Composing for Strings (Part 1) - Studio Time: S2E1
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- čas přidán 6. 04. 2017
- In this episode, I discuss how I wrote a key theme for the film "Brimstone". I'll explore the melody, how I transcribed it for strings, some notes on harmony, and finally show you the final result with the recorded orchestra. I'll also discuss the various plug-ins I use.
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In case you missed it, you can revisit Season 1 here:
• STUDIO TIME: SEASON 1 - Hudba
So while watching this, around 16:40, I sneezed, Mr Junkie XL said “bless you”, I then freaked out and paused the video and literally went crazy. I played it again and found out that his assistant sneezed at the same time I did 😂😂
and then you realized that ....You were actually is assistant ! *Inception horns.mp3 plays*
@@MRGI0RGI0 .mp3 was intentional? :p
@@VAIBHAVSINGHMUSIC absolutely!
We live in the matrix!!!
Oh the spaghetti
We living in good times man. Could you have imagined like 10 years ago, an actual successful working composer bringing out free tutorials like this. Should never take this stuff for granted. Thank you Junkie XL!!
Wtf is your problem Stones Jones? He was thanking Junkie XL for giving such a insightful tutorial out for free. The Hans Zimmer masterclass costs like 100$/€. So yes Junkie XL could ask money for these tutorials, but he doesnt.
Troy Picasso amen to that
If the FCC gets what they want, this will not be free too much longer. I do not take this for granted.
Troy Picasso amen
Fuckin A man. Junkie XL is truly an inspiration. I very much believe that these tutorials will fuel the next generation of film composers that never would have had these kind of resources... I watched Hans' masterclass, it wasn't bad. but it pales in comparison to the depth that Junkie brings in his youtube library. What a time to be alive.
Wonderful. The words "...when you write for strings you should write melody lines, don't write chord patches..." should be written above every orchestration tutorial on CZcams.
Noted🤗
Could you be a little more detailed here? I've seen people writing multiple voices on individual string sections quite often. Do you guys mean, that the section cannot play more than one voice at a time, or is it just unrealistic sounding mock-up?
@@Medievil7 if you want your arrangement to be played by a real orchestra or ensemble, you can either write one voice for each individual section, or you can do what is called « divisi » which is traditionally done on the violin section but can be done on any section. It just splits the players between several melodic lines within the same section. But if you are writing on software you can do whatever you like. But i think the debate here was more on the individual melody lines that come together to form the harmony: they should all sound like some kind of melody on their own opposed to just being chord tones that come together as a block.
@@smiley122688 Okey! But when writing on software, on a section, you can't really divide the players. I was wondering how many composers do write more voices on individual sections, when trying to achieve the most realistic orchestral mock-up...
@@Medievil7 i use a library called BBC symphony orchestra from spitfire audio where the violins are split into Violins 1 and 2 so i can write 5 parts harmony for strings which is more than enough i think. Another thing i’ve seen composers do is to write everything on one patch and then manually arrange each voice on every section. If you want the most accurate and realistic sound i guess you should write one voice on each section as otherwise it would sound like you have twice more players in that section when you add a second voice!
He's a very busy man. So giving us these lengthy videos in order to share his knowledge and experience to us is really generous of him. Thank you, Mr. Tom.
I am truly curious who dislikes a video like this. This guy is taking time out of his day, and FOR FREE putting up a video online to help us out. Haha. There are some interesting people out there.
I second that. You give them fist they take your whole arm if you dig me... cccc some people
True that! I truly think this would TOTALLY worth a masterclass series like Hans Zimmer did.
Dislike everything & everyone is the new century job
Batman v Superman haters probably. Was thinking the same thing in all seriousness. Let's just agree they're not worth anyone's time.
they dislike because of jealousy
This is what the Hans Zimmer Masterclass course should've been like
YES! Hanz did more talking than actually showing techniques and such.
I've actually loved Hans' Masterclass. For me his class been about inspiration, approach, logic, collaborative relationships and creativity (to name a few elements). I love Tom's videos as well! Together, they represent a true Masterclass indeed.
No one wants people like you here.
I enjoyed Has' class but I too was a little disappointed it wasn't more in depth
I know how you feel man but everything is relative, are different kind of teachings, i do learned a lot from Hanz course tho, but this Toms tutorial is priceless!
Really wish I had discovered this before paying USD $90 for Hans Zimmer's 8-hour long interview on Materclass...
Pat Tremblay how it was ? was Masterclass worth it ??
In my opinion, it's not worth it. While it was very interesting to get inside Hans' world and get to know him better, there wasn't anything in there that resembles what Tom is doing in this series.
I signed up for that Masterclass looking for straight forward how-to's, tutorials, etc. and Hans' course is much broader, more ideological, borderline philosophical. It's very inspiring, but I would much rather have paid $90 USD for a course like Tom's.
no
Yeah I almost shat my pants when I saw theres gonna be a Zimmer masterclass. Glad I never actually bought it... I have also heard that its not really Hans doing the tunes, its people like Junkie XL who do the techincal stuff and Hans is just the mastermind behind the compositions. Like giving the ideas to other people...
Pat Flanigan Yeah Im with you on that one. I really dont need help in finding inspiration and ideas etc. What I really need is someone teaching me how to orchestrate etc.
I still visit these videos. I've composed a lot since 2017 and each time I come back the information means something different. The content is so motivating.
Absolutely wonderful and generous of you to share your valuable time, knowledge, enthusiasm and to tell the detailed story of how you work. And all for Free. Legendary. Thanks so very much Tom.
This is gold. Thanks so much for sharing your creative process for us young composers!
The most comprehensive tutorial I've seen. Great teaching style for all abilities. More of these please.
Wow wow, how the live orchestra at the end just made that 10x more emotional, incredible and powerful. What a transformation. May we always continue to have live musicians and players, and hope the day of fully digital never comes.
When I first starting watching this channel my first reaction was cynical and snarky. Who is this.. the Elvis remix guy? What's he going to teach me about film scoring?
But because Tom is not classically trained and probably self taught, he's kind of one of us. Or me at least. That's why his videos are good. He doesn't patronize. And as mentioned by others, his enthusiasm and generosity just make this gold.
Awesome material here.. very well done for the walk-through too.. so great to hear it from the first seeds right through to live recording. The fact you invest so much time into these videos, and with such transparency on your process and methods is inspiring Tom. Very grateful, and now itching to see the next one!
wild you look like my old choir teacher who taught me a lot about choir building. I was bass singer in the choir and learned a lot about harmonies i was in the choir for 8 years. that only took 20 years to and my own music studio and now I've forgotten it all,but watching your videos and it all comes back again, love the way you compose it goes right into my heart.
I truly appreciate it when a very talented musician with lots of useful and insightful information takes his time to post stuff like this on CZcams... good stuff
I found this quite helpful and very enjoyable to watch! Junkie XL is the man!!
I just wanted to say that I really apprechiate these kind of videos and seeing a good composer explaining his thoughts is really inspiring and helpful.
Thank you :3
a GOOD ? composer. How underwhelming your characterization of this MASTER composer! Check out his London Suite in C Major - that is a work of genius. Period. Thanks Tom for generously sharing your process with us. We are very fortunate that you are taking the time to do this.
Incredible video. My god. I was just going through some old projects and stumbled across one that was string oriented but done real rushed and sloppy, with amateur mixing. I produce hip hop and trap, so I stepped away from music scoring but I always loved my string sections. So I remastered this old track with my new repertoire of skills and redeemed this old track. I went all in, spent about 3.5 hours or more just meddling with the volume, expression, velocity and it came out just so beautiful. I felt something was missing, so I went on CZcams, found this video and discovered I had 99% nailed it. Self taught over many years, but then I discovered one simple thing in this video, that second volume parameter you utilize. It clicked, and I applied this to the track I mentioned and I fell in love with string sections again ;)
Thank you. I was getting sick of trap.
I'm so grateful to you for taking the time to share your process with us. This is so helpful. Thanks Tom
Thank you for sharing your experience.
it's priceless
Like a magician revealing the secrets of his magic tricks!
"Beauty Never Fades" is always with me on my little player, and Mad Max music too, yet from the moment i saw your studio i just can't wait for golden ticket lottery to your "Chocolate Factory". Probably only people like Armin van Buuren have a chance to win one, but even watching him to be amazed and see his reaction was delightful.
From dance music, to movie scores, to teaching.
Can't give more than that.
Thank you Master :)
Still one of the best insights and records of how J works and how this lovely piece of music where built, from the ground up. I think this is the fifth time I see it, and it still gets me going - into the studio and into some rabbit hole of melodies and arrangements. Great work J!
The enthusiasm just draws you into this piece. Love the insight into the studio. Thanks again and roll on episode 2.
This was the first video of Tom's studio time that I've watched a year ago or so. Now I'm coming back to it and it's incredible. How much my perception has changed since then. Even when you feel like time is stale, in fact it never is. Even inside your mind you're constantly learning (especially if you have interests besides just being idle). Back then Kontakt libraries sounded amazing to me, and the orchestra felt kind of like just a cleaner sound. Today libs sound like MIDI compared to the real orchestra. But the latter still sounds cleaner and simpler, all that genious is also simple :) Although there's new depth to that sound to me.
As for the harmony - main thing that bought my attention year ago - I wish Tom or someone else would've explained the modal change in the second half of the last part, where we have D# and F# right after we were in D minor. Also the size of the notes and the rythm is also of interest.
Overall, amazing journey with Tom.
P.S.: I'm thinking we're coming from D harmonic minor to A lydian, correct me if I'm wrong.
21:24! AWESOME point, so often overlooked, it seems. (Instead of just "chord tone" movement between sections.) Much indebted to your awesome lesson action maestro!
Never tho bout that one.
Tom thank you so much for taking the time and choosing to share such great stuff with it. You'll probably never read this but we really appreciate it!
Thank you so much @junkiexofficial for doing these videos. It means so much for us fans and aspiring artists.
Really love Tom's videos. Anyone else hear the opening phrase sounds very similar to a phrase in Furiosa's theme?
As someone who learns visually, this is fantastique!
As an aspiring part time musician, this is one of the best things I've ever come across online. Its a treasure trove of knowledge and inspiration.
Thank you Tom and greetings from Belgium.
Total humility and honesty - mistakes included - no breast beating just pure talent sharing and caring..... playing it forward!
Thank you very much for your time and enthusiasm.
Amazing studio/synthesiser heaven, Must be an absolute joy to work in.
15:22
Great video. Really appreciate the improved production quality. Cheers!
This is one of the best tutorials I've seen on CZcams. Love this composition. Thank you so much for taking the time do this.
Cheers from Italy 🇮🇹
Damn this brought me to tears lmao its crazy to watch someone write a score for a movie the same way I try to write orchestral pieces in my music. I feel like this gave me a much deeper understanding of the consonance between the different strings, and how to use more instruments rather than trying to create harmonies with chords in a single string patch. beautiful. Thank you so much, I hope to one day share a studio with you!
Its amazing that this is FREE...got no money for knowledge. But this....i love it. Keep up the great videos.
Schöne Grüße aus Deutschland ;)
Love from India ... Sir thanks fr be so kind towards learners
This is the best half an hour I have ever spent CZcams! Thanks for this great tutorial, Tom.
Before i hit play i just want to say thank you for taking the time out to provide us with such knowledge and information. Im a music producer bridging into film scoring and to see you do something so helpful just shows how you truly have a great spirit.
This is one of the best youtube videos I have ever seen. On top of being incredibly talented, obviously, you're also genuine & passionated. It is so easy to see that you have a million things to say about this piece, and that you just want to give. But you know when to stop, you know you can't explain everything so you let the music talk, and that's just beautiful. I don't know anything about creating music, and having a chance to see a glimpse of the process, a glimpse of your mind really, was exilarating.
Being from Belgium, the part where you talk about the terrorist attack hit pretty hard, especially with a soundtrack like that.
Thank you, subscribed, 10/10, will come again.
I love the hard work you guys put into this, Thank you JXL and the team! I have two feedbacks to give to the production team.
Please, level out all the JXL speech audio, some clips louder than others. Then please get the Workstation audio higher. I have to dial up the volume when he plays or show notes playing, then quickly dial down when he speaks. I have balanced monitors :)
I remember when JXL showed us Mad Max percussion the drums would blast into my walls, and speech was same level.
I understand this is strings only too.
Hope this was constructive and will be considered for the next uploads! :D
Other then that brilliant work can't wait for the next stuff.
Nice story to the score too gives it a dimension
Cheers from Bruseels - Belgium,
Reda
I love the fact that you paused everything to say bless you.
I have no words!!! Just keep in doing these tutorials. Are truly helping!!
Cubase is absolutely the BEST DAW for Scoring, Film and Composing! Thank you Junkie for this wonderful Vid! :)
try reaper and logic
Don't forget about Cakewalk Sonar and Neuendo. Studio One is much better though as it was originally written by the same programmers that wrote Cubase and Neuendo.
FLstudio
nah audacity
Garageband is the best 😛
Amazing! Looking forward to the rest of the video's :) Btw, the audio of the computer was a bit low compared to your voice, i had to turn up my volume whenever you let us hear something, maybe something to look after.
Thanks Tom, this is an excellent example of the subtle requirements of composing for film. Can't wait for part two.
Can't thank you enough for taking the time to explain how you composed for strings, very helpful and omg i would love to blink myself in your studio and play for a day what fun that would be!
Like Vangelis, Tom knows the key to getting emotional instrument performances using a keyboard is in the volume fluctuations. Vangelis used pedals and Tom here is using faders.
That's why i miss my DX7, one of the best emotional synth ever... Not only the sound but the semi-weighted keys and awesome velocity range really is on your side to input sensibility.
Scott Wozniak I prefer faders, pedals are hard to control for me.
Faders are cool, but pedals keep both hands free to play the keyboard.
Guess it depends on what your are most familiar with as well as if your live or in the studio. Live you´ll probably need both hands free, in the studio you may be more accurate with your hand on a fader.
I use faders to control velocity and volume as well for compositions. makes a huge difference.
I hope you will teach us aggressive spicatto like what you used in Mad Max.
Thank you so much Tom! Very informative and a detailed walk-through on how to score for strings. Look forward to more such tutorials! You're a fantastic teacher. Cheers!
It's as if Tom is doing his own Masterclass! Thank you so much for this.
13:15 how i react when i hear good music.
yep that made chuckle pretty hard lol. thank you for that
Music needs to be louder relative to voice in the videos mix
His music is very dynamic, rise the volume when needed, it shoudn´t be a problem with a decent set of monitors.
天照 I felt the music level was perfect. (?)
Manuel Tomas this is exactly what I kept doing lol everytime he stopped the Music I would lower the volume when he spoke 😅
Thank you Tom! This is how I am about my craft with others - sharing, showing, discussing, relating. It's a rarity in this world and I thank you for taking the time to share your craft with us!
Thank you!
This is just fantastic Tom- thank you to you and the team for taking the time out to give us the inside track which so many composers spend their lives hiding..... creativity should be celebrated in all its forms and basically you are bringing very informative and interesting information/ content for budding composers of all genres- classical and electronic. There are so many gear heads out there that will really appreciated your passion for gear- i love seeing what you're using......both analogue and digital & it's great to see there's no preference to the wall modular against soft synth .... Im so excited!
Bring it on. Dank je.
Jon Lewis.- UK
Is it in any way important what all these harmonies are (d minor, g etc...)? i dont know anything about harmonies, i cant read or play notes, but i create similar emotional melodies out of my brain that sound great in my ears, i play on keyboard chords and melodies automatically that has no mistakes / i hear when there is a note that does not fit. Would i improve my skill of composing by learning all the harmony-theorie? What do you think? or should i just continue creating own melodies without theorie? One more question, is it little bit indirect talent of me or is everyone who only listens to music able to catch every bad note? i think everyone would hear bad / not fititng notes or melodies isnt it? Thanks for the great video anyway, nice to see how you compose step by step.
Is it important to know music theory? Not if your current workflow suits you. If you want to improve your workflow, you should look into music theory. It doesn't make you a "better" musician, but it helps you understand how music works, and with that knowledge you can improve your scores. Making music is all about the feeling of it. It doesn't matter how it's made.
Theorybis good to experiment new things ( or old thing wrote by the others )
well THATS more like it. Gear is boring, composing is super exciting.
kimseniorb Check out Rick Beato's videos.
checked him, but they're not DAW handson kinda vids.
kimseniorb Fair enough. Beato is awesome for the theory, though. But his vids are very dense, especially for people like me who have no theoretical background :).
Clearly you haven't used enough gear to fall in love yet
these are just tools, nothing more. inspiring, exciting, but tools. everybody can buy a synth, very few can make a touching piece of music with it. I'm not against gear, but everybody's talking about it, thats why I'm more interested in the process and reasons behind making decisions in music, its just a lot more interesting to me, personally.
I'm starting my piano studies today, thanks to your videos and amazing songs. And I intend to compose soundtracks, thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.
My great inspiration is your music. Thank you for giving us your beautiful songs.
I hope soon to be able to compose my tracks.
the video is already old, but its music and art is timeless
Thank you so much junkie!
Fascinating how you give us a look into your creative porocess, Tom. I think it's really cool that you share all this with us. Can't wait for next episodes! Cheers from Utrecht!
Hey Tom, thanks for taking the time to prepare this video - really nice piece. It's inspiring to see how you build up a string arrangement, and I really like hearing the final result while watching the key editor. Very much appreciated!!
We thank you for taking time out of your schedule to bring us these awesome videos!
You sir are too generous! Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge and passion with us.
Thank you Junkie XL! Your videos are really helping all aspiring musicians to increase their knowledge on composing and I really appreciate the fact that you're sharing these tips and techniques for free. Thank you!
Dear Tom, you’re obviously VERY experienced technologically as many of the new generation techies are BUT what is nice and heart warming is that you are a TRUE MUSICIAN! Thank you for your time and dedication!
Today you make me happy. In some passages I cry for the vibration of the arrangement. Thanks man 🙏
What an amazing content Tom!, thank you very much for sharing with us!. In my case these kind of videos are really helpful because we as composer can actualize compare our process and see if we can actually improve or workflow, to better our way of doing things or simply realize whether we are using our tools in the same way or if there is a better way. Thank you very much once again!
Absolutely amazing resource of knowledge. So great to listen as the melody builds and builds and wow did the real players do it justice. Could watch these all day. Thank you very much!
Thank you so very much for your wonderful Studio Time series, Tom - You could've sold these classes for quite a bit of money, but instead, you dedicate your precious time to passing your vast knowledge on to a younger generation of composers.
This particular video helped me a lot to understand my EastWest HW Strings library, especially the legato patches. Still ways to go, but I feel better-equipped thanks to your lessons!
Greetings,
A fellow Dutchie
This is gold to us composers!!! Your composition is beautiful and the fact that you take the time to go through its conception speaks volumes about your generosity (and talent!!!). Thank you very much for sharing. Greetings from Argentina.
just discovered you studio time series via some sponsored link on facebook. i have to tell you that like many others, im impressed that at your level, you take the time to show all this. it's priceless. I've been myself among the 90's pioneers of electronic music but my heart belongs to classical music and movies score since my childhood. i can't thank you enough for the time you spend on sharing your work with us. 👍 Guillaume - Lunatic Asylum.
I'm so impressed not only by your talent and skills, but also by your gear! What a great studio to work in! Thanks for sharing your knowledge and talent, Tom!
Hi Tom, Your series is incredible and I've learned so much from your video conversations. From me to you - thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. You are truly appreciated.
Love this! So well done.
I do have to turn the volume up a decent amount when the strings come in, and then down again when you come in.
Lovely man .. Giving away gold with graphic illustrations of how he creates beautiful music. So encouraging for people who would like to do what he does so well. Thank you for this gentle intro to the art and craft of writing for strings, and taking some of the mystery out of the technical side for us.
Awesome insight into your process, thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much for doing this, Tom. Long life to you.
I took classical composition and orchestration courses 30 years ago while doing my bachelor degree in music. This is right up there with the best orchestrators of classical and romantic periods and explained in simple and clear language. Thank you sir for sharing your knowledge and experience like that. If I may suggest, a similar tutorial on writng for brass would also be absolutely wonderful.
Thanks for showing the behind the scene and how you do things! Really loved this composition, reminds me of some of my favorite British pastoral music that I love so much... Cheers, Max T.
I loved this. Thanks for showing us the technique and subtlety you use to create your music. Loved hearing the real orchestra at the end. Live musicians still are winning!
Awesome to see this series back!
wow, such an amazing tutorial. Thank you Junkie XL for being so open and generous with your talent
Thank you so much. Just realized how lucky we are to get that knowledge that easily. Thanks for your time sir.
This man is a god send! Very helpful seeing how a composer brings things to life
thank you very very much for this, it's more than a tutorial, so helpful, very rare to find a real classical composer taking his time to share his knowledge and sensitivity, your piece is beautiful
It was a new thing to me, that one shouldn't write chord patches for strings. I've fallen into that mistake many times, but luckily I bumped into this video! So much valuable information here
Tom, thank you very much for your generosity and sharing. Wonderful with great detail, thank you.
I hope I can be as cool as you - from a trance producer to Hans Zimmer's best wingman to film score industry's biggest star. You are my idol, pure inspiration.
Thanks very much Tom ! I love your approach of teaching and sharing knowledge should be ( almost ) for free. And thank YOU for putting all this time and energy in this videos and sharing your knowledge with all of us out here. Love it !
By watching this i learned more then all the things i learned so far together, stuff that really helps!! Thank you so much for this!
Thank you for taking the time to show how you work... Love the sound of the session strings but when i heard the live sound, man oh man... I just felt even more of the emotion... Lovely arrangement and keep up the good work..
Tom you are a Legend not only in a musical way but really ... as a person.
All your effort showing your craft to us is inspiring
THANKS MATE :)
Came back up say this soundtrack is your best I’ve heard from you for me, it just speaks…
Thanks for giving up your time to do this. Really interesting to see how you work.
Thank you so much Junkie XL for sharing this art with us. I love your explanations a lot!
So great to see how it all comes together. Nice one Junkie XL!
Thank you for posting this! It's hauntingly beautiful!
Great work Tom! Thanks for sharing your time and your knowledge!
Thank you so much for the time you spend to explain us all this...It's very appreciated by all of us..Over all your comments and advices are fantastics..You score on Madmax was also fantastic...Cheers
Really appreciate you sharing your knowledge and process, man! I also appreciate that you left the little mistakes in. Shows that we are all human and makes it much more relatable.