Take a look at our Syllabus

PART ONE – Chordal State Lecture

Chordal States – constantly change based on harmony, melody, and film emotion
- Grounded state versus Ungrounded state.
  - Grounded states and examples
  - Ungrounded states examples including altered tone degrees or dissonance.
- Tools to use in between Grounded and Ungrounded, when you don’t know what the emotion will be:
  - Lydian Mode “chord” – Root + Major Third + Flatted 5^th
  - Augmented triad example
  - Suspended triad
  - Intervallic triad
- Spotify Listening – Film Score Intensive 1 playlist.
- Homework Session – Thor Love & Thunder cue

PART TWO – Spotting, Dialog, Scoring Devices

Questions to ask at a Spotting Session
Writing around dialogue
Musical Devices – Key, Mode, Register, Tempo, Density, etc
Review Michael’s Thor cue – introduction to the review process

PART ONE – Animated Scoring and intro to Harmonic textures

Review of students’ Thor cue
Monophonic Orchestration Style (#1) from George Frederick McKay’s Creative Orchestration – 8 Orchestra Textures
- Can be a solo instrument, doubled in octaves, or unison at same register with different instruments.

Homework – Sonic the Hedgehog cue

PART TWO

Review of students’ Thor cue

PART ONE – Expanded Harmony and intro to comedy writing

Chordal Harmony (#2) and Onomatopoeia (#8) Orchestration Style
- Chordal Harmony – melody is supported by chords, without countermelody or conter-rhythm, in its entirety.
- Onomatopoeia – music sounds like its subject – any musical device you can think of.
Review of students’ Sonic cue
Kids’ Music and Comedy – Types of writing – bumper-based shows, rock/pop, cheesy and sparse, short stings or reactionary scoring, electronic/EDM, classic lo-fi, instrumentation, etc.

Homework – Little Margo cue

PART TWO – THURSDAY-SCI FI Music, Chromatic Expansion and Hans Zimmer Music

Review of students’ Sonic cue
“How DUNE Composer Hans Zimmer created the Oscar-winning score l Vanity Fair” YouTube video
Review of students’ Little Margo cue

PART ONE – Chromatic expansion, polyphonic texture, Sound design drones

Polyphonic Writing, Orchestration Style – consists of two or more simultaneous melodic lines. Similar to fugues or counterpoint. Maybe side by side to start, then together.
Spotify listening playlist – Polyphonic Harmony
Chromatic Expansion – Take the top voice and go up chromatically while chords change underneath.
Review students’ Little Margo cue
Making a Drone using a Synth Plugin
Homework – Mandalorian cue

PART TWO – Live Scoring “star Wars” Speed Writing

LIVE Scoring session – Star Wars Carbonite – spotting and scoring
Loopback sample setup

PART ONE – Modulations, secondary harmonic dominants, James Bond Music(SPY)

“Kobe Bryant’s Greatest Speech – BEST Motivation Ever” YouTube video
Review of students’ Mandalorian cue
Secondary Harmonic Dominants (teoria.com) – method of prolongation of the chordal structure and movement to another chord or key, including false cadences.
Spotting session – Golden Eye cue
Spotify playlist – Bond Music – Spy music – review instrument palette and playing styles.

WEEK 5 PART TWO – Templates Intro including libraries, MIDI CC

“John Barry and David Arnold – The Music of James Bond” YouTube video – music review
MIDI CC’s – 1, 7, & 11 – how to get a quick and dynamic response from brass and strings.
Michael shares a look at his Template and favorite Libraries.

PART ONE – James Newton Howard, Trailer music,

“The Pretty Woman soundtrack changed my career / James Howard Newton on Composing” YouTube review.
Review of students’ Golden Eye cue
Trailer & Promo Music – both part of music library music
- Promo – Station promotes a new show or episode coming up
- Trailer – written in shorter sections, not a lot of modulation or melody, with editable hit points, ostinato, swells, etc.
- Spotting session – Joker Trailer cue

PART TWO – Guest in depth dive of Vienna Ensemble and Midi mapping/articulations

Guest teacher Steve Steele – Creating Articulation Maps, Vienna Ensemble Pro, Babylon Waves Art Conductor, MIDI CC’s, creating a workflow and Aux’s in your Template in detail.

PART 1 – Sound Design,Reharm progressions, Motifs and themes

Sound Design – anything non-orchestral or non-band oriented
- Best chance of success in trailer music if you are good at sound design – more important than how good you are at orchestral music.
Spotify listening playlist – Sound Design
Incorporating Sound Design alongside Orchestral music in trailers, so you can hardly tell which is which. Strings and Synths made to sound like one thing – together.
Review of students’ Joker Trailer cue
Spotting session – Star Wars Return of the Jedi cue.

PART 2 – Reharm discussion including John Williams, Hybrid Brass

Reharmonization – cool chord progressions
- vi-IV-II is a very powerful one, cinematic, gets you out of one key
- vi-IV-VII keeps building and overcoming.
- Variations: I-iv6-II Great for REVEALS with the last chord
Hybrid String-Synth and Brass-Synth creation
- How to make a Hybrid Synth & Orchestral String instrument from scratch, including many FX plugins
Star Wars Theme Reharmonization ideas

PART 1 – SATB Scoring, Homophonic textures, Musicals

Homophonic Texture orchestration style – Melody with texture of chords underneath. SATB
Review of students’ Star Wars Return of the Jedi cue.
Homework – Lion King cue

PART 2 – Live Satb Scoring, Voice Leading In Film Scores

Review of students’ Star Wars Return of the Jedi cue.
LIVE Scoring – SATB
“How to Get From Chord to Chord – Voice Leading Music Theory by Odd Quartet” YouTube video review
“The Orchestration Method that ALWAYS Works by Ryan Leach” YouTube video review.

PART ONE – ADVENTURE MUSIC, Advanced Orchestral Devices

Flying and Adventure music – instrumentation and characteristics
Review of students’ Lion King cue
Homework – Jurassic Park cue
Orchestral Devices
- Bi-tonal division – ability to superimpose other modes over/under your melody
- Metric Modulation
- Elongation
- Melodic Counters
- Register Division
Analysis of 1 minute of John Williams’ Jurassic Park Conductor’s score

PART 2 – Music Business Part 1, Music Libraries, Brand Development

Review of students’ Lion King cue
Analysis of Jurassic Journey to the Island
Music Business – Pitching to Music Libraries – What to Do
- Creating your own catalog, brand and unique perspective.
- Write a few paragraphs about your “Brand”.

PART ONE – Westerns And Their Traditional Orchestral Devices

Review of students’ Jurassic Park cue
Western Music review – instrumentation, characteristics, etc
- Western Sub-Styles –
  - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
  - Aaron Copland Heroic style, such as Billy the Kid
- Spotify listening playlist – Westerns FSS
- Spotting session – Butch Cassidy cue
Review of Western music sample libraries

PART TWO – Writing Transitions, Vertical And Horizontal Compositional Syles

Review students’ Jurassic Park cue
Transitions in compositional scoring
- Trumpet Transition sample
- Displaced Entry Transition
- Major 7 on the V chord Transition
- Rhythmic Displacement Transition

PART ONE – Orchestral Reductions, Holst Analysis And Uses

Review students’ Butch Cassidy cue
20^th Century Orchestration Style –
- Holst: The Planets listening and review instrumentation and characteristics
Analyze “Mercury, The Winged Messenger” section from The Planets, and do a Score Reduction.
- Dovetailing – when you move the melody or something up and down in register and section of the orchestra.
- Major Tetrachords
- Staggered triads in the Harp
“The Planets: Mercury, the Winged Messenger Score Reduction and Analysis” YouTube video
HOMEWORK – Spiderman cue

PART TWO – Invervalic Writing,in Class Score

Review students’ Butch Cassidy cue
Intervalic writing style (from Paraschetti book on 20^th Century writing) – can be used under dialogue and can also be a way to transition between tension and release. The point is to create tension under the score without key and mode. Move by chord or by single notes. Every interval in a melody has an emotion. Review each one.
- Two levels to Intervallic writing – Melody and Harmonization

LIVE scoring – write a melody with 2 woodwinds, with 4 changes in the melody, 4 intervals. Harmonize with another instrument underneath. Note change in emotion.

PART ONE – Hybrid Scoring Intro

Review students’ Spiderman cue
Hybrid Sound Design Music inspired by Songs
How to make a Pulse from scratch, including FX plugins
- Favorite plugins and libraries
Spotting session – The Matrix lobby shootout cue
Spotify listening playlist – Hybrid Scoring

PART TWO – Advanced Sound Design And Project Pitch Creation

Review students’ Spiderman cue
Stylus RMX and REX files
Audio Mangling tools and favorite plugins
LIVE scoring – Record something audio, chip it up, reverse, delays, distortion, glitches, etc. Make an instrument out of it.

PART ONE – Music Of Jerry Goldsmith, Sci Fi, Horror Music

Review students’ The Matrix cue
Horror music – instrumentation and characteristics, sample libraries
Alien soundtrack by Jerry Goldsmith analysis
Spotify listening playlist – Week 4 FSS Horror
Spotting session – Prey (Predator 7) Final Battle Predator vs Naru Fight Scene cue

PART TWO – Mixing Part One

Review students’ The Matrix cue
Mixing – Thing in Frequency Ranges. Group tracks by frequency
- How to treat Tracks and Stems
  - EQ can be built into your Template. Every project may be different, though.
  - Make a Bus/Aux Track for each plugin effect.
- Compression, Reverb, EQ etc. concepts and products
- How to Set Up a Master Bus

PART ONE – Atonal Music

Review students’ Prey cue
Atonal music style – instruments, characteristics, sample libraries
- Uses shapes and colors outside key and mode.
- Doesn’t have to be dissonant all the time.
- Nebulous emotional center
  - Two ways to increase emotional intensity – speeding up or down, crescendo/decrescendo
  - Homogenous instruments or Non-Homogenous instruments
- Spotting session – Mizimono cue (Hannibal season finale)
- Spotify listening playlist – Atonal Class Music
- Ideas for Scoring Atonal Music
  - 12-tone system of writing
  - Use Intervals in dissonant shapes
  - Alternate mild consonant interval to a more dissonant interval in succession
  - Clusters

PART TWO – Switching States And Emotions Rapidly, Midi Mockup

Review students’ Prey cue
LIVE Scoring – Atonal to Tonal – Grounded to Ungrounded
How to Record Initial Volumes into MIDI Instrument Tracks (and Gainstaging)
- Adjusting CC’s on instruments, stems, leaving headroom on the master bus

PART ONE – Team Scoring Week, Bernard Hermann

Spotify listening playlist – Film Score History – Bernhard Herman, Vertigo & Psycho film scores
Review students’ Mizimono cue
Working with a Team – Work in pairs remotely to write Great Wolf Lodge cue.
- Some of the best film score composers today have teams – Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams, etc.
- Who will write what? Style? Tempo? Key? Who will do the Deliverables to submit to Producer?
HOMEWORK – Great Wolf Lodge cue

PART TWO – Stacks And Ensemble Writing, Master Business Planning

Review students’ Mizimono cue
LIVE Scoring – Make an Instrument by Stacking instruments – Omnisphere is great for this. Trailer music and music library work, and Pop – these will require that you bring something new to the table. Can turn them into Risers, resample them, add FX plugins, etc.
Write a Master Plan – Don’t be on the No Plan Plan. Make a list of people, organizations, events, etc that you can access to promote yourself and make connections and relationships.

PART ONE – Computer Technology, Romantic Comedies

Computer configuration – Tech spec discussion regarding requirements for a good computer or network – size, speed, etc.
Review students’ Great Wolf Lodge TEAM cue
Romantic & Romantic Comedy music –
- Instruments, writing styles, sample libraries
- Woodwinds feature heavily, Pizzicato, Lydian mode, mallets, not super heavily orchestrated, etc
Write a Romantic Theme for violin. Deliver a chart for just the violin part. Send audio of orchestration or accompaniment with separate click track. Next week, we’ll have a live violinist in the studio to play and record your theme.
Spotify listening playlist – Romantic Comedy Score review
HOMEWORK – Titanic cue

THURSDAY – LIVE RECORDING IN CLASS WITH STRING PLAYER

PART ONE – Sync Music,promo Music, Hits Slams, Drums

Review students’ Titanic cue
Sync Music – Different styles, musical beds, used before TV shows, announcing new series/episodes, in movie trailers.
- Definite format to this style
- Big drum sounds
- Editable hit points
- Original music or Soundalikes
How to get your music in front of the right people. Who are the right people? How does the business of Sync music work?
Spotify listening playlist – PROMO Music/Sync playlist.
HOMEWORK – Back to the Future cue

PART TWO – Trailer Music<,music Pitch Part Two

Review students’ Titanic cue
LIVE Scoring – Trailer ending sample (last 15 seconds)
- BIG ending, fast and frantic
- Rise, Post Hit, then a sparkly thing at the end
Samples Libraries good for Trailer sounds

PART ONE – Video Game Music And Industry

Video Game Music – Non-linear, think in “blocks” of music
- Must loop right at the zero point and create a tiny fade at the front and the end. Snap to Zero Crossings.
- Emotional Mapping
- Vertical Resequencing, Horizontal Resequencing
- Cross Fading
- Transitions
- Middleware – Game Audio Engine
Spotify listening playlist – Video Game Music Mix
Spotting session – Video game cue “sections”. Deliver loopable audio regions for selected parts of the game.
Review students’ Back to the Future cue

PART TWO – Advanced Chordal And Tectural Scoring Techniques

Review students’ Bank to the Future cue
LIVE Scoring – Leading Shapes, Whole Tone Scale – Go from Lydian shape to resolution, which needs to modulate somewhere else. Use Leading or Common Tone resolutions style.
Leading Shapes, Whole Tone Scale – very useful if someone comes to a new place, or if there are mixed emotions.
- Two whole tone scales – one starting on C and one starting on C#. Triads are all Augmented triads. Lots of Lydian Shapes in the Whole Tone Scale.
- Leading Resolution
- Common Tone Resolution
- Alternate Root Notes

PART ONE – Mixing And Mastering

How the Video Game music business works – special events, etc
Review students’ Video Game loops
Mixing & Mastering Considerations –
- Think front to back – far to close
- Where to put reverb plugin in the signal chain
- Frequency Masking
- Drum sample mixing
HOMEWORK – Toy Story cue
Students screenshare live and “show and tell” their mixing workflow for the Toy Story cue. Have DAW open to show us.

PART TWO – Guest Composer

Guest composer Gigi Meroni Animation music specialist.
- References for music given by Producers.
- Are most of your episodes shorter these days?
- Do you get writer’s block?
- What are some good ways to try to get work when you’re just starting out?
Mixing Drums – Split them out and mix separately – LOTS of detail regarding drum positioning, panning, bleed, overhead mics, EQ ranges for each drum type, etc.

PART ONE – Personal Plan, Business Development, Final Full Episode

Review students’ Toy Story cue and DAW Mixing/Mastering workflow
HOMEWORK – Wolf Lodge FINAL 24-minute episode cue
- Theme for each character
ScoreCraft Academy Post Class Action Plan review
20 questions to answer in detail about what concrete things you will do within different timeframes to get you further along in your composing career

PART TWO – Speed Write

Review students’ Toy Story cue and DAW Mixing/Mastering workflow
LIVE Scoring – Speed & Accuracy – How far have you come?
- Section vs Section of Orchestra contrast. Write one complete section of the orchestra by itself, not across sections, and write it into another section of the orchestra.

PART ONE – Synthesis

“Analog Synths Explained” from Groove 3 video by Scott Dugan
- Oscillators, Filters, Envelope Generator, Attack/Decay/Sustain/Release ADSR, Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO’s)
Favorite analog synth plugins and hardware.

PART TWO – Getting Paid, deliverables, Live Sound Design Session

Music Library Business format and payment process, royalties & publishing
LIVE Scoring – Sound Design Synthesis – Learn to use an LFO. Write a 20 second Intro to a trailer.
Omnisphere’s LFO – How to assign and use LFO’s

PART ONE – Brand Development, director Producer Interviews

What is your BRAND? It’s more than just music. It’s your journey. Document your journey, and share it! Do it in a way that will inspire people.
What will you bring to a project?
Why am I right for the project?
Michael interviews each student with the questions above.
Important concepts to convey to potential project managers –
- I’m an expert, not a jerk about it.
- I have a passion for music.
- I have a passion for the project.

PART TWO – Personal Development, Score Reductions

Conductor’s Score Reductions review
- Scherzo for Motorcycle and Orchestra score reduction and analysis Indiana Jones (NMK Music)
- Finlandia score reduction and analysis (NMK Music)
Uncommon Sense for Creative People – Whitty-isms
Submit “My Strengths and Weaknesses” paragraphs to Michael. Notice how they may have changed since the beginning of the class.

Final Wrap

No Zoom – just hanging together.
“Alan Silvestri breaks down the composing workflow behind his blockbuster scores” (by Native Instruments) video
“Watch this every day and change your life – Denzel Washington Motivational Speech 2023” by AlexKaltsMotivation video
Final

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