Skip to main content

Orchestral Composition Lessons

Posted

Although I have not tried his online lessons, I found the Tips of the Day on Gary Guttman's Secret Composer site very inspiring ((http://www.secretcomposer.com/)) Interestingly enough, one of his tips is …

To express specific musical moods and emotions, start with your harmonic progressions first. The melody almost becomes secondary to the supporting harmony.

… which perfectly suits the Synfire workflow. There are many other tips that are worth reading. 

Has anynone tried his offer?


Thu, 2013-01-10 - 13:06 Permalink

Yes, i follow his lessons and try to use his lessons in Synfire ( i bought his CD and from there study his lessons)

On of his lessons is this one https://soundcloud.com/#janamdo/les5expandingprogressie13-2 with a extra instrument ( organ) to give it a personal feel.

 

That's why i like the idea to have a chordprogression design tool ..to work on a existing chordprogression ..and knowing what direction to go ( to keep focussed by extending a chordprogression by careful planning)  

Also for this..the possibility to follow this lessons in Synfire by a static input of symbols with the scaleboard in any key(scale) and  with  bypassing voice leading than.  
Not all music uses the voiceleading of Synfire, but the arrangement can be a combination of not harmony ( no voice leading of Synfire) and harmony ( voice leading ).. so all music can be made.

There is now a total freedom in what kind of music you want ever to make in Synfire ;)

 

By using only the voiceleading (harmony) of Synfire i think you are limited, because the music examples of Gary Gutmann shows that there is also music without direct harmony ( blockchords) but in the form of broken chords too
But there are more musicexamples to find where the harmony ( voiceleading ) not is needed.
Synfire must be offer total musical creative freedom in what ever music you  like to make .. it is for eternity ( sorry  i became philosophical..triggered by the video of the universum made by Cognitone)

 

Thu, 2013-01-10 - 20:25 Permalink

Chords in the progression do not mean you have to play chords. You can arrange any number of melodies or broken chords, distributed over many instruments. All these lines will automatically make up the harmony as defined in the progression.

See the counterpoint example at 1:15 of this video (near the beginning):

(https://users.cognitone.com/content/what-synfire)

The muisc you hear renders the "chords" set in the progression, although you do not hear them as such.

Thu, 2013-01-10 - 21:40 Permalink

Thanks

There is no need for a progression if the the track has broken chords in the horizontal direction for one instrument.
You mean probably in the vertical direction where a chord is divided about different instruments ?

The chord progression makes that the voiceleading is chancing the pitch of the broken chord notes what i bring in with the scaleboard in my example lessons..well than it sounds always good than.( advantage of Synfire)
Or i must bypass the voiceleading to get the original notes of the lessons.

Most lessons are build up by step by step adding a instrument and so on and if the voiceleading of Synfire is chancing the previous note lines than i can not see anymore what harmonically/melodically is happening there.
How to get the right entry of symbols of the lessons if i can not check this ? 

Only a name of the phrase in the library together with the lessonnumber and the noteexample gives a idea what this phrases stands for.

I must experiment further with the lessons..how the are reusable for new arrangements    

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thu, 2013-01-10 - 22:43 Permalink

I think this whole musical problem has nothing to do with the voiceleading, but with the key(scale)--> because i noticed there is no physical chance of note-positions to be seen in the phrase editor.

For example now i am composing in Amin..so the middle line starts on a  a -note
My lesson shows a C major scale .. and if suppose if the middle line should be a c -note than i know all positions easy on the scale board..but not now anymore with the middle line of a a-note

Amin is the parallel minor scale of C maj and if i drop a Amin chord from a Cmajor palette ..probably  i get a  C major scale, but that works only for these 2 scales

 

For all other scales from my lessons than Cmajor ( the scale where i can easy work with the scaleboard) i must draw a middle line in the lessonexample to help me for counting the steps..
I am afraid that it not can be easier made ?--> perhaps with a note name/number for the middle line on the scaleboard ? 

 

 

Fri, 2013-01-11 - 11:43 Permalink
           Online       

I think this whole musical problem has nothing to do with the voiceleading, but with the key(scale)--> because i noticed there is no physical chance of note-positions to be seen in the phrase editor.

For example now i am composing in Amin..so the middle line starts on a  a -note
My lesson shows a C major scale .. and if suppose if the middle line should be a c -note than i know all positions easy on the scale board..but not now anymore with the middle line of a a-note

Amin is the parallel minor scale of C maj and if i drop a Amin chord from a Cmajor palette ..probably  i get a  C major scale, but that works only for these 2 scales

 

For all other scales from my lessons than Cmajor ( the scale where i can easy work with the scaleboard) i must draw a middle line in the lessonexample to help me for counting the steps..
I am afraid that it not can be easier made ?--> perhaps with a note name/number for the middle line on the scaleboard ?

 

This whole post has a wrong assumption( i was set on the wrong leg by ? )---> yes the voice leading is indeed changing the note as seen in the example of a Dminor scale .. D- E , but it gives D-F in the phraseditor.

 

So in my music lessons there is also a arrangement without chords, but as soon as i set the key with the palette..the voiceleading is changing notes.  

Than was my conclusion that Synfire is limited in use correct... i cannot follow my lessons, because i cannot input those lesson notes on the scaleboard, because the voice leading is changing this.

 

That means that Synfire cannot work direct with lessons from paper. You must first make this in your DAW and than import.. or bypassing the voice leading.
Suppose you bypass the voice leading and use the phrase in a library , than for use in a arrangment with chords than it will be processed with the voice leading on

One way to use the lessons is to make a static input ( without voiceleading on..otherwise you don't get the right note positions ) and store this in the library.

 

Therefore should be better if Synfire is easier in use when i input lessons in the static mode ( dynamic mode is with voiceleading and without i call it static mode).   

But this is also not working...ideal is to work on the lessons in Synfire directly, but that is not possible by the voice leading..but i did some lessons, but that was in Cmajor and there was no chance in notepositions in the phrase editor as it seems.

Strange...

How about my lessons ? ..cannot work them out in Synfire...   

A static mode for note entry in the phrase editor and only when Synfire is running it goes in the dynamic mode ?
It means that the voice leading is always on bypass when you are working in the editors when Synfire is not running.

Yes, why not..the input can follow a textbook!