‘Yakety Sax’ — Making Gruesome Violence and Real Drama Zany Since 1963
After becoming a hit as the “‘Benny Hill’ Theme,” “Yakety Sax” experienced a renaissance turning dramatic web videos into funny ones.
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How to Make a Music Supervisor Happy: Be Prepared with Instrumentals & Alt Mixes
Scoring that lucrative sync license is the goal of many artists today. Make sure you’re prepared with the proper tracks when the opportunity strikes.
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Orchestral MIDI String Libraries Compared
As a composer, finding that string library that can do everything you want can often feel like a never-ending quest to find the pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. New libraries pop up every month or so, all professing to be the best and urging you to press the “buy” button as soon as they’re…
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Loud Silence & Quiet Sound: The Illuminating Music of Toru Takemitsu
Toru Takemitsu (1930-1996) was arguably the most well-known and influential Japanese composer of the 20th century. In addition to composing prolifically for the orchestra, Takemitsu wrote many chamber works, solo guitar music, electro-acoustic pieces (incorporating the use of magnetic tape loops and found sounds), a number of pieces that feature soloists playing traditional Japanese instruments…
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How the Score to “Wiener-Dog” Blurs the Edges of Character Development
The sounds of the everyday punctuate awkward conversation, saying, perhaps, what the characters don’t. These sounds alone could be characters in the film.
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What Happens When You Mess with the Keys of Iconic Movie Theme Songs?
By Ian Gordon As a self-taught musician, it can be difficult to find the terminology appropriate to describe musical concepts. I’ve always been a “how does this sound?” type of guy when working with others, as little I have to say translates appropriately to those who have formal musical backgrounds. My relationship with music is…
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Sounds of the Future: A Historical Primer on Synths in Sci-Fi Movies
We live in the most exciting time one could possibly hope to be alive. Every day, new aspects of our earthly existence are being discovered, advanced, and technologically exploited to further improve our experience of reality on this planet and in this universe we humbly occupy. Yet, despite these fascinating daily occurrences, we still love…
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The Weird and Creepy World of String Harmonics
Experimenting with string harmonics can lend an eerie, etherial sound to your compositions. Here’s how to get started.
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3 Professional Lessons from Film Composer Michael Giacchino
Anyone who knows me at all knows how much I love Pixar films. The Incredibles is still one of my favorite all-time movies. Ratatouille made me see the world differently. Up had me balling like a child within the first ten minutes. And no small part of that was the music. I only recently found out…
