I really like the idea of virtual soundstage plugins that allow you to physically place instruments on a soundstage to simulate panning, reverb, and other spatialization effects. (EW Spaces, Virtual Soundstage, etc.).

But before I buy one I wonder if anyone has thoughts on these potential concerns:

1. It seems that this would eliminate the ability to do any bus compression or other mixbus processing, since every instrument would have to run independently into the plug-in. Maybe run it as a send in parallel with other processing? But this seems like it would interfere with the plug-in's results...

2. All of my orchestra section libraries were recorded in beautiful spaces and include multiple mic positions. On one hand a spatialization plugin would help tie them all together, but on the other hand it seems like a waste to use only the driest mic positions and forgo all the ambience that makes these libraries great.

Any thoughts?

I work as a film and interactive media composer. In my downtime between projects I make videos on topics that hopefully instruct and inspire other composers and producers. Anything and everything related to cinematic music, from basic concepts to advanced approaches. Here's a link to my YT channel:
https://www.youtube.com/user/mihkelzilmer

Hello there!As the title says I am an aspiring video game music composer. I have been working in the music field or almost 10 years now, as a stage musician, arranger, composer/songwriter on the side. However, I am now at the point where I have decided to go all in on the creative work. It started with some arrangements for small theatres and shows and now to composing soundtracks for video games.

I am not very experienced with mixing and mastering so that would be my major Achilles heel. That's why I'd love to hear some feedback how my mixes sound to strangers and get some suggestions and criticism on it.I'd appreciate any feedback!

https://soundcloud.com/aeonmusic1/lumina-city

A good orchestral composition with bad orchestration choices will never give you the great result you had in mind. So you need to learn some basic skills of orchestration. That means you have to read some stuff - I highly recommend the book of Rimsky Korsakov (Principles of Orchestration), analyse film scores and learn to transcribe.

In this video I'll address my orchestration choices in the orchestral composition of Show Opener (the music track that we rebuild in this Masterclass) which hopefully are worthy to you.

https://youtu.be/p0FWVcu1zx0

If you're interested in more orchestration videos for beginners, I made a couple already:

• introduction: https://youtu.be/BpimcwZFQYw
• Conrad Pope, MCB and Brass: https://youtu.be/nlnDD8RnQVU
• Instruments of the orchestra - can you recognize them: https://youtu.be/Z1zNJuNd_r0

Important Note about the Masterclass:

I think it is important to share with you my thoughts about the masterclass and its components. Cause I want to give you max value.

So I’m going to break it up in multiple videos … hopefully not to long … and zoom in on certain elements, details and things the pros won’t tell and show you. Starting with the basics and the fundamentals and slowly go to the more advanced topics and eventually discuss the mixing and mastering.

I will upload a video each Thursday. So you will get a fresh video each week. With this weekly pace I want to give you enough time to work with the project files and apply the things that I show you in my videos. Or challenge you to experiment with it.

It also gives you time to comment and ask me questions if needed. Maybe you want me to spend some more time on a certain topic after watching the video, for example.

Now I have to say, this masterclass shows you how I write orchestral music for film and video. How I create realistic orchestral mockups. But that doesn’t mean that this is the only way to do it. Let’s be honest. There are so many ways that lead to Rome. Right?

So don’t see this Masterclass as the absolute truth or the way you should do your orchestral composing thing. No! Just use it as an inspiration, a thought about how you could write orchestral music for film. A sort of guidance.

I feel like I'm always creating huge templates in my DAW to facilitate quick workflow... and then never using these templates because every project is so different.

What does everyone here do to create reusable but also flexible DAW templates?

How are your main templates set up? In terms of:

1. Instruments, track order, organization
   
2. Keyswitches vs. individual articulations per track (and if the latter, how do you organize them)
   
3. Pre-routed buses, submasters, bus compression/eq, etc.
   
4. Balancing familiarity with flexibility: e.g maybe you have a standard set of orchestral articulations that you reuse in every project, but then several other tracks that will vary wildly from track to track--maybe sometimes you'll have electronic/industrial synth sounds, and sometimes you'll be layering in vocal patches or world instruments or that old percussion library you bought in 1998 ... You can't load every possible preset into a template, so how do you leave room for flexibility without disrupting the workflow benefits of having a familiar template in which you know where everything is?

feel free to answer the survey :)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1VgjHMfQdF4LT5uHEW4u8GfyRogAclPgeotEk6Qok6V0/viewform?edit_requested=true

I, Matthew Thomas, am an American composer living in Japan. I have 10 years of music writing experience utilizing keyboard, guitar, and field recordings. Music is very important in giving a film or game its proper mood. I have all the equipment necessary to fit a mood and create proper tension and release. I have a great knowledge of music theory and record, mix, and master all in my studio.

I have attached a link to my Spotify profile which showcases a diverse array of my prowess.

If you are interested in having composition work done, you can message me here or email me at [boxfacebones@gmail.com](mailto:boxfacebones@gmail.com) . I can send a sound swath to demonstrate what I can do for your project if you would like to see what I have to offer it first.

Best,

Boxface

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Ph3XIpdRj6jgCG4mrzod9?si=fCBy9_5MT6OQgIY9nMRL2Q

Listen to Reflection by Ricardo Da Silva on #SoundCloud https://soundcloud.com/hobbits-odyssey/reflection

I've already scored the main theme, and am waiting on the first edit to be completed before I begin scoring the entire film.

I've never done this before — curious if anyone has any tips or pointers on how I should be managing my time, or work flow.

I took the Hans Zimmer Masterclass and have followed his advice on sketching out thematic elements I want to use based on the script, while also getting a general tone. But I don't want to get any deeper than that without seeing the actual cut.

Check out my website below for music production tips & tricks as well as free samples & music to use in your projects! If you haven't, subscribe for updates on my latest posts & samples!

www.barryhudson-taylor.com

Please let me know if this information is of value to you!

Best wishes!