THE EPIC SOUND BLOG

Our collection of bite-size, audio related stories from around the web.

Cartoon Composing – scoring an animated series


August 30, 2011


 
I found this great read on composing for an animated series in an old copy of Sound on Sound magazine – and lo and behold, it’s available online as well. Check it out:

 

Television animation has come a long way since the golden age of Bugs and Woody. There has been a recent explosion of production companies and animation studios working around the world, cranking out quality cartoons for a thriving, healthy market. All these cartoons need music and if you’re the composer who gets the call, there are a few things you need to know.

 

Composing for a cartoon series has its own unique set of challenges that differentiate it from live-action scoring. Having just wrapped up scoring 52 episodes of a new series called SuperNormal, I’d like to take you through the process so that you’ll know what to expect and how to avoid the potential pitfalls that are common when writing music for a cartoon.

 
Check out the full article on cartoon composing here.





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category music,television sound Tags , , , , , —

Middleware and the composition process


June 13, 2011

Michael Taylor shares his insights on how the choice of game audio middleware can dramatically affect the composing process:

 

For the most part, porting the audio was plain sailing, up until I began recreating the Interactive Music system.

 

The music files were not being updated, being high quality wavs already, so it should have been a simple case of drag, drop and make sure the transitions between the 120-ish music cues crossfade nicely and that the right transitions occur on the right parameter.

 

As XACT was at least 6 years old, I figured that getting the music up and running would have been a breeze thanks to FMODs more intuitive interactive music interface, and 6 years of game audio advancements.

I was wrong. So very, very wrong.

 

Read the full post here.

 





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category game audio Tags , , —

BBC Introducing: Musician’s Masterclass 2011


February 21, 2011

BBC Introducing has posted a fantastic selection of video clips, spanning almost 800 minutes and covering a wide range of music-related topics. These including songwriting, remixing, instrument masterclasses and much more.


They’re well worth checking out, so do hop on over to the site and have a look.


(via ProductionAdvice)





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category music Tags , , , , , , —

Getting started as a composer


December 27, 2010

Just getting started as a composer? Composer and sound designer Richie Nieto shares his tips on surviving your first composing gig.


So you have finally landed your first paid gig as a video game composer. The first thing you do is call all your friends and try to excitedly explain that you’re going to work on a real game, but you can’t really talk about it because of the Non-Disclosure Agreement you just signed. After the initial rush of joy, you start to realize that you haven’t really done this before. Not the composing part – you got that down pat, no problem!


It’s the part about working with a live, breathing, paying client that you start feeling nervous about. A lot is riding on this; someone has money to lose if you don’t deliver what is asked from you. You can easily ruin your reputation even before you start building it. Panic sets in.


Have no fear! Here are some pointers that will help you sail through the rough seas of composing for money for the first time (or the second time, if you blew it the first time around). These tips won’t help you write an award-winning score, but they will help take the stress out of mostly everything else in the process.


Read Richie’s full feature on getting started as a composer here.






  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category game audio,music Tags , , , , , —

Artificial intelligence in music


October 18, 2010

John Schaefer over at the Soundcheck blog takes a look at music and artificial intelligence in this interesting podcast:

Meet composer Emily Howell: she’s crafting original works of classical music that sound sharp and lively, if a little derivative. Some say her pieces sound like Bach or Liszt. The issue: Emily Howell is a computer-based algorithm, designed by composer David Cope.

He joins us to talk about Emily Howell’s latest album, From Darkness, Light.







  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category music Tags , , , , , —

Composing the score for Star Wars: The Old Republic


July 18, 2010

GameSpot takes an interesting look behind the scenes on the score for Star Wars: The Old Republic – have a peek:








  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category game audio,music Tags , , , , —

Audio interview with composer John Debney on ‘Predators’


June 26, 2010

Film Music Magazine has a great, in-depth audio interview up with acclaimed composer John Debney on his score for Predators. Well worth a listen!


Debney drives the chase with a role that’s equal parts acolyte and new interpreter, turning the vibe of one great hunter into his own fresh meat.


But then, for all of the sunny comedy he’s popularly played with the likes of “Liar Liar,” “Jimmy Neutron” and “Valentine’s Day,” Debney has shown a dark side that’s gone for the throat with “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” “The Relic” and “End of Days,” not to mention a mammoth sense of symphonic adventure in his rollicking work for “Cutthroat Island.”


All of those styles come into play for “Predators” with a vengeance, making for a score that’s an homage in all the best, creative possibilities- and one, that along with “Iron Man 2,” will likely propel Debney further up the list of summer blockbuster action composers.


Hear the full interview with John Debney right here!


Update: Came across this footage from a ‘Predators’ scoring session – have a peek below:







  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category film sound Tags , , , , , , , —

How the iPad could enhance film scoring


March 17, 2010

Film Music Magazine looks at ten ways the iPad could enhance the film scoring process. Will indeed be interesting to see if any of this comes true once the device is out.


 

ScorePad – Imagine a world where recording musicians brought their iPads to the session and their parts were downloaded electronically to the iPads, or maybe even sent before the session if the musicians were asked to prepare beforehand. The addition of a stylus input, which is possible with the existing capacitive touchscreen technology Apple uses in both the iPhone and the iPad, makes it easy for musicians to make notes on the virtual score parts during a session, and updates to the score and parts made during a session could instantly be transmitted to the iPads of the players whose parts are changed, and scores could be displayed for the conductor in larger format on an external display. With bluetooth input, a score-reading application like Sibelius or Finale could be put into “sync mode” to automatically turn pages and keep the displayed parts and score in sync with timecode. Whether your orchestra is in the same room or across the world connected to you over the Internet, instant part changes become quick and easy to make.




Read the full post here.





  Posted by Asbjoern Andersen, Epic Sound - Contact

Category film sound Tags , , —

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