EXS 24 Logic Sampler Users Group

on 12/23/01 2:38 AM, triton_technology at eco912371@... wrote:

> Speaking of film music: The thought of composing music for films and
> other projects has probably occurred to many of the non-professionals
> on this list - but how do you get started writing, say, orchestral
> music, when you have no formal education?
> 
> One place to start would be to look for a sample library with
> orchestral sounds and judging from various reviews it seems
> like "Advanced Orchestra" is a good choice. But since these CDs will
> cost you 5 * $250, most people will not buy them unless they're sure
> they'll be able to use them properly (you can start by investing in
> the very cheap Protools versions for a start though). Will you have
> to do a lot of tweaking in EXS in order to use the samples? How
> difficult is it to learn how to write orchestral music if you have no
> formal training?
> 
> According to amazon.com, there are some books about music theory that
> might be relevant, i.e.:
> 
> * Samuel Adler, "The study of orchestration"
> * Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov, "Principles of orchestration"
> * Kent Kennan, Donald Grantham, "The technique of orchestration"
> * Kent Kennan, "Counterpoint"
> * Cecil Forsyth, William Bolcom, "Orchestration"
> 
> Which book(s) are recommendable to someone without formal musical
> training?


I'm only familiar w/ the N. R-K title, but if I would expect the challenges
of many of the books will be in their references to musical theories. One
book I might sugggest (a little dated -see below-but still very useful) is
Paul Gilreath's 'The Guide to MIDI Orchestration'. Instead of focusing on
the theories of writing music, it approaches things from things to listen
for, ie: ranges, instrument groupings, stylistic iterpretation, etc.
It does not try to be a treatise on musical theory. It's a brief, easy to
read book, that is "aimed at the intermediate to advanced midi user, and
presents detailed information on the characteristics of an orchestra's sound
and applies these concepts to the midi environment" (from the back cover).

Unfortunately, the biggest section (about 60 of the 170 pages) is devoted to
reviewing various sample libraries (publ. 1997, 2nd edition). While many of
the staples are there, we've all seen the rapid growth in available
libraries, so by its' nature this section could not possibly remain up to
date.

I just checked, and his website can still be found at www.paulgilreath.com I
see that there in more info on the book there.


Regards,

    Shane


-- 
Shane Fawkes, 
Director of Music, 
Walnut Grove Secondary School,
Langley, B.C. Canada

sfawkes@...
sfawkes@...