FILM COMPOSITION AND ORCHESTRATION LESSONS
One-on-one lessons through Skype with a working film and concert composer.

Alain has a master's degree in composition and is composer-in-residence for the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra. He has composed for over 20 films and recently scored the animated feature film "The Legend of Silk Boy" starring Jackie Chan, which was recorded with a full symphony orchestra.

Alain is also the author of the blog "Getting The Score", a comprehensive resource and blog on film scoring for film makers and composers. Read it here.

> To sign up for lessons click here

FILM COMPOSITION LESSONS
The goal of these lessons is to provide you with all the tools you need to become a great film composer. So what are the skills and abilities of a great film composer?

A great film composer must be able to...

• match any mood at a moment's notice: This requires a mastery of harmony, voice-leading, chord voicing and arranging techniques. We will be thorough in order to give you access to a wide musical palette.
• write memorable tunes: this is something I am very concerned with myself. What did composers know about melody writing 30 years ago that seems to be getting lost? Where are the great tunes today like "The Pink Panther" and "Hawaii 5-0" not to mention anything by John Williams? I will show you tricks to writing memorable tunes quickly and also how to place those tunes effectively in the context of a film.
• write well for instruments: a solid understanding of instruments is important to a composer. Because the choice of instrument will guide your note choices and because writing well will make recording sessions go smoothly. Understanding the instrument you write for will also improve your MIDI mockup skills.
• be creative on demand: to write quickly and meet your deadline you need a number of things: 1) a large musical palette to choose from 2) an understanding of what makes you tick creatively. I will work with you to explore ways to be creative as well as understand your own creative triggers.
• understand the film making language. In order to write great film music you must understand the basics of screen-writing, editing and storytelling. This will allow you to make better musical decisions for the films you score, as well as improve you relationship with directors. This is something I consider especially important and that sets good film composers apart.
• work with timings. Hitting timings is an important part of film composition. We will cover different ways to achieve this, from using a stop-watch to your sequencer.
• do great mockups: your music production skills are important for two reasons. 1) you will be working on indies at first and that means low budget and that means MIDI. 2) mockup quality is important no matter what level you work on. Doing great mockups will be part of the entire process, not a separate element.
• Get work. Guidance on putting a good demo and a web site together, and how to build relationships with film makers.

LESSON FORMAT
First, I will assess your musicianship level through questions and through your music. From this I will build a flexible plan for your lessons that addresses your goals and needs and we'll get going. This plan is only a guide; the advantage of one-on-one lessons is that we can adapt to your needs as we go.

The lessons will use score and musical examples, video. You will be given writing and analysis assignments eventually leading to scoring actualy scenes that I will provide.

All assignments must be completed before the next scheduled lesson. You cannot skip a lesson because of an incomplete assignment. Learning to meet deadlines is crucial to your career as a composer and it will be crucial to your lessons as well.

Lessons are conducted through Skype with real-time screen sharing.

PRICING
Price is $85 per 1 hour lesson. You must make a 4 week minimum commitment to start. Payment is made through Paypal.

Single lessons can be purchased (to critique a score of yours for example), but there will be no assessment made previous to the lesson time.

QUESTIONS
If you have any questions about these lessons contact me here.

> To sign up for lessons click here

ORCHESTRATION LESSONS
Orchestration is the art of writing idiomatically for all instruments of the orchestra, to combine their individual timbres into sonorities that enhance both the music and, when working with film, the visuals.

Some orchestration will be covered during composition lessons, but it is such a vast and complex field of study that it is best approached on its own.

The lessons are targeted at the film composer, so they are approached from a practical standpoint so that orchestration work gets done quickly to meet deadlines and so recording sessions go smoothly.

This is what we will cover.

• Study of individual instruments
• Writing for each section of the orchestra
• Combining the sections of the orchestra
• Artistic orchestration
• Exploring orchestral textures
• Steps to effective and efficient orchestration under the gun!
• Preparing the score and parts for the players

LESSON FORMAT
Lessons will use a rich multimedia approach, combining music, video and scores to learn how to write for the orchestra.

You will be required to write your score either by hand or a notation program as well as render it with a MIDI sequencer. You will also learn how to make your MIDI sequences more realistic.

Assignments will be given during each class.

PRICING
Price is $85 per 1 hour lesson. You must make a 4 week minimum commitment to start. Payment is made through Paypal.

Single lessons can be purchased to critique a score of yours for example, but there will be no assessment made previous to the lesson time.

QUESTIONS
If you have any questions about these lessons contact me here.

> To sign up for lessons click here