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Composing / Arranging / Songwriting

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    Creative Sound Design For Music | Media

    Tips & Techniques

    Audio files to accompany the article.

    Techniques Jul 2011
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    Cartoon Composing

    Scoring An Animated Series

    Composing for an animated series presents a different set of challenges to scoring for film or conventional TV. We look at what it takes to be a cartoon composer...

    Techniques Jan 2009
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    Library Work

    Introduction To Production Music: Part 2

    Last month, we explained how the business of production music works. But if you want to get into it, you'll need to learn how to make stings, cut-downs and the other elements of a usable library track.

    Techniques Mar 2008
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    Great String Parts On A Budget

    ...And In A Hurry!

    Whether you're recording real players or using samples, our in-depth guide is your key to polished and authentic-sounding strings.

    Techniques Mar 2008
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    An Introduction To 'Production Music'

    Composer Pete Thomas

    The business of TV and film is changing fast, and production or library music is becoming ever more important. One of the UK's most experienced production music composers explains how to get your foot in the door.

    Techniques Feb 2008
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    Making A Living From Music For Picture: Part 8

    Being Creative Under Pressure

    In music-for-picture work, there's never enough time to do what you'd ideally like to. We look at what it's like producing music under pressure.

    Techniques Jul 2006
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    Making A Living From Music For Picture: Part 7

    How To Cope With Revisions

    What happens when the Director whose work you're scoring isn't satisfied, or demands changes due to events beyond your control? We find out, and also look at writing music for film trailers.

    Techniques Jun 2006
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    Making A Living From Music For Picture: Part 6

    Completed Orchestrations

    We look at the completed orchestrations for the film project introduced last month, and begin to consider the problem of what to do when a director demands revisions to your work...

    Techniques May 2006
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    Making A Living From Music For Picture: Part 5

    You Got The Commission — Now What?

    So, you've been commissioned to write the score for something. What should you do next? We provide some suggestions, with real-world scoring examples for you to download and try.

    Techniques Apr 2006
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    Making A Living From Music For Picture: Part 4

    How To Make A Pitch

    Success! You've been invited to pitch for a job. Surely that Hollywood career now beckons? Well, no... This is just a pitch — there are others competing for the job. We look at how to maximise your chances of winning the commission...

    Techniques Mar 2006
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    Making A Living From Music For Picture: Part 3

    Essential Gear

    The perfect project studio doesn't exist, as everyone has different working methods — and so it is with equipment for creating music for picture. However, there are some fundamental bits of gear you will need. We provide some guidance...

    Techniques Feb 2006
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    Making A Living From Music For Picture: Part 2

    Creating Your Showreel

    If you're ever going to make it in this game, you need a calling card, a way of impressing potential clients with your musical ability — you need a showreel. We explain what to do to create one...

    Techniques Jan 2006
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    Making A Living From Music For Picture: Part 1

    Getting A Break

    Writing music for picture seems like the ideal career. You get to work in your studio for a living, you can earn good money, and there's so much potential work: action films, travel and nature documentaries, romantic comedies, cartoons, low-budget sci-fi, even breakfast cereal ads. But how do you break into this lucrative world?

    Techniques Dec 2005
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    Q. How do I get back to making music?

    I've spent years dabbling with studio technology, but when get a few spare minutes to actually sit down and create music, I seem to be devoid of inspiration. Can you offer advice?

    Sound Advice Oct 2005
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    Composing Theme Music For Royal Gardeners

    TV Theme Music

    Is writing TV show theme music as easy as it might seem? To find out, we follow the progress of David Lowe and Paul White's music for a recent BBC series on gardeners.

    Techniques Mar 2004
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    Q. How can I find out if my melody has been used before?

    I have a melody which I'm absolutely sure I made up when I was a kid and I want to use it in a composition I am working on. However, the things kids make up can be 'derivative', and I need to confirm that I hadn't heard it before. Do you know of any melody databases that could help me find out?

    Sound Advice Jan 2004
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    Q. What does diatonic mean?

    I know that the white keys on a keyboard form a diatonic scale, but what does diatonic really mean?...

    Sound Advice Sep 2003
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    Composing For Video Games

    Jack Wall

    Jack Wall is a leading light in the video game soundtrack industry, where his credits include the latest chapter in the best-selling Myst series of computer games.

    Techniques Feb 2003
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    Uniting Music & Film

    The Ballet Mécanique

    Not content with reviving and staging a 1920s avant-garde work for the first time, Paul D. Lehrman also worked out a way to reunite the piece with its contemporary film, which was never used due to technical problems. This is how...

    Techniques Sep 2002
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    Hit Factors

    The Link Between Music & Emotional Response

    Do hit songs have a hidden ingredient that makes them successful by appealing directly to our emotions? It's a question that musicians and scientists have sought the answer to for many decades. Acoustic researcher Ernest Cholakis has a new take on the theory...

    Techniques May 2002
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    Orchestral Music For Computer Games

    Richard Jacques & Matt Howe: Headhunter

    Abbey Road's famous Studio One has played host to innumerable big-budget orchestral recordings for film, but the final session before its refurbishment in 2001 saw it being used for a new purpose: to record the soundtrack for a video game.

    Techniques Mar 2002

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