15 minute EMOTIONAL scene change challenge
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- Опубликовано: 8 сен 2024
- I'm speed writing again - those times when you need to end an emotional scene and then transition to a new scene! Kind of managed to get it done roughly on time.. with a few ideas about writing in there.
Good stuff Paul. The greatest value to people trying to do this composing nonsense is watching the actual process. It's such an insular pursuit that it's great to observe experienced people have the same problems and struggles but come out of the other end with an acceptable cue. I vote for 1 hour sessions where you don't have to worry about the clock. The geekier the better. Cheers.
Thanks Vinnie! OK noted! Longer form will come! We're all stumbling chaotically toward the final piece I think! Well I am anyway..
This was really great! Thanks Paul! In response to your last question to us, I would definitely watch an hour long version of this.
Great thanks Austin!
Hi Paul, I just want to say how much I enjoy your creative performances. Learning from you is a musical pleasure. Your Musical Background is way ahead of anything I possess, but your support and guidance is everything. I recall you saying in one of your videos that being creative was " feeling your way through things, fumbling through, improvising until it sounds good to you" You hit the nail on the head for ME at least. I can relate exactly to what you say. I do not read music, but I was brought up to appreciate " Tuneful Melody " whether it be Classical, Songs from the Greats or Music from the Movies.
As an unpublished Songwriter I have always regarded myself as a "Tune Man" which means that there has to be something strong within the piece which makes my sences come alive, so I was delighted to hear your comments on improvisation. Thank you once again Paul for your simplified approach to creative music within this very technical and highly qualified industry. A dedicated follower.
HI Geoff - thank you very much - I'm really glad that what I'm doing is helpful. I had the privilege when I was a young teenager to sit with to the organist Wayne Marshall regularly for a while and to watch him improvise - I've never forgotten the effect of watching him create incredible music from the ether. It instilled in me an early appreciation of improv!
Loaded up Apppasionata today for the first time in a few months after watching this. Those legatos never fail to amaze me!
I love your proposal at 27:20, going from brief to final piece, that would be fantastic. Great watching it go from sketch to reality. Quite often RUclips demos work around a 20-30 second piece of whatever. Watching something take form with a beginning, middle and end would be very enlightening. Really appreciate you doing this. Watching you guys over the last 4 years has really brought something new to my life! I’m a cinematographer without any music training, but you and Spitfire have inspired me to learn new ways to tell stories. Thank you!
Thanks Colin - noted and I'll be doing more of this! Glad its useful and inspiring and thank you for all your work - a lot of which I've watched over the years!
A couple of well placed clouds may eliminate the remaining resonance issues, unless you’ve already addressed that. Thanks for the music insight. It’s because of you and Christian, that this senior citizen has decided to follow his dream!
Good idea - I'll try that and see what happens! Glad to hear you are following your dream!
Awesome as usual Paul, I know everybody loves the cinematic stuff but l really enjoy writing the Quirky Pizz/Spicc tracks that is all over current TV, it would be great if you could do one of these showing how you combine the strings and woods etc. Many thanks!
Thanks and noted! Its a huge area of reality that style - added to the list!
This is great, thanks for sharing this Paul. :). edit and yes something taking about an hour would be great as then you could really dive in to the details. It was great seeing bits go wrong because I thought it was just me that happened to. I feel more like tech support than composer sometimes!
Thanks! Yes the tech frequently gets in the way!
Thank you Paul. From the start of my composing journey you have shared your knowledge and provided me with inspiration. And it continues!
Thank you for your encouragement!
Thank you Paul! It's always super interesting and educational to see how you compose. Really beautiful and very interesting harmony! Looking forward to more videos like this! :)
Nice to see you back with regular videos. Always appreciate your insights.
Also, what's chamber strings essentials? 13:15
Advertising? Or maybe an old version of a library.
I would like to see more of pick a scene, write for it beginning to end instead of write an idea in X number of minutes. Technical side, would like to see when do you decide which sample set to write with (SSO, BBC, etc..) Glad to have you back.
Thanks! Good idea re picking which sample set - noted!
This was really brilliant, Paul, I certainly would love to see the full process, even though it would mean not writing anything for 1 hour myself, but in terms of educational value that would be just massive and definitely improve my skills
Thanks Marco - noted!
@@PaulThomsonMusic you are welcome! Looking forward to your next videos, they will be yet another treasure trove of amazing knowledge
I've given up any ambition I had to compose music for media but I always enjoy your videos Paul. I predict good things are going to come to fruition in your new studio and look forward to what you have to share with us. Thank YOU!
Thank you Remo!
Massively helpful just watching your workflow and picking up some tips and tricks along the way - would DEFINITELY watch an hour of this. And love the idea of starting with a brief. Thank you so much for this!
Thanks Robin! Noted!
Thank You For the sesion Mr. Thompson! I have seen all, you have been a tremendous help and an incredible instructor!! It would be too much to write here to explain all I have learned. I wonder if maybe you can do a session on panning? Mixing everything is not a favorite of mine, it starts out ok but then it starts to become 'how do I not bury evrything'. I put eveything where they sit ,violins ,cellos, brass etc...I would be greatly interested to know how you tackle this. A few years now as a loyal student, I have seen a video or 2 by others but I never get all the way through ( not to sound like a brown noser) but I trust what you say! Thank You for doing this for us! A genuine good person ......And I too would love longer sessions for sure. Have a great day!
i like hearing the mistakes.
There's always plenty of those!
"No mistakes, only happy accidents" Bob Ross
Because they make u a litle bit more "professionell isnt it? To hear misstakes from a human u think he is professionell? Haha😂
Thanks Paul, for showing us the process of creation. It inspires others and gives an opportunity to learn.
Thank you Petr!
Fantastic. I’m a heavy metal guitarist but finding myself increasingly drawn to these wonderful layers of orchestration.
The ‘mistakes and all’ approach is very refreshing to see.
Glad to see you back!
Thanks JB! Glad to hear you are getting into orchestration! You've probably seen this but theres a great video series with Steve Vai chatting with Kip Winger where they talk about their orchestral work among other stuff.
Thanks Paul, maybe an idea for this type of video would be to do multiple 15 min videos of your process, rather than trying to squeeze it all int a single 15 min timeframe? So 15 mins for coming up with the idea, and creating just the piano sketch. And 15 mins just for laying out the various parts and orchestration of the sketch. And then 15 mins of just tweaking and mixing or something. I think that would be interesting anyway, but that's just my thought on this concept.
Thank you very much Paul. So awesome to see you, how you add those great libraries to a piece.
it should show us and keep in mind what is, or would be possible , with these wonderful libraries. what we already have and how we can combine it. also interesting that you combine the libraries with the AIR Lyndhurst and the Abbey Road One, despite the different reverb. thanks for this video, from your new studio.
Great video Paul. Being able to see what works and what doesn’t. What choices of voicing and why etc. Even when you make mistakes it’s comforting to see, that even seasoned professionals like you have to contend with what hobbyists like me have to contend with. Really refreshing video.
PS the rug on the floor- is it cow hide or the worlds largest Dalmatian? 😂
Haha!! Thansk Steve - not the (ex) worlds largest dalmatian - but I'm not sure its real cow hide.. it was the rug from under my drums before! Yes I decided its probably more useful to see all of the mishaps.. two steps forward and one step back at all times!
Thanks for the video Paul - keeping me company whilst I do the boring parts of my gig!
Good to hear!
Hello Paul Thomson... thank you very much for this great video tutorial. The next video, I would like to know how you can compose and orchestrate an orchestral song with a fast tempo, where, for example, the brass carries the melody and countermelody and the strings carry the rhythmic part along with the percussion... Congratulations on your wonderful work. 😊🎶
Great idea thank you Angel! Added to my to do list!
Thanks Paul for doing it so honestly! Way better than the polished version! Liked that idea! Cheers from Hamburg Germany
Thank you Jörn!
Hi Paul. Thank you for the video. That issue with Logic not following when changing instrument seems to be an issue relating to the new update.
Also, would love to see a longer, fly on the wall style video of you writing. Personally speaking, this is the style of content from which I get the most value. It shows the true process, warts and all, and always seems to offer insights that would otherwise be unseen.
All the best
Thanks for sharing Paul !
Thx for the video, Paul 👋🏻
You're very welcome!
Wonderful insight into your Process Paul.
Thanks Sean!
Briliant work yet again, Paul! I'd love to see a part 3 of your template walkthrough in the future 👀
Thanks Bara - ok noted! Its changed a little as well!
@@PaulThomsonMusic That would be interesting to see, looking forward! Thank you Paul :)
Great! Hope to see more of these!
Thanks Trevis!
I'm intrigued by the choice of a digital pen in place of a mouse?
Brilliant creativity Paul.
Thank you! very kind!
Great video Paul! You covered something sort of a few years ago with Christian about bass management, but i'd love to see a video on the go to processors or units you use today (Sub harm/sub bass generators) or even synths you like to underpin stuff with some good solid bass that underpin the scores you work on. a whole episode of that would be fantastic! Especially if you share some go to plugs or hardware as well as some tips and tricks for good bass management. cheers!
Thanks Kevin! OK noted - I have a few favourites - I'll put something together on this.
@@PaulThomsonMusic wonderful. Looking forward to it. Thanks again for the really amazing content.
Hello Paul,
Bravo, always a great pleasure to watch your tutorials.
Could you tell me what your "mouse pen" is please?
Thanks Grégory! Its a Wacom PTH-660-N - I'm enjoying it so far!
Very much enjoying this new format, Paul! Thanks for continuing to share your experience and in this case real life thought process into your work.
A bit off-topic but I would love to know more about your workflow experience with using a pen tablet instead of a regular computer mouse. Thanks! Take care.
Thanks Filipe! With the tablet I got that as my wrist was starting to ache after long periods of mouse use.. So far its great - a few little quirks but on balance I prefer it to mouse. I use it set to the whole screen so its just gaining the muscle memory and then I'm pretty quick to go to where I want to click!
Really interesting. I particularly enjoy your music theory insights. How about taking us through the rescoring of a Spitfire trailer or similar? I'd be fascinated to see how you approach that in detail. Cheers.
Thank you! Nice idea - noted!
Thanks Paul for the insight into your process. A couple of non-music questions. 1. How did you interleave the camera trained on yourself transparently? 2. How long did it take for you to get use to the pen and pad. I struggle with them, even with a pad that is a display and mirrors the screen?
Depends on the software, but it looks like he applied a vignette effect to his studio cam.
Thanks David! As Scott said - a combo - I use Premiere Pro - and set it to Opacity of about 50% and then set a vignette with the midpoint and roundness etc to focus on the keyboard mainly. I'm still getting used to the pen! But its saving my wrist..
Hi Paul, really nice to hear that you actively respond to comments in your content - I heard the resonance too but didn’t even think to comment - so to my next point which has always confused me about your videos - the colouring of your footage is very off white balance. I’m not sure if it’s intentional but it sort of looks like you’re stuck in a Hollywood depiction of Mexico?
Would love to see your studio in proper colour rendering 😊
Thanks Karim! haha.. yes my approach to colouring is just a quick tweak.. I'll ask one of my colleagues at Spitfire who is an expert in this field to give me a hand making a LUT! Although I kind of like the idea of being stuck in Mexico..
Hi Paul, nice to see you back. Quick question, do you have any sort of template balancing going on? I notice you don’t use MIDI flags
Thanks Doug! Good question. The answer is no - not on a global level. I tend to end up with the same effect but in a project by project basis, and I'll know which controllers I'm using. I usually move all controllers before every 'take' (region) so that wherever I start playback in a session all tracks sound right.
When you first started playing around with those chords all I could hear was the Crystal Maze theme. Sorry but same chords. It's my nemesis as I never forget a piece once I've heard it. Makes composing very difficult!! Was wondering when you did the sweep at the beginning of the video, what software is that which you use in order to flatten the speaker response? Many thanks.
Haha! I used to watch that as a kid.. I have a terrible memory - so probably the opposite problem to you.. The sweep software was Trinnov - it goes with a dedicated hardware unit. Very clever stuff!
@10:10 I’ve noticed the same issue with my Logic sessions. Wondering if it’s something with the latest update? It’s so annoying and I haven’t figured out how to fix it.
Thanks Paul. Unfortunately I think you might get more questions about your choice of pen/mouse than the composition.. 😀 Great video…Keep ‘em coming ]!
haha! Thanks!
I’d love a little more info about the chord progressions that you are using.@@PaulThomsonMusic
Great video Paul. My question is will the current owners of SCS get SCS Essentials for free? 😀
I was wondering if you ever write songs as part of your practice/ exercising? I spend all of my (musical) time songwriting and developing songs but I wonder whether things like this might be quite useful too - where it’s shorter and doesn’t necessarily need to be something that resolves or makes sense in the context of other parts. I was wondering if you do the reverse and if it’s useful!
@paulthomson The record not following track selection has been the new de facto behavior in Logic since .8 I think. Tripped me up a few times. You can get the old behavior still as long as you never manually arm a track by pressing R or by manually disarming any record enabled tracks. When you manually arm the track, Logic goes into a latch mode and will keep that track armed while changing track selection. You can tell if a track is manually armed if the R is a solid red rather than the transparent red when following track selection. Annoying and no way to change this as a preference. 😢
Got it! Very odd choice to make it work like that but theres a few of those in Logic I find!
Ah ha, so you guys do NOT have a magic wand. It's plain old work to compose a piece of music. I also watch Guy Michelmore and Zach Heyde. Paul is a nice guy like the other two to show us there is no magic lotion you dust the keys with. And I am having the same problem with LogicPro. Apparently I saved my favorite template with one of the tracks showing a bright red record button. I made it go dim, the other tracks followed suit like they oughta when they were selected. I resaved my template, reopened Logic and the problem has gone away. Ron in Oregon.
If only I could find that magic lotion!! Yes - I worked it out in the end, you've got to never actually click the record button to get it to follow track selection.. not very intuitive!!
This was excellent thank you. For my part, I would love to see you spending an hour taking this piece and taking it to completion?
Thanks Craig!
This was enjoyable and please forgive me if I sound negative, however it highlights how music composition has shifted from surprise, emotionally and texturally original, as well as the craft, to really what can only be described as pretty flowers from a distance but on closer inspection they're plastic. While this music making is therapeutic and perhaps enjoyable for many, it doesn't seem to leave the confines of what sounds like AI music to me. Yes there are a few "filmic" chord changes and 15 minutes isn't much, but the draft doesn't seem to have the legs for even a full days work. My point? Many people think that by collecting sample libraries and having a go makes gives them a new title, a new job or aspiration but a limited hope because there are thousands and thousands in the UK alone producing the same type of sound. Not everyone wants to be a pro musician but oftentimes these libraries are sold as one finger wonders for professionalism. There is no such thing in life as a free lunch or an easy ride. Christian is a talented musician and rightly successful, however I feel that this type of exercise can be misleading for anyone making a serious investment for media composition. Not even the grads from Berkeley are getting decent work. Why? They think having a Zimmer or Williams sound (which is the bait used by such colleges) will work out. It doesn't. What works is originality, creativity and imagination but most importantly emotionally effective. One doesn't automctically get that from a sample library or a RUclips channel, but you can fashion any library into something very creative but only if you let go of cliché, be prepared to learn from scratch and study how to learn your craft. Thank you Christian and congratulations on all your success.
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