The TV pilot writing went well. Here’s what the process looked like.

I started by brainstorming a bunch of ideas loosely based on the music for the promo and my talk with the director.

I then sent them about 10 ideas or so and they picked the one they liked the most, although there were a few really cool ones which made picking one a challenge!

I then talked over Skype with the director and producer (they are in Quebec). We talked about their choice, what I needed to do with it, other things to write such as bumpers and whatnot.

After that meeting I just wrote, recorded (I got to play my guitar!) mixed and sent it off and they loved it. Job done.

Yeah, it went very, very smoothly.

The music turned out very energetic and fun, driven by electric guitar and brass. I hope I will be able to post it here soon.

And some big news… well, sort of.

Tomorrow, I am meeting with the director of the next project, something which looks like a dream scoring assignment for me. And now there is an international star in it! I can’t really mention much right now, but I plan on blogging about this one a lot more than I have done in the past.

So stay tuned!

I have a really exciting project coming up (more on that soon), and it will require a grand orchestral score, which is very exciting all by itself.

My current orchestral template has at its core Wallander Instruments (winds and brass) and Synful (strings) and it is simply a dream come true.

Seriously, my template is as close to a real orchestra as I have ever dreamed of having in the digital world. And more! Let me explain.

The Wallander Instruments are amazingly realistic and not based on samples. I play them with a keyboard and breath controller to achieve stunningly realistic results. Arne Wallander has created virtual instruments that respond like the real ones down to the smallest detail, right down to the dynamic range of each instrument. For example, the bassoon plays more softly in the top register than the lower!

This means that all balancing is done through orchestration and dynamics, as would be the case for a real live orchestra. With my template in place, I don’t do any mixing and fix it all in the writing and the playing. (Well, if I have solos, I do mix it in differently.)

Synful’s strings are extremely playable also because they are based on synthesis technology. I control all dynamics through the use of MIDI continuous controller 11 and velocity, achieving almost all the nuances of tone and performance I desire, and again, all is balanced through the use of played dynamics as opposed to mixing.

I could go on, telling you about the fact that I have a single track for each instrument, not needing to load staccato, legato, runs, ensemble or trill samples separately, and if I a play a string chord in Synful, it makes it a realistic divisi right away! Instead I’ll just end with some music.

In order to really get a solid and realistic orchestral template, I have rendered some orchestral classics, namely The Pines of Rome and Petroushka.

You will hear three short excerpts, in each case first is a real orchestra followed by my own synthetic rendition. Everything you hear is done without mixing or major finessing, just live playing of each part, one at a time.

Not bad at all. Oh sure, I can hear the difference – I mean, we can’t replace an orchestra! But I am still amazed by the results!

I am continuing to work on my template and sequencing skills before the big project arrives, and the results will be fantastic!