you to start completely from scratch when you are at the mixing stage. Save your project under a new name (like X Mix v2), so you can go back to your old mix if you feel like later. Take a long break, and start your mixing session by listening to some professionally mixed music to tune in your ear.!
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If you are working with a lot of MIDI and virtual instruments, I encourage you to bounce all the instruments into stem files, and load them in a new project. Then you will have only audio files to work with, something that will result in a better mix. Ivan Torrent said this was his number 1 tip if you feel your mix is muddy and unclear. After opening all your files into a new project, start organizing and labeling your project as well as possible. This will help a LOT with the workflow, as mentioned earlier.!
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Now, turn all your faders down to zero. Then start with the fundamental instruments like percussion and bass instruments, and balance them well. Then start to bring in the rest of the instruments one by one, constantly tweaking the volume faders for the best balance possible. Also disable all your effects like EQ and reverb. Don’t delete them, but just disable them so you can get back to them later if you need to. Do everything from the
beginning, and try to listen to the mix with a new pair of ears. Almost 100% of the times, this will result in a MUCH better mix.!
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After bouncing all your tracks into a new project, and doing all the mixing from scratch, compare it to your earlier mix. The first time I did this, my jaw dropped. The difference was huge. The new mix sounded so much more in your face, full and rich. So if you are struggling with getting your mixes right, try this tip out. It requires some more time, but it is well worth it in the end.! Panning As I said, the configuration of the orchestra has been refined during the past 500 years. All the instruments in the ensemble are placed so the performance will sound as balanced as possible. The loudest instruments are placed in the back, and the more quite ones in the front. Solo instruments are placed in the middle, and the rest placed so the performance won’t sound too heavy to the left or right. Therefore, proper instrument placement is crucial to get a balanced and natural sounding mix. !
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Depending on your library, your samples might, or might not be pre-panned. Some sample libraries are already panned as in the orchestra, ready to be played. This is true for the EWQL orchestral libraries. Some other libraries (Like VSL) are usually not panned, so you have the freedom to mix the samples as you wish.!
Here you can see a picture of the placement of instruments in the orchestra. The strings are in front, and the brass in the back. If your instruments are not pre-panned, you should try to place them somewhat similar to this. Pan your first violins quite a bit to the left, violas quite centered, cellos and basses to the right etc. Choose a part from your recorded piece you are mixing, and
experiment with it there. Try to make every instrument stand out by assigning their own place in the stereo field to them. !
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EQ
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EQ is a great way to make an instrument stand out, remove unwanted frequencies, and also to ruin your whole mix. When it comes to the orchestra, be careful with any hard use of EQ. The main rule of EQ-ing is to always ask yourself these questions: «Does this REALLY need EQ, or can I fix it in any other way?» Try out the EQ change and ask yourself: «Did this REALLY make the track better?». If not, undo it and fix the problem in another way. If you do a lot of small changes that you don’t really notice on their own, you might damage the mix in the long run. However, there is one crucial thing I want you to do with the EQ: !
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Most of us have experienced that our mix is muddy, messy, lacks the full bass sound and crisp highs. I for sure have. Mixing is an art that takes years and decades to master, and there are no quick fixes to magically make your mix compete with the pro’s. However, I have realized that there is one single thing that can totally make or break your mix. The funny thing is that it is ridiculously simple!! ! Most of us strive to get the perfect bass sound in the mix. To get a full sounding bass in a song, a lot of us believe that one should keep the bass frequencies in all the instruments, like piano, flutes, vocals etc. (I also used to). The fact is that all non-bass instruments produce noise in the bass region, both from the room they were recorded in, breathing noises and much more. Keeping the bass frequencies on non-bass instruments does therefore actually drown your bass instruments, and makes the whole mix sound messy.! ! The even bigger problems arise if the bass sound is not as we desire, and we try to just boost it with an EQ in the master track in frustration. This will just lift all the noise, and the problem will just become even worse. So… what do you do to make your bass become clear and full, supporting the rest of the mix? Well this may sound counter-intuitive, but it is highly effective: you cut the bass.! ! You heard that right; to get a good bass sound, you must actually cut away all the bass from the NON-BASS-instruments. This includes vocals, guitars,
violins, trumpets, flutes, snare drums, everything that is not a bass guitar, sub bass synth or the double basses. Doing this will remove all the noise produced by the non-bass instruments, revealing only the sound from the true bass instruments, the one that you actually want to hear in your mix.! ! How do you do this? Well, what I used to do is to simply put a high-pass filter (also called a low-cut) on all the instruments except for the basses, and cut away everything below 80-100 Hz. A rule of thumb is to cut until you hear that the fullness starts to disappear, then back off a little. Another frequency problem area is around 200Hz, so on some instruments you may try to cut away a bit in this area. Be careful with this though, as a lot of the fullness in a few instruments, like the violins, exist here.! ! Now, load up your project and cut away the bass, and listen to the difference. Notice how everything opens up, the bass becomes more clear, and a bit of the mud disappears. Next, you can cut away some of the highest frequencies using the same technique, but with a high cut/low pass filter. The ear hears less and less of frequencies around 15-20KHz, but when a lot of those frequencies start to build up, we perceive the mix as quite brittle and sharp. Cut away this noise by using a low pass filter, and feel how your mix slowly opens up a bit more. Remember, that this is only one of the steps to a great mix, but to me it is a highly effective and important one.!
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Compression
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As with EQ, compression can both help, and destroy your mix, if not used wisely. The orchestra is an ensemble full of life. It is able to play from silently in ppp, to huge walls of sound in fff. The dynamics in orchestral music are very important, and it is crucial that we don’t kill it with too heavy compression. This is because a compressor… compresses the sound. It lowers the loudest peaks, and boosts the more silent parts of the music. !
! If you are not familiar with how a compressor works, have a look here:! !
This is a waveform without any compression. You can see that the loudness is very varied, from loud peaks to more silent parts. If we were trying to raise the volume of this instrument, the peaks would cut through, but the more silent parts would not be heard in the mix. The result being a track with both too silent parts, and way too loud parts. This can however be fixed with compression. ! What a compressor does, is to lower any audio over a given threshold. Here you can see that the audio that is over the threshold is dampened. You can see that the audio is now more compressed. The amount of compression depends on the ratio. The ratio 2:1 means that every 2db over the threshold will be dampened by 1 db. In this picture the ratio is very high (8:1), resulting in a very heavy compression.!
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You see that with heavy compression, all dynamic variations are more or less gone. While this kind of dynamics could work for a EDM track, it would sound lifeless if applied to an orchestral piece. Therefore, apply compression with care, and CAREFULLY listen to the changes you make. Here too, ask yourself: «Did this really make it sound better?». !
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I rarely apply much compression to my orchestral tracks. However, I use it on instruments that are very loud and percussive, like huge drums and shouting choirs etc. This is to make them sound HUGE, to cut through the mix and give the listener a punch in the face. But for soft violin melodies and flute phrases, it would not work very well, killing the dynamics and life… However, I sometimes apply a very light compression to the group tracks of my
instruments (strings, brass etc), to glue them a bit more together. You can see me applying compression in the video about mixing. !
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Reverb Reverb is maybe the most important effect when producing orchestral music. Orchestral music is usually played in concert halls. The reverberation of such halls is therefore a very important part of the orchestral sound. Applying reverb wisely to your tracks will make them sound more realistic and natural, adding depth and life to your recordings. Adding too much will kill the punch and energy of your music, and clutter it up. Let’s have a look at the basics of using reverb on an orchestra. !
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When somebody in the audience is listening to the orchestra, the first thing they hear is the direct sound coming from the instruments. Then, the audio is bouncing off the walls and ceiling, being thrown back and forth in a complex pattern. The audio bouncing back and forth in the room, is the reverb. Needless to say, the reverb will be different in a small chamber, than in a cathedral or a huge concert hall. A lot of software reverb plugins are made to simulate such spaces. ! We have two main types of reverb: Digital reverb and convolution reverb. A digital reverb uses complex calculations to simulate the sound of a real space. Such devices uses the dry (non reverb) signal from your track, and simulate the reflections from a real hall. You will usually find a lot of presets on a such plugin, so try to find one that simulates a medium or big concert hall. !
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A convolution reverb is quite different. Here the actual space from a concert hall is recorded, and then added to your audio. I am not going into detail about how a convolution reverb works, but it basically uses the recorded acoustics of a real hall, and is then mixed with your audio signal. Now, both types of reverb comes with a couple of controls, and let’s look at some basics. !
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The mix button controls the blend between the original dry signal, and the processed audio with reverb. 0% = only dry signal, while 100% = only the wet, processed signal. The pre delay is the time between when the original
sound is heard, and the initiation of the reverb. This means the time it takes for the sound to travel to a wall, and be reflected to the listener after the original sound is heard. Usually a pre delay of 20 to 30 ms is appropriate for a big hall. Reverb time is the time it takes for the reverb to die out. Usually, 1.5 to 3 seconds is a good choice. Larger reverb times = larger halls. These are the most basic controls of a reverb plugin. Some might have more options, some might have less. !
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Now, before applying reverb, you will have to know how your samples were recorded. Some are recorded dry in a studio, some are recorded with reverb. VSL libraries are usually recorded dry, leaving room for the producer to add the reverb of his choice. EWQL samples tend to have a certain amount of reverb recorded already, and therefore will sound better right out of the box. However, you will have less room to change this later on. The most important part is that you know which way your samples were recorded; Dry or wet, and apply reverb according to that. !
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Mastering!
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Mastering is the last production stage, and the process of transferring your recorded audio to it’s final product. Traditionally the final product was a tape, vinyl or CD, and the process was very challenging. Nowadays as we bounce down wav files, things are a bit easier. A lot of people just render down their mix, and skip the mastering process altogether. This is a big mistake. Let us have a look at the basics of mastering your newly mixed track.!
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Going Back To The Mix
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If you notice something that sounds quite wrong, go back to the mixing stage and fix it there. The mastering stage should not fix any major problems, but enhance what’s already there to get a polished end result. If you notice a frequency area that is too loud on one of the instruments, applying EQ on the master to kill that frequency will kill it on ALL the instruments. This will radically change the track, and it may end up sounding thin, hollow or sharp. So if you notice that anything sounds off, just go back and fix it in the mixing stage again. It is usually quicker and better than trying to fix it on the master track. !
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Louder Is Not Always Better
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When applying compression and EQ, your ears can fool you. If you take a track and compress it so it is louder, it will almost ALWAYS sound better. The ear perceives louder audio as more bass-filled and crisp - in other words, better. However, the true result is that you might be ruining your track completely. Therefore, when applying changes that make anything sound louder, be sure to match the volume of the before and after result. Compare them at the same volume, and see how the recent changes improved or damaged the track. Don’t always pick the one that sounds the best because it is loudest, your ear might fool you. !
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EQ
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When using an equalizer on the master track, be careful. You don’t want to do any dramatic changes, but rather small alterations and enhancements. If something is very wrong, go back to the mix and fix the problem there. Trying to fix everything in the master process will cost you a LOT of time, and will ruin your end product. However, if you want to enhance a certain characteristic to the overall mix, some gentle cutting and boosting may be applied. Use your ears and be careful. !
!
Compressor
!
As with the EQ, be gentle. You don’t want to kill the dynamics of your orchestral piece. However, a tiny bit of compressing might glue your instruments together a bit more, giving you a pleasing and nice result. Use a low ratio, I would never use anything above 1:2 on an orchestral track. I would maybe use some heavier compression on a huge, hybrid trailer music track, but never overdo it. !
!
Reverb
!
Adding a tiny bit of reverb to the master track can glue the mix together, and can make the instruments sound more like they’re playing in the same hall. On the other hand, adding too much reverb can make everything sound distant and muddy, and will kill the clarity and punch in the mix. Therefore
apply reverb with care, as with anything else you are doing on the master track. You can alter the dry/wet signal on most reverb devices, so aim for a quite dry audio signal with just a little bit of reverb on it to glue things together. Use your ears and find the sweet spot. !
!
Limiter
!
A limiter is like a compressor with an incredibly high ratio. This means that all the audio that is over a set threshold will be completely dampened, and no audio will ever exceed this limit (hence the name limiter). As everything above the limiter’s threshold will be completely killed, too hard usage of this will squash the mix completely, leaving it sounding dead and cold. Therefore, just apply some limiting in the end to make sure that the audio is not clipping (getting over 0.0 db). If the limiter is working very hard and reducing the gain too much, lower the volume going into it. When the limiter is adjusted perfectly, you are almost finished with your master track.! Stereo Enhancing
!
Using a stereo enhancer can really make your mix sound wide and full, but too much will ruin the punch and clarity just like the reverb. Most DAWs come with a stereo enhancer plugin, and you could experiment with how this plugin affects your audio. Most of us want our track to sound as wide and as full as possible, but this does not mean that you should crank the stereo enhancer to the maximum effect. This will totally ruin the mix, so listen carefully to any changes you make. Most of the width of your track comes from the mixing stage. Both by proper leveling and panning, as well as separating instruments by cutting lows and highs with the EQ. When you find the sweet spot, you are done. !
!
Mixdown
!
Go to the «Export» or «Render» function of your DAW. Choose WAV or an AIFF file format, in 24 bit. Be sure that the entire song is selected, and export it. !
! ! Mastered Track: !
The Next Steps!
!
It is time to give yourself an high five, you are finally done with your track! Not too long ago, you were reading the first pages of this book. Now you have a completely finished song stored on your computer! Not just a composition you have written, but an actual orchestral arrangement, recorded, and fully mixed and mastered! All by yourself. That is absolutely something to be proud of.!
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Now, upload your track to SoundCloud or YouTube, show it to your friends, sell it on BandCamp or AudioJungle, listen to it on your car stereo. Get feedback from people, compose more music, grow your fan base, collaborate with other artists, explore your sound, earn money, improve as a composer, do what ever you want to do with your skills. But most importantly, have fun!!
!
I really hope you enjoyed this course, and that it helped you in some way or another. If you want to, I would be happy to give you some detailed feedback on your composition, to help you grow even more as a composer. And if you have any feedback regarding this course, please let me know. I will do anything I can to improve this course for the future readers. Stay in touch, good luck, and I wish you all the best!!
! !
Arn"
«You can go to school forever, but you’re never really going to learn until you just do it.» - Michael Giaccino http://www.classicfm.com/discover/film-music/best-quotes-film-composer!
!
Bonus Chapters:!
!
How To Make Your MIDI Instruments Sound More Realistic In this article we will have a look at how to make your MIDI instruments sound better and more realistic. When we are making orchestral music production on our computers, things might end up sounding stiff and mechanic if we’re not careful enough. Some pieces might even scream “SAMPLES!” when you listen to them. Yet, a lot of composers manage to create some fantastic music using virtual instruments, making them sound awfully realistic. Sometimes it is hard for an untrained ear to tell if the recording is of a real orchestra or not. So how do they do this, and how can you make your tracks sound more realistic and natural?!
!
Today, a lot of music is made with sample libraries. When we record a melody, we usually load a patch in our DAW and start playing. One of the biggest mistakes people then do, is that they stay to that one single patch for the entire track. The reason they do this is most likely because it is a bit of a hassle to switch between different tracks and patches within a melody. A real instrument, however, does not have this problem. A violinist can switch between short and long notes just by moving his arm differently. He can switch to hard staccato sounds by putting more pressure on his bow. He can basically play any articulation within the blink of an eye, and good composers tend to take good use of this in their music. Therefore, using only a single patch throughout a track might result in unnatural, static and machinesounding music.!
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To avoid this, you have to alter the way of thinking. When you are writing a melody, don’t write for the patch, write for the whole instrument. Don’t compose for the articulation, compose for a real instrumentalist. Imagine being the instrumentalist with the instrument. How would he/she play it? You don’t need to be an expert, or actually know how to play the instrument at all, but it is a helpful way of thinking. Ask yourself: How can I use the articulations available on the instrument to make this melody as good as possible? If you write with the real instrument in mind, mixing let’s say long legato notes and short staccato notes of different velocities, you will get a result that sounds MUCH more realistic and alive!!
!
It makes sense, doesn’t it? To make your samples sound more like a real orchestra, you have to mimic the characteristics of a real orchestra, with real instruments. The wide use of different articulations is one of these
characteristics. So now, start writing for the instrument, not the patch. Use all the articulations that are left untouched in your orchestral library, and see your pieces come alive. This does not just apply to your melodies, but the whole orchestra. I hope this way of thinking will help you create some fantastically realistic and organic sounding tracks!!
!
Listen to this classic track by John Williams, and notice how all the instruments switch between long and short notes, and different articulations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bTpp8PQSog!
! ! Orchestral Arrangements Part 1: Single Layered Music! ! !
Orchestral music comes in all forms and all sorts of complexity. Some pieces might have just a melody and chords, while others might have 8 different musical ideas going on at the same time.!
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This is going to be the first in a series of 4 articles regarding orchestration of different complexity levels. The next four weeks we will have a look at single layered, two layered, three layered and four or more layered music. !
!
One layered or homophonic (From greek, homos = same – phone = sound), music is made up of one single idea, where all the instruments play identical or very similar rhythms. Monophonic music is music with only one voice, like a solo flute performance. In homophonic music, the different instruments might play different notes (in a chord for instance), but they all play the same rhythm to present a theme or motif clearly. Single layered textures are usually used to introduce a theme, to create a climax (for example after a complex buildup), or as a conclusion/ending.!
!
In this first example we are going to have a look at my track «Hope», a piece we have been looking at in an earlier article. Below you can see a few bars of the main theme , which is a single layered texture.!
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This score is from a smaller arrangement I did of this composition for a class at school earlier this year. It has only one
instrument playing each voice, so it is easy to get an overview of all the voices simultaneously.!
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Here we have 5 voices, making up both the harmony and melody in the theme. All of them are playing the same rhythm, making the listener perceive them as a single unit. !
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Another example is the opening statement in the Tannhauser Overture by Wagner, which is a very beautiful homophonic theme. When arranging a homophonic statement, it is important to choose the instruments wisely. Think about the emotion you want to express, and choose your instrumentation accordingly. A brass section playing the theme in forte will sound completely different than a soft string section playing the same thing.!
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Also, try to vary your doubling throughout the passage. If the instrumentation keeps constant, without any changes, a long homophonic statement might turn out boring and monotonous. Try to make your passage evolve, making it bridge smoothly into the next section of your composition. This can be done by adding more instruments to make the theme grow, or for instance changing the instrument that is doubling the melody line for a sense of change.!
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This week we have been briefly looking at music with only one layer. Homophonic music is effective for introducing a theme, or being used as a climax after a complex crescendo, or as an ending of a composition.! Next week we will have a look at the more common two layered music, with an independent melody and harmony. Until then, good luck experimenting with homophonic themes, and feel free to send me your results for feedback!!
! ! Orchestral Arrangements Part 2: Two Layered Music ! !
Last week we had a look at music with only one layer. We remember that a «layer» is a musical idea where the instruments are playing the same rhythm, and therefore perceived as one unit. This week, we will have a look at music with two ideas coexisting at the same time.!
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In a two layered piece of music, the musical ideas will often be characterized as background and foreground material. To successfully write in a twolayered context, there are some things you need to keep in mind. Always ensure that the two ideas are separated and different from another. For instance by using a moving melody over long, sustained chords. The two
layers should also be properly balanced. This means that you should not use a brass section playing as loud as they can behind a soft flute melody. If you separate your two layers well and balance them properly, you will make sure that the attention of your listener is focused on the most important layer, the foreground. In this example, this is the moving melody.!
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To achieve a good separation between layers, there is a little toolbox you can use:!
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Rhythm: By giving the foreground and background material a different rhythm, you may create separation effectively.!
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Articulation: Separation can also be created by using two different articulations on the two layers. For instance pizzicato background chords with a sustained melody in front.!
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Tone Color: By using two different tone colors, separation can be easily achieved. You could for example use strings playing pizzicato together with a harp in the background, while a solo oboe plays a melody on top. The warm and round background material will be separated from the colder and more nasal foreground idea.!
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Pitch Range: At last but not at least, separation is easily created by using two different pitch ranges. The chords might be in the middle to lower register, while the melody is in the higher pitch range of the instrument. This will create separation, even if the melodic statement is played on a solo piano (same articulation, same tone color).!
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Remember that you can always use several of these «tools» to create separation, but you do not necessarily need to use all of them at the same time. Now let’s look at some examples.!
!
This is a piano reduction from the opening sequence of The Planets: Mars by Gustav Holst. It was an example used by my teacher at Berklee Online when we discussed two layered music, and it is a very good one indeed, so I will use it here too. Listen to the full sequence with the written
score here.!
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The first layer is a rhythmic pattern played by col legno strings, harp and timpani. Col legno is a technique where the string players hits the string using the wood of their bow, resulting in a very hard, snappy and unique sound. The second layer is a very dark melody played by brass and woodwinds. When the melody comes in, it is the newest element, and will gain the listener’s attention. At the same time, the rhythmic element is very repetitive, making it fall into the background. This makes us perceive the horn and woodwind melody as the foreground element, and the rhythmic pattern as the background. However, when the melody stops, the attention goes back to the rhythmical pattern. Therefore what we perceive as the foreground is changing back and forth throughout the part. Let’s have a look at how they are separated and balanced.!
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First of all, the rhythm creates separation very effectively in this sequence. The background has a short and driving motion, while the melody consists of only long, sustained notes. You also notice that the tone color of the two elements are completely different. The melody has a dark, round, ominous feel, while the background is lighter, sharper and much more percussive. And at least of course, the articulations: Sustained notes differ greatly from the col legno playing technique. Combining these differences, we have two elements that are very effectively separated. Both of the layers are played by a relatively big ensemble, balancing out each other evenly.!
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This week we have been briefly looking at music with two coexisting ideas. Such an example could also be a standard chords and melody sequence. Next week we will look at music with 3 layers, usually a harmony, melody and countermelody. Until then, have fun experimenting with two layered Orchestral music production using the tools described in this article!!
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
! Chord Voicing!
When you press a key on your piano or pluck a string on your guitar, you hear a pitch. The pitch you hear however, is not just consisting of one single frequency, but a fundamental frequency with many overtones. The strength of these overtones define the timbre of the pitch, and makes us able to separate a C on the piano from a C on the guitar. What most people don’t know, is that the series of overtones are a great guide to voicing chords and arranging. Let me explain.!
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Here you see the first overtones from the root note of C. See how they actually form a chord? Notice how the chord is built. A lot of space in the lower end, and closer between each note the higher you get. This is a great example of how a chord should be voiced. If the notes are too close in the darker register, the chord will sound muffled and muddy. Wider spaces in the low register and closer voicing in the upper register will result in a full, clear and rich chord. Always remember this while voicing your chords.!
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So let’s say you have a C Major triad. That is 3 notes, C E and G. When you have three instruments, voicing such a chord is not a problem. But what do you do when you have 4 string parts? 7 Parts? An entire orchestra!? As you have only 3 different notes, you have to double some of them. The question is however, which ones do you double? Again, the answer actually lies in the overtones. Let us see which notes it consists of.!
! !
I have marked the root note red, and the fifth (G) blue. How often are the different notes doubled?! Root: 4 times! Fifth: 2 times
Third: 1 time! (Seventh: 1 time – If you are voicing a seventh chord)! Immediately you see that the root note is doubled 4 times, that is 50% of the notes in the chord! So as a general rule, double the root note. That means if you have 4 voices, double the root note in the triad. As you can see here, the root is doubled twice as many times as the fifth, which again is doubled twice as many times as the third. This is a good rule to follow when you are voicing your chords. Be careful with doubling the third too much, as it will change the color and feel of the chord quite dramatically. Let us have a look at a few examples of good and bad voicing:!
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Bad chord voicing: ! !
! This is a good example of a bad chord voicing. See how the voices are close in the lower range, and more spaced in the higher range? This is the opposite of what we want, and will create a muddy, cluttered sound. In addition, the root is only played once(!), the fifth 3 times, and the third 3 times. The doubling in this chord is therefore also bad. Now, let us look at a better chord voicing.!
! Good chord voicing: !
! ! !
Here you can see that there is a lot of space in the lower end, with more closed voices in the upper part of the chord. This will result in a balanced and clear chord. Also notice the doubling, the root note is used 4 times, the fifth 2 tines, and the third 1 time. This is a perfect way to double chord with more than 4 voices.! !
! !
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Use an open, spaced voicing in the lowest notes, to avoid a muddy chord.! Use a more closed voicing in the top notes of the chord.! In general, double the root.!
In general, double the fifth half as often as the root.! Avoid doubling the third too much, half as often as the fifth is good.! These guidelines does not only apply to chords, but to voices in your compositions in general. Hope this helps!!
! !
How To Effectively Voice Harmonic Material ! ! Okay, if you have read my article about chord voicing, you probably have a clue about how to voice a chord, which notes to double, and which ones not to double. But how does one voice a whole chord progression to make it feel like one phrase, and not just totally individual chords?!
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Today I will use the string section as an example, but these tips works for anything, may it be choir, brass, woodwinds or a group of vocalists (or any instruments for that matter). Take a listen to the following example, to see how the result from this exercise will turn out.!
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As I have written before, please don’t treat your orchestra as a keyboard, as it will result in a highly unnatural sound. This is the number one thing I want you to keep in mind while voicing harmonic material. Listen to those two examples, and notice the difference.!
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See how the first one sounds quite unnatural, feeling like somebody is just playing chords with a string patch on a keyboard? Do you notice how the other one actually sounds more like a real string section playing? How do you achieve this?! These tips goes back to the era of the composers like Bach, as they developed rules for good 4 part voicing. I am not a huge fan of being bound to strict rules, but I have to admit that these rules might make your harmonic material a whole lot better. Let’s get started.! Okay, the string section is divided into 5 instrument groups, Violin 1 and 2, Violas, Cellos and Contrabasses. As this is tips for 4 part voicing, we will just use the cellos to double the contrabasses (root note) in the chords. So now, we have 4 different voices, ready to play 4 separate melodies, together creating a beautiful chord progression. After reading my chord voicing article, you should know how to properly voice a chord. In this example, we will work with the Am – F – C – G, progression. Therefore, what I want you to do first, is to just voice a A minor (A,C,E) chord for the strings (4 voices).!
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Here are the chord progression for the piano. What we want to do, is to voice this for 4 string voices. First, start out voicing the first A-minor chord using the tips from the chord voicing article. When you have done this, you are ready to proceed.!
! Now, some general guidelines when voicing harmonic material:! !
1. Make each voice move as little as possible to the next chord! 2. Avoid parallel fifths and octaves! 3. Keep the voicing spaced in the lower end, and closed in the upper end.! 4. Be aware of proper doubling (Double the root first, then the fifth, and then the third)!
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Now, let’s look at some examples:! This is an example of bad voicing, where the string section is used as a piano.!
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See how every voice is moving in a parallel direction, just as the piano version above? This will sound like somebody playing chords on a keyboard with a string patch, and not 4 individual string voices. Therefore, you should avoid parallel fifths and octaves (thirds and sixths are fine) when voicing.!
You also see how the different voices jump around to the next note up and down. As a rule of thumb, each voice should go the closest way to the next note, making it easier to play, and more interesting to listen to.!
! !
! Now, let’s have a look at how you rather should voice this chord progression:!
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Here you can see how each voice are moving in various direction, therefore avoiding the keyboard chord-feel. They are also moving just one step each time, to the closest note in the next chord. Try to sing each voice, and see how natural it feels. Each voice is natural to sing and play, and they are all different, making them feel like individual melodies.! So now, look back the rules I mentioned above, and see how they are used here.!
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I have made each voice move as little as possible to the next chord, as they are all moving just one step each time.! I have avoided parallel fifths and octaves, which makes each voice feel like an individual part, and not a part of a chord being moved around.!
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To end this tutorial, let us look at how the notes in the chords above are doubled throughout the progression. See how the doubling in each chord is good throughout the progression?!
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So, to sum all this up:! Avoid getting the keyboard chord-playing feeling by making each voice move individually. Make each voice move to the closest note in the next chord. Remember to maintain a proper chord voicing in each chord in the progression.! Now, just add a melody, and you are good to go!!
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Useful Links! www.composingsecrets.com ! www.arnandersson.com! www.youtube.com/user/ArnAndersson! www.facebook.com/arnofficial! www.filmandgamecomposers.com ! www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com! www.vsl.com ! www.soundsonline.com! www.8dio.com! Contact Email: [email protected] [email protected]
2!
Introduction !
4!
Composition!
6!
Melody Writing!
6!
A Comparison Of Two Melodies!
7!
Using Motifs To Write A Melody!
7!
Making A Song Section!
14!
Melody Summary!
16!
Harmony!
17!
Harmony examples!
18!
Form!
20!
Bonus Chapters: !
23!
Making Your Compositions More Interesting: Contrast And Growth!
23!
How To Beat Writer’s Block !
26!
Orchestration! Tone Color And Emotion!
29! 29!
The Four Families:!
31!
Strings!
31!
The Instruments:!
Brass! The Instruments!
Woodwinds!
34!
36! 38!
40!
Some basics:!
41!
Percussion!
44!
Some basics:!
44!
Common orchestration mistakes and how to avoid them!
47!
Quick Orchestration Templates!
48!
Arranging Your Composition!
49!
Production!
54!
Mixing !
56!
Levels !
57!
Panning !
58!
EQ!
59!
Compression!
60!
Reverb!
62!
Mastering!
64!
Going Back To The Mix!
64!
Louder Is Not Always Better!
65!
EQ!
65!
Compressor!
65!
Reverb!
65!
Limiter!
66!
Stereo Enhancing!
66!
Mixdown!
66!
The Next Steps!
67!
Bonus Chapters:!
68!
Useful Links!
78
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! Introduction !
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«If something happened where I couldn't write music anymore, it would kill me. It's not just a job. It's not just a hobby. It's why I get up in the morning.»! - Hans Zimmer http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/hans_zimmer.html#Y5vZiY5i7tHsaw3Q.99!
The orchestra is a wonderful ensemble. It is huge and diverse, being able to express every emotion imaginable. Epic battle themes, sad mellow love melodies, aggressive action cues or uplifting adventure scores. It has brought people to tears and laughter in concert halls, and accompanied you through your favorite movie moments. We have all been moved by the wonderful sound from an orchestra sometime. !
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Orchestral music as we know it has been around for over 500 years, with big composers like Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. Today you may hear the sound of an orchestra in almost every major motion picture, composed by names like Hans Zimmer and James Horner. Orchestral composing has previously been an art for geniuses, who scribbled down their compositions with pen and paper. Today, technology has given us notation softwares, digital audio workstations and sample libraries. Therefore, almost anybody with basic musical knowledge and a little money can start creating their orchestral compositions. !
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Orchestration is the study of writing or arranging music for an orchestra. In this book I will use the term «orchestration» for arranging music, and composition for writing. Orchestration a very sought-after skill. Hiring an orchestrator is really expensive, and even just a little general knowledge about the art will enhance the quality of your compositions noticeably. Even though the everyman can get the equipment to record orchestral music, the art of composing and orchestrating is still advanced, and needs to be practiced. Without proper knowledge about arranging for the orchestra, one may encounter a lot of problems. The music might not be able to be played by a real orchestra, the mix may sound cluttered, and everything might just sound unnatural and lifeless. Learning through trial and error is good, but can be very discouraging and hard at times. !
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How do I know? Well, I have been there. I ordered my first orchestral library when I was 16, and had no clue what the heck I was doing. I had been playing music for 12 years, could read sheet music, and had been composing music for 4 years. I had been playing in bands, recording music, and been in contact with several record labels. Still, my orchestral music sounded like utter garbage. Why? I suppose it was the lack of knowledge about orchestration. I then went the hard road of trial and error for several months, until I started studying Orchestration for Film and TV, at «Berklee Online». A year after, I was able to compose my first orchestral piece with a complete notated score, ready to be played by an orchestra. It was an incredible feeling that I will never forget.!
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Today I am composing music for a company called C21FX in Hollywood, films, TV and games, and what I have learned the past years have been totally invaluable for my work. Quite often, I am approached by people needing tips on how to compose music, how to write for the orchestra, and where to begin to become a composer. This book is dedicated to all of you guys. It will take you through all the basics you need to know to get started. From brainstorming your musical ideas, to composing your piece, arranging it for an orchestra, and producing it with today’s digital technology. !
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Remember, there is no shortcut to becoming a good composer. However, I hope this book will help you avoid doing all the big mistakes I have done while developing as a composer the past years. With this book, I want to help you compose a piece from beginning to end, with my tips and techniques. I have included sound and video examples for the lessons, where I apply the techniques for you to see. I will take you through the development of an entire composition made by me, from beginning to end, while explaining what I have done so you can do the same. Yet, remember that there is no formula to composing. There is no right or wrong as long as it sounds good. My only goal is to help you compose better music quicker, and have a LOT of fun doing it! I hope you enjoy this book, and please feel free to contact me for questions!!
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! ! All best, Arn Andersson
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Composition!
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Melody Writing! «Writing a tune is like sculpting. You get four or five notes, you take one out and move one around, and you do a bit more and eventually, as the sculptor says: ‘In that rock there is a statue, we have to go find it.» -John Williams http://www.classicfm.com/discover/film-music/best-quotes-film-composer/john-williams-filmcomposer-quotes/
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Ever heard a totally mind blowing track on the radio? What was stuck in your mind after listening to it? The beautiful hi-hat sound? The really expensive guitar recorded through a 20,000$ amp? Most times, I would guess it was an amazing melody. The melody is probably the most important and characteristic element in a musical piece. It gives the song personality, and makes it different from the rest. You have probably heard of «4 chord songs», hit songs which all are based on the same chord progression. What is the one main element that makes those hit songs different from each other, giving them their own character? Well, usually the melody.!
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In my experience, if the melody is weak, the whole song will suffer. I have heard music that is amazingly recorded and produced by extremely talented musicians, but there was just something lacking… Something really important, that eventually made me turn off the song all together. Looking back now, I realize that those songs lacked a strong and memorable melody. I have listened to a lot of music during my life, and composed a whole lot of tracks myself. That way I have experienced the power of well written
melodies, and the destructive powers of bad ones. During the past years, I have frequently asked myself: What are the characteristics of a great melody? What is it that makes certain melodies so memorable? How can you really engage and touch the listener with an amazing melody? !
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I do not claim to have the final answer to this question, the absolute truth. However, after studying a lot of melodies in works by both great classical composers as well as in hit songs and film scores, I have found a few elements they usually have in common. Simple elements and techniques you can apply to your melodies to make them stand out, making your melodies get stuck in the head of your listener for days. Elements that do not just apply to single genres, but all music in general. Those tips will be revealed in detail here. I hope this book will help you write some amazing melodies, and help you improve as a songwriter and composer! !
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A Comparison Of Two Melodies
! Let’s just start out by having a listen to two different melodies. ! ! Melody 1: Melody 2:!
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Listen to them a few times. Which one do you like most? Which one do you consider to be the «best» melody? I guess most of you will answer the first one. But why?! Try to sing both of the melodies. Which one is easiest to remember after just one listen? Again, I guess the first one. I actually composed that melody in under a minute, only using the techniques and tips I am going to present in this first chapter. Now, let me show you how I did it, and how you can start writing great and memorable melodies instantly too! !
! ! Using Motifs To Write A Melody !
Let’s begin by looking at the use of motifs, important building blocks in creating a great melody and composition. A motif is a short characteristic fragment of music, possessing a lot of the identity of the piece. Motifs create themes or phrases of music which then again creates a part of a song (verse,
chorus etc), which together creates a whole song. I think the best example of a motif in use is Beethoven’s 5th symphony, with the four really characteristic notes, later known as the motif of fate. Take 30 seconds and listen to the beginning of it, and notice how the motif is presented, and later developed through the next bars of music. It is actually used 13 times during only 19 bars, and the entire first movement is built upon it!!
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Let’s have a quick look at the example. There are 4 notes, G-G-G-Eb. It is that simple. However, it is probably one of the most important motifs in the history of classical music. Beethoven stated that the motif was fate knocking at the door. !
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Why should you use motifs in your compositions? If you listen to a lot of great music throughout time, a lot of the songs are built upon a motif. The motifs are quite powerful, because it gives the piece character and identity. When using them throughout a piece, you maintain a characteristic quality, while still developing the composition. It will have a feeling of unity and connection. ! Using motifs is also a great way to get out of the writers block. It may be really hard to just come up with a melodic phrase on the go, especially if you are on a tight schedule. With using a small motif to begin with, you might quickly get ideas and get going. !
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Now, let’s move over to actually composing a motif. To get the most out of this tutorial, I encourage you to have pen and paper ready, or any other way to notate your ideas. As you have seen in Beethoven’s example, the motif may be ridiculously simple, and still create a masterpiece. Therefore, don’t necessarily try too hard to create the most advanced motif ever, but try to stay simple. Less is more. !
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I have a few methods of coming up with motifs, that I will briefly explain here. Let’s say you have a specific theme in your head, that you want to compose around. Maybe you are even composing for a film or game. Take that word, pay attention to how it is natural to say the word out loud, listen to how it sounds. Then try to transfer this to music. You can also listen to the sound of birds, people talking, or almost anything else! Remember that the key to a
good motif lies in the simplicity, so there is no need to be overly creative. If you are starting out, you may just stick to the key of C major or A minor, as I will do in this course. !
! ! For this exercise, I made up a motif in about 10 seconds: It is in a 3/4 time signature in C major, with a duration of 2 bars. Your motif may also be one bar long, in another key, simpler, slower, faster, it is totally up to you. !
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Exercise 1: Compose A Motif! Beginner: Compose a simple motif, as I have done above. Intermediate: Compose 3 motifs, and pick the one you like the most. Advanced: Set a timer to 30 seconds and compose 3 motifs before the time runs out. For an additional challenge, choose a key you are not too familiar with (Like maybe Ab, F# or Bminor). Choose the one you like the most. !
! Now that the motif is composed, it is time to develop it into a melodic phrase. The freedom is endless, but I am going to show you a method that a lot of popular songs and pieces use, that you may start out with. My guitar teacher at high school taught me a method of improvising blues during one of our classes. If you just play random notes in a pentatonic (blues) scale, it will become nonsense and confusing to the listener. If you just repeat the same
short bending motif again and again for an entire solo (Like the beginning of Johnny B Goode), you will bore the listener to death. The following method is a way to maintain a structure while playing, while still engaging the listener and making it interesting. A perfect balance between familiar and new, between repetition and contrast. He called it «presentation, repetition, variation and destruction.» What it basically means, is this: - First you present a motif once. - Second, you repeat the motif. - Then, you use a slight variation of your main motif. - At last, you present something completely new to end the phrase. This is my result. Not with me yet? Well, just relax and let me explain a little better.!
Listen:!
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Take a look at the picture above. Here I have used my motif, and developed it using the technique I just presented to you. Presentation, repetition, variation, destruction. What you may notice, is that I have changed the order a little. Here it is Presentation, variation, repetition and destruction. You can move around the four elements how you want, so experiment with different structures. Now, let me explain how I have used the technique: Bar 1is simply the motif I created in the last exercise. The 2nd one is quite similar, but the ending is a little different (variation). Instead of going up, then down - it is going down, then up. The point of the variation is to create something that is familiar (similar to the main motif), but still fresh enough to be interesting. Here the rhythm is the same, but the notes are changed for the ending.!
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Afterwards in bar 3, I have just repeated my motif. As you see, there is a small alteration to the ending, as I have added two 1/8 notes. This is an example of how you can break these rules freely, as long as you follow the main structure. It is not a completely similar repetition of the main motif, but close enough. For the destruction part, you can use your imagination to create a fitting ending to your phrase. It does not have to be related to your motif at all, the idea here is to bring in something completely fresh. There are no rules, but try to make it feel natural. This should round off your phrase in a smooth way. ! As I just mentioned, feel free to experiment with the order of the 4 elements (Presentation, repetition, variation, destruction, or PRVD). I have changed it here to «Presentation, variation, repetition, destruction (PVRD)». You may also use «Presentation, variation, destruction, repetition (PVDR)». Heck, you can even start with the «destruction»! Experiment, and find what’s best for your motif. A lot of songs use this «formula», like even Justin Bieber’s «Baby» at the chorus. First the theme «baby, baby, baby ooh» is presented, then varied the second time by altering the last note. After that it is repeated, before it is «destroyed» by adding an ending to the chorus. If you listen to a lot of popular and classical music, you might realize that this kind of structure is really common.!
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Let’s just have a quick look at another example using motifs in the same way. If you are familiar with epic orchestral trailer music, I bet you have heard of Two Steps From Hell. We are going to have a quick look at the motif used in the main theme of their most popular track, Heart Of Courage:!
This motif is simply made out of one rest three notes playing the beginning of the A minor scale, A, B, C. Here you can see the entire theme:!
Take a few seconds, and just look at how the motif is used to compose this theme. Do you see how the motif’s rhythm is repeated 3 times, with just a minor alteration in pitch from time to time? In the last bar, the motif is «destroyed» by something completely new (but that still is not too far away from the motif, resulting in a feeling of unity), consisting of four notes playing a scale in a downwards motion. This is another great example of how a ridiculously simple motif can result in a extremely successful and popular theme. !
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Another tip I have for writing melodies, is creating a clear «top point», a climax for your melody. As a main rule, your melody should not just go up and down randomly, without any clear direction. Let me try to explain by looking at the phrase I made out of the motif in last exercise.! !
My presentation motif is moving in an upwards direction. Afterwards, the variation is moving downwards, as a small contrast. Then the repetition is moving the phrase upwards again, until suddenly, we reach the highest note. It is a C, an octave over the beginning note of the phrase, creating a climax to the melody. Do you see where it is placed? It is not in the beginning, not in the middle. It is more towards the end, taking the listener on a short journey before we reach the top. Afterwards, the destruction part is taking the listener safe back to the beginning note, ending the phrase where we started.!
! Let us go back to the «Heart Of Courage Example for a moment, and have a look at the top point in the melody.! !
Do you see any similarities to the way I have used my motif above? Here you see that the melody is reaching the climax at the first note in the last measure. This is an F, the highest pitch in the entire theme, functioning as a top point. When writing a melody, try to create such a top point, a climax to capture the attention of the listener. I find this easy to do in the destruction part, as you have the freedom to do whatever you wish there. Use your imagination, experiment and find the solution that works best for you! Remember, there is no right or wrong when it comes to composing. The tips I am giving you here are only guidelines, and a starting point for further exploration on your own. This is one of a million ways of composing. Never use this as an ultimate manual, but mix it with your creativity, and you might get some great results! !
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Exercise 2: Write A Melody! Beginner: Write a melody with your motif using PRVD or PVRD. ! Intermediate: Write a 3 melodies using 3 variations of the PRVD order. ! Advanced: Break all the rules. Find a new structure using your motif, and try to get a sweet balance between repetition and contrast. Expert: Improvise a melody on your instrument (or sing) using your motif and the PRVD technique (or a variation of it). Don’t stop and think, play/sing from beginning to end. When you come up with something great, write that down. !
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Making A Song Section!
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writing gets done away from the keyboard and away from the studio in my head, in solitude. And then I come in and hopefully have something, then I wrestle with sounds and picture all day long. But the ideas usually come from a more obscure place, like a conversation with a director, a still somebody shows you, or whatever.»! - Hans Zimmer http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/hans_zimmer.html#Y5vZiY5i7tHsaw3Q.99! !
Okay, so now you have a musical phrase ready, consisting of the beautiful motif you just created. This is your melody, your «main theme». Congratulations! You are one step closer to finishing your piece! The next step now, is to expand on that phrase, and create an entire song section. This might be the opening of an orchestral piece, verse of a song or whatever else you want.
What a lot of great music does, is dividing phrases into question and answer roles. I am going to show you a quick way to use your main theme to create an entire song section, using question and answer roles. To understand this, some basic music theoretical knowledge is recommended. I am going to explain the basics here. Those of you with theoretical knowledge might as well skip this.
! ! It is best to sit by the piano or guitar to fully understand this. Take an instrument of your choice, and play the C major scale (C,D,E,F,G,A,B,C).
Play from C to B, and stop. Do you feel how the B really wants to go to C? Because of this, the 7th step on the major scale (B in this case), is called the leading tone. Listen to it a few times. Now, let’s look at the three main chords in the key of C Major. !
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The most important chords in C major, are those on the 1st, 4th and 5th step. Those are called the Tonic, Sub-Dominant and Dominant chords. In this case it is C Major, F Major and G Major. If you are able, play them a few times and listen closely. Do you recognize anything while playing the G chord? Do you feel that it leads back to C Major again? Now, take a look at the three notes making up the G major. Do you recognize anything? If you look closely, you can see that the B is the third in the G Major, the most characteristic note in a chord. As we experienced, this note leads back to C. Therefore, G Major has a tension that will be released by resolving to the chord of C Major. Now, let us use this tension to our advantage! !
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Remember me talking about question and answering roles? Take a look at my song section, made up using my main theme:!
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Listen:!
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I have repeated the theme two times. The first time it has a questioning function, and the last time an answering one. Do you see which chord I have used in the ending of the first phrase? G Major (G,B,D), with the melody landing on the D. As I just said, this creates a tension that needs to be resolved. This tension has a questioning function, needing an «answer». Therefore I have landed on the note C, the root note of C Major (C,E,G) in the last phrase. This is resolving the previous tension, and creating an «answer» to end the phrase. This technique is used in everything from Mozart’s music, to popular music today. To do this yourself, try to land on the dominant chord in the first phrase. Make the melody rest on one of the notes in this chord, here G,B or D. In the second, answering phrase, land on one of the notes in the tonic chord, C major (C,E,G). Experiment until you are satisfied.!
! ! Melody Summary! !
Now we have looked at how to use motifs to create interesting and memorable themes. We have also looked at how you can enhance the impact of that theme by creating a climax or top point for your melody. Both those techniques are very effective, and used by a ton of huge songwriters and composers around the world. From Beethoven, to Justin Bieber, to Thomas Bergersen and Two Steps From Hell, motifs play an important role in the impact of their melodies. We have also briefly looked at how you can use your theme to create two phrases as building blocks for a song section. This is done through giving them roles as questions and answers, a technique used in various genres throughout history. !
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All these tips and techniques can be applied to your melodies, to make them stand out to your listener. And a melody that stands out, will make your composition or song stand out and be memorable to your fans. However, I can’t stress enough that these are only guidelines, one of MANY techniques and ways to write melodies. There is no right or wrong way, only the way that works best for you. Try to apply the information of this book to your melodies, and experiment with it. Use your creativity, don’t be too bound to rules and formulas. I hope the information presented in this chapter will help you improve as a melody writer. Good luck crafting your melodies!!
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Harmony!
«If a composer could say what he had to say in words he would not bother trying to say it in music.» - Gustav Mahler http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/g/gustavmahl106859.html#27xmg4yfZZG7C7Kp.99!
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Now we almost have our entire main theme ready. Most likely though, you want some kind of harmonic foundation under your melody. The choice of chords is crucial to which emotional reaction you will get from the listener. «What should I create first, the melody or harmony?» you may ask. The answer is simply: It doesn’t matter, it is totally up to you. You may choose to start with a chord progression (a sequence of chords), or with a melody when you are composing a piece. The only reason I started with the melody, is that I find it easier to put chords to a great melody, than to make a great melody out of a sequence of chords. If you have time, try both!!
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Now, which chords should you choose? We have two main «genders» of chords. Major and minor. Major chords usually sounds happy, joyful and uplifting, while the minor chords usually are more sad and melancholic. Since you have already written your melody, I suppose you have a more or less clear picture of the emotion you are going for. The first thing to look at, is if the melody is in a major or minor key. !
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If it is in C major, experiment with the chords C,F and G. See where it is natural to put those in your melody. ! If you are a beginner, you might find it easier to set chords to an existing melody if you have the chords and melody written down. Look at your melody, and then look at the notes that make up the different chords. If we look at the
first three notes in my motif above, you can see that they match two of the notes in the C major chord (look at the «chords» picture on this page). However, the three next notes are are F,G and A.!
If you look at the chords above, you can see that neither F or A are in the C or G chord. However, they are both in the F chord. Therefore, it is a good choice to choose C for the first three notes, and F for the last three. For the ending note I went for C (even though I could use G too). !
However, there are more than three chords in the C major scale. You may also use D minor, E minor and A minor. Let’s look at them for a minute.! The D minor chord may be used as a substitute for the F major. Do you see that they share 2/3 of the same notes? The same goes for A minor, acting as a substitute for C major, and Em for G major. Every major chord has a minor substitute two steps below. Play around with those chords, find out where they might fit in your melody. Remember that the minor chords have a sadder quality, so switching out the F major with the D minor might dramatically change the mood in your melody. All of the chords have their own quality and sound, so you should experiment to find out what’s the best solution for your composition!!
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Harmony examples
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Here I have taken my motif, and used a variety of chords to show you how dramatically the harmony changes the emotional content of a melody. !
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C - F C!
! C - Dm Em! ! Am - G/B C! ! C - Bb C! ! Gsus4 - Dm/F Abmaj7 ! ! ! Exercise 3: Write A Chord Progression ! ! Beginner: Write a chord progression for your melody, using tonic, subdominant and dominant chords. These are C, F and G in C major. !
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Intermediate: Write a chord progression using the chords above, but include chords like II and VI. These are Dm and Am in C major. !
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Advanced: Write 2 or 3 different chord progressions for your melody. In the first, use only T S and D. On the second, use additional chords like those above. Listen to the emotional difference. ! Expert: Use chords other than the main ones. Use the lowered 2nd step chord (bII), lowered 6th, and 7th step chord (bVI and bVII). These are Db, Ab and Bb in C major. Make 3 different chord progressions, and notice how the emotion in the melody shifts.!
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Form!
"A creative artist works on his next composition because he was not satisfied with his previous one.» - Dmitri Shostakovich http://www.classicfm.com/discover/music/inspiring-composer-quotes/dmitri-shostakovich/!
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Now that you have your entire main theme ready, it is time to develop it into a whole musical piece. Here, I am going to give you a few simple tricks to create a simple but interesting form for a 2-4 minute piece. As I mentioned earlier, repeating your main theme 4 times, will not really engage the listener. The same goes for never repeating the theme, and instead just adding a completely new section each time. This would most likely confuse the listener. As always, we need to find a proper balance between contrast and repetition. If we look at classical and popular music, there are a few song structures that are quite popular, and for a reason. I am going to show you a few of them here, which you then can apply to your compositions. !
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We will call your main theme A, so if you were to repeat it several times like a hymn or traditional song, your form would be: AAAA. This is called strophic form, where the same melody is the same each verse, but the lyrics are different. Creating an instrumental piece in this form might be challenging, because it can easily turn out too repetitive and boring. It depends a lot on your arranging skills, to be honest. Ever listened to Hans Zimmer’s «Time» from Inception? There, the same theme is repeated over and over, just with differences in orchestration. Yet it is one of my favorite pieces by him. Go and listen to it, and see how he evolves the same theme, while still keeping it engaging. Actually, one of my most popular pieces «Annihilation» is written in the same way. Anyways, I am going to focus on an easier way to structure your piece, called the AABA form. !
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Take a look at the picture above. This is a simple, but highly effective way to structure your piece. It is mainly consisting of different versions of your main theme, as well as a contrasting secondary theme. Also here, we may use the Presentation, Repetition, Variation, Destruction terms. Let me explain this: The A part is your main melody. This is the introduction of your main theme, which you created in the last exercise. How would you start your piece? Full orchestra playing with all its power, including choir and percussion + el guitars? Probably not. A quite safe way to start, is beginning simple, and not too powerful. The next section can be a repetition of your main theme, but with a bigger ensemble or switching out the melody instrument for instance. This creates a sense of growth, and keeps the piece interesting. Now, for the third part, it is really important that we keep the listener interested. What can we do?
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The easiest way is to use contrast. Create something new and fresh for the ears of your listener, a contrasting theme. If your main melody consists of long notes, you may use short notes here. If the main theme is happy, you might create a darker B-part. Try to create a clear contrast, while maintaining the main emotion and character of your piece (See bonus chapter «Making Your Compositions More Interesting»). I also like to back off on the loudness in this part, to make the impact of the climax even bigger. I will come back to some basic arranging tips for this in a few minutes. The main job for the contrasting part, is to build up anticipation to the last song section. !
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In the last part, you will create the climax, and most likely include the full orchestra. By using a smaller ensemble in the B part, the impact here will be even bigger. To enhance it even more, you might transpose it from say, C to D Major to give it a lift. If your main theme is in minor, you might try to have the ending in major. Just experiment on how to enlarge the effect of the last section. After the climax, you can choose to end with a «BOOM», or to create some kind of ending. This is up to you. Just use your creativity, and come up with an epic way to structure your piece! Remember that this is just one of a million ways to structure your music. The only reason I chose this one, is
because it almost always works effectively. Simply as that. If you are just starting out, beginning with a structure like this may be very effective, and it can help you explore more advanced structures later since you now have a starting point.
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Congratulations! Now you are basically finished composing your piece. Be proud of yourself and give yourself a pat on the back! The next thing we are going to have a look at, is to arrange your entire composition for the orchestra. See you in the next chapter! !
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Exercise 4: Structure Your Composition! Beginner: Use the AABA form, as I do in my piece. !
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Intermediate: Try to use the AAAA form. To pull this off, you will have to focus greatly on orchestration to make a sense of growth and change. Listen to Hans Zimmer’s «Time» for inspiration. !
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Advanced: Use a totally different form. Experiment with forms like ABACADA or ABCBA, or make a whole new form yourself. Use the tips from the following bonus chapter «Making Your Compositions More Interesting: Contrast And Growth» to help you on the way. !
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Bonus Chapters: ! Making Your Compositions More Interesting: Contrast And Growth"
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Repetition and variation is a key to a great composition. However, too much of either one may also ruin a track. Repeating a single section 10 times will most likely become boring. On the other hand, 10 different sections will not be much better. However, if you create a fine balance between repetition and variation, you can keep your listeners engaged and interested for a long time. Two keywords for this is contrast and growth. If you repeat a section once, don’t make it completely similar to the first presentation. Add a new instrument, change the chords a little, make it “grow”. This way you can repeat material without having it sound boring. Contrast is when you introduce something that is radically different from the material you have just used. It is more of a sudden change. Balancing these, and implementing them cleverly in your compositions will make your music stand out, so read on.! In this post we are going to have a look at my composition “Hope”, which was originally an assignment for my composition class, receiving the highest grade possible. We are going to analyze my usage of contrast, and see how you can implement these tricks to lift your compositions to a new level.!
! Listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIvJuAJcMh8! !
First of all, the track is composed in AABA-form. There are first two presentations of the main theme (AA), then a new contrasting theme (B), before the main theme is again used (A). When using the same theme 3 times, it is easy to end up making the whole track sound boring and repetitive. To prevent this from happening, using contrast is a good idea. But just creating totally different song sections will sound like… 3 different song sections put after each other. We want it to still sound like one continued piece, but still use contrast to separate the song sections and make them interesting. Therefore we need a balance between contrast and growth. I am going to show you a few different ways of doing this, just as I have done here in my track “Hope”.!
! A:! In the first part of the track, a main theme is presented in the strings. It is a theme made up of long notes, played with legato (notes are tied together, not played separately). The theme is also played in the middle range of the strings, resulting in a rather full and warm sound. There is a piano part going on throughout the whole piece. If we look away from that, there are two main layers of the song. The chords/bass, and the melody.!
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A:! In the next A part, the same theme is used. However, some instruments are added to get a sense of growth. Choirs and woodwinds are added to the main melody, an octave higher than the previous section. In addition 2 horns are playing a short motif in between the string phrases, adding a third independent layer (again, growth). The rest of the horns have joined the harmonic instruments, playing chords. The tuba has joined the bass, so the whole orchestra is balanced between the different parts (melody, chords, bass). By adding more instruments in a new octave ,and a new layer to the original theme, we get a sense of growth and a slight sense of contrast. Let’s move on to the next part.!
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B:! Now, this is the most contrasting section, starting at 1.18. One of the first things we realize by listening to this theme, is that the note values are very short. There are a lot of short staccato notes playing , instead of the long tied together, slow legato notes from the main theme. Varying note lengths between sections is a VERY effective tool to create separation and contrast. The whole section is actually just half the length of the main theme.What else do we notice? Well, the instruments are playing in a higher register, resulting in a lighter feel. We have also gone from almost the entire orchestra, to just a few strings, oboes and piano, reducing the instrumentation drastically. Creating variations in the dynamics is a very effective way to add contrast, and keep the song section interesting.!
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The next thing I want you to notice, is all the independent layers. In the foreground, you can hear the violins playing a pattern. In the background you can hear the bass playing the root notes. In between them, some oboes are playing a new pattern consisting of two notes. It’s hard to hear, but there are also some clarinets and violas playing a rhythmical pattern consisting of chords. If we include the piano voice, we end up with a total of 5 independent layers. So in this song section I have used contrast by changing note lengths, using another register, cutting the section length in half, using dynamic
changes and adding more layers. The last thing I want you to pay attention to, is the flute melody at the end of the section, at 1.27. This is the main theme, making this very contrasting section sound connected to the first two sections.!
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A:! This is the climax. It is the exact same theme as before, but certain steps have been taken to make it stand out and not end up repetitive. First of all, now the entire orchestra is used, including percussion. This will result in this section being the loudest part of the composition. Because the previous part (B) has been the least loudest, the effect will be even bigger. Second, the theme is transposed a whole step up, lifting the whole feeling of the song section. Modulating to a new, higher key is a very effective way of enhancing the effect of a climax in your compositions. This is a very well known songwriting trick used by a lot of the pro’s around the world. You will most likely notice the string pattern from the B-part. I have kept this playing during the climax, sort of to tie the different parts of the composition together. This will create a sense of all the parts being linked to each other, while still being different enough to remain interesting. This is the balance you want to achieve.!
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Now, we have looked at how I have used contrast and growth in my composition. Let’s sum it up: Growth is a gradual change over time, while contrast is a more immediate and distinct change. Too much of either one of them might end up sounding boring or unnatural. If one theme is just growing and growing slowly for 5 minutes, chances are it might end up repetitive and boring. If you use say 3 song sections that are TOTALLY different from one another, it won’t sound like a continuing song, but rather 3 short songs. As mentioned, balance is key. You want to make your themes grow throughout a piece, while still introducing enough new elements and contrasts to keep it interesting for the listener. So what are some simple, yet effective things you can do to create growth and contrasts in your compositions?!
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Changing note values (As I have done between the second A and B, from long to short)! Sudden changes in dynamics (from the second A to B, and from B to A)! Adding more instruments (Between two first A parts, creates growth)! Changing Section Lengths (B is half the length of A)! Adding more layers (more independent voices)! Transposing (transposing up will lift the theme significantly)! Reusing themes (Main theme in flutes on the B part, string pattern from B part used in the climax. This does tie the composition together as a whole)!
I hope you can use some of these tips to enhance the quality of your compositions, and keeping the listener engaged throughout the entire track!!
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Leonard Bernstein: "To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.»!
! ! How To Beat Writer’s Block !
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One of the hardest things when you are a composer, is staring down at a blank piece of paper. Ever felt that you just cannot come up with a good melody when you want to? That you just cannot seem to get inspired, and struggle with starting a new composition? Then you have experienced the infamous writer’s block. In this article I will give you a few tips on how to beat the writer’s block, and be able to create compositions out of thin air, anytime.!
! 1. Start With A Title! !
“Living’ On A Prayer” and “Dead Or Alive” are both songs that were written based on a title, Bon Jovi has admitted. If you have a strong and interesting title, the rest of the song may pretty much come by itself. While that is true, just coming up with a great title might not be that easy. Try to find inspiration in movies, poems or books. By switching out one word in a nice phrase, you might end up with a very clever and inspiring title that will get you going with composing your next track. I have use this way of writing a lots of times. The phrases I start with might or might not be the final song titles, as the piece tends to create itself while I am composing, and might therefore end up a whole other place than when I first started. However, the phrase I start out with always kickstarts the composing process and gives me a direction to follow while writing the track.!
! 2. Write Using A Secondary Instrument! !
I am a multi-instrumentalist, among others playing violin, piano and guitar. I have to admit, that most of my compositions are written on the piano. However, if I try to write something on the guitar, the outcome might be totally different. The same goes for composing on the violin. I have been composing on the piano for so long, that I often find myself walking in circles, getting
back to the same chord progressions or melody structures. I then find it very useful to write using either the guitar or violin. Using a new instrument usually makes me feel inspired, and makes me think in a new way, resulting in compositions that are fresh and different. So if you are a guitarist, lay down your guitar and sit down by the piano. If you are a pianist, try to just sing your melodies or use a guitar. Try to turn to a secondary instrument, and you will often find yourself writing in a whole different way.!
! 3. Choose A Well Known Chord Progression! !
It might be hard to just come up with a great melody out of thin air. Therefore, starting with a strong and common chord progression can be a good start. A great progression might get you inspired enough to come up with some great melodies to go with it. I have written some of my most successful pieces this way. You can either sit down by your instrument and find a chord progression that you like, or you can do a quick search for “Power Chord Progressions” online. Power progressions are chord progressions that have been used to write hits for decades. Find a progression that moves you, and your next composition might almost write itself.!
! 4. Make It A Habit To Compose A Lot! !
Composing and songwriting is an art that requires practice. To get better at writing songs, you have to write more songs. Therefore, get used to sitting down and just WRITE. I sometimes just sit down by the piano or guitar, and compose something quickly in 2 minutes. It may be a short motif, a melody, or just a chord progression. I don’t really pay too much attention to every detail of what I am doing, but I use it as a practice to be able to just compose out of thin air during a limited timespan. Some of it is crappy, but a lot of it is really good, and makes the foundations of quite a lot of my compositions. I ALWAYS record my quick sessions on my phone recorder. Then I can visit the ideas later, and make a composition out of it. I think over 80% of my most popular themes were written this way, by just playing the first theme that comes to mind, and later working on the details. No matter how you choose to exercise, be sure to just write a lot of music. That is the only true way to become a better composer.!
! 5. Go Back To Old Ideas! !
As I said, I always record my ideas. Even if it is just a small snippet, it might become handy later. If you feel that you cannot come up with a good idea for a new track, try to revisit your older drafts. If you have recorded your ideas
like I do, go back and see if something there inspires you. I have several times been browsing through my records months back in time, and found some gems I have made some really good tracks out of. Therefore, be sure to go back in time and check out what you have done in the past, you might find something useful.!
! 6. Take A Break! !
If nothing works, and you still feel frustrated, hopeless and want to give up, there is only one thing to do. Just take a break. Get away from your studio/ working desk, and go for a walk. Go see a movie, travel a bit, or just do something else you enjoy. Take a break until you feel inspired and motivated again. Composing music should be fun and fulfilling, not something that makes you feel bad. If such a lack of motivation strikes, just take a break and do something you enjoy. I promise you that the motivation to compose suddenly will come back stronger than ever before, and you will be able to compose some great tunes. I hope these tips will help those of you who are staring at a blank piece of paper (or an empty project in the studio), to just get started!!
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Orchestration! ! «To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts - such is the duty of the artist» -Robert Schumann!
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http://www.classicfm.com/discover/music/inspiring-composer-quotes/robert-schumann/!
By now, you are most likely fairly close to finishing composing your piece. What’s remaining now, is the actual orchestral arrangement. The way you orchestrate your piece has a HUGE impact on how the music will turn out. Will your theme be played by a soft solo flute? A loud trumpet? An entire string section? !
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Tone Color And Emotion This brings us to the question: Which emotional response are you seeking from your listener? Is your main theme heroic and big? Sad and small? Dark and brutal? Romantic and warm? Think about this for a moment, and decide which emotional response you want. Maybe the composition should start out sad and hopeful, and evolve into a huge romantic ending? If so, write that down and keep it in mind while arranging. !
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Every single instrument has it’s own tone color. The flute is round and warm, the oboe is more nasal and bright, cellos are warm and full, and trumpets are bright and brassy. The tone color of an instrument changes depending on
which register the player is playing in. The lower register of the cello for instance, is dark, warm and round, while the upper register is brighter and sharper. Therefore it is important with some general knowledge about the orchestral instruments while arranging. We are going to look more at the different tone colors and instruments in the «Families» chapter, coming next. For now, just be aware that the tone color has a huge impact on the sound of your composition. !
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When doubling two instruments, you should double by tone color, not by range. If you have a flute melody that is too quiet, and want to add a trumpet just to bring it more to the front, the result might be quite bad. The two instruments are playing in the same range, but have two completely different tone colors. The result is often a feeling that the two instruments are fighting for space in the mix. What you want to achieve through doubling instruments, is to make them blend together and create a single, enhanced sound. !
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When doubling instruments, ask yourself: «What do I want to achieve?». If you want your flute melody to be more warm, full and round, you should probably group it with a clarinet. Think of the sound color as visual colors, in terms of what you want to achieve. Try to «paint» a picture with the tone colors. Do you want a more brassy tone to the oboe? Double it with a muted trumpet. Want a more full and rich sound? Double it with the bassoon in octaves. Just as when you are blending visual colors, decide what you want to achieve with the blend. If you want to make your red color more violet, add some blue. Now, let us have a look at the four families of the orchestra. !
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The Four Families:! Strings!
The string family is versatile, and can play almost anything. From staccato lines in epic music, to warm, big love themes. What one must remember, is that the string section isn’t a keyboard. You can’t just load up a string patch, play your keyboard, and expect it to sound like an actual string section. A string section may consist of 60 different players, each with their own instrument. These may together play 5 individual lines, so just playing chords on your keyboard with a string patch will sound like… ehh… chords on a keyboard! Therefore, to get a natural and beautiful sounding string part in your composition, some basic knowledge is required. Check out my article on 4 part writing HERE. Let’s get started by looking at the ranges of the different instruments. The string section consists of violins (usually divided in 1st and 2nd violins), violas, cellos and contrabasses (also called double basses). It is quite important to be aware of the limitations to the ranges of the instruments. This is to place your melodies in the best ranges of the instruments, and avoiding writing parts that the instruments cannot actually play. !
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Here you can see the ranges of each instrument in the string section. Be aware of these while arranging. Now, let us have a look at some important characteristics of the string section.
! They can play any note imaginable within their range. This is because they have no frets, or defined keys like on a guitar or piano. The notes are defined by where the musician places their fingers, so they are able to play notes that are between the usual steps, as well as slide between notes. ! They can play continuously, without the need to breathe between lines. String players don’t need to breathe, as they play using a bow, and can play long melodic lines without needing to take a break. ! They can play fast scales and runs. A good string player can play very fast runs and scales, as well as arpeggiated chords. ! They can play several notes simultaneously, through double stops or triple stops, where the player plays two or three strings at the same time. ! Their tone color is usually more dark and warm in the lower range, but thinner, brighter and more brilliant in their higher ranges. ! This will have a huge impact on how your melody will turn out. If it is played in the lower register, it will sound warmer and more gloomy. If you place it in a higher register, it will sound lighter and more brilliant. The higher you go, the more thin, brittle and penetrating the string sound will get. !
They are able to play a lot of different articulations, like legato, staccato, marcato, etc. Get familiar with the different articulations of the string family, and learn how to use them effectively. Let’s have a look at the most common ones here: Pizzicato: The player plucks the string with their finger.! Arco: The player uses their bow. Written after the end of a pizzicato passage. ! Legato: Several notes connected with a single bow stroke. Has a flowing and smooth feeling.! Staccato: Short notes with space between them. ! Marcato: Accentuated! Glissando: A slide from one note to another.! Con Sordino: With a mute. Player puts a mute on the bridge, more mellow and warm sound.! Check out this site for a more complete list of articulations. http://beststudentviolins.com/terms.html! Be aware of the double bass/contrabass, as it is a transposing instrument. It is notated an octave higher than it sounds. This means that the double bass sounds an octave lower than what’s written in the picture above. !
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The Instruments:!
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The Violin: The violin is the smallest and highest pitched instrument of the string family. There can be up to 30 violins in an orchestra, which is more than any other instrument in the ensemble. The four strings are tuned in GDAE. Some good blends: Strings in octaves, woodwinds. Pizzicato with harp."
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The Viola: The bigger brother of the violin. Has a darker timbre compared to the violins brighter quality. Tuned in CGDA, a fifth lower than his little brother. Some good blends: Strings in octaves, Pizzicato with harp. !
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The Cello: The tenor and bass instrument of the violin family. Has an even lower range than the viola, able to produce a full and rich sound. ! Some good blends: Strings in octaves, Pizzicato with harp, oboe, clarinet and bassoon, horn. "
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The Double Bass: is actually not a part of the violin family (violin, viola and cello). It’s timbre is dark, powerful, broad and dull, and it is able to play in a very low register due to it’s huge size. It has the bass role of the orchestra. Some good blends: Strings, harp, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, tuba, timpani. "
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! Harp: The harp is one of the oldest and most widespread instruments in the world. It is played by plucking strings that are attached to a wooden frame and soundbox. A harp player is both able to play melodic lines and chords on the instrument. It is a diatonic instrument, and uses foot pedals to alter pitches (making a C a C# or Cb for instance). Therefore a chromatic scale is almost impossible to play on the harp. Its sound is gentle, clear, mellow and flowing. !
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In a large orchestra, the string section will usually look like this: Violin 1: 16 Violin 2: 14 Viola: 12 Cellos: 10 Doublle Basses: 8 Harp: 1
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Brass!
You have probably heard the heroic theme of Indiana Jones, the brass melody from Jurassic Park, or the main theme of Star Wars. The brass family is a very important part of orchestral music, and very commonly used in film scores. Brass melodies are heroic and epic, and their chords are powerful and huge. The brass section has an unbelievable power in their sound. However, there is a lot of things that brass players can do, and just as many things they cannot do. To be able to write brass melodies and arrangements that will sound great, it is important to learn the basics of the family. !
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Brass ranges:!
! ! The sound in brass instruments are created and controlled by the vibration of the players lips. The pitch is determined by the frequency of these vibrations. Loose lips and low air flow will produce a low pitch, due to the low frequency of the vibration of the lip. The more tension on the lips, the more air pressure is needed to get them to vibrate. Try this yourself, blow air
through your mouth to make your lips vibrate. Now tense your lips more and more, and feel how you must use more force and air to make them vibrate, and feel how this produces a higher pitched sound. This is what changes the pitch, together with the valves of the brass instruments. What this basically means is that more and more force is needed to play higher and higher pitches. This again usually makes the sound louder and louder the higher the pitch gets. Because of this, a brass player is rarely able to play the low notes super loud, and can not play the highest notes super quiet. !
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Super-fast runs are harder to play on a brass instrument. Because a brass player needs to adjust lip vibrations through air pressure, and finger placements on valves, really fast runs might be quite hard to play. This is especially true for the trombone, where the player needs to move his whole arm to change the pitch of his instrument. Runs are easier on strings and woodwinds, so if you have composed a fantastic and fast run, consider giving it to a flute or violin instead of the horn or trombone. Remember this while writing a brass melody. A super-fast trombone melody will be hard, or impossible to play, and sound just unnatural to the listener. !
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The tone color changes with the pitch." The lower ranges of brass instruments are quite dark, and have a raw quality. Their middle ranges are clearer, have a full tone, while their upper registers are loud, hard, sharp and are able to cut through anything in the orchestra.!
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They cannot play chords Brass instruments are only able to play one note at a time on their instrument. "
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Brass doubling" There is one instrument that is quite different from the others in the brass family. The trumpets and trombones have a cylindrical bored mouthpiece, giving them a more penetrating and bright tone color. The french horn however, has a conical bored mouthpiece, giving it a more mellow and full tone color. This is important to be aware of. Remember that I told you not to group by range, but by tone color? This means that you should not necessarily group the horn with the trombone, but rather with other instruments with a more mellow and warm tone. Very common instruments to double the horn with, are woodwinds and the cello. !
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Humans need to breathe: While writing brass parts and melodies, remember that a human being cannot hold their breath for an unlimited amount of time. Especially not while using all the air playing an instrument!
This means that you should not have a continuous melody in the brass instruments for too long. Remember to put in small breaks for the player to breathe! Not only is it then able to be played by a real musician, but it sounds a lot more natural and human to the listener. !
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Brass instruments can play common articulations like legato, marcato and staccato, but they have some unique ones like flutter tonguing (a rolled r sound while playing) or double/triple tonguing. !
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Trumpets and horns are transposing instruments. This means that if a Bb trumpet player is told to play a C, the outcome would be a Bb. If an F horn player plays a C, guess what it would sound like? Yeah, an F. Here you can see how this is notated for brass instruments. !
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The Instruments!
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The Trumpet: has a bright, powerful and brilliant sound quality. It is the smallest member of the brass family, and it’s characteristic sound makes it perfect for heroic and powerful themes. It is dark and round in it’s lower register, fuller in it’s middle register and more penetrating in it’s higher range. Usually tuned in C of Bb. Some good blends: Trombone, oboe, viola. "
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The Horn: Has a full, clear and round quality to it. The lowest notes are very mellow and work very well for calm passages. The middle register is more full, and works very well for heroic themes. The upper register is intense and bright, but still very round compared to the other brass instrument.! Some good blends: Woodwinds, strings, cello in unison. "
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The Trombone: has a sound that remains homogenous for the entire range, unlike instruments like the clarinet and bassoon. The lower register is very dark and threatening when played loud, and has a «warning» feeling to it. Played softly, the low register is more mysterious. The middle and higher register is more heroic, brilliant and mighty, and has the characteristic brass sound. Some good blends: Trumpet, Tuba."
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The Tuba: is the biggest and lowest pitched brass instrument in the orchestra. The lowest notes can only be played very softly, but project very well. The middle register is very full and soft sounding, and also the most used. ! Some good blends: Trombone, Double Bass. Bassoon + Contrabassoon. "
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In a large orchestra, the brass section will usually look like this: Horns: 4-8 Trumpets: 3-6 Trombones: 3-6 (1-2 are bass trombones) Tuba: 1 or 2
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Woodwinds!
The woodwind family is a beautiful section of the orchestra, but sadly often overlooked. Today’s epic music tend to focus on huge staccato strings, chanting choirs and heroic brass melodies. Therefore, their little brothers in the woodwinds section are often forgotten by the composers. However, knowing to write for woodwinds is important, and may give your compositions a whole new touch. Listen to «Buckbeak’s Flight» by John Williams, and skip to 1.20. Notice how the woodwind runs in the background are giving a whole new life to the music. Woodwinds can also be used to present themes in solo instruments, doubling other instruments, or playing harmonic material.! Woodwind Ranges!
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! Some basics:! ! There are two kinds of woodwinds instruments: Flutes and reed instruments. The reed instruments are divided in two, the single reeds and double reeds. The clarinet is a single reed instrument, while the oboes and bassoons are double reed instruments. They provide quite different tone colors. The flutes and single reeds are more warm and round, while the double reeds are more nasal and bright. !
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Woodwinds are able to play fast scales and runs: In contrast to brass instruments, woodwinds can easily play faster runs and arpeggiated chords. In fact, this is a very usual way to use the woodwinds, as in the «Buckbeak’s Flight» example. !
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They cannot play chords Woodwind instruments are only able to play one note at a time. However they can play arpeggios effectively, which is chords played quickly, one note at a time. !
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Transposing Instruments! The Bb Clarinet and the English Horn are transposing instruments in the woodwind section. !
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Woodwind players need to breathe too: As with the brass section, woodwind players need to breathe while playing. Therefore it is important to create small breaks for the players, both within a phrase, and between phrases.!
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Piccolo: The piccolo is the highest pitched instrument in the woodwind family, and in the entire orchestra. It has a very penetrating and shrill quality when played loud, yet a soft and sweet tone when played softly. Good for huge tutti statements, but should be used sparingly, as it is very tiresome to listen to for the ears. Good blends: Doubling other woodwinds in octaves! !
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Flute: The flute is an edge-tone instrument. It has a rich and full tone in it’s middle range, and a more brilliant and penetrating higher register. Can both be used effectively as a solo instrument, as well as for doubling other instruments of the orchestra. Good blends: Doubling violins (very common), oboe and clarinet.!
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Oboe: The oboe is a double reed woodwind instrument, with a nasal and bright tone color. The expressive middle register is often used both for sad, melancholic themes as well as joyful melodies. !It has a very characteristic quality, both good for solo melodies, as well as for doubling other orchestral instruments. Good blends: Flute for a more mellow sound, clarinets for a fuller quality, or bassoons for a more powerful and deep sound. Both oboe and bassoons are double reed instruments, and therefore sound very good when played together.!
! ! ! Clarinet:! The clarinet is a single reed instrument, and has a mellow, warm and expressive tone color. Very effective for playing smooth and expressive legato passages. The lower register is dark, warm and melancholic when played solo. The upper register is most commonly used, and sounds very compact and bright. It is quite similar to the human voice, and can effectively express both desperation, love, joy and mourning. Good blends: Woodwinds, horn, and cello. Adds depth and warmth to other instruments when combined. ! ! Bassoon: The bassoon is a tenor and bass instrument, with a double reed mouthpiece like the oboe. Though the two instruments are similar, the bassoon is not as penetrating and sharp as its little brother. The differences between the registers of the instruments are very clear and pronounced, one of the true characteristics of the bassoon. The lower register is often used as a bass foundation, and is quite thick and heavy. Usage of the middle register is very common, often playing mysterious, emotional and melancholic melodies. The upper register sounds very compressed, yet lyrical and soft. Good blends: Woodwinds, horn, low brass and low strings. Adds a more powerful and mellow touch to other instruments when doubled. Takes some of the metallic edge off the brass instruments. !
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In a large orchestra, the woodwind section will usually look like this: Flutes: 2-4 Oboes: 2-4 Clarinets: 2-4 Bassoons: 2-4
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Percussion!
The percussion family is a very large and powerful family of the orchestra, and includes all instruments making a sound when hit, shaken or scraped. They keep the rhythm of the music, add color and are able to lift the entire orchestra with it’s huge bearing power. !
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There are two kinds of percussion instruments: Pitched percussion and non pitched percussion. The first category includes instruments that make a musical pitch when hit, like a timpani, glockenspiel or piano. The latter does not have a definite pitch, like a snare drum or triangle. !
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Percussionists need to be very skilled: It is a lot harder than it seems to be able to hit the right place with the exact right power at the right time. If a string player plays a note 10ms too late, nobody would notice. However, if the same thing happens to the timpani player, it would be a disaster. Percussionists have to be extremely focused and accurate all the time, something that makes it a very challenging task. !
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Percussionists usually play several instruments: A percussionist usually switches between several different percussion instruments during a single piece of music. !
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The Instruments !
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Timpani:! The timpani is a big bowl-looking drum, and the loudest instrument in the entire orchestra. It is a pitched instrument, and the player changes the notes by stretching/loosening the drum heads with a foot pedal. The Timpani is very central to the orchestral percussion, since it both can play rhythm, melody and harmony. Usually 4 different timpani of different size are used. A timpanist must be very skilled, and therefore usually requires a specialized player. It can be used as a background instrument when played very lightly, but can project over the entire ensemble when played in forte. The sound has a very deep, mellow, and booming quality. !
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Cymbals:! The cymbals can be played by either striking one plate against the other, or being struck with a stick/mallet. The loud sound is usually used to accentuate musical climaxes, and it’s sound can rise above the entire orchestra. It is very effective when used sparingly. !
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Snare Drum:! The snare drum is the smallest of the cylindrical drums, and is extremely common in all western music styles. It is also a very important part of the orchestral percussion family. Due to it’s small size, the sound is very bright, sharp and penetrating. !
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Bass Drum:! The bass drum is also an important instrument in both western popular music and orchestral works. It is very effective for marking the rhythm, and covers the bass register of the percussion section. Is has a huge range, from subtle to super loud, and most often only one bass drum is required. The sound is quite dark, full, mighty and thunderous. !
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! ! ! ! Gongs:! The gong is a hanging huge round metal plate with a knob in the center. It has a definite pitch, and adds an exotic flavor to the music. It has a very full sounding and round tone, and gongs of different sizes can be used to play entire melodies. !
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Celesta:! The celesta is an instrument that was invented during the 19th century. It is played as a piano, but has a percussive, yet heavenly sound. A famous usage of this instrument is Prologue and Hedwig’s theme from the Harry Potter series. The celesta parts are usually very quick and lively and requires a very skilled player. !
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Piano:! The piano is a well known instrument, very often used in Jazz and Classical music. It is played with a keyboard, and can both be used for harmonies as well as melodies (or both at the same time). It is very often also used as a composition tool because of it’s diversity. !
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Common orchestration mistakes and how to avoid them!
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As I mentioned earlier, the orchestra is a wonderful ensemble, able to express every emotion imaginable. However, to getting the most out of it requires quite a bit of knowledge and experience. Today, composers with the right digital tools may write huge orchestral music, and make it sound quite good. This music is created and written with and for virtual instruments. Problems may therefore arise if one is seeking to have the music played by a real orchestra, and find that the score is impossible to play by real musicians. Badly orchestrated music may also clutter the mix, and make things sound quite unrealistic and machine-made. This chapter is about the basics of orchestration, common mistakes and how to avoid them. With these tips, your composing will be smoother, the mix more balanced and the music more realistic. !
! 1.Now knowing the limitations of the orchestra! !
The orchestra is huge, containing a lot of different instruments, split into 5 main groups. Musically, the orchestra is able to do almost anything. However, it has its limits, and they are important to be aware of. Woodwind players need to breathe between phrases, brass players cannot play quietly in their upper register, and string players can most certainly not play a C13 on their instrument. If you are serious about composing orchestral music, you should get a fair overview of the general playing ranges of the different instruments, where they sound best, and what they can actually play and do. I will go into detail about all these ranges and limitations in my Introduction to Orchestration course. !
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2. Not being aware of the difference between virtual and real instruments.!
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When people compose for virtual instruments, they usually load a patch, and start playing. This patch may be staccato samples, or longer sustained notes. It is therefore common that as one composes, one composes just for that sample. That means that you will have the entire string part played in staccato for example. A real violinist may however be able to switch between playing staccato, legato, sustained notes, runs, trills and pizzicato in a blink of an eye. Music for real orchestras is therefore often more diverse when it comes to playing techniques. If you want to create a pumping trailer music track, staying with the staccato samples is just fine. But if you want to create dynamic orchestral music, load up different kind of samples, write for the real instrument and not for your sampler. !
! 3. Grouping instruments by range, not tone color.! ! One of the first things I ever learnt during my orchestration studies at Berklee Online, was NOT to group instruments by playing range. Just because a piccolo, flute and a trumpet all may play in a high pitch, doesn’t mean they will sound good together. This applies BOTH to those who write for VST plugins, and those who seek to write for a real performance. When you group instruments, decide which tone color you are aiming for. For a warmer deeper flute sound, double it with a clarinet. If you want a fuller more brassy sound to your cello melody, double it with the french horn. Harp and pizzicato strings are nice to group together for warm, lush harmonic material. Grouped with the flute for a melody, you will have a nice and warm tone color. !
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These are three of, what I consider to be, the most important things to be aware of while writing for the orchestra. Orchestration is a very complicated art, but with these steps, you are indeed on the right path! ! For a more in depth introduction to orchestration, check out my course here: There I will take you through the basics of orchestrating music, from piano sketch to finished score. !
! Quick Orchestration Templates! !
These are some usual ways of orchestrating material, that you can use to get quickly started. ! Big Orchestral Statement:! Melody: Strings in octaves, doubled by flute. Countermelody: Horns and cello in unison. Harmony: Brass, Double Bass, Low Woodwinds, Choirs!
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Intimate String Theme: Melody: Violin 1 and 2 Countermelody: Oboe/Clarinet Harmony: Viola, Cello, Contrabass, Harp!
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Solo Statement: Melody: Solo instrument (Flute, Oboe, Violin etc) Harmony: Pizzicato Strings, Harp/Piano. !
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Arranging Your Composition!
Okay, now we have been briefly looking at a lot of theory. We have made a strong theme, put chords to it, and turned it into a full composition. Then we have been looking briefly at the instruments of the orchestra, your toolbox when arranging. It’s time to start working on the actual arrangement. !
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By now, you actually have a lot of your work done already. After finishing your song structure, you have most likely been thinking of the dynamics of your track. For example a more calm introduction, then a build and a drop before the climax like I have chosen. If you have been thinking about the emotion you want to express, you have most likely started thinking about a fitting melody instrument after reading about the four families. This is a very good starting point. Now I will show you how I usually start out when arranging my compositions. !
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The first thing I do, is to get a blank piece of paper and a pencil. On that, I draw a timeline, displaying the composition from beginning to end. Next, I divide that timeline into song sections - in this case 4 (AABA form). Vertically, I create 4 rows, one for melody, one for countermelody, harmony and «other». Here I will fill in which instruments are playing what for each part in the composition. !
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! ! ! This is an example of how this may be done roughly. I also write in the dynamics of the song, colored in black. By writing this down, I find it much easier to choose the right instruments and arrange the composition properly. !
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I usually start out by arranging the main theme, the core of the entire song. Some places you might want lively runs in the woodwinds, driving percussion, or other details. This is however something I find so much easier to do when all the main ingredients are sorted out. Therefore, I encourage you to start with arranging your melody and harmony. I often start doing this with either the climax or the beginning. This is because I find those sections the easiest ones to picture how I want, and they are therefore good starting points. !
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A good place to start, is by picking your melody instrument. This choice depends on the section you have chosen, because you will most likely vary your melody instrument(s) throughout the piece. Maybe you will start out with a soft flute melody in the beginning, then evolve to a bigger string melody, then a solo piano melody in the contrasting part, before using the entire brass family in the ending climax. Varying your instrumentation will help you gain that perfect balance between contrast and similarity. Let me give you some tips on how to do this effectively, here using the AABA form. !
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A: Start small. You may use a solo instrument for the melody (flute, oboe, clarinet, violin, horn etc), with a smaller accompanying ensemble doing the harmony. Harp and pizzicato strings, piano and soft sustained strings works very well for this. !
! A: Expand on the existing instrumentation and create a sense of growth. If you used a solo instrument, double it with say, the first violin section. If you used a solo horn, you might include 4 horns, or you can double it with the cellos. Remember to expand the harmony section too, so the two elements always remain balanced. If you have used strings in the first part, you may double them with some soft brass chords, or use the woodwinds. You can also introduce a counter melody in this part (more on that later). I like to rather «build» than to «change» in this part, as we want the listener to follow us all the way. Too much change too early in the song might be confusing, so you might want to focus on expanding on the main theme instead of changing it drastically during the two first presentations. !
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B: Now is the time for change. By now your main theme should be fairly big and powerful. If you have used a big string ensemble playing a theme with long notes, it is a good idea to choose an instrumentation that is smaller, and has a different tone color. Maybe you want to use pizzicato strings and woodwinds, with an oboe playing the melody. Maybe a solo piano, or using pitched percussion like xylophone, celesta or glockenspiel. A small instrumentation here will make the climax seem even bigger. !
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A: End big. Here you can use the entire orchestra. Maybe you want 6 horns playing the melody, doubled by the cellos. Maybe you want the strings and flutes playing the melody, doubling each other across 3 octaves. Remember to keep the harmony section just as powerful. The brass family is actually able to do the harmony all on it’s own, and still be heard through the entire orchestra. !
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Now, decide on a melody instrument for each section of the orchestra. Then, choose an appropriate ensemble for the harmony. Write your choices on the piece of paper we made earlier. If you are using another form than AABA, the principles remains the same. Try to get a good balance between contrast and growth. Use orchestration to highlight changes in your composition. When you have done that, we have the foundation for our entire track ready. It is time to fill in the gaps, and add some interesting details. !
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Now that the main job is done, let’s add in some additional details. The opening is actually best left quite simple. This is so the theme can be presented clearly to the listener, without any other distracting elements. However, on the second section (repetition) I would like to add in a countermelody to expand on the first statement. !
Writing A Good Countermelody:!
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Rhythm: Make the countermelody move while the main melody rests. The best way to separate the two layers from each other, is to give them space. When the main theme is active, let the countermelody rest. When the main theme is resting, give life to the countermelody. ! Tone Color: Give the new layer a new tone color. If the melody uses the full and warm color of flutes and violins, you may give the new element a more bright and nasal tone by using the oboe and bassoon. Or if you have a heroic horn theme, you can use the strings to create a contrasting countermelody. There are tons of opportunities here. !
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Here is an example from my composition: !
As you see, the melody and countermelody are separated in several ways. First, the counter melody is one octave higher than the main melody. Second, you can see that one is moving melodically while the other is resting. !
! It sounds like this: ! ! I have also added some more details to the track:! !
Woodwinds: Woodwinds are great for runs, adding life and excitement to your music. I have done this at the climax. ! Choir: I have also added a female choir, singing a rhythm using the harmonic material. Percussion: I have used percussion to add more drive, rhythm and energy to the ending part. Listen:
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There are no rules for adding details like this, use your imagination and experiment until you are satisfied! !
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Writing Down The Arrangement !
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By now, you are actually close to finishing the entire arrangement. Some of you may want to write down the entire arrangement voice for voice, but it’s not really necessary. Because of the great paper you have made earlier in this chapter, you know which instrument is playing/not playing where. To begin with, this is really all you need. You know which instrument is playing the main melody during the opening, you know which instruments are taking care of the harmony during the contrasting section. If you start recording those things you have written down, you will soon see your composition starts to fall into place. And if you feel that you want to add more, but don’t really know what yet, don’t worry. You can easily do this during the recording stage, adding small details and voices as you see fit. !
! Chord voicing: ! !
If you are going to arrange chords for strings, choirs, brass or woodwinds, it is important to have proper chord voicing and use good 4 part writing. For those of you who are new to those terms, there are bonus chapters at the end of this book, explaining those concepts, as well as tips about writing one and two layered music.!
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Exercise 5: Orchestrating Your Composition! Beginner: Use one or more of the templates in this chapter to orchestrate your main melody. !
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Intermediate: Put together an ensemble yourself. Decide upon a melody instrument, and match it with other instruments of similar tone color and bearing power. !
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Advanced: Write down 3 different arrangements of your main theme. You could use the template for one if you wish. Explore different emotions, and go for the one you like the most. !
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Production! ! «Here's something I probably shouldn't be saying: I never listen to my soundtrack albums because I can't stand it. It's just stereo. When I write, I write in surround. My life is in surround.»! - Hans Zimmer http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/hans_zimmer.html#Y5vZiY5i7tHsaw3Q.99!
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Recording!
Now that you have composed and arranged your entire composition, it is time to start making it into real sound. In this chapter we will record your track, and make it ready for the mixing and mastering stage. For more in depth information on building templates, choosing libraries, and speeding up your workflow, stay updated on my coming «Technology In Music» course. I will notify you when it’s out!!
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After arranging your song, you roughly know which instruments and articulations you will need. The first thing you should do, is to open up your DAW (Digital Audio Workstation), and start an empty project (if you don’t have a template set up). Now, start to add your instruments, one by one. If you want a layout that is similar to an orchestral score, I recommend that you start with adding the woodwinds (flutes, oboes, clarinets, bassoons), and move over to brass (horns, trumpets, trombones, tuba), further to pitched percussion, percussion, choirs etc, before you end with the string section (Violin 1 and 2, Viola, Cello and Contrabass). That way your DAW will look very clean and tidy. !
! Next, start naming all your tracks properly. If you have a flute staccato patch, name it something like «Flute Stacc». If you have a cello legato patch, you may name it «Cello leg». It takes a few extra minutes, but will save you a ton of time every time you spend your day looking for your 2nd violin sordino patch among the 100 tracks. After all names are set, color code your tracks. I use a red color on all string tracks, yellow on all brass, dark blue on woodwinds +++. Choose the colors you like, these will help you navigate in your project much faster. When this is done, let’s start recording!!
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Recording Your Project!
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Recording your project is actually quite easy when you have already arranged your track. The hardest part is usually looking at an empty DAW screen, having no clue where you should start. This problem is fixed by arranging your track in advance, like we did earlier. !
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When I start recording, I usually either start with the main melody or the harmonic part. Then I fill out everything in between, but this is totally up to you. It all comes down to our own opinions and ways of working. Sometimes I start with the opening theme, sometimes the ending. No matter what you choose, you can start wherever you want, as you already have written down what each instrument will play. So now, choose an instrument and record it. This is your starting point. Now, start to expand on this until all the main parts are done. Then, start to fill in the details. Have a look at the video of this chapter for how this can be done.!
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Done? Great! You are getting really close to finishing your track! Now, go back and edit mistakes, do some polishing and finish it up for the mixing stage. !
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Mixing ! ! Mixing sampled orchestras might seem like a very hard task. It might indeed be quite intimidating to sit there, staring at 60-100 different tracks in your DAW. In this chapter we will try to break down the mixing stage into a few very important steps, that will help you create the best mix possible. The biggest problem with mixing sampled orchestras is that it is possible for them to do things a real orchestra never could have done. Like letting the a single flute play chords, letting a violin play in the low cello range etc. The orchestra has been developed over hundreds of years, being constantly changed for optimal sound balance. The orchestra is created so a good arrangement will sound great and perfectly balanced when performed. So if you arrange something a real orchestra couldn’t have done, the resulting mix will often sound unnatural and weird. Which is why I say this before you start mixing:!
! It’s all in the arrangement! ! !
Pay attention to your orchestration. Spend a good amount of time making your arrangement as perfect as possible. If you arrangement is great, the mix will automatically sound a lot better. If your arrangement is bad, you will encounter some huge problems in the mix. Therefore, don’t be tempted to think «Screw it, I’ll fix it in the mix» when you are arranging. Make sure your arrangement is as good as it can before moving on the the final stages. Done? Okay, we are ready to start mixing! After reading the basics of the mixing terms, head over to the video and see how I apply everything to my mix. !
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! Levels
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The mixing process already started when you recorded the first tracks of your project. Already then you were probably adjusting the volume faders, so the instruments matched each other and sounded balanced. And that is essentially what mixing is about: balance. Balance between the instruments, and between the frequency ranges. Later in the project you probably added even more tracks, and balanced the volume further so the mix sounded good. Maybe you even added some effects like reverb, eq and compression to get the results you wanted. Now, you might be quite satisfied with the result, and decide to bounce the mix to a wav file and finish it after reading this chapter. My advice is: Don’t. Take a moment and read through this tip, which I first got from the well known epic music producer Ivan Torrent, and later from producers who have worked for Whitney Houston, Rolling Stones etc.!
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As I mentioned, we are almost always mixing while we are recording and editing our music. In the end we might therefore end up being quite biased. After working on a track for a long time, we sometimes feel that the current mix is the only way that particular track could be done. However, there can be a lot of problems in the mix that we are so used to hearing, that we simply don’t recognize them. Therefore I encourage you to start completely from scratch when you are at the mixing stage. Save your project under a new name (like X Mix v2), so you can go back to your old mix if you feel like later. Take a long break, and start your mixing session by listening to some professionally mixed music to tune in your ear.!
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If you are working with a lot of MIDI and virtual instruments, I encourage you to bounce all the instruments into stem files, and load them in a new project. Then you will have only audio files to work with, something that will result in a better mix. Ivan Torrent said this was his number 1 tip if you feel your mix is muddy and unclear. After opening all your files into a new project, start organizing and labeling your project as well as possible. This will help a LOT with the workflow, as mentioned earlier.!
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Now, turn all your faders down to zero. Then start with the fundamental instruments like percussion and bass instruments, and balance them well. Then start to bring in the rest of the instruments one by one, constantly tweaking the volume faders for the best balance possible. Also disable all your effects like EQ and reverb. Don’t delete them, but just disable them so you can get back to them later if you need to. Do everything from the
beginning, and try to listen to the mix with a new pair of ears. Almost 100% of the times, this will result in a MUCH better mix.!
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After bouncing all your tracks into a new project, and doing all the mixing from scratch, compare it to your earlier mix. The first time I did this, my jaw dropped. The difference was huge. The new mix sounded so much more in your face, full and rich. So if you are struggling with getting your mixes right, try this tip out. It requires some more time, but it is well worth it in the end.! Panning As I said, the configuration of the orchestra has been refined during the past 500 years. All the instruments in the ensemble are placed so the performance will sound as balanced as possible. The loudest instruments are placed in the back, and the more quite ones in the front. Solo instruments are placed in the middle, and the rest placed so the performance won’t sound too heavy to the left or right. Therefore, proper instrument placement is crucial to get a balanced and natural sounding mix. !
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Depending on your library, your samples might, or might not be pre-panned. Some sample libraries are already panned as in the orchestra, ready to be played. This is true for the EWQL orchestral libraries. Some other libraries (Like VSL) are usually not panned, so you have the freedom to mix the samples as you wish.!
Here you can see a picture of the placement of instruments in the orchestra. The strings are in front, and the brass in the back. If your instruments are not pre-panned, you should try to place them somewhat similar to this. Pan your first violins quite a bit to the left, violas quite centered, cellos and basses to the right etc. Choose a part from your recorded piece you are mixing, and
experiment with it there. Try to make every instrument stand out by assigning their own place in the stereo field to them. !
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EQ
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EQ is a great way to make an instrument stand out, remove unwanted frequencies, and also to ruin your whole mix. When it comes to the orchestra, be careful with any hard use of EQ. The main rule of EQ-ing is to always ask yourself these questions: «Does this REALLY need EQ, or can I fix it in any other way?» Try out the EQ change and ask yourself: «Did this REALLY make the track better?». If not, undo it and fix the problem in another way. If you do a lot of small changes that you don’t really notice on their own, you might damage the mix in the long run. However, there is one crucial thing I want you to do with the EQ: !
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Most of us have experienced that our mix is muddy, messy, lacks the full bass sound and crisp highs. I for sure have. Mixing is an art that takes years and decades to master, and there are no quick fixes to magically make your mix compete with the pro’s. However, I have realized that there is one single thing that can totally make or break your mix. The funny thing is that it is ridiculously simple!! ! Most of us strive to get the perfect bass sound in the mix. To get a full sounding bass in a song, a lot of us believe that one should keep the bass frequencies in all the instruments, like piano, flutes, vocals etc. (I also used to). The fact is that all non-bass instruments produce noise in the bass region, both from the room they were recorded in, breathing noises and much more. Keeping the bass frequencies on non-bass instruments does therefore actually drown your bass instruments, and makes the whole mix sound messy.! ! The even bigger problems arise if the bass sound is not as we desire, and we try to just boost it with an EQ in the master track in frustration. This will just lift all the noise, and the problem will just become even worse. So… what do you do to make your bass become clear and full, supporting the rest of the mix? Well this may sound counter-intuitive, but it is highly effective: you cut the bass.! ! You heard that right; to get a good bass sound, you must actually cut away all the bass from the NON-BASS-instruments. This includes vocals, guitars,
violins, trumpets, flutes, snare drums, everything that is not a bass guitar, sub bass synth or the double basses. Doing this will remove all the noise produced by the non-bass instruments, revealing only the sound from the true bass instruments, the one that you actually want to hear in your mix.! ! How do you do this? Well, what I used to do is to simply put a high-pass filter (also called a low-cut) on all the instruments except for the basses, and cut away everything below 80-100 Hz. A rule of thumb is to cut until you hear that the fullness starts to disappear, then back off a little. Another frequency problem area is around 200Hz, so on some instruments you may try to cut away a bit in this area. Be careful with this though, as a lot of the fullness in a few instruments, like the violins, exist here.! ! Now, load up your project and cut away the bass, and listen to the difference. Notice how everything opens up, the bass becomes more clear, and a bit of the mud disappears. Next, you can cut away some of the highest frequencies using the same technique, but with a high cut/low pass filter. The ear hears less and less of frequencies around 15-20KHz, but when a lot of those frequencies start to build up, we perceive the mix as quite brittle and sharp. Cut away this noise by using a low pass filter, and feel how your mix slowly opens up a bit more. Remember, that this is only one of the steps to a great mix, but to me it is a highly effective and important one.!
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Compression
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As with EQ, compression can both help, and destroy your mix, if not used wisely. The orchestra is an ensemble full of life. It is able to play from silently in ppp, to huge walls of sound in fff. The dynamics in orchestral music are very important, and it is crucial that we don’t kill it with too heavy compression. This is because a compressor… compresses the sound. It lowers the loudest peaks, and boosts the more silent parts of the music. !
! If you are not familiar with how a compressor works, have a look here:! !
This is a waveform without any compression. You can see that the loudness is very varied, from loud peaks to more silent parts. If we were trying to raise the volume of this instrument, the peaks would cut through, but the more silent parts would not be heard in the mix. The result being a track with both too silent parts, and way too loud parts. This can however be fixed with compression. ! What a compressor does, is to lower any audio over a given threshold. Here you can see that the audio that is over the threshold is dampened. You can see that the audio is now more compressed. The amount of compression depends on the ratio. The ratio 2:1 means that every 2db over the threshold will be dampened by 1 db. In this picture the ratio is very high (8:1), resulting in a very heavy compression.!
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You see that with heavy compression, all dynamic variations are more or less gone. While this kind of dynamics could work for a EDM track, it would sound lifeless if applied to an orchestral piece. Therefore, apply compression with care, and CAREFULLY listen to the changes you make. Here too, ask yourself: «Did this really make it sound better?». !
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I rarely apply much compression to my orchestral tracks. However, I use it on instruments that are very loud and percussive, like huge drums and shouting choirs etc. This is to make them sound HUGE, to cut through the mix and give the listener a punch in the face. But for soft violin melodies and flute phrases, it would not work very well, killing the dynamics and life… However, I sometimes apply a very light compression to the group tracks of my
instruments (strings, brass etc), to glue them a bit more together. You can see me applying compression in the video about mixing. !
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Reverb Reverb is maybe the most important effect when producing orchestral music. Orchestral music is usually played in concert halls. The reverberation of such halls is therefore a very important part of the orchestral sound. Applying reverb wisely to your tracks will make them sound more realistic and natural, adding depth and life to your recordings. Adding too much will kill the punch and energy of your music, and clutter it up. Let’s have a look at the basics of using reverb on an orchestra. !
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When somebody in the audience is listening to the orchestra, the first thing they hear is the direct sound coming from the instruments. Then, the audio is bouncing off the walls and ceiling, being thrown back and forth in a complex pattern. The audio bouncing back and forth in the room, is the reverb. Needless to say, the reverb will be different in a small chamber, than in a cathedral or a huge concert hall. A lot of software reverb plugins are made to simulate such spaces. ! We have two main types of reverb: Digital reverb and convolution reverb. A digital reverb uses complex calculations to simulate the sound of a real space. Such devices uses the dry (non reverb) signal from your track, and simulate the reflections from a real hall. You will usually find a lot of presets on a such plugin, so try to find one that simulates a medium or big concert hall. !
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A convolution reverb is quite different. Here the actual space from a concert hall is recorded, and then added to your audio. I am not going into detail about how a convolution reverb works, but it basically uses the recorded acoustics of a real hall, and is then mixed with your audio signal. Now, both types of reverb comes with a couple of controls, and let’s look at some basics. !
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The mix button controls the blend between the original dry signal, and the processed audio with reverb. 0% = only dry signal, while 100% = only the wet, processed signal. The pre delay is the time between when the original
sound is heard, and the initiation of the reverb. This means the time it takes for the sound to travel to a wall, and be reflected to the listener after the original sound is heard. Usually a pre delay of 20 to 30 ms is appropriate for a big hall. Reverb time is the time it takes for the reverb to die out. Usually, 1.5 to 3 seconds is a good choice. Larger reverb times = larger halls. These are the most basic controls of a reverb plugin. Some might have more options, some might have less. !
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Now, before applying reverb, you will have to know how your samples were recorded. Some are recorded dry in a studio, some are recorded with reverb. VSL libraries are usually recorded dry, leaving room for the producer to add the reverb of his choice. EWQL samples tend to have a certain amount of reverb recorded already, and therefore will sound better right out of the box. However, you will have less room to change this later on. The most important part is that you know which way your samples were recorded; Dry or wet, and apply reverb according to that. !
! !Unmixed: ! !Mixed: ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Mastering!
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Mastering is the last production stage, and the process of transferring your recorded audio to it’s final product. Traditionally the final product was a tape, vinyl or CD, and the process was very challenging. Nowadays as we bounce down wav files, things are a bit easier. A lot of people just render down their mix, and skip the mastering process altogether. This is a big mistake. Let us have a look at the basics of mastering your newly mixed track.!
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Going Back To The Mix
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If you notice something that sounds quite wrong, go back to the mixing stage and fix it there. The mastering stage should not fix any major problems, but enhance what’s already there to get a polished end result. If you notice a frequency area that is too loud on one of the instruments, applying EQ on the master to kill that frequency will kill it on ALL the instruments. This will radically change the track, and it may end up sounding thin, hollow or sharp. So if you notice that anything sounds off, just go back and fix it in the mixing stage again. It is usually quicker and better than trying to fix it on the master track. !
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Louder Is Not Always Better
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When applying compression and EQ, your ears can fool you. If you take a track and compress it so it is louder, it will almost ALWAYS sound better. The ear perceives louder audio as more bass-filled and crisp - in other words, better. However, the true result is that you might be ruining your track completely. Therefore, when applying changes that make anything sound louder, be sure to match the volume of the before and after result. Compare them at the same volume, and see how the recent changes improved or damaged the track. Don’t always pick the one that sounds the best because it is loudest, your ear might fool you. !
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EQ
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When using an equalizer on the master track, be careful. You don’t want to do any dramatic changes, but rather small alterations and enhancements. If something is very wrong, go back to the mix and fix the problem there. Trying to fix everything in the master process will cost you a LOT of time, and will ruin your end product. However, if you want to enhance a certain characteristic to the overall mix, some gentle cutting and boosting may be applied. Use your ears and be careful. !
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Compressor
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As with the EQ, be gentle. You don’t want to kill the dynamics of your orchestral piece. However, a tiny bit of compressing might glue your instruments together a bit more, giving you a pleasing and nice result. Use a low ratio, I would never use anything above 1:2 on an orchestral track. I would maybe use some heavier compression on a huge, hybrid trailer music track, but never overdo it. !
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Reverb
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Adding a tiny bit of reverb to the master track can glue the mix together, and can make the instruments sound more like they’re playing in the same hall. On the other hand, adding too much reverb can make everything sound distant and muddy, and will kill the clarity and punch in the mix. Therefore
apply reverb with care, as with anything else you are doing on the master track. You can alter the dry/wet signal on most reverb devices, so aim for a quite dry audio signal with just a little bit of reverb on it to glue things together. Use your ears and find the sweet spot. !
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Limiter
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A limiter is like a compressor with an incredibly high ratio. This means that all the audio that is over a set threshold will be completely dampened, and no audio will ever exceed this limit (hence the name limiter). As everything above the limiter’s threshold will be completely killed, too hard usage of this will squash the mix completely, leaving it sounding dead and cold. Therefore, just apply some limiting in the end to make sure that the audio is not clipping (getting over 0.0 db). If the limiter is working very hard and reducing the gain too much, lower the volume going into it. When the limiter is adjusted perfectly, you are almost finished with your master track.! Stereo Enhancing
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Using a stereo enhancer can really make your mix sound wide and full, but too much will ruin the punch and clarity just like the reverb. Most DAWs come with a stereo enhancer plugin, and you could experiment with how this plugin affects your audio. Most of us want our track to sound as wide and as full as possible, but this does not mean that you should crank the stereo enhancer to the maximum effect. This will totally ruin the mix, so listen carefully to any changes you make. Most of the width of your track comes from the mixing stage. Both by proper leveling and panning, as well as separating instruments by cutting lows and highs with the EQ. When you find the sweet spot, you are done. !
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Mixdown
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Go to the «Export» or «Render» function of your DAW. Choose WAV or an AIFF file format, in 24 bit. Be sure that the entire song is selected, and export it. !
! ! Mastered Track: !
The Next Steps!
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It is time to give yourself an high five, you are finally done with your track! Not too long ago, you were reading the first pages of this book. Now you have a completely finished song stored on your computer! Not just a composition you have written, but an actual orchestral arrangement, recorded, and fully mixed and mastered! All by yourself. That is absolutely something to be proud of.!
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Now, upload your track to SoundCloud or YouTube, show it to your friends, sell it on BandCamp or AudioJungle, listen to it on your car stereo. Get feedback from people, compose more music, grow your fan base, collaborate with other artists, explore your sound, earn money, improve as a composer, do what ever you want to do with your skills. But most importantly, have fun!!
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I really hope you enjoyed this course, and that it helped you in some way or another. If you want to, I would be happy to give you some detailed feedback on your composition, to help you grow even more as a composer. And if you have any feedback regarding this course, please let me know. I will do anything I can to improve this course for the future readers. Stay in touch, good luck, and I wish you all the best!!
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Arn"
«You can go to school forever, but you’re never really going to learn until you just do it.» - Michael Giaccino http://www.classicfm.com/discover/film-music/best-quotes-film-composer!
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Bonus Chapters:!
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How To Make Your MIDI Instruments Sound More Realistic In this article we will have a look at how to make your MIDI instruments sound better and more realistic. When we are making orchestral music production on our computers, things might end up sounding stiff and mechanic if we’re not careful enough. Some pieces might even scream “SAMPLES!” when you listen to them. Yet, a lot of composers manage to create some fantastic music using virtual instruments, making them sound awfully realistic. Sometimes it is hard for an untrained ear to tell if the recording is of a real orchestra or not. So how do they do this, and how can you make your tracks sound more realistic and natural?!
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Today, a lot of music is made with sample libraries. When we record a melody, we usually load a patch in our DAW and start playing. One of the biggest mistakes people then do, is that they stay to that one single patch for the entire track. The reason they do this is most likely because it is a bit of a hassle to switch between different tracks and patches within a melody. A real instrument, however, does not have this problem. A violinist can switch between short and long notes just by moving his arm differently. He can switch to hard staccato sounds by putting more pressure on his bow. He can basically play any articulation within the blink of an eye, and good composers tend to take good use of this in their music. Therefore, using only a single patch throughout a track might result in unnatural, static and machinesounding music.!
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To avoid this, you have to alter the way of thinking. When you are writing a melody, don’t write for the patch, write for the whole instrument. Don’t compose for the articulation, compose for a real instrumentalist. Imagine being the instrumentalist with the instrument. How would he/she play it? You don’t need to be an expert, or actually know how to play the instrument at all, but it is a helpful way of thinking. Ask yourself: How can I use the articulations available on the instrument to make this melody as good as possible? If you write with the real instrument in mind, mixing let’s say long legato notes and short staccato notes of different velocities, you will get a result that sounds MUCH more realistic and alive!!
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It makes sense, doesn’t it? To make your samples sound more like a real orchestra, you have to mimic the characteristics of a real orchestra, with real instruments. The wide use of different articulations is one of these
characteristics. So now, start writing for the instrument, not the patch. Use all the articulations that are left untouched in your orchestral library, and see your pieces come alive. This does not just apply to your melodies, but the whole orchestra. I hope this way of thinking will help you create some fantastically realistic and organic sounding tracks!!
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Listen to this classic track by John Williams, and notice how all the instruments switch between long and short notes, and different articulations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bTpp8PQSog!
! ! Orchestral Arrangements Part 1: Single Layered Music! ! !
Orchestral music comes in all forms and all sorts of complexity. Some pieces might have just a melody and chords, while others might have 8 different musical ideas going on at the same time.!
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This is going to be the first in a series of 4 articles regarding orchestration of different complexity levels. The next four weeks we will have a look at single layered, two layered, three layered and four or more layered music. !
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One layered or homophonic (From greek, homos = same – phone = sound), music is made up of one single idea, where all the instruments play identical or very similar rhythms. Monophonic music is music with only one voice, like a solo flute performance. In homophonic music, the different instruments might play different notes (in a chord for instance), but they all play the same rhythm to present a theme or motif clearly. Single layered textures are usually used to introduce a theme, to create a climax (for example after a complex buildup), or as a conclusion/ending.!
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In this first example we are going to have a look at my track «Hope», a piece we have been looking at in an earlier article. Below you can see a few bars of the main theme , which is a single layered texture.!
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This score is from a smaller arrangement I did of this composition for a class at school earlier this year. It has only one
instrument playing each voice, so it is easy to get an overview of all the voices simultaneously.!
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Here we have 5 voices, making up both the harmony and melody in the theme. All of them are playing the same rhythm, making the listener perceive them as a single unit. !
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Another example is the opening statement in the Tannhauser Overture by Wagner, which is a very beautiful homophonic theme. When arranging a homophonic statement, it is important to choose the instruments wisely. Think about the emotion you want to express, and choose your instrumentation accordingly. A brass section playing the theme in forte will sound completely different than a soft string section playing the same thing.!
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Also, try to vary your doubling throughout the passage. If the instrumentation keeps constant, without any changes, a long homophonic statement might turn out boring and monotonous. Try to make your passage evolve, making it bridge smoothly into the next section of your composition. This can be done by adding more instruments to make the theme grow, or for instance changing the instrument that is doubling the melody line for a sense of change.!
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This week we have been briefly looking at music with only one layer. Homophonic music is effective for introducing a theme, or being used as a climax after a complex crescendo, or as an ending of a composition.! Next week we will have a look at the more common two layered music, with an independent melody and harmony. Until then, good luck experimenting with homophonic themes, and feel free to send me your results for feedback!!
! ! Orchestral Arrangements Part 2: Two Layered Music ! !
Last week we had a look at music with only one layer. We remember that a «layer» is a musical idea where the instruments are playing the same rhythm, and therefore perceived as one unit. This week, we will have a look at music with two ideas coexisting at the same time.!
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In a two layered piece of music, the musical ideas will often be characterized as background and foreground material. To successfully write in a twolayered context, there are some things you need to keep in mind. Always ensure that the two ideas are separated and different from another. For instance by using a moving melody over long, sustained chords. The two
layers should also be properly balanced. This means that you should not use a brass section playing as loud as they can behind a soft flute melody. If you separate your two layers well and balance them properly, you will make sure that the attention of your listener is focused on the most important layer, the foreground. In this example, this is the moving melody.!
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To achieve a good separation between layers, there is a little toolbox you can use:!
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Rhythm: By giving the foreground and background material a different rhythm, you may create separation effectively.!
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Articulation: Separation can also be created by using two different articulations on the two layers. For instance pizzicato background chords with a sustained melody in front.!
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Tone Color: By using two different tone colors, separation can be easily achieved. You could for example use strings playing pizzicato together with a harp in the background, while a solo oboe plays a melody on top. The warm and round background material will be separated from the colder and more nasal foreground idea.!
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Pitch Range: At last but not at least, separation is easily created by using two different pitch ranges. The chords might be in the middle to lower register, while the melody is in the higher pitch range of the instrument. This will create separation, even if the melodic statement is played on a solo piano (same articulation, same tone color).!
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Remember that you can always use several of these «tools» to create separation, but you do not necessarily need to use all of them at the same time. Now let’s look at some examples.!
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This is a piano reduction from the opening sequence of The Planets: Mars by Gustav Holst. It was an example used by my teacher at Berklee Online when we discussed two layered music, and it is a very good one indeed, so I will use it here too. Listen to the full sequence with the written
score here.!
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The first layer is a rhythmic pattern played by col legno strings, harp and timpani. Col legno is a technique where the string players hits the string using the wood of their bow, resulting in a very hard, snappy and unique sound. The second layer is a very dark melody played by brass and woodwinds. When the melody comes in, it is the newest element, and will gain the listener’s attention. At the same time, the rhythmic element is very repetitive, making it fall into the background. This makes us perceive the horn and woodwind melody as the foreground element, and the rhythmic pattern as the background. However, when the melody stops, the attention goes back to the rhythmical pattern. Therefore what we perceive as the foreground is changing back and forth throughout the part. Let’s have a look at how they are separated and balanced.!
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First of all, the rhythm creates separation very effectively in this sequence. The background has a short and driving motion, while the melody consists of only long, sustained notes. You also notice that the tone color of the two elements are completely different. The melody has a dark, round, ominous feel, while the background is lighter, sharper and much more percussive. And at least of course, the articulations: Sustained notes differ greatly from the col legno playing technique. Combining these differences, we have two elements that are very effectively separated. Both of the layers are played by a relatively big ensemble, balancing out each other evenly.!
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This week we have been briefly looking at music with two coexisting ideas. Such an example could also be a standard chords and melody sequence. Next week we will look at music with 3 layers, usually a harmony, melody and countermelody. Until then, have fun experimenting with two layered Orchestral music production using the tools described in this article!!
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! Chord Voicing!
When you press a key on your piano or pluck a string on your guitar, you hear a pitch. The pitch you hear however, is not just consisting of one single frequency, but a fundamental frequency with many overtones. The strength of these overtones define the timbre of the pitch, and makes us able to separate a C on the piano from a C on the guitar. What most people don’t know, is that the series of overtones are a great guide to voicing chords and arranging. Let me explain.!
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Here you see the first overtones from the root note of C. See how they actually form a chord? Notice how the chord is built. A lot of space in the lower end, and closer between each note the higher you get. This is a great example of how a chord should be voiced. If the notes are too close in the darker register, the chord will sound muffled and muddy. Wider spaces in the low register and closer voicing in the upper register will result in a full, clear and rich chord. Always remember this while voicing your chords.!
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So let’s say you have a C Major triad. That is 3 notes, C E and G. When you have three instruments, voicing such a chord is not a problem. But what do you do when you have 4 string parts? 7 Parts? An entire orchestra!? As you have only 3 different notes, you have to double some of them. The question is however, which ones do you double? Again, the answer actually lies in the overtones. Let us see which notes it consists of.!
! !
I have marked the root note red, and the fifth (G) blue. How often are the different notes doubled?! Root: 4 times! Fifth: 2 times
Third: 1 time! (Seventh: 1 time – If you are voicing a seventh chord)! Immediately you see that the root note is doubled 4 times, that is 50% of the notes in the chord! So as a general rule, double the root note. That means if you have 4 voices, double the root note in the triad. As you can see here, the root is doubled twice as many times as the fifth, which again is doubled twice as many times as the third. This is a good rule to follow when you are voicing your chords. Be careful with doubling the third too much, as it will change the color and feel of the chord quite dramatically. Let us have a look at a few examples of good and bad voicing:!
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Bad chord voicing: ! !
! This is a good example of a bad chord voicing. See how the voices are close in the lower range, and more spaced in the higher range? This is the opposite of what we want, and will create a muddy, cluttered sound. In addition, the root is only played once(!), the fifth 3 times, and the third 3 times. The doubling in this chord is therefore also bad. Now, let us look at a better chord voicing.!
! Good chord voicing: !
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Here you can see that there is a lot of space in the lower end, with more closed voices in the upper part of the chord. This will result in a balanced and clear chord. Also notice the doubling, the root note is used 4 times, the fifth 2 tines, and the third 1 time. This is a perfect way to double chord with more than 4 voices.! !
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Use an open, spaced voicing in the lowest notes, to avoid a muddy chord.! Use a more closed voicing in the top notes of the chord.! In general, double the root.!
In general, double the fifth half as often as the root.! Avoid doubling the third too much, half as often as the fifth is good.! These guidelines does not only apply to chords, but to voices in your compositions in general. Hope this helps!!
! !
How To Effectively Voice Harmonic Material ! ! Okay, if you have read my article about chord voicing, you probably have a clue about how to voice a chord, which notes to double, and which ones not to double. But how does one voice a whole chord progression to make it feel like one phrase, and not just totally individual chords?!
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Today I will use the string section as an example, but these tips works for anything, may it be choir, brass, woodwinds or a group of vocalists (or any instruments for that matter). Take a listen to the following example, to see how the result from this exercise will turn out.!
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As I have written before, please don’t treat your orchestra as a keyboard, as it will result in a highly unnatural sound. This is the number one thing I want you to keep in mind while voicing harmonic material. Listen to those two examples, and notice the difference.!
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See how the first one sounds quite unnatural, feeling like somebody is just playing chords with a string patch on a keyboard? Do you notice how the other one actually sounds more like a real string section playing? How do you achieve this?! These tips goes back to the era of the composers like Bach, as they developed rules for good 4 part voicing. I am not a huge fan of being bound to strict rules, but I have to admit that these rules might make your harmonic material a whole lot better. Let’s get started.! Okay, the string section is divided into 5 instrument groups, Violin 1 and 2, Violas, Cellos and Contrabasses. As this is tips for 4 part voicing, we will just use the cellos to double the contrabasses (root note) in the chords. So now, we have 4 different voices, ready to play 4 separate melodies, together creating a beautiful chord progression. After reading my chord voicing article, you should know how to properly voice a chord. In this example, we will work with the Am – F – C – G, progression. Therefore, what I want you to do first, is to just voice a A minor (A,C,E) chord for the strings (4 voices).!
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Here are the chord progression for the piano. What we want to do, is to voice this for 4 string voices. First, start out voicing the first A-minor chord using the tips from the chord voicing article. When you have done this, you are ready to proceed.!
! Now, some general guidelines when voicing harmonic material:! !
1. Make each voice move as little as possible to the next chord! 2. Avoid parallel fifths and octaves! 3. Keep the voicing spaced in the lower end, and closed in the upper end.! 4. Be aware of proper doubling (Double the root first, then the fifth, and then the third)!
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Now, let’s look at some examples:! This is an example of bad voicing, where the string section is used as a piano.!
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See how every voice is moving in a parallel direction, just as the piano version above? This will sound like somebody playing chords on a keyboard with a string patch, and not 4 individual string voices. Therefore, you should avoid parallel fifths and octaves (thirds and sixths are fine) when voicing.!
You also see how the different voices jump around to the next note up and down. As a rule of thumb, each voice should go the closest way to the next note, making it easier to play, and more interesting to listen to.!
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! Now, let’s have a look at how you rather should voice this chord progression:!
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Here you can see how each voice are moving in various direction, therefore avoiding the keyboard chord-feel. They are also moving just one step each time, to the closest note in the next chord. Try to sing each voice, and see how natural it feels. Each voice is natural to sing and play, and they are all different, making them feel like individual melodies.! So now, look back the rules I mentioned above, and see how they are used here.!
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I have made each voice move as little as possible to the next chord, as they are all moving just one step each time.! I have avoided parallel fifths and octaves, which makes each voice feel like an individual part, and not a part of a chord being moved around.!
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To end this tutorial, let us look at how the notes in the chords above are doubled throughout the progression. See how the doubling in each chord is good throughout the progression?!
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So, to sum all this up:! Avoid getting the keyboard chord-playing feeling by making each voice move individually. Make each voice move to the closest note in the next chord. Remember to maintain a proper chord voicing in each chord in the progression.! Now, just add a melody, and you are good to go!!
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Useful Links! www.composingsecrets.com ! www.arnandersson.com! www.youtube.com/user/ArnAndersson! www.facebook.com/arnofficial! www.filmandgamecomposers.com ! www.howtolicenseyourmusic.com! www.vsl.com ! www.soundsonline.com! www.8dio.com! Contact Email: [email protected] [email protected]
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