Advanced Techniques for Film Scoring (Book and CD) Review

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(More customer reviews)I was excited by the description of this book but disappointed by it's contents. The techniques are totally outdated. It goes on at length about analog recording technique which is nearly inapplicable to the beginning composer. Not recommended except as a minor resource for your library. Buy "The Guide to MIDI Orchestration" by Gilreath or the Jeff Rona Film Scoring book and the general orchestraion books by Adler and Blatter first.

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Earle Hagen has written an excellent sequel to his sensational best-seller Scoring for Filmsproviding composers with additional advice regarding more advanced scoring techniques for film orchestration.

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The Songwriter's Workshop: Harmony (Berklee Press) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book, along with its companion by the same author, Songwriter's Workshop: Melody, comprise a solid, straightforward course in writing songs along the lines of what I'd (reluctantly) call "classic rock and pop" of the 60's through the 80's. The harmonic vocabulary covered in this volume is comparable to what most guitar-oriented songwriters
used then and continue to: open position chords with descending bass lines, major triads with thirds and fifths in the bass, etc. It may be a sign of the times at Berklee or, more
likely, just the author's orientation but you won't find jazz/show tune techniques here nor Steely Dan changes so if that's more your cup of joe, I'd recommend Jack Perricone's "Melody in Songwriting" which makes a great followup to this series.

But otherwise, there's little prior knowledge assumed (other than an interest in and listening experience to a wide range of songs) and much to be learned.

Kachulis's approach is to build up song structures by having you focus on individual elements: groove, chord color, modal chord progressions over small sections building to contrasts
over larger forms. Always refering to an example song or to the accompanying recording the approach is logical, and it should work for those requiring different levels of handholding and validation. You can imitate the examples closely or just
glean from the principles, going your own way.

And let's face it: Many of the points about song structure are just as applicable whether your composing German Lieder, folk ballads, cabaret torch songs or a neo-prog synth-drenched epic.

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Spark your imagination with hundreds of creative songwriting techniques! This hands-on guide provides lessons on how to write innovative harmonies, based on popular songwriting courses at Berklee College of Music.

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A Composer's World: Horizons and Limitations (Schott) Review

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(More customer reviews)The literary style is a bit dry but the rhetoric and ideas are a solid read. Hindemith opens with a philosophical discussion of the nature of hearing and performing music and lays down the poles of Western thought between Boethius and Augustine, that music is considered to have moral force to shape the mind or that the mind imposes order on sound to create the mental impression of music. He tries to avoid being dogmatic about either and proceeds to an explanation of musical memory and emotional association.
Where he gets a bit cranky is explaining the American musical education establishment and the bad habits of performers. He's also very unforgiving to popular music and music made in totalitarian states (e.g. Shostakovich and music written for fascist regimes). But his comments about the shortcomings of American musical education are salient today and his critique of mass-marketing of music is also still relevant.

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The book aims to be a guide through the little universe which is the workingplace of the man who writes music. As such it talks predominantly to the layman,although the expert composer may also find some stimulation in it... From the center of basic theory the discussion will spread out into all the realms ofexperience which border the technical aspects of composing, such as aesthetics, sociology, philosophy, and so on.

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Arranging for the Concert Band Review

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(More customer reviews)Frank Erickson has a rich history of writing music for concert band at all ability levels. Any one in the music education field knows of the wonderful pieces he composed. The book uses ilistrations of his own work to explainbasic scoring concepts. The book is well arranged and easy to understand.If you combine this book with the CD of his music from Walking FrogRecords, you have a good combination of resources for arranging for band.

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Arranging for the Concert Band and the accompanyingworkbook are intended to introduce students to basic techniques ofarranging for the concert band. Arranging can be divided into twoseperate processes.The first deals with scoring andtranscribing. Scoring is concerned with such things as voicing,doubling, balance and color. The term scoring also means the actualwriting of notes on the score paper. Transcribing is scoring musicwritten for one kind of musical instrument or group - say a piano ororchestra - for a different kind of group. This text deals with thosematters. The second part of arranging is the more creative process ofwriting introductions, modulations, endings, background figures and soon.

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Finale 2010 Review

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(More customer reviews)I've used Finale since 1995, producing hundreds of arrangements and compositions, engraving music for other composers and arrangers, and even creating a theory textbook.Generally speaking, Finale has been an excellent product, and I've never found anything that couldn't be notated using this program.However, recent updates have become less and less stable as the program has gotten more complex.Even with a new computer, Finale 2008 and 2009 were having trouble playing back large scores and would occasionally crash for no reason.Finale 2010 reorganizes many notational inputs and is much smoother graphically, but after a few months' use, I found a terrible problem:Finale 2010 would crash when I tried to open complex files created on earlier versions of of the program!That means I can't access some of my older work to make changes or even print out a new copy.After the crash, Finale 2010 wouldn't start again until I restarted the computer.

I contacted MakeMusic about this and sent them one of the files that wouldn't open.They agreed that Finale 2010 crashed when trying to open the file and acknowledged that the file still opens well in Finale 2008.Their advice was to identify all files with this problem, export them as XML files and import them into Finale 2010.The problem is that I have so many files (thousands!) that it would take weeks to attempt to open every single file, especially if the program keeps crashing and I have to restart the computer over and over.The other option was to keep older versions of Finale on the computer, but that would take up a lot of hard drive space and file managing could get problematic.So, at the moment, I'm considering downgrading to Finale 2009 and never updating again!

Since the Sibelius notation software has emerged as competition for Finale, my impression is that MakeMusic is releasing more and more "upgrades" that aren't thoroughly tested, and this issue is simply a deal-breaker.In concept, the program is still very good, and if you're just getting started, it's still the standard in notation software, but I cannot recommend this version of Finale to longtime users.

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The best tools are designed by the people who use them. Introducing Finale 2010 - theworld standard in music notation software. Compose, arrange, notate, and print engraver-qualitysheet music that plays back with world-class sounds. Finale continues to lead the way, helping you reach perfection faster. - Streamlined user interface is more efficient, intuitive, and consistent - Setup Wizard configures your score beautifully in seconds. - Enter your music into Finale using a MIDI keyboard, computer keyboard, mouse, mic, or scanner. - Scan existing sheet music directly into Finale. From there you can change the key, edit, and save as a Finale file. - Linked Parts - intelligently links your score and parts to save you time. - More than 300 customizable and printable Music Education Worksheets. - Video Support - import video, plus send and display SMPTE time code. - TempoTap™ - conduct your own tempo changes. - Playback - here are just a few reasons why Finale's sound is unsurpassed: - Record or import an audio track for unprecedented realism. - More than 350 world-class Garritan instrument sounds - and more. - More than 100 sounds from the acclaimed Tapspace Virtual Drumline. - Human Playback® makes your music sound like live musicians are playing it - even if you entered your notes with a mouse! - Integrated Garritan Aria player. - Full support for VST/AU instruments AND effects. - Powerful Mixer (real-time control of volume, panning, patch, and more). - Save Audio Files (including .MP3) to create CDs or save to an iPod. - Document Styles let you instantly personalize the appearance of new documents. - Colored Noteheads and integrated Boomwhackers tuned percussion tube sounds.

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The Songwriters Idea Book: 40 Strategies to Excite Your Imagination, Help You Design Distinctive Songs, and Keep Your Creative Flow Review

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(More customer reviews)Ever had writer's block?This book is the cure!Along with Davis' THE CRAFT OF LYRIC WRITING and SUCCESSFUL LYRIC WRITING, THE SONGWRITERS IDEA BOOK forms a brilliant trilogy that is essential for the person who wants to write lyrics.I'm rather surprised by reading some of the negative comments below.My guess is that those people merely leafed through the book without actually reading it.This book is NOT an easy read.It is not something that can be scanned.It must be read and studied very carefully.It is very important to understand part 2 of the book (pages 15 through 34) before moving ahead.This is the section wherein Davis analyzes the different types of the creative mind.In only a few short pages Davis introduces a lot of important concepts that need to be understood.The reader must take her tests and figure out which type he is.Then and only then is the book of value.I had to read part two several times before I really understood it.But once I had a firm grasp of those ideas, I found the book to be extremely valuable.Davis basically says that when one is blocked, that he needs to come at it from the other side of the brain.She then proceeds to give exercises that make it easy to access the unused part of the brain.While ostensibly for the lyricist, I think the principles can be adapted for any kind of writing.I think this is a great book and I am grateful to Sheila Davis for writing it.

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This book reveals the inherent relationship between personality type, brain function and writing style. Includes 40 proven songwriting strategies - guaranteed to spark songwritersÕ imaginations. 240 pages. 6x9.

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The Craft of Musical Composition: Book 2 (Stap/067) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is the practical application of the principles Hindemith discusses in his theoretical volume of the "Craft of Musical Composition".There fifty-six exercises, two hundred and fifty-one musical examples and sixty-two rules for composition in this small volume.It is meant to be used by students with a skilled teacher who is also an able composer.The approach is intensely practical and is meant to build skill in actually writing music rather than empty exercises to demonstrate this or that rule.

Again, the methodology here is based on Hindemith's ideas of composition and theory.Do not expect to be writing exercises in the style of Palestrina, Bach, or Mozart.There are charts and explanations here that will be opaque without having a grounding in the theoretical volume of his "Craft of Musical Composition".You could do much worse than studying these two volumes, but you do have to make a judgment about whether the juice is worth the squeeze.

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Originally published in the 1940s, Paul Hindemith's remakable textbooks are still the outstanding works of their kind. In contrast to many musical textbooks written by academic musicians, these were produced by a man who could play every instrument of the orchestra, could compose a satisfying piece for almost every kind of ensemble, and who was one of the most stimulating teachers of his day. It is therefore not surprising that nearly forty years later these books should remain essential reading for the student and the professional musician. Preface * Construction of the Simplest One-Voice Melodic Patterns * Beginning of Two-Voice Setting * Elaborated Melody (Auxiliary or Teturning Tones, Passing Tones) * Elaborated Melody (Continuation) * Principles of Melodic Construction * Elaborated Melody (Conclusion) * Tonal Higher-Units * Tonality of the Melodies * Elaboration of the Melody Model * Free Two-Voice Setting I and II

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The Craft of Musical Composition: Theoretical Part - Book 1 (Tap/159) Review

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(More customer reviews)Hindemith lays out his theoretical understanding of how music works and attempts to give musicians a basic starting point for composition that isn't limited to traditional tonal music (i.e. pre-Wagner and Debussy). His series 1 and 2 are contested to this day but they don't form the heart of the book, which is a broader, philosophical exposition of how composer's should think about music and approach it on a day-to-day basis. He argues that all music is tonal but it doesn't have to be major or minor.
I still don't buy the chord-reckoning method and Hindemith never reconciled himself the fact that his method can include jazz and pop--but this book is still one of the best books about composition I've read. Hindemith is probably the biggest exponent of the neo-classical school besides Stravinsky (others are Prokofiev and, to some degree, Bartok). This book goes a long way to explaining that perspective. Even if you play rock music you can still get a lot out of this book. Although he put down most of it Hindemith did like some jazz (Ellington and Andrew Hill, who studied with him some).
For a less technical exposition of Hindemith's ideas you may want to check out A Composer's World, which covers a lot of the same stuff.

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Originally published in the 1940s, Paul Hindemith's remakable textbooks are still the outstanding works of their kind. In contrast to many musical textbooks written by academic musicians, these were produced by a man who could play every instrument of the orchestra, could compose a satisfying piece for almost every kind of ensemble, and who was one of the most stimulating teachers of his day. It is therefore not surprising that nearly forty years later these books should remain essential reading for the student and the professional musician. Introductory * The Medium * The Nature of the Building Stones * Harmony * Melody * Analyses

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1000 Songwriting Ideas (Hal Leonard Music Pro Guides) Review

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(More customer reviews)A lot of it is fluff/filler.

I counted the music theory-related songwriting ideas, and there are a total of 82 ideas. The other 918 ideas are "contemporary" ideas such as "What's the song that would go best with a ten-gallon hat?" and "Write a song about angels."

Ok, well... no.

I'm from the alternative school of thought, when it comes to songwriting. I grew up on the Smiths, The Cure, Depeche Mode, Dinosaur Jr., Pumpkins, etc (the 90s). Music with edge, with soul, with staying power (like certain stuff from the 60s and 70s-- Beatles, Nick Drake, and Sabbath).

What I dislike most are books from Nashville/contemporary songwriters, who write top 40 "hits" for pop artists (most of which go unheard for the most part).

I have nothing against Ms. Aschmann as a songwriter (I've never heard her music) but the ideas are just... fluffy. That's the best way I can describe it. Don't get me wrong, there ARE gems to be found inside this book, but they are few and far-between.

A lot of these ideas are lyric or story-related. I think Rikky Rooksby's book "Lyrics" is a better option if you're stuck for lyric or story ideas.

Oh, here's another problem I have with this book - a lot of her ideas aren't clearly explained. In one idea, she talks about a guitar tuning called "Taro Patch." I had to look it up on google and wikipedia to find out that it's simply an open-G tuning. Also, a lot of the songs she cites, I have never heard them, ever. Cheesy titles that seem like they're in the public domain, musically. I listen to A LOT of different music, from 40's jazz to metal and everything in between, and I just couldn't even bother to look up the songs she mentioned or what they sounded like.

I've said it before in several songwriting book reviews -- check out Rikky Rooksby's songwriting series, especially How To Write Songs On Guitar.

This is a great effort from Ms. Aschmann, but it just falls a bit short. In all honesty, I think this book of ideas would have been better suited for a website, free for all to read and utilize.

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Arranging Concepts Complete: The Ultimate Arranging Course for Today's Music (Dick Grove Arranging Series) Review

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(More customer reviews)A very detailed mathematical aproach to band arranging. Useful tables to cover all practical situations, mostly from the point of view of horn section arranging. Somewhat light on in terms of rhythm section arranging. This book doesn't aim to teach you WHAT to write, but if you already have some experience in band arranging and are familiar with extended chords and basic harmonic and melodic concepts, it will help to guide you through the labyrinth of endless musical possibilities. Band arranging from a jazz (thus also blues/rock/pop/show music etc) perspective, not so much concert band or wind orchestra.

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A comprehensive text that covers the characteristics and ranges of each instrument in the stage band; analyzing and arranging many musical styles, voice leading, passing chords, modulations, intros, endings, turn-arounds and orchestration.

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