Film Scoring Book

The film scoring book is now available on Amazon and other retail outlets.  The book focuses on how to make creative choices. It details a six-step decision making process for deciding what the music should be in a film.

Creative_Strategies_in_Film_Scoring

Parallel Fifths/Octaves

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“Is parallel motion between two voices OK?”

I often get asked this question in class. Typically, a student has been told by a teacher that parallel fifths are bad. The student is often a bit indignant about it, as they like and want to use parallel fifths in their own compositions.

The following is my two cents on the topic.  If you wish to skip the details…  The main point will be, “If you want two parts to be perceived as independent voices, then parallel motion is bad.  If you want two parts to be perceived as a single voice, then parallel motion is acceptable.” Continue reading →

Score in C vs Concert Score

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In general, I don’t like to nitpick terminology.  For the most part, we make up the terms, so we can decide what they are and what they mean.

That said…  I make an exception for terms that confuse people and lead to mistakes. With that in mind…  One of the most misleading terms in music is “Concert Score”. In this blog, I’d simply like to propose that we forget that term and use “Score in C” instead.

Continue reading →

Hondidldo and the Apple Thief

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A while back, I worked on the music for a fun tale about a farmer, his boy, and an apple thief. It’s now on iTunes as a multimedia eBook (in English or German) with narration, music and animations. It plays on iPhones and iPads.

Hope all is well out there!