How To Set Up A Guitar Effects Online Store And Get Paid

Creating the Mood

Remember not to treat music as secondary to the visual aspect of the film. When done right, it can be just as important as the acting or the camera angles. Without great music there are no great films.

Plan ahead by watching as many of the scenes as you can (if not the whole film) and figure out how many different emotions you will have to convey with your music. The director or music supervisor should also help you when deciding this. With each different emotion or different scene, you may have to compose a whole new piece of music.

Starting your score can be very challenging, and will require a lot of concentration and patience. You must decide on the proper mood, tone, and which instruments you are going to use. Whether you're using classical instruments or programming the music on a computer, the sound of each instrument will adversely affect the tone of the piece.

Tact and taste are very important here. Doing too much or too little is a very real possibility and is something that is very easy to fall into. Creating the perfect score is not an easy task, and not something that everyone can do.

If you strike gold with a great piano riff, or an emotional melody, try to find different ways of using it throughout your composition. It can be a highly useful tactic, but be sure not to overuse your theme, for it can become tired and ruin the emotional impact. Hold off in some sections and try creating a new melody with the same notes, or something that sounds vaguely similar. Creativity is key.

There are thousands of films that wouldn't have been what they were without the music that they had. It's been said that Star Wars looked terrible and was almost laughable before the music of John Williams was added. A film composer must be able to compose music that not only fits well with the video, but also provokes the viewer to feel strong emotions without knowing why. Your music must become part of the movie, and move with each scene to allow the viewers to get absorbed.

Using sound effects in your music or using things that aren't usually used as instruments can make for a very unique piece of music. Using such things as household objects as percussion instruments or odd loops can really spice up your music.

Using Effects

Composing Music For Independent Films

A great example of using sound effects in music is the Oscar winning film Atonement. Composer Dario Marianelli used the noise of a typewriter as a percussion instrument in his score and the result was breathtaking. Hearing the music in a movie theatre was a great experience.

If you take pride in your work and utilize great care while composing, you just might be able to create a great piece of music. If it fits well with the film, and provokes an emotional rush from viewers, you should celebrate and give yourself a pat on the back.

Composing music is a task that isn't right for everyone, and composing music for film is another thing altogether. You must use tact, creativity, passion, and good judgment to compose a great piece of music, and you will have to put your heart and soul into what you are creating.

The most important thing to remember about composing a score for a film is that the music must be able to help provoke an emotional response from the viewers. Your music must coalesce with the footage to create a visual/aural masterpiece.

Completing Your Score

Many composers employ themes into their music that are repeated throughout the film in various forms. Themes are what make music memorable, as they are repeated often and will stick in the mind of the viewers (listeners). Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and Halloween are perfect examples of using a musical theme in a score. Watch any of those films and you will quickly recognize the theme in each composition.

Rising Above: The Sounds Of Healing

Instrumental Relaxation/Meditation music with over twenty instruments (including piano,guitars,bass, violin, cello, horns, flutes, and sound effects) with the exception of drums.

Scales

Chromatic exercises

This is a popular John Petrucci riff that can take you a long way. This exercise include making a staircase looking chord shape and playing the individual notes, then inverting the shape and playing it backwards. Start at the 9th fret, place a finger on E string 9th fret - A string 10th fret, D string 11th fret, and the G string 12th fret. Pluck each string from the E string to the G string. Then switch the chord shape so that your pinky is on the E string and your index is one the G string and play the individual string from the G string to the E string. After you do this move the whole shape down a fret and do the whole exercise again.

Finger Strength

Staircase Exercise

Another great way to gain finger strength is to practice the chromatic scale up and down. Start out slow at a reasonable pace and then slowly pick up speed as you get comfortable with the exercise. This will help you to gain accuracy and keep both your hands synched up with each other.

After playing for a while you may notice that your finger just wear out. If you practice a lot you may have already over come this stage of guitar playing but if your learning fast then you may be still experiencing finger and hand pains after playing a few minutes. An easy way to overcome these pains is to practice more in short burst or start using finger exercise on top of your practicing sessions. These exercises are strictly for physical exercise, musically they sound horrible and if you try to make this into songs.... just be careful.

The best way to learn theory and get in some good finger exercise time is to play scales up and down the neck over and over. Maybe start with the major scales and play them across the neck starting at the 12th fret and then working your way down to the first fret. The ultimate goal should be being able to play the scales starting on the 1st fret easily for about 5 minutes or more. The lower frets are spaced farther away so you may want to start up higher and work your way down. Don't forget you can be learning your scales at the same time while your doing this.