@@DarwinIsInCharge I 2nd that 100% This is honestly one of the best, most well intention-ed, "tutorials" I've ever watched. Kinda like you can give a man a fish and he can feed for a day, but give him the tools to learn how do full score reductions and he'll stop being shit... or something along those lines. Super empowering stuff. Either way I'm making a FSR of Beethoven's 9th atm due to the inspiration from this so THANK YOU!!! :)
@@TomMAF4 Tom I sincerely appreciate your words as its a lot of work (and thinking)! The next one is 3-4 days away from being finished - thanks for your support.
I've been looking for information about this precise topic for SO LONG. I can't thank you enough for uploading this video! I already study from scores from years but this really cleared my mind about the "big picture" of it. Thanks, thanks, thanks!
I played your orchestration of "Beauty and the Beast" in a life-to-film concert last year and I really enjoyed it a lot! Great work and great lesson too! Thank you!
STUDY METHODS 1) General Score Study (with comparative listening) 1:28 2) Piano Reduction Study 11:29 3) Piano Expansion Comparison Study 13:59 4) Presentation Study 17:05 5) Live Study - 23:12
This was a hidden gem! I am glad I stumbled upon this video. To the point and clear!! Thank you for your service. And I loved the sample of your piece, what is the name of that track ? It reminded me of my favorite Gershwin moments
Excellent video. Confirms many of my own observations in score study. IMSLP is a godsend for those of you who don't know about it. One thing that always strikes me as odd when listening to different versions of the same piece is the panning of the brass. Each brass section is sometimes in a wildly different location on the stage (or in the mix). Anyone have any insight into that? Is it dependent on the venue/soundstage/orchestra/conductor's preference ... all of the above?
Another Great video Mike ! As a jazz pianist/NHL organist and composer myself, I find your insight especially valuable, because it is cinematic-scoring oriented. How to achieve "that" specific sound. I like the selections you choose, especially originating from somehow neglected Italian opera scores. But that's exactly what early Hollywood masters studied themselves ! Opera scores for balance and color. I use tons of sample libraries, (including almost all CineSamples products) for my orchestral mockups. I'm looking forward to perhaps expanding your orchestral insight into scoring a particular piece with sample libraries, and pointing out what they CAN do, and what is somehow hard to achieve without live players. I'm tempted to devote time and energy (after my NHL season is over) to record entire score, either by Lili Boulanger or Ravel, all with sample libraries. I'll keep you posted...
awesome i’m rooting for tampa bay as a rangers fan so we can get your first round draft pick instead of the second - and you have half our team - that’s awesome !
7:30 sometimes you want that rough coordination. If you wrote it like they end up playing it, that would be insane. I think I like that effect in the right place.
Wonderful video! An other very good resource Michael! What's the name of your piece? Its "hollywood sound" is fantastic! Can I find it on Spotify /RU-vid?
I think the subject of score study is vastly underappreciated. Too often many people say "Judt score study". I mean sure I can read the music but don't get any knowledge out of it.
Great, informative and inspiring video! :-) Please, upload some similar tips. It's great that you combine composition and orchestration with conducting, playing live and recording situations.
Expanding on my earlier comment : which other classical scores would you suggest to study for achieving that “cinematic style and approach” ? In addition of course to the “obvious ones” that everyone already knows: The Planets, Pictures at an Exhibition, The Nutcracker etc. The thing is : “action music” style has been pretty much well covered in countless mockups, sample libraries analysis all over the internet. I like the “other styles” you suggested in your great video : romantic, melancholic and most of all, perhaps the hardest : the comedy. Yes ! The comedy. Which classical scores are good, valuable sources for that “instant memory recall” if one’s faced with comedy scoring assignment ? Pizzicatos, glisses, quirky melodies- but not necessarily “Mickey-Mousing” sounds and licks...
I really like Rachmaninoff Vespers, Fantasia on Thomas Tallis; Rachmaninoff Symphony 2, Shostakovich 11, Shostakovich Piano Concerto 2, West Side Story Symphonic Dances, Gershwin American in Paris for some pieces you may find film sections in.
What a insightful video!!!! Thanks so much!!!!! One question, at 16:09, what are the strings and horns libraries used in the recording?? Are they from cinesamples?? They sound really good together.
@@DarwinIsInCharge Absolutely yes ! There are many things that would be so hard, and almost next to impossible to fully achieve with just sample libraries. I love your composition and how you choose colors in the orchestra. Excellent example of going from piano to orch...
@DarwinIsInCharge PLEASE, if we can have the score whether it’s just the one page or more, or your own composition example, it would mean everything :) 🙏
I’ve been figuring this dilemma out as well... I assume just doing the techniques, piano reductions etc. of “core pieces” (such as The nutcracker suite, the planets by Gustavo holst, la mer by Debussy, firebird by Stravinsky, etc.) will ultimately develop your fundamental understandings. As well as composing on Own... trail and error with feedback 🙏
Nice video, but again I always feel like all these videos on youtube give people the illusion/hope they will actually learn something in a few minutes they can then use to write like a classically trained musician. It is absolutely false. Writing and orchestrating like a John Williams for example takes decades to master. At the bare minimum, if you already read music fluently, you will need to dedicate at least 5 years of your life to harmony and four-part writing which is the basis of classical composition, and then give another 5 years to orchestration. And that is if your gifted... Mind you I am not saying you cannot screw around with all the awesome sound libraries now available and make cool music. You might even make it big in the industry, after all Hans Zimmer knows very little about music and has made with his team great soundtracks and millions of dollars. But again if we are talking about J.Williams level composers, Jerry Goldsmith, Bernard Herrmann, John Barry, Sergio Leon, all this guys were classically trained for many years before being able to write anything worthwhile.
This is more "give a man a fish and you've fed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you've fed him for a lifetime." The 10,000 hours rule still applies.
I've liked the video itself, but I must register my strong protest against "to classical score study" as a verb! Why not entitle the video "How to study classical scores from the perspective of a film composer"?
