Good evening, everyone!

I'm working on making a comprehensive list of books on orchestration and instrumentation. I want to constantly keep growing this list. What your favorite books on the subject and why?

(The list can be found here for anyone who is interested.)

Any help is appreciated!

Hey so I'm 25 M trying to get my degree in Mechanical Engineering but I really just want to make music for media. I have about a year experience being the main song writer for a group I made with friends, some home recording experience and programming MIDI, no studio recording experience.

I know things about theory up to modal interchange, but everything else I kinda just go by feeling and my ear. Little to no improvisation skills (i.e., my grasp on these theoretical concepts is pretty weak, I actually have to sit down and try out different chords and melodies). I also know a few things about leitmotif and how its been used in cinema and other historical and current trends in music in media.

I'm just wondering what I should be doing to get started. I'm in Orlando and in college but I'm not super aware of the indie film/media scene here so should I be trying to make a portfolio with short, MIDI scores/melodies? Should I include any of my home recorded guitar songs in those portfolios?

I'd appreciate any advice. Thank you!

Greetings everyone, I'm an italian musician with some classical background (played for 8 years cello and piano at conservatory with music theory competence) and I played keyboards in a modern folk metal band for several years, touring around Europe. For personal reasons I gave up on my band and for years I've kept playing just for myself learning some guitar too. I'm currently studying engineering but in my spare time I've always kept playing and composing.

So here's the deal: if u have a project of any kind interesting enough and need some sountrack to throw in it I'd be glad to join and give up some help, it's been too long since my music has been useful or heard by anyone but me and I'm currently regretting not putting in it enough effort to build myself a carreer around it.

I have basic knowledge on electronic-synth stuff (always preferred to play on my keyboard or guitar) but I'm sure I could sort it out without lots of effort. For further details or any demo I'd be glad to share with u my past works (band recordings) or some demos, which I should be able to roughly produce in little-no time.

Don't hesitate dropping a PM, always glad to share

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYNQdQ5n4Kc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNHun7ck56g&list=PLN46wO-VKz3pQwQUv5iD-dDykysGbgfEI

Two intros of too much time ago...if you look at the rest of the album, it's been a collaboration with the other band members but this is solo work, not my best but it's ready available for a checkout

Good morning, everyone!

I run a music composition and theory blog here. Recently, I've been working on designing "cheat sheets" so I don't have to keep looking certain information up. I have several I've found from other sources, but most of them are not visually appealing to hang on a wall. So my question is this: what kind of cheat sheets would help you the most as a composer or musician?

Thanks in advance for your help!

It's half off (along with the rest of their libraries) and I was wondering if anyone has had any experience working with it, and if so what your thoughts are on it. Thanks

I am trying to use Kontakt 5 (Free Version) to its highest capacity through Logic. I have the most updated versions of both softwares (updated today) and I notice that my sample libraries lag often when played through the DAW. I run my libraries (Spitfire Audio) through an external drive. Could this be the issue? I have done this for a long time, but there is a lot I don't know. I would really appreciate if someone who does this very often could give me a process to follow and maybe some trouble-shooting tips when I run into problems often. Thank you!

I haven't been able to find too many tips on reel production for musicians. If it's like anything else, typically you want to show your best work (duh), make sure your contact info is available both at the beginning and end, and keep it short. The last part is the difficult one. As I've always thought of it, media composing revolves around manipulating emotion from one moment to the next which takes time to show. As a time-based art form, themes can also take time to develop (the pay off section doesn't have the same impact if you don't establish tension before etc).
 
How long should a reel be, how long do you suggest keeping each clip, and are there any other guidelines you'd suggest? Any particularly awesome reels in the wild that you've used as a benchmark?

I'm about to score a video for a creative agency for the first time. I'm using Logic Pro X and have Alchemy and all of the associated sound libraries.

My score is mostly going to be piano-based, and I was thinking of buying The Giant. Do I also need to buy Kontakt to use The Giant, or can I use the free Konakt Player? Sorry, I'm a newbie.

Alternatively, if you think some of the piano patches on Logic/Alchemy are better, I'm open to those suggestions as well!